Inane ramblings to avoid thread jacking

[marvellous]

Nice!  Flea is one of the best bassists ever... I reallly like RHCP back then but I'm over them now... *shrugs*  And Primus!!  Another great band...  And you're not old, just seasoned... heh

[duc_fan]

Threadjacking the threadjack thread...

I thought the title of this article was kinda funny.  It's something I'd expect to see on a small-time blog, not CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/12/bug.diesel/index.html

[Bendy]

I see Les Claypool every chance I get. He came through Salem with Oysterhead a while back; caught Primus proper at the convention center in '04 and Claypool's Fancy Band at the Roseland last year.

[marvellous]

Les rocks!!  Kinda odd in person but damn he can play... Victor Wooten tho still might be the best bassist I've EVER seen... OMG is he good!!

[Randimus Maximus]

FWIW, I've seen Claypool twice. 

Once in '93 with Primus on Lollapalooza.  Outstanding! 

Second was in '04 on the C2B3 tour.  I was not impressed.  Mostly due to having four virtuosos on the same stage fighting for attention. 

[duc_fan]

Random subject change...

I think I'm getting me a track bike.  A bone stock 2005 CBR600RR (other than the obvious roadside-obstacle-applied mods).

Insurance co. dropped the buyback on my bro's bike to $1960 and change.  My ceiling was $2k.  It'll need a radiator, hoses, maybe a fan, throttle control group (bar is fine, plastic housings and cables are not), and rear brake lever.  After that it needs some bodywork... and there's a bewildering array of crap available.

To go street legal, it'd also need a headlight unit (~$300), some kind of barend mirrors, and something for front turn signals.

Whaddy'all think?  Worth it?

Of course, it has to be approved by my brother first (since it's his bike and his ins. claim).  If he doesn't want to do the buyback then sell it to me... well, then I'm SOL.

[Tailgunner]

Whaddy'all think?  Worth it?

Worth it yes in that regard but with your interest in buying a home, ridding the student loans, your VW obessions, I say slay the beast Sidney, don't become a racer it's too expensive!!! You be home-moaner. Trade in or sell the SS and get a Multi. My .02 cents 

[ryandalling]

I would do it. The hardest part about bikes with bad titles is not knowing the history or extent of damage. You know both. The bike should be reliable and fun!! I would track it in an instant.

[Betty Rage]

Worth it yes in that regard but with your interest in buying a home, ridding the student loans, your VW obessions, I say slay the beast Sidney, don't become a racer it's too expensive!!! You be home-moaner. Trade in or sell the SS and get a Multi. My .02 cents 

Billy is right about that. Track days are not cheap. You are looking at $200+ per track day, depending on which ones you do. Not to mention new tires every 2-3 track days (depending on how you ride), more frequent oil changes and maintainance, gas, etc. Ask Mo how much he spends per year on racing.    It's an expensive hobby for sure, no matter how you look at it. So you really have to think about your priorities. If you think you can afford the racing part and accomplish your life goals within your time fram, go for it!  You are always welcome in our pits.

But I also know the temptation of a new toy, and the ability to rationalize putting off what you really want in the long run to get what you want now.

It's up to you dude, if you get it, we look forward to seeing you at PIR. 

*Ok I had to edit a lilttle bit. You don't HAVE to do many track days and race days per year. For all I know you might HATE the track and never want to do it again. 2K for a track bike is a slammin deal. But, as with any addiction, you get a little taste and then you need more and more and more until it's taking all your disposable income, which is what would probably happen to me if I were to get on the track. So I say go for it. Try out the track and see if you like it but definitely don't let it go to your head.*

[duc_fan]

Yeah, this could impede the home-purchase effort...

First, I'm not planning to race.  This would be used for a couple trackdays a season, probably.  Well... at first, anyway.    And it'd be for more than just me... it'd be a bike Dad and Dave can use for ToR rides as well.  We're just not sure if they want to or can afford to put any money toward it.  If they can't, I'd like to get it anyway, and they could still use it freely.

Second, it'd be resalable (I think) for at least what I paid.  Lots of kids on CBR forums telling their buddies with totaled bikes that they'll buy the salvage bike for around $2k if the owner doesn't want it.  Insurance auction forums are showing values between $1900 and $2700 for bikes that aren't rideable.  Salvage title CBR600RR trackbikes with a small handful of goodies are worth $5000-$5700 on forums (bodywork, sliders, clipons, maybe rearsets, & exhaust).  If any of you know how much a 2005 CBR600RR would go for at PIR with minimal track equipment (bodywork, frame sliders, slip-on muffler), please post up.  So far it seems I'd be able to get my money back out of it at a minimum.

