Monday, June 18, 2007

Second Vehicle III: Reality Check

1. Bicycle. When my bicycle was stolen in St. Paul a few years ago, I said "Good riddance!" I hadn't been riding it ayway, so that simply concluded my lifetime of bicycling. Since I'm not in shape to ride a bicycle and it wouldn't be of much use for a day trip or going for help, it isn't really a good choice, which is too bad, because it's the easiest and cheapest option.

2. Moped. Next step up from a bicycle, and certainly better than pedaling, but how do you carry one? Google says racks are available to mount in a hitch receiver, but my RV doesn't have one of those. (I think my ancient RV was built before the hitch receiver was invented.)

3. Motor scooter. Ha ha, very funny. I had one of these when I was a teen and have always associated them with youth. Do I want to ride one as a retiree?

4. Small car. The possibilities are many, including a Geo Metro or a VW Golf, but the most interesting suggestions (thank you Riley) were a Porsche or a Mazda Miata. I leaned toward the Miata, due to better expected reliability, apparently towable with four tires on the road (if it has a manual transmission) and advantageously light weight for towing. (Dreams of riding around with the top down, admiring the Canadian Rockies...)

Reality check: Towing a car requires a class 3 or 4 hitch, meaning it's got heavy steel connections to the RV chassis. I looked at my RV hitch — it's just bolted to the bumper! D'oh! So towing a car would require fitting the RV with a big, expensive new hitch and outfitting a Miata with expensive towing hardware. Plus finding and buying a used Miata. Too much, too much.

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