[Wicked109]

purchased this smaller lighter, more agile Kawasaki VX-300, basically just to keep my motorcycling skills sharp, and as an occasional weekend ride,

Zebraranger, that is a really nice bike.
Hmmm...You're in Florida, you ride it to go fishing, probably run on dirt roads and some grass like in the nice photo....I'm looking at your tires...if a Gator suddenly pops out and looks at you with hungry eyes, you might be in a pickle if you're spinning your tires due to lack of traction and can't get away.

 

[AK Hunter]

I'm a fairly good mechanic & I should be able to get something running even if I have to run it on alcohol.

 

[Wicked109]

I'm a fairly good mechanic & I should be able to get something running even if I have to run it on alcohol.

I drink beer and run to the bathroom when the over-pressure limit sensor says "Go Now."

 

[blue fox]

I'm a fairly good mechanic & I should be able to get something running even if I have to run it on alcohol.

I tend to run on alcohol on the weekends.

 

[runfiverun]

i learned to not run on alcohol............. unless the police are involved.

 

[austinjoe13]

I’d like to think the Cougar would survive an EMP, but it does have electronic ignition, so I’m not 100% sure. If it does and we can find any kind of gasoline, we’re running.

 

[runfiverun]

the electronic ignition will be it's down fall.
points and condensers...

 

[60942]

Leather Personnel Carriers and our horses...if we don't eat 'em.

 

[thrillbilly]

We have a golf cart and scooter/trike that we can charge with solar...so as long as the batteries last we would have short-range transportation.

 

[shanebrews]

Leather Personnel Carriers and our horses...if we don't eat 'em.

I ate some horse steak in Colombia last week; not as tender as beef.

 

[Sav .250]

I`m fishing with my sons. Each has his own bass boat. They buy the gas.
I would offer to help but don`t want to offend either.

 

[PaleHawkDown]

The absolute best vehicle you could have in one of these situations is one of those pickup trucks the railroad use with the little train wheels.

!. avoids traffic or road blocks in and EOTW situation, and chances are there won't be active trains on them.
2. take the most direct route from city to city.
3. there will be refueling, resupply, first aide and maintenance stations on the route that are more likely to be overlooked by scavengers.
4. If the track is blocked, you can go around
5. much of the track is secluded and away from prying eyes.
6. Tracks go through a lot of farm land and a lot of warehouse districts for easy supplies.
7. They are equipped with radios so you can form a caravan and easily communicate
8. The easiest off-roading you can do.
9. The trucks have plenty of storage.

 

[RetiredFreedomfighter]

I've ridden motorcycles for the last 45 years, but as I've gotten older, I started riding less and less about 5 years ago. Thats when I sold both of my big bikes and purchased this smaller lighter, more agile Kawasaki VX-300, basically just to keep my motorcycling skills sharp, and as an occasional weekend ride, and for freshwater fishing trips into the Florida backcountry. It has a 4.5 gallon fuel tank and gets 70 mpg. I've started riding it more and more often recently instead of taking my gas guzzling 4x4 GMC Sierra pickup that only gets 13 mpg. I also have an older Jeep Wrangler, but its gas mileage is pretty pathetic also. So now if I have to go somewhere by myself, I take the Kawasaki, weather permitting. As part of my preps, we keep about 50 gallons of fuel for the emergency generator for hurricane season, that would keep this little bike running for a long time.

My plans are to steal a pretty little bike from some guy off fishing. Just joking, nice ride.

 

[60942]

The absolute best vehicle you could have in one of these situations is one of those pickup trucks the railroad use with the little train wheels.

!. avoids traffic or road blocks in and EOTW situation, and chances are there won't be active trains on them.
2. take the most direct route from city to city.
3. there will be refueling, resupply, first aide and maintenance stations on the route that are more likely to be overlooked by scavengers.
4. If the track is blocked, you can go around
5. much of the track is secluded and away from prying eyes.
6. Tracks go through a lot of farm land and a lot of warehouse districts for easy supplies.
7. They are equipped with radios so you can form a caravan and easily communicate
8. The easiest off-roading you can do.
9. The trucks have plenty of storage.

Good idea PHD!

 

[PaleHawkDown]

Good idea PHD!

I've only ever heard one negative when I bring this up. One of our regulars works for the railroad, and he told me that since the rail wheels are attached to the frame, it bypasses the suspension and shock absorption. Since you are not nearly as heavy as a train, every seam, piece of debris, and imperfection is felt. He said that even the toughest guys can't stand more than a couple of hours of it.

But hey, it IS the apocalypse. There's no one to stop you from doing this:

 

[ncnascarlady]

Note to self...don't steal a rail truck. My body will be suing demanding better working conditions after 15 minutes on the track.

