You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

(From Bike Forums, I answer at bottom)

"WASHINGTON – Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency
at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they don't
fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles."

***

Originally Posted by mlts22
"Smart cars have a ways to go before they become mainstream. There is
no real point in buying one over a Honda Civic. Civics get more MPG,
are proven safe in crash tests, have more HP, and are *far* easier to
find parts for. The only thing I can say positive about a Smart car is
that you can park it 90 degrees in a parallel parking place.

Seen the crash test on the Smart cars? The darn thing crumpled,
bounced, then spun around like a top."

***

IF YOU JUDGE THINGS BY THE WAY THEY CRASH, you'd never buy a bike and
ride it in traffic.

That's the American way... Buy cars that are safer to crash but never
tame traffic, huh?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Monkeys of the World, Unite! You've got nothing to lose but your
cages"

http://webspawner.com/users/bananarevolution

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

On 15.04.2009 15:57, ComandanteBanana wrote:
(From Bike Forums, I answer at bottom)

"WASHINGTON – Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency
at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they don't
fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles."

***

Originally Posted by mlts22
"Smart cars have a ways to go before they become mainstream. There is
no real point in buying one over a Honda Civic. Civics get more MPG,
are proven safe in crash tests, have more HP, and are *far* easier to
find parts for. The only thing I can say positive about a Smart car is
that you can park it 90 degrees in a parallel parking place.

Seen the crash test on the Smart cars? The darn thing crumpled,
bounced, then spun around like a top."

***

IF YOU JUDGE THINGS BY THE WAY THEY CRASH, you'd never buy a bike and
ride it in traffic.

Yeah, stupid comments ...

I rented a Smart once to drive home for Christmas together with a
friend, and it is a perfectly acceptable car for two persons.

But, it is certainly NOT fuel-efficient (just cheaper to rent, probably
the person who set the rates didn't expect someone to drive 700 km on
one day with it - but it IS available one-way ...). At normal motorway
speeds (110-130 km/h), it drank about 7l/100km, more than say a VW Polo
(or a Honda Civic, probably).

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

I rented a Smart once to drive home for Christmas together
with a friend, and it is a perfectly acceptable car for
two persons.

But, it is certainly NOT fuel-efficient ...

=v= Surprisingly, yes. Its main (anti-social) benefit is
that it's easier to park, especially if you ignore those
pesky parking laws. They fit handily in crosswalks, on
sidewalks, and 'most any space dedicted to bicycling.
_Jym_

[I removed alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent and rec.bicycles.rides,
two newsgroups where this thread was NEVER on-topic. Cross-
posting to rec.bicycles.misc is redundant, so note followups.]

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

On Apr 15, 11:23*am, Jens Müller wrote:
On 15.04.2009 15:57, ComandanteBanana wrote:





(From Bike Forums, I answer at bottom)

"WASHINGTON – Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency
at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they don't
fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles."

***

Originally Posted by mlts22
"Smart cars have a ways to go before they become mainstream. There is
no real point in buying one over a Honda Civic. Civics get more MPG,
are proven safe in crash tests, have more HP, and are *far* easier to
find parts for. The only thing I can say positive about a Smart car is
that you can park it 90 degrees in a parallel parking place.

Seen the crash test on the Smart cars? The darn thing crumpled,
bounced, then spun around like a top."

***

IF YOU JUDGE THINGS BY THE WAY THEY CRASH, you'd never buy a bike and
ride it in traffic.

Yeah, stupid comments ...

I rented a Smart once to drive home for Christmas together with a
friend, and it is a perfectly acceptable car for two persons.

But, it is certainly NOT fuel-efficient (just cheaper to rent, probably
the person who set the rates didn't expect someone to drive 700 km on
one day with it - but it IS available one-way ...). At normal motorway
speeds (110-130 km/h), it drank about 7l/100km, more than say a VW Polo
(or a Honda Civic, probably).- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

When you think about it, there you find the clever hand of the
Insurance Industry scaring people into ever bigger vehicles... and the
sheep follow.

Whoever buys it though would do so for looks and open sunroof,
notoriously absent from most Japanes econoboxes.

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

I'm going to be driving my '87 Mercedes-Benz 420SEL forever.

I don't drive too much, and I spend only about $20 per week on gas for
the M-B. At that rate, it would take me about 3 lifetimes to save
enough on gas to justify the purchase of an econobox.

The Mercedes is an extremely high-quality piece; is SO comfortable and
safe, and I can do all my own work on it.

