Dollars and Caffeine

You get the 'miles per gallon' question with a certain amount of regularity when people ask about the benefit of riding a scooter. I prefer the 'actual dollars spent' variable, for a few reasons. You can quote the 60-70 mpg number, and it earns a lot of thumbs up, but quote dollars spent and it drops jaws. Why? Well, we all have a decent idea what the mpg number for our car is, but we remember the $90 or $120 fill-up far better. Yeah, I know the cost of gasoline is volatile, but dollars spent is a more tangible reality. I drive far more on two wheels than I did on four. It costs less. I can tell you that my 600 mile/month commute to work was costing $200-$250/month. Since taking delivery of the scooter August 13, I've put over 1,400 miles on her for a grand total of $89.66. Well over double the miles for well under half the cost.

And that's not all...

Commuting with coffee is a pretty easy habit to fall into. Not that I still don't have a coffee habit, but I don't have the $3 or $4/day habit of a latte on the way to work any longer. Where would I put it? Cold ass air in the face seems to be my morning pick-me-up. Not overpaying for coffee on the way to work more than keeps my tank full.

Dogs Love...Scooters?

Let me start by saying that I didn't take the photograph above. This was courtesy of newsday.com. I did see something similar today, however, and it cracked me up. A woman on a Vino had her chihuahua in a front-loading baby harness. The little fella had his own goggles, which seemed to fit his chi-chi head pretty well. One of those times I wish I had the camera bag on the seat hook! I guess I was on the fence about whether that was a good idea or not, carrying the dog while riding. Sorta like people that let their dogs run loose (or worse, chained at the neck) in the bed of their pickup trucks. On one hand, the dog loves it. On the other, I can't imagine it is very safe for the dog. Agree? Disagree? And what's the weirdest thing you've seen on two wheels?