I'm not sure how the math will work out in the 6-mo to one year term.  I owe less than $2k on my car, so I'll pay that off with the "Incentive Pay Plan" bonus from work at the end of the year.  That'll save me $140/mo in auto loan payments.

The other good news is that this quarter my private student loan interest rates are down to around 5.25%, which makes the minimum payment much more bearable (then I pay at least 10% above said min toward the principle).  Back when interest rates were high, my minimum payment was around $730/month.  Yes, engineering degrees are expensive. 

The bad news is that the Fed is concerned about inflation... which means the rates are probably goin' back up here soon.    I'd reconsolidate the loans to a fixed rate, but the fixed rates are at 8% right now... the worst rate I paid for variable was 8.25%.  I'm not sure it's worth fixing them at 8%.

Anyways... I'd like to buy it, try it, if it's killing me financially then I'll get rid of it.  That's if I buy it alone.  If Dad, Dave, and I go in together (not sure what Tom wants to do), then it's relatively easy to fit into the budget, so there's no question about keeping it.

Well, now we just gotta check with Tom and see what his take is on it... he may want it gone completely, for whatever reason.  I'd be disappointed, but it's his bike.

[duc_fan]

Update... Tom doesn't care what we do with the munched CBR.  He's gonna get a nice shiny new (leftover) 2007 600RR.  [moto]

Now, we just have to figure out how the rest of us want to divvy up the finances.

Dad would like to (if affordable), make it a relatively inexpensive street bike again.  It'd look vaguely like this one (sans he fugly Gixxer mirrors, spendy Carrozzeria wheels, brake rotors, and CF slipon):







Repsol replicas are everywhere... how often do you see a Rothmans replica?  Plus Dad & I both like the paint scheme.  Anyway, that's one option.  We priced it out, and including the bike buyback it'd cost approximately $4000 to finish.  That's using relatively inexpensive aftermarket street plastics (whole set for that Rothmans replica is a little over $800), barend mirrors, and modestly prices flushmount signals.  We'd retain the stock exhaust, wheels, rearsets, etc, for the time being.

Now, to make a track-only bike we're looking at a little less money, more like $3750 (again, including the bike buyback).  That's buying all new repair parts (some OEM, some aftermarket).  If I'm the one building this, and it's gonna be track-only, then you can bet I'll cut the costs a bit by finding used stuff where possible.

First thing, we are buying it back.  Then we'll need to figure out exactly how we're finishing it.  I'm certainly not gonna go bonkers on the track if we're running street plastics.  One "oops" and $800 in plastic goes "bye-bye".  On the other hand, if I make a track bike out of it now, Dad's not gonna want to put street stuff back on later.  Finances are frustrating... so I'll give him and Mom some time to mull over their options.  There's plenty of mechanical crap to hunt down deals on before we get to "the point of no return" bodywork decisions...

[bnbmike]

Has BB ever made an impulse decision?  I'm just sayin'. . .

Oh, and (.)(.) as Marvel would say

[Bendy]

Has BB ever made an impulse decision?  I'm just sayin'. . .

Oh, and (.)(.) as Marvel would say

+

[duc_fan]

Has BB ever made an impulse decision?  I'm just sayin'. . .

Oh, and (.)(.) as Marvel would say

Yep.  Bought a blackpowder rifle on an impulse while living in Iowa.  It turned out to be an uncommon caliber, and it hasn't caught on.  To add insult to injury, it doesn't even qualify for the "primitive weapon" season in Oregon, so it's not particularly easy to sell here.  So now I have a .52 caliber inline muzzleloader (blackpowder) rifle that's insanely accurate, has a really high muzzle velocity, and will drop a caribou at 200 yards... but I'll never actually use it for more than blowing up gallon jugs of water in spectacular displays of destructive power.

Since then, my "impulse decisions" have involved very, very small amounts of money.  Otherwise, my impulse buys tend to result in rare, expensive, cool, but ultimately useless toys.

My SS is the closest I've come to a major impulse decision since the blackpowder rifle.  I saw it on Craigslist on a Saturday, thought about it overnight, called on Sunday, found out 3 others were scheduled to see it later that week, so I looked at it on Monday, and after looking at it then discussing with Dad for 20 minutes I put "good faith" money down on it that night.  Picked it up that Friday.  I did, however, know the bluebook value and had checked CycleTrader for real-world resale values.

I think about everything.  It's what I get paid to do at work, and it's just ingrained in my personality type.  That's a good thing, because people who think like me help keep airplanes from falling out of the sky. 

[NEIKOS]

. . .  because people who think like me help keep airplanes from falling out of the sky. 

Not to mention eating coal and crapping diamonds keeping engagement rings affordable for the masses