<Peak Oil Media Guide The Oil Drum DrumBeat: July 14, 2008>

394 comments on Peak Oil Media: Matt Simmons gets more pessimistic on CNBC, Heinberg, and others...

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Aniya on July 13, 2008 - 2:26am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hi Joe,

Just thought I'd say Hi, though it's OT. I'm glad to see you here and asking questions.

My bias on motorized bikes is that of people I've known personally, I've never known a motor-biker who was not involved in a serious crash. But that's just my own observation. Anyway, do be careful.

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Joe Average on July 13, 2008 - 4:54am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Giddaye Aniya,

You sound like my mum, my sister, my wife (and her mum and sister), neighbours wives and all the ladies at the local tennis courts!

:+)

I live in an area where backstreets and 40 to 50 km/hr limits abound. To that end, I work from home, so the licence is mainly for local errands. And I'm 42, so should have a bit of sense out there... Besides, if current trends continue, ten years from now cars and trucks may be few and far between (which may not be a bad thing).

Regards, Matt B
PS. Testing for their motorbike license last week (ten in our group) were: Dad and I, two ladies in their early sixties, one lass mid-twenties, another mid-thirties, a fellow my age, another slightly younger and two 18-year-old lads. Guess which two failed the prac test? Hint: Young male testosterone!

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hugho on July 13, 2008 - 12:45pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Good question Joe. Don't buy Chinese anything by the way. Buy local. It is dangerous to ride motorcycles but it has provided me with a lucrative living for a long time. I am a physician who works in the operating room and the bulk of our organ donors are young male motorcycle riders so if more people buy cycles and motorbikes we will have a lot more hearts and kidneys and livers for the market. Interestingly not that many victims are bicyclists and our real growth business seems to be bullet bikers. Get a bicycle Joe and keep your organs for your own use.

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greenish on July 14, 2008 - 1:39am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

My brother notes that in his town they're unofficially called "donorcycles". Good to keep in mind.

The real danger, of course, is the dang cars that'll kill you. I had an old italian motorcycle in my teen years and by staying away from traffic, never had even a close call. I'm actively looking to buy one in the 125-250cc range just to park in the garage for future use during gasoline scarcity... then I'd look forward to rationing.

The problem with motorcycles is cars.

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notintodenial on July 14, 2008 - 9:07pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Greenish, my experiences exactly.

As a young man I owned a motorcycle in a rural area and also never had even a close call. When I moved to the big city, I gave it up because car drivers just didn't pay attention (and this was BEFORE cellphones!).

And I too am shopping for a simple 4-stroke bike to store away till most of the cars are off the streets...

Errol in Miami

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tonyw on July 13, 2008 - 1:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hi Joe,

Caveat - I'm a cyclist not a motorbiker but have lots of friends who also ride motorbikes and scooters in and around London and on race tracks. First i would say get yourself some good gear, when (not if) you come off then jeans just get cut through immediately and so does your skin, don't skimp on a helmet how much is your head worth? Some of my friends have come off at well over 100 mph and just got up because they were wearing good kit and didn't hit anything. Next, look ahead and ride defensively, if a car hits you it will hurt you more and it doesn't matter if it's not your fault it still hurts. Try and watch out for parked cars opening their doors without looking.

Good luck.

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fordprefect on July 13, 2008 - 8:25pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hey joe. I ride a Lifan 200 cc enduro. It's a cheap chinese knockof of a honda bike. They are NOT low maintenance. The chinese bikes are constantly in need of low-level repairs, however, at least in the case of a lifan, the engines and transmissions are good, and the bike gets 80+mpg.

I have wrecked it many times off-road, but never had a problem on-road, nor have almost any of my many friends that ride. Frankly, most of the bike wrecks are horsepower on the brain rather than inherent to motorcycles. Yes, if you drive at 120mph, you gonna die. But how many reasonable car drivers do you know that have never wrecked? How do the motorcycle statistics compare to say... ferraris driven by 22 year olds? I'd be a little hesitant to ride much in dense traffic, having tried that for a while before.

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394 comments on Peak Oil Media: Matt Simmons gets more pessimistic on CNBC, Heinberg, and others...

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