I think our hobby is about to become more popular!

[knucklepanshovel]

It will be YEARS before I own anything new enough to carry that kind of technology.

I broke down in October & bought a "NEW" old vehicle a one owner 46,000 mile Isuzu truck that had been stored in a garage no rust & near perfect body.

I try to stay away from new vehicles when possible especially newer than 96 & I refuse to own airbag equiped vehicles. its not that I am against technology but I hate being forced to have no choices.

with this new truck I replaced my aging Toyota truck which had over 200,000 miles I keep it for a backup & has served me well for many years & this new truck does have fuel injection which can give me almost 33mpg but I dont have to worry about govt with a fully OBDII compliant vehicle.

so with that the only newer vehicle I would own is first generation 95-99dodge or plymouth neons running a 95 computer & disabled airbags which I have in my past.

otherwise I will only own old cars. & one of my friends drives a corvair a 61 model so no seatbelts required anywhere as not originally equiped & no computer & he gets low to mid 30mpg on trips & 20 or so mpg local running.

I also have an asortment of old aircooled VWs which get great mileage & no computer technology unless you go to the 1970s with fuel injection & black boxes...

 

[a_dam]

I wish I could witness the brainstorming sessions where they think up new ways to squeeze more golden eggs out of the geese (us taxpayers).
Another thing gaining popularity is camera-monitored traffic lights. I hear they have a lot of them in Chicago now. Luckily, I live about 40 miles south of the "Big Onion". If you are going through a yellow light, and the light turns red before you are completely through the intersection, I'll bet you will get a ticket. I just heard on the news that a lot of accidents are happening because people now slam on the brakes at a yellow light to avoid a camera ticket. I also bet that the fine city of Chicago will make the yellow light duration shorter, to create more chance of violating the red light. So what if this might cause more accidents and deaths - it will generate revenue.

Just like the milage tax. Fuel efficient vehicles are better for the environment, and make us less dependant on foreign oil, but if the government gets a little less money from gas taxes, well, we can't have that.

 

[knucklepanshovel]

I wish I could witness the brainstorming sessions where they think up new ways to squeeze more golden eggs out of the geese (us taxpayers).
Another thing gaining popularity is camera-monitored traffic lights. I hear they have a lot of them in Chicago now. Luckily, I live about 40 miles south of the "Big Onion". If you are going through a yellow light, and the light turns red before you are completely through the intersection, I'll bet you will get a ticket. I just heard on the news that a lot of accidents are happening because people now slam on the brakes at a yellow light to avoid a camera ticket. I also bet that the fine city of Chicago will make the yellow light duration shorter, to create more chance of violating the red light. So what if this might cause more accidents and deaths - it will generate revenue.

Just like the milage tax. Fuel efficient vehicles are better for the environment, and make us less dependant on foreign oil, but if the government gets a little less money from gas taxes, well, we can't have that.

I read in the paper in last year where North Carolina had installed red light cameras & they had not paid for themselves they wasnt generating enough revenue to pay for the instalations. it was an interesting write up especially since it showed people in general wasnt running them,

I used to load my Harley up & intenially make the luggage T-Bag cover the rear license plate but would look like it shifted & I would run red lights in major cities one right after the other where they had cameras & give the one finger salute as I rode through them & I am talking about deserted streets. that was quite a few years ago I know of someone that would duck tape a license plate that was expired he picked up at a junkyard & would wear a ski mask & run through the red lights that had cameras with his salute as well. he died 2 years ago due to diabetes.

Randy

 

[lennyharp]

Arizona makes a ton of money from the camera tickets. Check out what the County Attorney General found today a week or 2 after a judge threw our 400 tickets as unconstitutional.\\/\/\\/\\/\/\/

Criminal speeders caught through photo-enforcement cameras in Maricopa County won't face criminal charges if their cases wind up in Andrew Thomas' office for prosecution, the county attorney announced Monday.

Thomas said his office has received a “handful” of violations that would qualify for prosecution under the state's “criminal speeding” laws- defined as going 20 mph or more over the speed limit. But after going through the statute authorizing the Department of Public Safety to deploy the enforcement cameras, and other relevant legal issues, Thomas determined Maricopa County prosecutors can't pursue criminal charges against speeders when photo-enforcement evidence is all that exists.

“Civil violations are another matter,” Thomas said. ....

Drivers have activated photo-enforcement cameras around the state more than 500,000 times through Jan. 21. DPS has issued about 150,000 tickets based on those activations and received payments on nearly 25,000 citations.

Those numbers translate to about $435,000 in fees for Redflex, the contractor that provides, maintains and operates the cameras, and more than $4 million in revenue for the Photo Enforcement Fund, money subject to legislative appropriation.

 

[jasonh]

DPS has issued about 150,000 tickets based on those activations and received payments on nearly 25,000 citations.

Hah. I got a camera speeding ticket in Paradise Valley about a year and a half ago...just ignored it. Those things are crap.

Wasn't that red-light-camera company peeved at Mesa for lengthening the yellow lights so less people would run them, thus creating less revenue for said company? Seem to remember something like that....

 

[jasonh]

Change of subject just a little....why is it that my 2000 Metro got better mileage than the replacement a 2009 Chevy Aveo?
Why did a V-12 Lincoln from 1939 get 18 mpg, and it was a full sized car?
Why did the 50's Studebaker V-8's get 20 mpg?
Why did the American Motors Ramblers get such good mileage?

These were all full metal jacketed heavy American built cars (except the Metro). Is technology not working?

How about this one Joe....

late 80's Honda CRX HF (or was it HE) got 50mpg. Wasn't a hybrid or anything special. Why do I now have to spend 25 grand on a hybrid to get something like that?

I know you were talking American, but still...

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Change of subject just a little....

Why is it that my 2000 Metro got better mileage than the replacement, a 2009 Chevy Aveo?
Why did a V-12 Lincoln from 1939 get 18 mpg, and it was a full sized car?
Why did the 50's Studebaker V-8's get 20 mpg?
Why did the American Motors Ramblers get such good mileage?

These were all full metal jacketed heavy American built cars (except the Metro).

Is technology not working?

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

How about this one Joe....

late 80's Honda CRX HF got 50mpg. Wasn't a hybrid or anything special. Why do I now have to spend 25 grand on a hybrid to get something like that?

I know you were talking American, but still...

I wasn't just talking American....I was talking about that exact thing. The newer cars should be able to get a lot better mileage, regardless.

Why is it that the newer MOTORCYCLES get worse mileage than a lot of older cars?

 

[jasonh]

I wasn't just talking American....I was talking about that exact thing. The newer cars should be able to get a lot better mileage, regardless.

Why is it that the newer MOTORCYCLES get worse mileage than a lot of older cars?

Because us Americans have been on a kick of bigger is better and screw fuel efficiency.

How is it that the American car companies have brands in Europe that get outstanding mileage, are cheap, and look good to boot? And they won't bring them here? I remember a list of Euro cars that got over 40mpg that were all brands owned by the Big 3....it was a long list.

 

[leftywoody]

newer cars and trucks are made to recycle exhaust gasses and pollute less. They are detuned for a purpose . they cannot breath like the older cars did . The only way to increase milage on a newer vehicle is to reduce weight . Ethanol mixed fuel also decreases milage . Make your trips count for more by planning them out and loose a few pounds out of your trunk and you may see an improvement . And get out and do some walking .

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

.....or ride yer bikes!

 

[leftywoody]

oh yaaa