The Price of Diesel

vwkook · Post by **vwkook** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:44 pm

I just paid 3.86 in the ghetto woo hoo!! Fifty-two freaking dollars to fill the Caddy. Sheesh.

hippiehulahooper · Post by **hippiehulahooper** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:08 pm

$3.85 diesel
Gas $3.25 low grade

VW Jon · Post by **VW Jon** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:32 pm

I've still got my moped. It gets 100mpg @ 25mph. If I can do some mods to get the speed up a bit it'll be moped time.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:41 pm

VW Jon wrote:I've still got my moped. It gets 100mpg @ 25mph. If I can do some mods to get the speed up a bit it'll be moped time.

That thing would be pretty hot if you put a turbo on it

VW Jon · Post by **VW Jon** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:41 pm

I'm going to start by removing the resrictive exhaust. It's about the size of a finger at the outlet. I don't know much about two strokes, but I'm going to learn.

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:32 pm

Exhaust backpressure is critical for proper breathing on a 2-stroke. Be sure you get a new exhaust designed for your engine or it may not run right.

Pup Tentacle · Post by **Pup Tentacle** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:36 pm

One of my personal pricing rules about fuel. It takes approx. 90 days for an increase in cude to be seen at my local gas station. We hit the magic $100 a barrel in Dec/Jan. Now it's March and I'm seeing a price spike. Sustained?????

It is important to note that diesel is a distillate and gas is not (or is not considered a distillate by the trading community).

I've played the commodities market and dabbled in futures, mostly in the precious metals arena. When addicted to propane for a home fuel, I'd wait till summer or late fall to do a bulk buy (more than 500 gallons). usually caught it on the upswing heading into fall. Not the lowest but darn close. That cycle no longer strictly applies in the liquified gases arena. My daughter bought propane in late Nov for less than $1.90 a gallon only slightly up from late summer and autumn price levels. weird?

If I were still "playing" in commodities trading it wouldn't be in the fuel sector. It seems to have become more emotionally driven (like the daily flucuations in the bond and equities market) and not driven by solid economic factors. Three months ago energy futures traders were indicating $140-$150 a barrel crude was likely within a year. I don't see any conflicting reason why it wouldn't. That puts the price of fuel oil going into next winter in the $5-$6 a gallon range. If in the next year there is any kind of an obstruction in the availability of crude coming from the middle east all those numbers will be low.

Another helpful indicator to monitor is the various regional reserve levels. In my neck of the woods, gas reserves have been plentiful while fuel oil reserves have been low. Which I believe causes (or contributes to) a disproportionate price difference between gas and diesel. i.e. diesel costs more than premium unleaded.

Scarfed $3.75 a gallon "winterized" diesel from a retailor who hadn't recieved a new shipment from the distributor. Pretty said statement being happy about diesel @ $3.75 a gallon.

Pup

Pup Tentacle · Post by **Pup Tentacle** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:41 pm

Alot of modern 2 strokes are "supercharged" through the exhaust port through the use of an expansion chamber (muffler looking thing). The small hole at the end is really a design feature.

Now fitting a small 2 stoke diesel to that moped would be way trick.

Pup

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:08 pm

yup, leave the pea sized exahuse on it as the honda areo 50 and other 2 strokes are indeed super charged via a ultra sonic bounce back where the sound bounces back and seals the open port off and forces the unburnt fuel back into the cylinder. this used to be called the "powerband" back in the 1980's when motocross bikes first used this feature. This feature is called "keeping it on the pipe" meaning keeping the engine at that exact RPM where the sound supercharges the engine.

As for fuel prices, rose $0.20 cents overnight, $3.89 now

crankpot · Post by **crankpot** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:40 pm

WHAT~ Just filled up my motorhome..... $700!!

yikes.

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:41 pm

yup, a friend of mine just parked his big rig and declaired bankrupt ( local dump truck gravel services ) due to fuel prices.

ribguy · Post by **ribguy** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:06 pm

What a difference a day makes. Northern Idaho $4.05 gallon

VW Jon · Post by **VW Jon** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:22 pm

Well then, I'll leave the factory supercharger on. I don't know what this guy did, but way back when, he modded his moped so it could easily beat mine in a "race." Don't know how much mileage or engine longevity suffered, though. My moped isn't a complete slug. I raced a 70s era Datsun wagon in a one block race and won, but he pulled away after that. I think he had maybe 5 more horsepower.............it was slow.

woodrat · Post by **woodrat** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:06 am

ribguy wrote:What a difference a day makes. Northern Idaho $4.05 gallon

No kidding. Saw $4.05 at my local pump today, up something like 16 cents from a couple of days ago...

Pu241 · Post by **Pu241** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:22 am

Mon Mar 10, 2008
$3.85 in Bridgeport, OH
$4.09 in Washington, PA

Thur Mar 12th, 2008
$3.99 in Bridgeport, OH (One station $4.39, must have just got a delivery)
$4.29 in Washington, PA