 

[RetiredFreedomfighter]

The absolute best vehicle you could have in one of these situations is one of those pickup trucks the railroad use with the little train wheels.

!. avoids traffic or road blocks in and EOTW situation, and chances are there won't be active trains on them.
2. take the most direct route from city to city.
3. there will be refueling, resupply, first aide and maintenance stations on the route that are more likely to be overlooked by scavengers.
4. If the track is blocked, you can go around
5. much of the track is secluded and away from prying eyes.
6. Tracks go through a lot of farm land and a lot of warehouse districts for easy supplies.
7. They are equipped with radios so you can form a caravan and easily communicate
8. The easiest off-roading you can do.
9. The trucks have plenty of storage.

Those wheel systems are not cheap and it is not cheap to add them so finding an old one might work. Most railroads it would be a federal crime to drive on them fwiw. That said, I have seen a normal pickup with axle width such that he just straddled the track and let the air down to about 15 pounds, He then drove without touching the steering wheel pretty slow. The reason he did so was because there was about two miles of elevated bridge and no way to get a truck through the yuck and muck and sand below the bridge. He was a telephone repair guy who needed to get to equipment in the middle of the river bed. He would just drive out there, climb down the train structure do his repair and go on. He did tell once about an unscheduled train appearing a couple miles away, he saw the light and said he exceeded that safe speed he normally drove.

Another fellow I have had business dealing with played music with Merle Haggard decades ago. Merle had a fondness for old cars, and my guy was also a collector and ran a body shop in Bakersfield California. where they had met. So they are at this fellows ranch in far NW Oklahoma and they came up with an idea, they would jump on tracks and I think went to Amarillo and back, just as I described, drinking whiskey and having a good old time. Could it be true? Well let's check the facts. The average railroad track is 56.5 inches, center to center. So lets look at those old Fords, best I could find is this chart, the second and third row is the front and rear axle width, yep it could be true. They are the same. And they do not have to be exact.. Modern trucks are too wide about 69 inches. So that might be a thought and old car or one of the mini-trucks.

Wheelbase, track width, and differential measurements (crankshaftcoalition.com)


Ford car

• 108", 56.0", 56.0" -- 1964-'68 Mustang
• 96.2", 55.6", 55.8" -- 1974-'79 Ford Mustang II, Ford Pinto, Mercury Bobcat, Mercury Capri (track also listed as 55.1"/55.3")
• 100.5", 56.6", 57.0" -- 1986 Ford Mustang GT

Too risky for me, but might work. I think I will just have my stuff deliverd by those Amazon drones.

 

[60942]

I've only ever heard one negative when I bring this up. One of our regulars works for the railroad, and he told me that since to rail wheels are attached to the frame, it bypasses the suspension and shock absorption. Since you are not nearly as heavy as a train, every seam, piece of debris, and imperfection is felt. He said that even the toughest guys can't stand more than a couple of hours of it.

But hey, it IS the apocalypse. There's no one to stop you from doing this:
View attachment 175814

LOL!

 

[blue fox]

The absolute best vehicle you could have in one of these situations is one of those pickup trucks the railroad use with the little train wheels.

!. avoids traffic or road blocks in and EOTW situation, and chances are there won't be active trains on them.
2. take the most direct route from city to city.
3. there will be refueling, resupply, first aide and maintenance stations on the route that are more likely to be overlooked by scavengers.
4. If the track is blocked, you can go around
5. much of the track is secluded and away from prying eyes.
6. Tracks go through a lot of farm land and a lot of warehouse districts for easy supplies.
7. They are equipped with radios so you can form a caravan and easily communicate
8. The easiest off-roading you can do.
9. The trucks have plenty of storage.

Google or check YouTube for "Rail speeder "cars. fun looking little things. Also google an outfit called "Shuttlewagon" They build them here in the KC area.

 

[gsbuickman]

I'll be ridin' my trusty 98" 01' Roadstar for most things. I'm also a mechanic & I recently picked up a silver 91' Mecury Capri convertible from a friend of my ol' lady for $175 .

The last thing I wanted was a Ford product, but I'm a sucker for quirky 80's cars and this is no exception. Basically it was designed in Italy so it has pop up headlights and a kool bodystyle. But it was built on the Mazda 626/929 chassis with the 1.6L Miyata engine & tranny. So it's basically a miyata w/ a back seat much like the AMC AMX / AMC Javenin in comparison. It currently dosent run but it's early obd1 so it's, fairly simple and should be easy to get her going again after we find somewhere new to start rebuilding from.