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Save $2 on $8 tickets online. Want to be even more cheap? They stop charging for parking a couple hours before the show closes. The show continues at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg through Sunday until 9pm each day.

The word "Hybrid" is plastered on many vehicles at the annual show.

There are green hybrid logos, leaves sprouting out of logos and green signs on the carpet. The same technologies as in previous years, but in more models.General Motors has their mild hybrid (a couple mpg more for a small price) on display in the new Malibu.

The GM 2-mode hybrid, that shares engineering with Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, is on display. The electric/gasoline hybrid will be available in the Tahoe SUV and Silverado Pickup.

Ford has an interesting cut-a-way of their EcoBoost engine that is a direct injection gasoline engine boosted with turbo that promises a 20% increase in economy.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid is on display. It shares mechanical concepts with the Escape Hybrid and takes on the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

A small SUV/crossover from KIA with a small, 4-cyl common rail diesel engine (CRDi) that is European/Asian? spec that we won't get here, but you can see under the hood.

BMW features a full-size SUV with a new clean diesel that gets 26 mpg.

The weird award goes to the Nissan Cube. A boxy little, yet marshmallow looking car.

I can't resist an event where a company lets me ride their motorcycles on an 11 mile real world ride for free and you have to love Harley for this once a year not to miss event.

Harley-Davidson Open House Sept 25-Sept 27

A cut-a-way of the new Buell / Rotax liquid cooled 1125cc Helicon V-Twin caught my eye at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Washington D.C last winter.

Buell is the sport bike division of Harley-Davidson marketed to riders who aren't into the chrome and mystique, but would like to buy something American made that isn't a clone of anything.

Buell went to Austrian engine manufacturer Rotax to help them design a V-twin engine that utilizes three counter-balancers that smooth out the power monster. Rotax also makes the parallel 800 cc twin in my BMW 800 ST.

I love the quirky, one of a kind Buell designs, the low maintenance lifetime drive belt (BMW take notes here) with a tensioner that makes it feel like a drive shaft that only pulls in one direction - straight . However, I have never been a fan of a bike that the mirrors vibrate so badly you can't see what's behind you at a stop light. Previous Buells are based on HD engines.

The new Helicon® V-Twin is a symphony of motorcycle ecstasy. Lots of torque, a subtle trashy mechanical sound, and an assertive exhaust that lets you know it's a stealth rocket without sounding noisy.

The engine uses a "Hydraulic Vacuum Assist (HVA) Slipper-Action clutch that eases clutch pull and limits back-torque during hard downshifts". The result is one silky clutch/transmission combination.

Now if they would put this engine in the Buell Ulysses series (I'm more of an upright rider)... and trim down the cc to about 800 (I want to get 60+ mpg) .. that would be about perfect for me.

The small 492 cc, single cylinder engine Buell Blast gets 72 mpg according to the Buell website.

Interesting thing about riding alone on a motorcycle trip is that you are never really alone. There is a bond formed by two-wheeled travelers. Perhaps it is the shared risk or the shared responsibility for each other. It's symbolized by "the wave", a synchronized passing of open palms in opposing lanes.

I decided to take the long way down to my destination on the coastal border of North and South Carolina. The Outer Banks of North Carolina connects back to the mainland with a system of ferries.

Motorcycles are strange creatures on small ferries. Ferries bounce and roll and riders are usually advised to stay with their bike.

With the first ferry, I shot past a line of 50 cars because there is always room for a bike.

With the second ferry, I was first in line with a Harley rider named Mike. We were tucked between the lines of cars in the center of the bow.

Two hours standing guard over land loving machines on choppy water. Two hours of shared conversation spanning a lifetime

When I was looking for a new motorcycle, I tried to find the highest mileage scooter that was capable of not getting run over on the highway. You would think that mileage ratings for motorcycles would be more transparent, but there is no government mile per gallon standard that manufactures are required to publish with the sale of the motorcycle so it becomes a guessing game based on internet searching.

Ironically, most motorcycles with a usable/flexilble engine size really don't get very good mileage and many with huge over 1,000cc displacements rate below my Civic Hybrid which has about the same size gasoline engine (1,200cc). I was replacing a 919cc in-line 4cyl Honda that got in the 45-50 mpg range and before that a carburated 4cyl Honda that got about the same.

For most people buying a motorcycle, it is more an emotional experience of coolness and/or chrome and that is how they are marketed. It's about the ride and the "lifestyle" more than a statement of responsible fuel use.

It is assumed that any motorcycle will get great mileage and if you compare it to most four wheeled vehicles on the road 45-50 mpg is probably double. However, from the perspective of a car owner who normally gets 45-50 mpg in my car, I expect more from a motorcycle.