About cyclemikey

cyclemikey

This hits so close to home that I can't even...

cyclemikey · ‎15-04-2022

Yes and no. Original cars with well-earned patina truly are, in many ways, more interesting than restored ones. But this isn't that. This is a rusted-out POS, and attending to only the mechanicals is kind of a silly stunt. That's a whole other deal, IMO. But to each his own.

cyclemikey · ‎13-04-2022

It's a common trait in the hobby, to buy the same car over and over, and/or have multiple examples of what is essentially the same machine. It's always seemed to me to be basically a fear of venturing outside one's comfort zone, afraid to confront the new and unknown. That's OK, I guess, but it's pretty self-limiting by definition, when there's a whole universe of interesting machines out there. I have some collector cars, and a very large motorcycle collection, representing all types, genres, nationalities, and eras. It's kind of a point of pride for me that almost without exception there are no instances of simply minor variations of the same thing. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. If staying within the confines of a familiar brand/model works for you, then it does. The trick is to enjoy what you have.

cyclemikey · ‎07-04-2022

" I woke up and realized I was 30 years old. " Boy does THAT sound appealing.....

cyclemikey · ‎15-03-2022

I doubt that Gary Davis was any more of a "flim-flam artist" than most of todays tech startups, cryptocurrencies, and 'special purpose acquisition companies'.

cyclemikey · ‎07-03-2022

So spending a few bucks on a gallon or two of VP and some Sta-Bil is out of the question, but spending the day effing around with all the machinery, squirting ether at them and and replacing carburetors is just fine. Your time apparently isn't worth very much, and you'll have to forgive me if I don't take your advice too seriously.

cyclemikey · ‎21-02-2022

Wonderful. A vintage Mustang without the essence. Or an ersatz Tesla with 100 miles of range. Take your pick. This is a forced marriage where the kids inherit all the worst characteristics of each parent. If you want to drive a vintage car, drive one. If you want to drive an electric appliance, then drive that. Pretending you can do both at once is silly.

cyclemikey · ‎17-02-2022

First rule of snark - you'd better be accurate. Fail.

cyclemikey · ‎11-02-2022

Yawn. You guys really think this is what we want to see reported? Obscene prices paid by fat-pig hedge fund managers wearing gold chains for cars they will never drive, just to flaunt their money?

cyclemikey · ‎31-12-2021

Good read, thanks for that. But honestly? I just can't get my head around even the idea of keeping a Mazda6 and sending the Jeepster on its way. That's just...wrong.

cyclemikey · ‎28-12-2021

Well, it was an entertaining article, Rob, and just like Aesop's fables, you ended with the moral of the story - buy a Honda. I've gotten to the point that I only use my "collector" cars for local fun. My daily drivers I buy new and replace them after a few years. I know that I'm fortunate to be able to do that but in the long run the savings in anxiety and problems is worth whatever it costs.

cyclemikey · ‎28-12-2021

I can see it now - a whole cottage industry springs up to produce kits to retrofit ANALOG control and ignition systems to get those cars back on the road.. Hilarious.

cyclemikey · ‎23-12-2021

Breaking news -- It's probably too late.

cyclemikey · ‎08-12-2021

No, the car was fine until the pandemic hit and it went unused for a while in the early days when we were kind of locked down and not really going anywhere. That's when (I assume) a mouse crawled up in there somewhere and died. That or it's gotten moldy in there, but it smells more like dead something. I don't have a problem paying for repair; the problem is I live in a small city where the local Chevy dealer's service department is incompetent and uninterested in actual, you know...service.

cyclemikey · ‎07-12-2021

I can truly sympathize with this effort. I have a mint-condition, low-miles C7 Corvette in the garage that I never drive because the stench from the HVAC system is so awful. I can't even imagine what it would take to get to the components on that car, and the Chevy dealer acts like they've never heard of a problem like this, so it just sits there. Been sitting there for 2 years now.

cyclemikey · ‎08-11-2021

The only comment I'd make on the Model A storage is that I'm not sure that I'd store it with the cooling system full if you suspect a head gasket issue. At the very least, maybe write a big 'note to self' to check that #3 cylinder in the spring before cranking it, and leave the note on the steering wheel.

cyclemikey · ‎08-11-2021

A 1980's frat house? I'm confused - are you using Irish Spring or beer?

cyclemikey · ‎08-11-2021

Kyle, you left off a pretty big one - spray a peppermint oil solution around the interior perimeter of the garage, and even on the floor around the tires. It's the best prevention against chewy little critters that I've ever found. Be sure to get real peppermint oil (hint: it's not the cheapest one on ebay); it only takes a few drops in a spray bottle of water. Do it every month or so and you won't have to confront mouse poop and chewed wiring in the spring.

