I recently purchased a 2007 Yamaha TW 200 for use as my daily commuter (sorry, no pics of my own yet, but it is exactly what you see in the link).

This weekend I calculated my gas mileage and I drove 101 city miles on 1.3 gallons of gas. This means I am getting 75+ MPG CITY! Not that theoretical estimated stuff they put on new car stickers but actual real world driving!!!

And it is super fun and would be a great in many scenarios. Possibities are many:

1. Gas supplies disrupted for 2 weeks, no problem, this thing only sips gas.

2. Traffic backed up - no problem, this thing doesn't need roads.

3. Multiple trees down because of hurricane - just drive around.

It is lightweight and fits in my shed! This is not a fast bike by any means but that is not the point. It is fast enough and can basically go anywhere. A scooter would get better gas mileage, but has no top end.

If you are thinking about how to face the rising cost of gas, I would recommend thinking outside the box (or at least think about reducing the number of wheels that carry you).

And if you live in one of those big cities with nasty commutes and HOV lanes, they might qualify for those fast lanes. My cousing in DC says that motorcycles can ride in them and it would cut 30 minutes off a commute. Quicker commute, cheaper commuter, and a lot more fun. Oh yeah, you also develop a profound knowledge about just how stupid and distracted the overwhelming majority of motorists are.