less cars : roll on $2 per litre

BrettS wrote:

The nerd/mechanic/inventor/tinkerer in me still thinks that a
HPV/electric hybrid is the go.

Figures I read years ago indicatged that a proper hybrid would double
fuel performance. Petrol/diesel motor runs a generator at constant,
optimum revs to top up battery bank.

Battery charged by a wind turbine (I
live near the coast), or a solar farm in my tornado ravaged back yard.

Go for wind to up first. Almost any permanent magnet motor stuck in the
air with vanes will generate something. You can worry about efficency as
your construction skills improve.

I vaguely remember silicon chip doing a wind turbine recently based on
the motor from a relatovely recent model washing machine. It was a
radial design rather flat.

Alternatively, there are plenty of designs on the web for wind turbines
for aid projects in Africa and India.

ghostgum wrote:


The cost to run an electric vehicle is not the cost of the electricity
to charge the batteries, it is the cost of replacing the batteries
every 1-5 years.

Is that a comment based on actual experience?
He certainly would be lucky to get that if he treated his batteries the
way most people treat their current car batteries. Depending on driving
conditions, say regular daily commute to desk job, with proper (monthly)
care, I would expect that his batteries could last thn years. (thinking
lead acid, nothing else).

Donga wrote:

That's obvious enough. Wishing for it to happen is still mean and
nasty.

Not really. I look forward to a healthier life style where I can once
again ride the roads in greater safety.


Like many people we are economising to afford what is important,
and some of the changes will get less and less fun.

As the kids grow up, they will become involved in less anyway and they
can take responsibility for their own transport, like riding a bicycle {:-).

I've always found life as being about choices between stuff I want to do
and stuff I really don't want to do, but it provides incomes, etc.

TimC wrote:

Why go to that school then?

Reputation?
My wife was a public school teacher ten years ago, then went casual
teaching. Finally, she had enough of teaching in the public system(
there was a growing list of schools that she would not work in). so she
swapped to private schools. Lol, now there is a list of those schools
she will not woork in.


Public schools could really do with some investment, and the best way
to do that would be if more students attended them

The problem in NSW is that the government is doing that and not
providing additional resources to support the numbers, plus adequate
resources for integration students (special needs, handicapped, etc,
etc, etc) and has loaded everyone up with report after report after report.

When they started to expect teacher to buy their copy of each subjects
curriculum, that was when the rot started here.


their precious spawn all over the place.

I've worked in private schools.
Lol, give me kids from public schools anyday.
Far more initiative.

Donga wrote:
It's not a safe ride for my kids, nor could they do it
practically with the varying hours and the gear they need.

Nor was it aparticularly safe ride to school for me, so I walked for
30-40+ minutes to and from (Saving the bus fares {:-). It wasn't free in
those days.

wrote:

My wife has been studying nutrition as part her master's in ed. One
of the factors leading to high levels of obesity is the high cost of
fresh food vs cheap processed foods. Then the quality of the
fresh fruit and veg is deteriorating too, and we can't afford to buy
all organic.

I hear ya. I hate those damn silicon veggies they sell down at Coles
these days, and don't get me started on the stainless steel oranges.

I wish I could get produce like we used to grow when we lived next to
that BP oil refinery, when everything had that nice certifiably organic
benzene smell. Or before that, when we couldn't afford to buy any
physical food so we had to use our imagination and ate meals that were
completely chemical free. Yum.

Ah, they were the days...

Travis
(Just funning! No offense intended. :-)

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on 14 Aug 2006 20:44:56 -0700
Donga wrote:

Thanks ya *******. I have three kids who are involved in a lot of
activities. It simply can't be done without driving. This petrol hike


do they all have to go in the same vehicle? A 250cc scooter and a
helmet each....

Zebee

On that front I found out. (From a guzzi owner who shall remain
nameless) that vmoto is an oz company. And their new retro 125 scooter
arrives now. And one of their over scooters with remote starting and
other goodies costs just under 3 K and released in sectember last year
was supposedly the best selling scooter in Oz.

Now its interesting that a couple of people at work are talking about
these. I promised one staff member that I would take him in on the Kat
and test ride one of em for him. While my own feeling is that the
things are lethal all the evidence seems to be against me. But the
people talking about the things are the big mercedes owners at work who
would never own a pushbike or a motorbike. And that is a major major
culture change.

NOw if we can just get em to recognise that they are on two wheels

Dave

deejbah wrote:
I find it amazing that parents today are willing to drive their kids
around almost to the detriment of their own lives, even when their kids
are able to either walk or cycle to where they are going. The same goes
for people flogging themselves to death at work so they can pay
exhorbitant private school fees and clothes. I can't see how that is
healthy for either parents or the children. I remember when I was a kid
that whenever we played away games, there was usually car pooling or a
roster system between the parents. At home games, we would often walk
or ride to games.



Funnily enough while the murder rate has remained almost static in
australia since 1880 you wont find a single parent who doesnt think the
world is a far more dangerous place than when they were kids. It isnt.
The romans had serial killers.

SO they drive the kids everywhere, becoming themselfs the biggest single
risk to the safety of them in so many different ways. And if you dont;
then you would be the 'evil' parent.

As I said in another thread. 2 13 yo kids camping out of a sailing
dinghy on the shores of a lake and shooting bunnies for the hols would
probably get dad charged with neglect these days. I so miss my dad.

Dave

In aus.bicycle on Wed, 16 Aug 2006 07:52:29 +1000
dave wrote:

Now its interesting that a couple of people at work are talking about
these. I promised one staff member that I would take him in on the Kat
and test ride one of em for him. While my own feeling is that the
things are lethal all the evidence seems to be against me. But the
people talking about the things are the big mercedes owners at work who
would never own a pushbike or a motorbike. And that is a major major
culture change.


Don't knock it till you have tried it.

Mind you - you'll have to get over the "power out of trouble" mindset
if you are afflicted with it

A 125 can perfectly happily do what cars do plus lanesplit. They aren't
much chop 2 up, and they don't smoke a car at the lights if the car is
trying, but they don't hold up the ones that aren't and they perfectly
happily take one person and a briefcase at speeds up to 100km/h. And
when was the last time a nominal 100km/h road was doing 100 at peak
hour?

They are cheap to run, easy to ride, and don't have the greasy lout
image[1] of the motorcycle. For someone who wants a commuter to save
wear and tear on the expensive car and money on petrol while being
able to park in all sorts of free[2] places they are brilliant.

Plus once someone has got used to 2 wheels of any kind, they are more
receptive to 2 wheels of any kind. If they ride a scooter they'll
notice powered and unpowered two wheelers when they are driving the
car.

Win/win really.


Zebee
- whose 180cc scooter smokes most things, but it's got a fair few
more ponies than your 125 vmoto and they are much friskier.

[1] or the cashed up retiree trying to pretend he's rebelling image...
[2] although how long that will stay true is hard to say. The
drawback of the scooter boom is more bikes competing for the same
resources.

On 2006-08-15, AndrewJ wrote:
Not having kids of that age, I'm only responsible for myself. I choose
to ride to work, and I choose to ride to the gym. In fact I choose to
ride, full stop.

Like the great man said "cycling is life, everything else is just the
bits inbetween".

You're mis-quoting. It's actually "Life is diving. Everything else is
just surface interval." ;-)

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