Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

It's illegal because it's dangerous. It's also rude to cut that's why. It may be legal in California...but this ain't the Mainland as we all have grown to appreciate on this board. On the issue of riding on the shoulder, I've seen HPD's motorcycle division issue citations for private motor vehicles (including motorcycles) for driving on shoulders on the Pali Highway.

Riding anything with blatant disregard for traffic laws is bad enough but to justify it because it's good enough for you is downright reckless. One mile over the speed limit won't kill anymore than the posted speed limit however something moving in a restricted zone could especially if you're tooling up the shoulder and some asshole in an SUV decides it's "good enough" for him to pull into the shoulder and create his own HOV lane and use you as a reminder that that wasn't such a good idea.

Oh and the post on sludge after cracking? It's used Bitumal and is used for asphalt paving our potholed city streets.

The butane and Pentane is burned off and the propane is sold to The Gas Company, Amerigas and others for non-utility propane distribution.

One thing I'm really glad to see is Toyota upping their Hybrid production from 300,000 to 1M. It shows there's a demand for these kinds of vehicles. I imagine by 2007 we'll be seeing stylish cars using the hybrid concept such as the Ford Mustang. I'll wait a few more years when the bugs are worked out, better styling options and the prices drop to competitive levels before considering buying a hybrid. As with any first year production model of anything, you wait until the problems are addressed before buying the second generation and cheaper model.

[Alarick]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

IMHO, making riding on the shoulder or splitting lanes a habit is far more dangerous than it's worth, at least here in Texas.

More often than not, the person driving on the shoulder is a middle aged woman, or a metrosexual driving an oversized SUV (like a Ford Excursion) while on a cell phone.
So putting my 360 pound bike in the way of their 5000+ pound SUV is not the best of ideas, they barely see other cars, let alone motorcycles.

However, if the well being of your vehicle is on the line, in my book traffic laws are null and void, as long as you don't cause an accident.

[pzarquon]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

Is that a mature response? Do you really believe that such bizarre hostility is warranted?

I realize you took my "meets an unkind end" comment personally as a motorcycle rider, and I apologize. I see now that my smiley insertion was too late in the phrasing to have been appropriately interpreted. My saying "I hope they hit a bus" is the same way you hope the guy who steals your parking space in the Costco lot gets hit by a bus. You do, but not really. Or maybe you do, I dunno.

If a motorcycle rider splits a lane and is injured (by an off-center car, or a big mirror, and not because someone tried to clothesline you or something - I specifically did not say I hoped someone would open a car door), I do maintain that the motorcycle rider will rightfully be at fault. He or she shouldn't have been there in the first place.

If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

Absolutely, cops disregard our laws. That sucks. But if you see a cop drive 90 m.p.h. down King Street, run a red, or drive over a grassy median to make a way illegal U-turn (which I see more often than you'd think), that's hardly justification to do the same thing yourself.

And while a policeman or two may have given you clearance to split lanes or ride the shoulder, it's technically illegal, and while you can make a good case if you're stopped (and I imagine you could, given your verbal skill demonstrated here), you may still be ticketed.

[MadAzza]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

I realize you took my "meets an unkind end" comment personally as a motorcycle rider, and I apologize. I see now that my smiley insertion was too late in the phrasing to have been appropriately interpreted. My saying "I hope they hit a bus" is the same way you hope the guy who steals your parking space in the Costco lot gets hit by a bus. You do, but not really. Or maybe you do, I dunno.

I appreciate your apology, and I'm sorry I overreacted. I do get oversensitive about these things. Sometimes I really should wait before responding!

Yeah, I talk that way too ("I hope that guy crashes" or whatever). Of course I don't really want someone to get hurt, either, and I should have understood what you meant.

I don't split lanes. I usually don't ride on the shoulder, either! But it's kinda nice to have permission every now and then. I think the police would rather I do that than park it on the side of the road and create that kind of hazard or distraction. In any event, it's not something I do often. I hope I didn't give the impression that I bypass every traffic jam. That's not the case at all. I usually just sit there or creep forward along with everyone else.

Again, I apologize to you and Glen.

