Well a lot of replies, and some interesting and diverse points of view; as would be expected on a cycling forum!
To those who say petrol is cheap. Yes I agree that the oil companies do a magnificent job in finding oil, getting it out of the ground, transporting it to a refinery, turning it into the finished product and then getting it to the consumer; all for about 45 pence per litre. If only Coca Cola, mineral water producers, brewers etc. could all do that. My gripe lies with the taxation policy, especially the fact that we pay 20% VAT on the DUTY!!
Public transport. Hmmmmm. Probably a good option if you live in a major populated area, but even where I live which is only about 20 miles (as the crow flies) from Glasgow, it is poor. Dirty, cold, infrequent trains. Try getting to work on a Sunday morning (as I have to do):- First train leaves here at 0953, getting to Glasgow at 1120. It goes a very indirect route. Oh, and it costs £8.50 for an OFF PEAK return. Hardly an incentive to leave the car at home.
As for the statistics about motoring becoming cheaper in real terms over the years. I've never really trusted statistics as I used to work in a job where they were shamelessly manipulated to suit the occassion. All I know is that my income has been static for at least 6 years now (in fact we took a 5% wage CUT last year) while the cost of fuel has rocketed. As has insurance, and to a lesser extent, road tax (sorry, vehicle excise duty). As those are my main motoring expenses, I fail to see how they can say the cost has reduced in real terms.
With regards to the Honda CG125; further research has made me realise that using it for the purpose that I intend (commuting on main trunk routes) will not return anything like 100 mpg. So I think I will be using the current motorbike, and trying to use the throttle a little more gently. I can probably expect 50 to 60 mpg from it, depending on wind direction.
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