Rising Gas Prices: Four Wheels Bad, Two Wheels Good?
While it seems perfectly natural to assume that clicks on cars reveal trends down at the showroom, I'm not entirely convinced. For example, Autoblog's post on GayWheels top ten researched vehicles would have you believe that a large number of Dodge Caliber buyers are that way inclined. So when the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) put out a press release claiming "interest in motorcycles increases as commuters seek two-wheel alternatives" based on their website's traffic, I was interested to see if they mentioned any "real world" impact. To their credit, they did, right from the git-go. "Motorcycle buying interest at NADAguides.com increased 48 percent in March 2008 compared to March 2007, even though sales of motorcycles were down over seven percent at the end of 2007, with NADAguides.com estimating sluggish sales so far this year." And yet, motorcycle ed Lenny Sims is ready to climb out on that limb. "We believe the current state of the economy, coupled with recent summer fuel price predictions, has caused consumer mindset about motorcycles to shift. In our opinion, motorcycles have become attractive options as primary vehicles for daily drivers — due to their fuel efficiency — and are no longer considered just a luxury, 'secondary-vehicle' purchase." Your take?
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@TexasAg03 I’ve never seen an enduro bike that is street legal; they don’t have blinkers and such (they do have a headlight and taillight). They are cross-country racers. That's because you're probably not old enough to remember the 70's. Yes, my enduro has a speedometer, blinkers, horn etc. It's not legal for highways, (that's because of the small displacement) it is legal on secondary roads. Have a look: http://thebrighams.com/1975%20Yamaha%20DT100.JPG
@TexasAG03 Maybe things have changed since the late 70s/early 80s, but in that time, when I was reading about motorcycles, a true enduro bike had no more than a headlight and a taillight and was NOT street legal at all. Have a look at this picture: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3j6z2/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/62_1.jpg Can you see what it says on the oil tank? It says, "Enduro". Yamaha use to build these single cylinder 2 strokes in displacement ranging from 80cc all the way up to 500cc.