Aloha,
Nancy

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

I think it'd be nice too if my Ford was overheating stuck in traffic and some officer said, "Oh it's alright I'll let you break the law just this once " and let me do it.

But really to use the arguement that your bike is aircooled and you have to keep it in motion won't deal you a sympathy card from the judge. He would just tell you to find a vehicle that can sustain stillness without overheating or don't drive it in traffic at all.

Unless it's an emergency I highly doubt any officer of the law will allow you to drive on the shoulder or split lanes for the sake of not getting your okole chewed out by your boss for being late.

But heck what's the name of that officer that gave you permission to do so? That way if I do it I can drop his name, "But officer! Seargent Dooright said I could, honest!"

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

Last edited by MadAzza : Today at 04:36 PM. Reason: to beat Ryan and Glen over the head with apologies

Ow! Ow! Ow!

[MadAzza]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

But heck what's the name of that officer that gave you permission to do so? That way if I do it I can drop his name, "But officer! Seargent Dooright said I could, honest!"

If I got pulled over, I'd tell the officer that his coworker told me I could ride the shoulder to the next exit, and I'm sure it'd be fine. They're not total a-holes, usually. Besides, chances are the guy pulling me over is someone I went out with, had drinks with or used to ride with. It pays to be friendly.

Most of the time, cops will give you some leeway, especially if you're honest with them up front. If someday I ask permission to go around and the guy tells me "no," then I won't. I'll pull off and shut it down. I've done that before when the shoulder wasn't wide enough to negotiate safely. I'm not going to go past people two inches off my right grip at 50 mph. I'm talking about riding slowly along a *wide* shoulder to the next exit (or to where traffic is moving again, whichever comes first), not hotdogging in and out of traffic like a 23-year-old boy on a crotch rocket.

Again, shoulder-riding is a rare occurrence for me, something I've only done a few times in 20-plus years of riding. But this has been an interesting discussion.

[Composite 2992]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

Oh and the post on sludge after cracking? It's used Bitumal and is used for asphalt paving our potholed city streets.

"The majority of the fuel oil used by HECO utilities is residual low sulfur
fuel oil that is leftover after the lighter petroleum products, such as gasoline
and jet fuel, are refined from crude oil."

This info is directly from HECO from one of their fact sheets, available on their website.

And this stuff does need to be kept hot in the storage tanks. Otherwise it solidifies, just like the asphalt used to pave our streets. Imagine trying to remelt it after it cools off in a pipeline!

There is also some discussion of making use of the lighter byproducts such as the naptha that's currently being exported as a byproduct from the local refineries. There is allegedly enough naptha being produced to power a 100-megawatt plant without having to bring in more crude oil to the islands.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

This low grade residual low sulphur fuel oil or Bitumal that is kept hot in the tanks typically isn't pumped throughout Oahu's fuel distribution system but is kept in it's storage tanks for distribution directly into holding tanks for asphalt production.

Virtually the only byproduct left from crude consumption by power plants or refineries is what emissions are produced when the stacks are blown every month and daily output.

The EPA has guidelines on the amount of sulphur a crude processing plant can release thru it's stacks so a lot of it stays in the product. Today's gasoline has lower sulphur content but it still has some of it. That's why companies like CRC and STP are still in business selling carb cleaners and fuel injector cleaners. Sulphur has that yellow sticky gooey look and feel to it and smells like rotten eggs.

Your Catalytic converter is supposed to cook off remaining sulphur passed on thru your engine but guess what, if you use crap gas (the stuff the independent service stations buy) there is a higher amount of sulphur in that gas and less additives to clean your engine and the emissions, that's why it's typically cheaper than the name brand gas. Cat's last on average about 10-years before they begin to clog up from this cheap gas. Pretty soon it acts more as a hinderance to your exhaust system.

Currently Naptha is used as an octane booster at the refinery level. It is highly flammable (moreso than gasoline). You can also buy Naptha at your local hardware or paint store. At the retail level it is used as a type of paint thinner.

One of the good things about Hybrids is that it doesn't rely on HECO to provide electrical power to charge their onboard batteries. The car recharges itself thru regenerative braking. Typically the gasoline engine that drives the Hybrid charges the on board batteries when in that mode.

