Gas Prices Not Good
By Dan Nitzel

Do you have a case of the gas price doldrums?  Join the crowd!  Our sport depends upon fossil fuels to power our machines, and the price of oil is increasing and not likely to return to the happy days of prices enjoyed only a few years ago.  Life is so unfair! 

Contrary to what we would like to think, the price of gas is not likely to decrease in the future.  The only reason for a dramatic decrease in the price of gas would be a major negative economic event, and none of us want to see that happen.  For a variety of complex reasons, it would be wise to figure that gas prices will most likely increase even more this year and will continue to increase or maybe double as time progresses for years to come.

Okay, let’s be real about this situation.   All is not lost.  If you truly enjoy riding ATVs and dirtbikes and want to continue doing so, you have two choices.  Either you need to make more money to maintain your current standard of living or make some cut backs.  There are things we can do to help reduce the cost of gas and fuel, yet still enjoy our sport!   Some of the ideas that I present may actually increase your enjoyment of the sport.

Stay informed of what’s going on.  Know ahead of time if a riding area is open or closed.  Driving to Genoa and finding the area closed can cost you an entire tank of gas.  The best way to stay informed about places to ride in Nebraska is to be a NOHVA member and receive our mailings.  Our memberships cost way less than a tank of gas, and start at only $25 for at least one year.   

As the person who manages the mailings, I make every effort possible to get important riding area and trail information out to our members as fast I can.  NOHVA email is the fastest way to get information from us.  The U.S. Mail is a slower than email but it needs to be printed, stamped, sorted and mailed which usually results in a time lag of about 7 to 14 days.  Members can email me with questions, I will gladly respond.  You can also call, but expect to talk to an answering machine as I am not always home or maybe at work.  Non-members on the other hand usually don’t get the answer they are looking for.  Why?  Because we sell riding area information to our members in order to pay the bills such as insurance, trail work, and all that is involved to keep NOHVA and our seven chapters running.

Assess your situation.  Riding ATVs and dirtbikes can be an expensive hobby and recreation.  Don’t get in debt over your head.  Assess your “quality of life” and how it fits into your budget.  The quality of life issue is a determination of what level of comfortable-ness you would like to have for yourself, your family and friends.  Are you really willing to pay for a new ATV, dirtbike, pickup or camper when a when a good used one may cost you less?

Plan your trips.  Before you make a trip to a place to ride that is a distance away, calculate the cost first.   This may involve getting a map out and calculating the shortest route.  I figure that the fuel cost for my trip in May to Little Sahara in Oklahoma that is 750 miles round trip will cost $322.  Two years ago the same trip would have cost $240 in fuel.  I plan to split the cost with a friend and figure it will cost both of us about $300 to $350 round trip with great food!  

Slow down.  Reducing your speed with the vehicle you transport your ATV or dirtbike with will almost always increase your mileage.  You can get 30 percent better fuel mileage out of your current vehicle by using a device most drivers already have.  That would be your right foot.  Most drivers agonizing over the cost of gasoline fail to realize the enormous impact their driving style has on fuel consumption.  My experience with my truck pulling my camper, slowing down from 70 mph to 55 mph increases my mileage by 30%!

Truck Pool.  One way to reduce the cost of high fuel prices is to share a ride or “truck pool” with others.  Many may not like this option as individualism is an important part of the sport.  However, when it comes to being able to afford to ride or not, finding someone to ride with to a park or trail system may be an important economic decision, considering how far we have to drive to get to trails in Nebraska.  To find others that may what to “truck pool”, get on the Internet and place a post on www.nebraskaatv.net with your location and dates you would like to ride and find others near you who may interested in getting together.  It’s FREE!

Drive the truck less.  Instead of buying that big new truck, maybe check into buying a good used truck and a good used economy car or motorcycle.  A good used car like a Honda Civic often times get 28 miles per gallon in town and almost 40 on the highway.  The days of the big pickups and SUVs as a primary mode of transportation are about over, get used to it unless you are willing to spend over $100 to fill the tank all the time!  Keep the old 4x4 truck and use it only to pull your machines and camper around or for nasty winter weather.   Keep in mind that the price of fuel will most likely not ever decrease a whole lot.  Recent newspaper articles indicate that some experts predict that the price of gasoline could be $7.00 a gallon by 2012!     

Ride a Motorcycle!  High fuel prices allowed me to discover street motorcycles!  These are way cool (to me).  A dual sport motorcycle is a riot to ride on the street and dirt and the smaller, 400cc and under machines can get 60+ miles per gallon.  One word of caution, because of all the idiots on the road using cell phones, drunk, or just bad drivers, street bikes are not for the faint of heart.  If you have never rode one, consider taking a Motorcycle Safety Course.   

Campers are expensive.  Before you go out and buy a new camper or toy hauler, consider the cost of ownership.  New and near new campers and toy haulers are very expensive and usually loose a considerable amount of value when they leave the dealership.  While we are bombarded with advertising from the RV industry that says we will be closer to nature and our family with that new camper, the facts are it seldom turns out that way for most people.   Many commercial camp grounds can pack you in to campsites like sardines in a can and can cost $25 to $30 a night.   Staying in motels and eating out are way less work and almost always cheaper than new camper payments.  Also, you won’t be stuck with owning another vehicle.  I own a four year old camper and my cost of ownership including taxes, insurance, payment, and maintenance is around $5,000 a year!   

Buy a Used ATV instead of new.  You can reduce your cost of the sport by setting your standards a bit lower.  Maybe you would like to have a new ATV but the price is a bit more than you can afford?  Instead, look at some good used units or watch for a big sale on dealer repurchased units.  Last winter a local dealer (who is advertising units in this newspaper) had a sale on new and demo ATVs that were bought at a dealer auction and were advertised $2000 below retail.  

This may be a great time to buy that slightly used ATV or dirtbike at someone else’s expense.  The price of gas has some people scared, or some people realize that they can’t afford the sport.  There are a lot of real nice, clean units out there, especially sport units.  Check the Saturday Omaha World Herald for units under the motorcycle classifieds.  Other local newspapers can be great resources as well.  Another good place for lower cost units is eBay.  Most ATVs and many dirtbikes on eBay sell for less than Blue Book value. 

Before buying a used ATV or dirtbike, always consult the Kelly Blue Book.  The Kelly Blue Book is a service that sets the trade in and retail values of machines based upon their actual value adjusted for the location where they are being sold at.    When looking for a used ATV or dirtbike, machines that have accessories such as pipes, fancy wheels, engine modifications, tires, etc. installed DO NOT increase the price of the machine.  Unless the machine is specifically built for one purpose, such as sand drag racing, never pay more or much more for a general use machine than what the “Kelly Blue Book” value is.  Used price values can be found on the Internet for free at www.kbb.com in the motorcycle section.  Banks and ATV/dirtbike retailers always have copies of the Kelly Blue Book.

I hope some of the items I mentioned in this article can help you continue to enjoy riding ATVs and dirtbikes.  While I can’t predict how high the price of gas will get, I will make changes to my lifestyle in order to continue the sport. 

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This page was updated on Saturday, March 07, 2009