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[Rio]

I would ask those in Europe what they pay in property taxes ? What do you pay in income taxes ? What other taxes do you have. We Americans get taxed on every single aspect of our lives. The air we breath, the water we drink, the food we eat - - you name it, we pay taxes on it. As such, our government does not tax any one thing to the extreme I would suspect you are being taxed on gasoline -- - -or petrol as you call it. Further, we subsidize the oil companies in our country as well as give them the rights to drill on public lands for fractional amounts of pennies. Trust me, even at $2/gallon, Americans pay more for their oil than anyone in the world. 

B B

I used to have to travel to Europe often on business back in the 90's.  Back then, I believe the French paid somewhere in the vicinity of 55% income tax!  I have no idea about property tax or anything else.  I know public college or university is free as well as most other public services.

[Envithyx]

Duly noted and agreed.  ... I still would argue there is quite a bit of room in the ol' budget for many people to make adjustments.  I don't exactly consider all that stuff to be necessities, but unfortunately I guess a lot of people do.

Sadly, I don't see anything on the horizon that will rein in the greedy SOB's causing this run-up in prices, and since gas is already at $4.29 here, the talk of $5.00 gas by summer is starting to look overly optimistic.  Now it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility to see $6.00 gas.  After all, there seems to be no natural upper limit when it comes to greed.  And speaking of greed, I wonder when my favorite company will respond to the "crisis" by bringing out their new all electric model (the Electric Electra-Glide?) at only $60k or so?


Jerry

Agree with ya as well.  It is a fine art to managing wants vs needs at any point in the up or down swings of the economy.  Just killed my sat service last month not that I can't afford it, but decided that it wasn't necessary and that they could take their increases in fees and shove it.  Gives me 120 more towards something else.

I find it interesting that when inflation seems to be about double what the avg salary increase is this year, there also seems to be about a 20% increase in costs across the board.  Doesn't make for a positive long term outlook.  But then again, that's more of my own gut feel viewpoint.  Economics isn't my thing.

So in the end, I fill a tank and go ride and not worry about it.   

[Resbiker]

It's a bitch, but this gives me an even better reason to ride... the diesel truck, Corvette, wife's Yukon will see much fewer miles.

[vettmann]

Out with the four wheels in with the two.....
 

[hogasm]

When's Mercury coming out with their econo-model?  har.  spyder

the new 300 motors are expected to burn 40% less fuel that the old 250's

So it should only take about 20,000 gallons of fuel to break even........That is the plan

[Spiderman]

I used to have to travel to Europe often on business back in the 90's.  Back then, I believe the French paid somewhere in the vicinity of 55% income tax!  I have no idea about property tax or anything else.  I know public college or university is free as well as most other public services.

Exactly - - my point was this. When you factor in all of the things like socialized medicine in Europe and all of the other services provided by the government what is the actual cost of living as compared to the USA. Maybe it's higher, maybe not. I don't know. I hope nobody thinks I am saying I do. Sometimes I pose a question in a form that seems more of a statement. My apologies if this came off that way. Bottom line is are we better off here in the USA as we've always believed or are we not ? No politics involved, nobody being blamed, just a question as to fact(s) 
For me, the increase in the cost of any commodity causes issues. I am on a fixed income. I do not get raises. My only added income is in being astute enough to know when to take some profit from my investments. And that costs me dearly on my income tax as I am only 57. So while it may seem absurd that somebody with a $40k motorcycle and a fleet of small boats would care about the price of fuel it is an issue. Those things were aquired in a variety of ways that in many cases had nothing to do with how well off I am/was. At the end of the day, whether it seems for real to anyone else or not in my worrying about gasoline prices, it is real for me.

B B

[smkymtnboy]

fuel prices will not stop me riding period. I HOPE!

[kraut]

yesterday a gallon 100 octane fuel was $ 9,25 in Dresden, Germany, diesel was at $ 8,18. That's the highest price since the summer of 2008 over here.

Transportation industry of course is affected but the private people don't change their habits. We are used to comparatively high fuel prices as it's taxed like mad over here.

The EC is discussing regulations on fuel prices, in Austria stations are legally prohibited to change fuel prices more than once a day ...

[SEgle]

Well i've never heard anyone say they are not going on a ride cause they can't afford the fuel. And I hope i never do.

In my case, when running 2 x V8 cars everyday, fuel for the bike is in significant.

[2harleys]

yesterday a gallon 100 octane fuel was $ 9,25 in Dresden, Germany, diesel was at $ 8,18. That's the highest price since the summer of 2008 over here.

Transportation industry of course is affected but the private people don't change their habits. We are used to comparatively high fuel prices as it's taxed like mad over here.

The EC is discussing regulations on fuel prices, in Austria stations are legally prohibited to change fuel prices more than once a day ...

I do not get it  ---  why would they not just raise the price double the next day to make up for not being able to raise the price more than once each day? Is there a maximum amount that they can raise price in one day?

[kraut]

it's quite simple: the companies evaluate local competitor prices during the day and adjust sometimes 3 or 4 times a day, up, down  and than up again. That way they make price-watching useless, keep people driving around and finally outsmart quite often fair competition - and make anti-trust laws uneffective.

[Harley Guy 5]

Weather is starting to warm up and the rain is starting to slow down.

I also was thinking the gas price would not slow me down on weekend Rides, but that is when i was not able to ride.
But on Saturday i just went out for something to do, used 4.5 gallons, little over $18.  Went out on Sunday down to the HD shop to pickup my heated seat on a warranty issue, 3 more gallons,  On my way home stop in and seen a Bro, he told me about a place i could get some gas without ethanol in it
$ 4.99 gallon Had to try it.

I have a 500 mile one day ride coming up this weekend, 12 more gallons
So as you can see with just weekend Fun Rides you can be spending a extra $200 in gas a month, up here in Oregon we may get 5 months of good riding

I got this bike to Ride and Ride I Shell   Even if the wife has to  give up her shopping trips at the malls

[spydglide]

I got this bike to Ride and Ride I Shell   Even if the wife has to  give up her shopping trips at the malls

That's the spirit.  har.  spyder

[BalDeagle]

Where are the Europeans?!  Remind us Americans that we complain too much about gas prices.  

You do - over $9 a US Gallon in certain gas stations in the UK now.

BD

[dayne66]

The bike costs roughly half of what it costs to run the Jeep...so higher gas prices will just give me more 'excuses' to ride instead of drive...so long as weather and purpose of trip make it feasable.