xantufrog wrote:
One thing to note about "being green" is that 2-stroke engines, especially vintage/classic ones spit out a lot of pollution, so they aren't clean to ride. Any "greenness" should be perceived from a fuel economy standpoint, not an emissions one.... My ET2 is a 2-stroke and is noticeably less stinky than my P200 and my old Puch mopeds, and you can't see the exhaust any more than you would on a 4-stroke vespa. But even it has more invisible emissions than the 4-strokes. Just something to consider. It is still definitely a "live for less" way of life, but you should understand just what "2-stroke" means in regards to mother earth.
Indeed, I somewhat struggle with this every day since I try to be environmentally conscious and, in general, try to do more with less and reduce/reuse/recycle wherever I can. It's not so much that I'm a die-hard tree-hugging environmentalist or overly frugal, I just try and reduce my conspicuous consumption and put some thought into what I buy and consider if what I already have would really do (though by no means am I a self-flagellating saint). Honestly, I'm a little aghast at how much more waste my family generates since my wife and I have had two children (and that's having used washable cloth diapers, not disposables), but that's a whole other story...
I can reconcile my driving a 2 stroke Vespa as follows:
Yes, it definitely does emit more particulates than a cleaner four stroke engine would because of the burning of oil;
that said, it uses one HELL of a lot less gas than a car (and, for that matter, two strokes are more efficient by weight and displacement than a 4 stroke but my comparison would only really work against a car), so that means not only does it consume much less gas itself than the 2.0L VW I'm getting rid of (rough estimates at probably a 1/4 to 1/5 of the fuel), but also less particulates and greenhouse gases are going into the atmosphere from the
a) extraction and
b) distribution of said gasoline
(picture oil rigs, oil tankers on the high seas, big ass dirty trucks in places like the Alberta oil sands, and big diesel gasoline trucks going to your local gas station) per km driven between the Vespa and a car.
Happily, my scoot is a vintage 1978 model (remember, reuse before recycle!). That means next to no plastics -- mainly steel and rubber. There's a bit of chrome trim, but that's it (and original, not new). That's good for the environment compared to the synthetic dashboard of almost any car nowadays, plus many other plastic parts on cars and newer scoots.
Finally, I don't have a battery (the stator provides all juice) so no environmental residue from having to produce and dispose of that, either.
Can you tell this keeps me awake some nights?
It's how I live with myself.... [I] protest too much, methinks (
Hamlet3.2.230).
Honestly, I have no problem justifying the pollutants from a 2 stroke 150cc vintage Vespa compared to some of the massive-displacement, gas sucking, aerodynamic brick wall SUVs that I see driving around every day (not to mention the selfish "bigger/higher/heavier is safer" mentality of their drivers.) If we all played that game of safety is seeing over the car ahead with more gross axle weight being helpful in impacts then we'd all have big rigs in our driveways.
Check out this
article for some food for thought on cars like the Prius. The general conclusion? It's less of a carbon footprint in the overall product life cycle and environmental impact equation to stick with an old, light, small-engined car like a 1994 Geo Metro XFi rather than the producing a brand new Prius (and that's not to mention what to do with the batteries once the cars begin going to the wreckers in large numbers).
Sorry for the rant -- I think I'm running a fever... to be avoided, like posting when drunk
Cheers,
phaetn
P.S. Oh yes,
Scooterteen, to reiterate what Len said: if you're not prepared to take a safety course, you're not prepared to ride anything motorized (especially as a teenager -- no offense, it's just about driving experience and well acknowledged risk-taking behaviours since your brains aren't fully developed yet -- no kidding!). Great fuel efficiency on mopeds/scooters/motorcycles is entirely achieved through very little weight, and the consequently much smaller displacement engines required than in a car; this comes at the expense of that handy steel cage around you, a large engine block in front of you, crash bars in doors, bumpers front and back, not to mention luxuries like seat belts and airbags. Also, cars tend to see other cars much more easily than skinny bikes, and -- for the most part -- cars tend to stay upright when you skid unless you've really f*cked things up...