Charlotte-The Search For Fuel

Very interesting problem of late in the entire Southeast. A few weeks ago, Hurricane Ike smashed into Texas. The pipeline that supplies this area, and the refineries that feed it, all were shut down, and have been slow coming up. About two weeks ago supplies here got thin, and then all hell broke loose. Even as of this date, some 80% of gas stations (on average) are out of gas. Those that have gas usually only have regular (the motorcycle requires super premium and does not like regular AT ALL as I found once by putting some in by mistake) and little of that. Many cars and bikes in lines often find the station runs out before they get gas. Its been quite a mess and not just in Charlotte; most cities in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee have had fuel problems. We are also paying higher than the national average for gas. This problem is expected to continue for the next couple of weeks.
Thanks to overtime of late (heavy), some rain, and a cold that hit me a few days ago, I still have 1/2 a tank of "the good stuff" in the bike; hope to use some of that this weekend. However, transportation of any sort in the area requires careful planning. Some people have even camped out at gas stations waiting for the fuel trucks to arrive.
Next week of course is the Fall Rally at Myrtle Beach. Hopefully fuel will not be a problem, but they are planning to test some of the new regulations designed to stop the future rallies. There is word of noise checkpoints. They also have plans to try to have helmet laws in Myrtle Beach, and also enforce new loitering laws at future rallies.Considering that the Hard Rock Park there closed due to lack of customers, and the country is in recession, you would think that people wanting to come and spend money would be a good thing. Got to admire Myrtle Beach who does not seem to need it; I am sure that other beach towns in North Carolina will be looking to bring them there. For instance, though not a beach, did note that the Mt. Airy, North Carolina town web site is very biker friendly, and even has some suggested rides for motorcyclists in the area. Have been there, a great town, and a beautiful area.
Lots of interesting new motorcycles coming out. Saw today that Suzuki has a new one, the M-90, much like the M-109 but with a smaller (around 1500cc) engine. Star also has the V-Star 950 coming out, and of course the new Star V-Max (a real update of that classic motorcycle, and a major remake), and Kawasaki has a new Vulcan 1700 coming out as well. Sure to be a lot more.
Of course the credit problems are cutting into motorcycle sales, especially for bigger bikes. Harley-Davidson sales have been down from 10.2%, and they have been cutting production a great deal to cut inventory. In fact I read that in 1998 cruisers made up some 50% of the market in the US, with scooters at 5%. This year, cruisers are down to 37% of the market, and scooters are up to 19%. Fuel, and the cost of the big bikes are big factors.
Sure to be a lot of interesting developments in motorcycling over the next few months, with a lot of new bikes and new versions of old favorites coming out. Sure to be a lot of interesting news in the coming weeks. I also hope to have news of some good rides soon; oil companies willing anyhow!