I figured since my garage is in a constant state of change, it would be fun to do an update on where things stand, what’s new, and what’s left over the last year.
Vehicles that made it through a year.
The $200 Miata.
Ever since I pulled this thing out of the woods, I’ve been using it as a running joke to see what I can do for the least possible cash. Somewhere along the way it became my favorite car. Since November 2017, I put more miles on this than anything else in the garage besides the road trip bike and the Triple. Never thought I’d be a miata owner, but it really is a perfect little road-going gokart. Part of me wants to add a quality Miata to the garage before clean ones become unobtainable.
Outlook: Very likely to stay through 2019
The salvage(ish) title FR-S
In March, I hit a deer in the FR-S which resulted in insurance writing off the car. I took the payout, bought it back, straightened the bent metal, and successfully aligned it. I’ve since been using it as a track car (after all, I still have a garage full of consumables to use up!)
Somehow, no-one ever asked me for the title so I still have a clean title in my safe at home. Carfax comes back clean as well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Outlook: Ehhh, not sure yet, with the Miata getting a 1.8 swap, it might become the primary track car.
The non-fancy supermoto
Closest thing to a daily commuter I have, rode it all last winter and whenever I needed to “haul things”. Really impressed that, despite being carbureted, I haven’t had a single fuel related issue from single digit temps all the way up to triple digits. It also has never once needed the choke to start. This is the bike that really drove home the point that lighter is better for the roads around me. It’s a little strung out on the freeway, and it’s way too loud for how slow it is, but there’s not much I’d rather ride though the tight switchbacks that snake through most of the forest roads near me.
I may unload it next summer since the 701 can replace it, but it’s hard to argue with the set and forget reliability this thing offers.
Outlook: Might sell in favor of the 701 after rain season 2019.
The Ruckus
Currently on Motor #2, threw in my spare in January when the original motor started having cold start issues (turned out to be valves too tight). Able to hit about 53mph right around where the valves start to float. I’ve thought about swapping in a bigger motor, but the reliability of the stock one is too good to give up on. I’ve done 250 mile trips where I spend the entire time 1000rpm ABOVE the factory rev limit, and it doesn’t burn a drop of oil, overheat, or skim metal off of bearings. The Grom could fully replace this in the garage, but I’ve got a bunch of friends with 50's and it’s way more fun to ride with them when we’re all on equivalently slow machines.
Outlook: Likely to stay though 2019, but it is one of the first that would go if I needed space.
The Grom
Put a ton of miles on the Grom this year, it’s the best city vehicle I’ve ever had. 110MPG, park it anywhere, light and maneuverable, If I had to reduce the bike collection down to one, the grom would be a strong contender based on my actual usage. It opened up a world of urban exploring that I didn’t know existed. in the summer, I’ll grab it and aimlessly ride around the city (and that’s huge for someone like me that usually can’t stand driving though urban areas.)
Outlook: Very likely to stay through 2019
The Triple
This thing still makes me grin every time I rev it out, triples absolutely make the best noises of any motorbike engine configuration. Currently, based on my tracker, I put more miles on this than anything else in the garage. It does everything my modified SV650 did, only better.
Outlook: Very likely to stay through 2019
The Stella
Had a motor blow up on me in September, have a replacement but need to do some wiring to convert the European spec motor to US spec wiring. Have the motor ready to go, will likely have it up and running for spring time.
Outlook: Very likely to stay through 2019
Additions
The Fancy Supermoto
A dream bike of mine since it came out, finally pulled the trigger. I’ll write a full review at some point, but so far it absolutely lives up to the hype.
Outlook: Very likely to stay through 2019
The Wrecked Ninja
Picked this up in exchange for some mechanical work on another bike. Got it running, not quite sure what I want to do with it yet.
Outlook: Unlikely to stay through 2019
Reductions
The 540i
Was a great daily for a couple years, fast, comfortable, and good looking. I decided to make a run at doing motorcycle commuting full time and decided I’d rather have the space back.
The S2000
I made a longer post about it, but the TL/DR is that it seemed like a good idea at the time, but was a lot more work and a lot rougher than I was looking for.
The SV650
Kind of hurt to sell this one. I’d spent a few years modifying it and making it as good as I could... Then I tried the street triple, and it did everything measurably better. Couldn’t justify keeping two bikes in the same class.
The Aprilia 50
Super neat bike, and really fun to ride. But didn’t see it getting much use with the Grom in the garage as well.
The Big Cruiser
Bought it just for my big road trip, and for that it was fantastic. Sold it right after getting back because it was way too big to ride around town. At 800+lbs it was twice the weight of anything else in the garage. I also didn’t want to deal with any of the potential corrosion issues riding on the salt flats might cause down the line.
Honda Aero
I owned a number of these over the years, this one was an ‘86, the best motor Honda put into this model. It still wasn’t as fast or reliable as my Ruckus.
Notable Tool Additions
Garage Lift!
Required some concrete work, but oh so worth it.
Welder
Finally got 240v hooked up in my garage, and quickly went out and bought an old buzzbox. Learned some basics but quickly found that my intended usage is way more in the realm of MIG than stick welding (I kept burning though sheet metals)
Found a coupon code online and decided to take the plunge into a quality set up a couple weeks ago.
What’s coming in 2019?
Not really sure yet. Definitely getting to the point where I need a truck, and I’ve been casually looking the past few months. Nothing else really on the 4 wheel side.
On the two wheel side, I really want to do more long road trips. My VTX taught me that an ADV or Sport Touring bike is a lot closer to the kind of touring I want to be doing than a big cruiser. And I’ve got a couple notifications set up to let me know when Triumph Tigers, Sprints, KTM ADV bikes, and Honda VFRs pop up within certain prices ranges. Although after Peter’s post, I did notice a screaming deal on an 848 evo locally right now... hmmm...