I simply fail to understand why anybody would buy one of those little
****boxes.

retro

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

On Apr 15, 5:23*pm, wrote:
I'm going to be driving my '87 Mercedes-Benz 420SEL forever.

I don't drive too much, and I spend only about $20 per week on gas for
the M-B. *At that rate, it would take me about 3 lifetimes to save
enough on gas to justify the purchase of an econobox.

The Mercedes is an extremely high-quality piece; is SO comfortable and
safe, and I can do all my own work on it.

I simply fail to understand why anybody would buy one of those little
****boxes.

retro

Well, it's like that... CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES.

Small cars are also fun to drive if equipped with stick shift, and the
Smart is cute. Even in the bicycle world you can have 16" foldables
and 29" big wheels, and they are both nice. I know because I own them.

A Mercedes is a very nice car but they also make them real small in
Europe. Only America is denied that pleasure...

Why the Insurance Industry doesn't impose a penalty on those cars that
can cause the most damage?

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

(I answer at bottom)

Originally Posted by SunSwingsLow

"Im driving a Fit right now and its WAY different than a prius and way
more practical as far useable space in the hatchback than a prius or a
yaris.

If you wanna compare something to the Prius the Insight would be the
proper comparison..of course the Insight is 3-4k less.

ps. Im getting 36mpg in the city with the Fit and 43 on on the
highway."

***


The new Fit looks pretty aggressive, unlike the Toyota that looks
cute.

Anyway, I'm so happy to see microcars in America, that I'd feel
tempted to try my luck with a bike once they the are predominant.

They are still dangerous to a bike but maybe we can both squeeze in
one lane.

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

ComandanteBanana wrote:
(I answer at bottom)

Originally Posted by SunSwingsLow

"Im driving a Fit right now and its WAY different than a prius and way
more practical as far useable space in the hatchback than a prius or a
yaris.

If you wanna compare something to the Prius the Insight would be the
proper comparison..of course the Insight is 3-4k less.

ps. Im getting 36mpg in the city with the Fit and 43 on on the
highway."

***


The new Fit looks pretty aggressive, unlike the Toyota that looks
cute.

Anyway, I'm so happy to see microcars in America, that I'd feel
tempted to try my luck with a bike once they the are predominant.

They are still dangerous to a bike but maybe we can both squeeze in
one lane.

****, that's _awful_. I get 40 round town in the wife's TDCi Galaxy, and
today I averaged 55mpg in it between Hull and Coventry (admittedly with
the cruise set at 65mph).

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

On 16 Apr, 00:09, ComandanteBanana wrote:
I simply fail to understand why anybody would buy one of those little
****boxes.
Well, it's like that... CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES.
Small cars are also fun to drive if equipped with stick shift,

That's why I still drive an old FIAT 500.
Two pistons.
Unsinchronised.
No power steering, nor braking system.
So easy to maintain and service.
No electronics !

BONUS.
After moving the passenger's seat upside down behind the driver's, I
can fit in my racing bike with just the front wheel removed.
Quite tightly in fact, with no need to tie it to hold it in place.

Sergio
Pisa

You'd never buy a bike and ride it in traffic
 

In ,
thaksin tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:
ComandanteBanana wrote:
(I answer at bottom)

Originally Posted by SunSwingsLow

"Im driving a Fit right now and its WAY different than a prius and
way more practical as far useable space in the hatchback than a
prius or a yaris.

If you wanna compare something to the Prius the Insight would be the
proper comparison..of course the Insight is 3-4k less.

ps. Im getting 36mpg in the city with the Fit and 43 on on the
highway."

***


The new Fit looks pretty aggressive, unlike the Toyota that looks
cute.

Anyway, I'm so happy to see microcars in America, that I'd feel
tempted to try my luck with a bike once they the are predominant.

They are still dangerous to a bike but maybe we can both squeeze in
one lane.

****, that's _awful_. I get 40 round town in the wife's TDCi Galaxy,
and today I averaged 55mpg in it between Hull and Coventry
(admittedly with the cruise set at 65mph).

Though don't forget that those Leftpondians don't have proper gallons (or,
perhaps more importantly, pints). 43 mpUS is about 52 mpBRITONS'g. The
Honda Fit is the Jazz over here, and is not available with a diesel, so 52
mpg isn't too bad.

--
Dave Larrington
http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk
Look! It's the Goodyear Blimp!