Living Car Free - I have to resign from Car-Free

I went over to the dark side and bought a Prius today. "Open the pod bay doors Hal" ha ha. My plan is to still bike as much as possible because it feels good, it's fun, and it adds that extra training the other guy may not. But there are times ya just need to haul a bunch of oscilloscopes, or get to Livermore at 7AM, or take your bike to the velodrome and there's no bus, train, etc to get there esp. at night and weekends when the action's going on, and if I lived next door to it then I'd need a car to keep up my other stuff I do. Grrrr. Oh and I sprained my shoulder hauling stuff to the post office with the hand truck, turns out I chose the worst biomechanics possible for the shoulder joint and then subjected it to much abuse, gee I'm not smart.

I'm hoping I will not actually have to learn Java to drive this thing, I hate Java.

Well at least you bought a responsible vehicle rather than a damn SUV. :beer:

Turn in your sig to the desk seargent, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I had a damn SUV. A Saturn. I have two friends who have 'em and they said they're great. Look at 'em on the road, they're one of the smaller SUVs. Yet, they feel huge driving 'em. Clumsy. I was overwhelmed with how much I was paying, and the sheer bulk, for the lack of fun driving, gas consumption, and lack of carrying capacity and especially easily useable carrying capacity. I took a big hit and wrote a big check for the difference just to sell that turkey back to the dealer (I doubt they'd buy it back for any price now, this was about 4-5 months ago) and get rid of it.

The Prius is much better built, the "handy" stuff in the cargo area is really handy and well made, and I got one of the few, the proud, the certified pre-owned Prii. A factory rental that apparently I was lucky enough to intercept before it was put out on the lot. They say it's green. I still say it's grey. Pretty cool though!

Done and done Sgt. Krispy.

The Prius is much better built, the "handy" stuff in the cargo area is really handy and well made, and I got one of the few, the proud, the certified pre-owned Prii. A factory rental that apparently I was lucky enough to intercept before it was put out on the lot. They say it's green. I still say it's grey. Pretty cool though!
My overwhelming hatred for you grows upon hearing this. Frakking waiting list for the new ones and you get a CPO without trying? :crash:

I *did* try, I agreed the thing's green when I swear it's grey.

You'll be back one day.

I went over to the dark side and bought a Prius today.

I lurk here and I own a motorcycle.

My philosophy has always been that anything on two wheels is better than anything on four.

And it gets better fuel mileage than a Prius.

Motorists hate motorcycles almost as much as bicycles. At least I feel like I'm still in the same club. :D

Az

that was quick...

what did last all of 60 days or so :p hell the weathers' still nice, i figured you'd crack once we slipped into the horrible winters we have here in northern california :D

I went over to the dark side and bought a Prius today. "Open the pod bay doors Hal" ha ha. My plan is to still bike as much as possible because it feels good, it's fun, and it adds that extra training the other guy may not.

My wife and I did something similar about a month ago, although we weren't carfree to begin with. We traded in both of our Saturn cars, and replaced them with a 2005 Prius (after about 2 months on the waiting list). Still trying to bike as much as possible, although living in a 'burb isn't all that conducive to it. :( Things seem to be working out fairly well overall, at any rate.



I'm hoping I will not actually have to learn Java to drive this thing, I hate Java.

:lol:

If I didn't have my small biz and wasn't all interested in bike racing this would be easier. It has been tricky a few times to deal with stuff, or know I"m missing out on stuff, when doing my buying bike-only. The decider is that I'd like to have at least a few years getting out there and trying to stay out of the way, in bike racing. And very interested in the velodrome. It's just very hard to do that sort of thing without a car to get around to events, keep spare wheels, etc in.

And I rode motorcycles for years. I'm sorry, car drivers hate them MORE. I was doing some very serious deep thinking about whether I could get away with getting a m/c again and doing buying and bicyclee stuff with that, and the answer was no. So the conclusion was that sooner or later I was going to need to look for a car with as good gas mileage as possible, and don't get any more car than needed. Don't get a minivan if a hatchback will do, and at the dealership it was the Matrix wagon vs. the prius, 35-odd MPG vs. the Prius' Awfully Good MPG (some drivers get the EPA numbers, some don't.)

Hey don't feel bad.

I'll eventually get a car as well, but it's probably going to be sitting in the parking lot most of the time. I just want something I can use to go visit my dad once in a while....I'm not macho enough to ride to Ohio on a bike....let alone how long it will take...my vacation would be over before I got there :(

Sadly I like sporty cars (usually just 4-bangers with a stick and decent handling)...but even if I get a car with about 30mpg, like a 240sx, considering I have no intention on actually using it for much (pretty much will be buying it to shut my dad up, as well as to claim I own a car in future job apps/interviews), so as long as it's a 4-cylinder I'm all good for it.

As for oil dependance...other than for electricity, right now I'm all good!

If gas stays at $3, I"m good. If it goes to $5, the economy tanks and bike racing may be the last of my concerns, and I sell the Prius at a profit to someone who does a hellacious commute and needs it - bad. If things get REALLY bad, lotsa parts there to go into radio station Radio Free Sunnyvale lol.

In the real world, it's really hard to get 50MPG on a motorcycle, I think I did maybe 40 when I was riding them and I weighed barely over 100 lbs. I think the old step-through Hondas got great mileage but how many of those do you see anymore?