I believe the ultimate Hybrid car will mate a hydrogen fuel cell powerplant where the hydrogen is derived from water. The fuel cell would provide the full-time power generation for the electric motors. A smaller cluster of batteries and large capacity capacitors are used to provide voltage and power buffering for high demand useage.

The exhaust on a this type of hybrid would be pure oxygen you can blow into the air for better health. The only bad emission from a fuel cell/battery set up is Sulphur Dioxide from overheated lead acid batteries when in high demand such as towing, high speeds or hill climbing. Until we develop batteries that do not emit sulphur when heated we won't get away from a totally pollution free automobile. Never mind the rubber in our tires leaving tons of carbon-laced rubber on our roadways every year they wear down.

So yes even the venerable bicycle produces some kind of carbon pollution from tires wearing down.

Walking? Well when compared against a combustion engine, the most efficient human body requires more fuel to produce the same amount of horsepower as a four-cylinder engine running on only one cylinder. The amount energy and maintenance it takes to keep the human motor running optimally can be expensive when taking into account health insurance, food, housing, clothing, and other essentials needed to keep the human body healthy and protected from the elements.

A car needs a garage, wax, oil, gas, and annual preventative maintenance like a radiator flush, whatever. But car insurance is WAY cheaper than health insurance and the price it takes to feed a car gas is probably cheaper than feeding the human body if the human body was the only form of transportation for the soul. Pollution? Well how much crap does the human body produce daily plus the C02 it emits for every breath it takes? Hmmm

And when the human body's essential distribution systems (digestive, circulative) or filtering systems start to fail (kidney, liver) the cost to repair them is EXPONENTIALLY HIGHER than it takes to replace an entire car's engine. And a car doesn't have to go on an organ donor list and have to wait until a car get's totalled.

Factoring in protective measures, a bottle of fuel additive costs less than a bottle vitamins. The cost of a garage is cheaper than the cost of a house. The cost of a bottle of wax is cheaper than clothes. Tires? well tires cost more than typical footwear unless it's a pair of designer Nikes that Michael Jordan wears.

As for computing power, the brain requires lots of chemicals produced by the body to function. A car requires +12vdc from the battery.

So IMHO, a badly running Ford Pinto is cheaper and more efficient than the human body to store and utilize as transportation.

[AlbertKim]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

what about biodiesel, no one mention it yet? Works very good, now it is cheaper than gas. you go below to find out more

http://www.mauigreenenergy.org/biodiesel.htm
http://www.mauirecycles.com/biodiesel.htm
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=447609751

[AlbertKim]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

"Because it burns cleaner than petroleum-based diesel, Maui Electric Co. uses biodiesel as fuel when the firm is starting up and shutting down 12.5-megawatt diesel generators at its Ma'alaea power plant."

read it at
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../ln/ln11p.html

Biodiesel require no conversion from your car if you have a deisel engine already!

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

what about biodiesel, no one mention it yet? Works very good, now it is cheaper than gas.

We've mentioned it.

Price/Availability of Diesel
biodiesel processor
Pacific Biodiesel

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

isn't biodiesel too cost prohibitive to produce yet? A friend of mine is looking at adapting his diesel powered Mercedes to used cooking oil. His dad owns a Chinese restaurant in the Waimalu Shopping center so he can get a lot of that stuff.

[Composite 2992]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

Craig...

There's a local company producing biodiesel and the price is below regular diesel fuel.

Aside from filtering particulates, glycerin is seperated from the cooking oil to make it usable as diesel. Don't know how accurate this is, but here's a guy who did a homebrew experiment to make the stuff:

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/biodiesel.html

Local producer of biodiesel: http://www.biodiesel.com/

Maybe your friend can set up a trade deal, to get a discount on fuel for supplying used cooking oil? Now THAT would be a great way to turn waste into something worthwhile!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Motorcycles, hybrids, and buses, oh my.

I'll let him know that. One thing about Chinese restaurants is that they use a lot of oil!

I read that article in the Advertiser and was surprized there was a dealer out there producing the stuff already!

Now if gasoline powered cars could only be adapted to run on bio diesel.