Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images On Saturday I asked our readers if they're willing to ride an economical two-wheeled machine in order to combat our currently declining economic forecasts. At some point the tastes of the American consumer will have to change to avoid 12 mile per gallon pickups and over-inflated SUVs, right? Whenever that does happen, perhaps a small but significant portion of the population will convert to two-wheeled regular riders. I wanted to know if the readers of Jalopnik are eager to get on a scoot, or if they're too chicken. Their answers did not disappoint. My personal choice is to frequently ride my stand-up electric scooter for short journeys, my electric motorcycle for medium journeys, and my plug-in hybrid economy hatchback for anything that requires more cargo than a backpack can handle. It's a pretty efficient trio, and I've avoided the gas station for several weeks at a time because of it. And because I'm on a bike or scooter most of the time, I am not getting stuck in traffic as often, and I get to actually have some fun on the road. It's the best of all worlds, if I'm being honest about it. I've broken the reader responses down into three different categories. So, without further ado, these are my favorite answers submitted by our readers this weekend: The Doomers Jerrygrugin/Getty Images "No price, unfortunately. Big, gas guzzling cars have crazy profit margins in the US and are seen as status symbols. Gas could be 100$/gal, people will still be at the pump Suggested by: Dano Nahabedian The average American doesn't have $1,000 in their savings account, so I fear some major societal changes would be forced upon us at $100 per gallon gasoline prices. I promise if it cost $1,600 to fill up my Audi A3, I'm probably never driving it again. "Unfortunately, we decided to ditch our motorcycles & scooters when crazy Hellcats & lifted F-250s just made riding an exercise in survival." Suggested by: Nomoto Expensive gas will be an extinction-level event for these cars, so no need to worry about it. "Are you kidding? Watch any – ANY – video of foreign countries where scooters (and their oblivious riders) have infested the streets, and your blood pressure will skyrocket. They're all convinced that it's THEIR pavement to do whatever they want, and anything that happens is never their fault. It's really hard not to clap and cheer when one of them gets swatted out of the way." Suggested by ThatGuy I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about the wellbeing of other humans, regardless of how annoying you find their riding. I don't get stressed about watching scooter videos from other countries, but maybe I'm just built different. The Riders Halfpoint/Getty Images Scooters are great. Cheap to buy and insure. Simple to learn, I watched a few youtube video and then just did it. I would recommend buying something with at least a 150 engine, any smaller than that and you are really limited. 300-400 is the sweet spot for most people, great for in town but can get on the freeway safely too. Spend 3000 and you can get a really nice used scooter with low miles in perfect condition. I have a suzuki burgman 650. Only gets about 45mpg, but its more of a freeway cruiser than in town. Tons of power, decent handling, super comfortable even for my 6'4 self. It has enough storage to fit 2 full paper bags of groceries under the seat plus a frozen pizza and bananas. I used it for 2 years exclusively, rain or shine. Suggested by: Gabriel S A Burgman 650 is maybe the platonic ideal scooter for everyday use. It won't get quite as good of fuel mileage as a smaller-displacement bike, but 65 mpg is still better than any of my four-wheeled machines, and at least two of my two-wheeled machines. Excellent work. I used to commute daily on my bike and used an e-bike when I had a longer commute. It was the best part of my work day! Invigorating on the ride to work and a relaxing winddown at the end of the work day. Suggested by: Sherm Unit There's nothing quite like going for a ride first thing in the morning to get you excited to meet the day. Honestly, an e-bike is even better than a scooter in 2026, because they're also good exercise. Nice work! "Never, I have bicycles for this." Suggested by: potbellyjoe That's two-wheels, we count those. "The way inequality is surging in the US, soon everybody but the 1% will be riding in scooters while the top earners will be cruising in giant escalades." Suggested by: jujuxx I fear Escalade is far too cheap for the people you're talking about. You'll get 50ccs of freedom and they'll get bullet-proof Rolls-Royce Cullinans. The Never-Riders Alkimsarac/Getty Images It will be a cold day in hell, and I don't mean Michigan, before I ride a scooter. I will steal kidneys from co-workers before I give up and sink to that level. In other news, anyone up for a dinner party. I just need to know food preferences, allergies, blood types and basic medical histories of any condition which may impede renal function. Suggested by: Skeffles I expect nothing less than the best anti-two-wheel propaganda from Skeffles. Excellent work. "Really, I'd go EV before I'd go scooter. At least I'm 2 miles from a light rail station that'd drop me a mile from my job if things were ever to get desperate." Suggested by: DungBeetle62 This is a reasonable trade-off I suppose. You're getting away from the sting at the gas pump while still remaining a four-wheeled devotee. So let's change the question to "How expensive does everything have to get before we all drive EVs?" "You cannot use scooters on the highway in greater Boston unless you're suicidal." Suggested by: Winter Cat I've ridden scooters on the highway in Detroit. Your hypotheticals don't scare me. "That's a great option for warm regions and solo drivers, but not practical for the cold weather regions in the winter or hauling family/pets around. Also, what do 2 wheeler owners do when it's time to get groceries? Eat a delivery fee every time? They still need a beater at least in winter, and what does a cheapo beater cost these days? $5k for something that MIGHT be ok for a while? I know there are individual exceptions but I wouldn't expect a $2-3k car to not need work to keep it running. I wonder if $5k is actually enough now? What are people's experiences for anyone who bought a cheaper ($5k and under) used car in the past year?" Suggested by: Jackpot Yeah, it's definitely impossible to ride scooters in the cold. Who would do something that dumb? Oh, right, most of Europe. "Never? 3 kids and a dog, terrible winter weather, neighborhood full of distracted moms in Escalades and aggro dads in Wrangler Rubicons / F-150 Raptors, and a wife who works in the ED and told me she would divorce me if I bought a motorcycle. Love the idea, but doesn't really fit suburban family life." Suggested by: LAX4THEWIN I can't help you with your wife, but trailers, sidecars, and pillion seats exist, and you can learn to ride defensively. It's okay to admit you just don't want to give up your luxuries. There's no shame in that.