There was an article, I think in Mother Earth News, on hybrids etc and I think there's a nonhybrid that beats the Prius, I don't think you can get it in the US though. You can always get a diesel Rabbit and after rebuilding the electrics you'll have a real fuel-sipper and a sink for Mom's greasy cooking.

for over 50mpg, you are pretty much going to a moped/whizzer

for over 50mpg, you are pretty much going to a moped/whizzer

My Harley got 50mpg stock and after some modifications, it gets 55-57mpg if I take it easy.

Az

I drive a Chevy Suburban.

Sorry, I just had to be the stick in the mud. :D

But there are times ya just need to haul a bunch of oscilloscopes.

Every damn day. Doesn't it suck? Where are those threads about big messenger bags.........

I drive a Chevy Suburban.

Sorry, I just had to be the stick in the mud. :D

You probably use it to commute 150 miles each day right?

Or to drive your bike to the starbucks after the club ride as to not get any dirt on it :D

My Harley got 50mpg stock and after some modifications, it gets 55-57mpg if I take it easy.

Az

My Ninja 500R gets around 53 mpg also; decent mileage is not resigned to scooters if you just ease up off the throttle.

The 250R is supposed to be near scooter mileage (50 to 70 mpg), but I'll know for sure in a few months if all goes well.

How long before hybrid electric bikes? :D

I guess if you're going to betray us you at least did it the least harmful way. ;)

Sammyboy I hate to say this, but yesterday I went on a ride with the club I'm in, that plus to/from was about 40 miles, got home rather late (ride starts late) and showered, etc., well .... sadly .... because I have the car now I decided to do a quick visit to the local surplus places, scored some cables I just got $200 for, plus some other goodies (big honkin' rolls of wire that will not go in the biggest of mess bags) and I'd have not made the trip if i were bike only. But, the key to success in this scrounging business is to hit the surplus dealers often because stuff just shows up. I'd just been to that place the day before, and not found much. It's that random. This is something I've wrestled with quite a bit, the fact that I may well not be money ahead by going carless. So far this Prius is proving itself to be something that's going to pay its way and then some. Very annoying if I'm really committed to being carfree, but between my biz and my desire to get to bike races next year, I'd kind of realized I'd have to get a car again sooner or later.

Today I'm riding to a bike shop in San Jose and getting some pedal time in, then will come back, shower, and knock off the perpetual errends.

I'll miss you guys. But I have to admit. I actually own three motor vehicles. A Volvo station wagon, a classic Caddy and a brand new F250. I couldn't bear to part with even one of them.











NOT!!!

How long before hybrid electric bikes?

Huh? hybrid human-power/electric-power bikes have been around for years!

Please clarify this for me, LilHinault, Roody and others.
You want to drop out of this forum because you have purchased or owned a mototized vehicle? Why do that? I think you will still be welcomed here in this forum just as long as you are supportive of a car-free or car-lite lifestyle. Attitude is far more important than what sort of vehicle-motor or otherwise-you happen to own or if your job or members in your family require you to drive a car (i.e. infants, elderly, sickness, etc.). I would vote for more tolerance for people to have choices of how they approuch a given situation in life. Bikes are supposed to give people more options rather than less opportunities. This flexibility should be able to trickle down into their other areas of living.

As for me, I am not the police, fashion or otherwise. I invite all comers into this forum as well as other ones to educate and offer support when needed. Not dictate how and what you should be doing when you drive or ride for that matter. I want to attact people into a car-free lifestyle rather than bounce them back into socially acceptable motoring.

My wife and I own a Prius, too. The color is called "Midland Green", if I'm not mistaken. I still commute and recreate on my Fillmore, though. I can't stand driving!
But I have to say going a month and a half on one tank of gas is way better than the tank a week we used to go through two years ago!

My wife and I own a Prius, too. The color is called "Midland Green", if I'm not mistaken. I still commute and recreate on my Fillmore, though. I can't stand driving!
But I have to say going a month and a half on one tank of gas is way better than the tank a week we used to go through two years ago!

Well at least you bought a responsible vehicle rather than a damn SUV. :beer:

"responsible vehicle" when referring to a car or truck is an oxymoron

Please clarify this for me, LilHinault, Roody and others.
You want to drop out of this forum because you have purchased or owned a mototized vehicle? Why do that? I think you will still be welcomed here in this forum just as long as you are supportive of a car-free or car-lite lifestyle. Attitude is far more important than what sort of vehicle-motor or otherwise-you happen to own or if your job or members in your family require you to drive a car (i.e. infants, elderly, sickness, etc.). I would vote for more tolerance for people to have choices of how they approuch a given situation in life. Bikes are supposed to give people more options rather than less opportunities. This flexibility should be able to trickle down into their other areas of living.

As for me, I am not the police, fashion or otherwise. I invite all comers into this forum as well as other ones to educate and offer support when needed. Not dictate how and what you should be doing when you drive or ride for that matter. I want to attact people into a car-free lifestyle rather than bounce them back into socially acceptable motoring.Well (since you mentioned me by name), I totally agree with you. I don't want to lose our little Eno. He adds a lot of good stuff.

BTW, this thread is pretty old now. I don't think I've seen lilhineault post lately, but I could be wrong.