cyclemikey · ‎04-11-2021

Nah, it's no shame to put the nice vintage iron away for the winter. My Corvair is safely tucked in, along with the MGB and all the others. No need to plow it through all the cold and rain and slop. That's why God made Subarus.

cyclemikey · ‎04-11-2021

Sure, but at some point, you're just mimicking what the DCT does. Here's an idea - just move the paddle shifters to a stick on the floor, and put in a clutch pedal that just gives your left leg something to do.

cyclemikey · ‎03-11-2021

Yeah, right. And don't forget the roll-up windows and AM radio. You guys are getting to be like the old farmer driving his buggy rig along the road in 1905, stopping every time he saw an automobile with a flat tire, to yell "get a horse!" at the motorist.

cyclemikey · ‎24-07-2021

If you want to drive a modern car with modern features, why not BUY ONE? But that's the thing - a whole lot of people don't really want to drive a vintage automobile, they just want to LOOK like they're driving one. While enjoying power disc brakes, air conditioning, sound insulation, alternators, fuel injection, bluetooth stereo, electric power steering, digital instruments, and God knows what else. But hey! Look at me! I'm driving an old car!

cyclemikey · ‎12-06-2021

Best of all time? Seriously? Well, maybe if you're a Boomer and you only consider import cars. As for me, you can find me somewhere west of Laramie, in a Jordan Playboy.

cyclemikey · ‎31-05-2021

You shouldn't. You should immediately get back to endless discussions of mechanical arcana on 50-year-old BMWs. It was an article about riding. Not everything has to be nuts and bolts. Thanks for the entertaining read, Kyle. I do miss SoCal riding, having lived there for 40 years, but I can't really say I'm sorry I left.

cyclemikey · ‎31-05-2021

So.... it may be awkward and unattractive, but hey, it's got a really nice personality.

cyclemikey · ‎26-05-2021

At least your self-diagnostic skills are functioning well.

cyclemikey · ‎07-05-2021

The TT sale didn't really surprise me. Original, unridden, ultra-lo-miles bikes have always meant that you can throw out the price guide, depending on who's in the room.

cyclemikey · ‎27-04-2021

The bottom-feeder's biggest fear is that he'll buy a car that's been hacked by someone else just like he would've done himself.

cyclemikey · ‎25-03-2021

Oh my, I can't imagine how this happened. Kyle always seemed like such a sensible boy.....

cyclemikey · ‎12-03-2021

That's absolutely true. Even if you have a very, very large amount of square footage, it will be so full of cars, motorcycles, project vehicles, parts, supplies, and tools (but NOT daily drivers!) that you will have to seriously consider whether to purchase a small min-bike because there's no place to put it. Don't ask me how I know this....

cyclemikey · ‎05-03-2021

Uh, that clacking sound you hear is your readers clutching their pearls.

cyclemikey · ‎05-03-2021

LOL, I do exactly the same thing, but i have 3 long shallow boxes - small, medium, large - and everything goes in there. i can't count how many thingies and doodads I've built from "stuff" in those boxes. BTW, everyone has limited space in their shop, because stuff always expands to fit the space available. it's like the First Law of Stuff, or something.

cyclemikey · ‎09-02-2021

You don't have amnesia. The HT4100 engine was a disaster; even well-maintained ones would grenade for no particular reason. The only Allante worth going after is the '93, and collectors know this. The 1993 model should be considered, and priced, in its own category, since it's just not comparable to the HT4100 versions.

cyclemikey · ‎09-02-2021

Oh please. Conspiracy theories? Seriously? This sale on BaT is an outlier, for sure, by a couple of bidders who really wanted this particular ultra-lo-mile car, but there was nothing "false", "fraudulent", or "bogus" about it. The auctions on BaT are about the most transparent sales anywhere. Just because you can't afford something that someone else can, does not mean that they are not respectable, responsible, or knowledgeable. Get over yourself.

cyclemikey · ‎04-02-2021

Correct bit or not, you're still gonna need the trusty old impact driver to get those case screws off without damage on vintage Japanese bikes.

cyclemikey · ‎27-01-2021

Get yourself the "family size" bottle of anti-seize and slather that stuff all over the bolt and the inside of the sleeve when you reassemble. Works for me. You know how whenever you use anti-seize, if you get sloppy it gets all over everything and you can't get it off? That's a good thing, in this case. But you have to be careful to wipe off all but the tiniest trace on the threads, so that you don't wind up overtorquing the swingarm bolt.

cyclemikey · ‎04-01-2021

Yeah. Color me a blue-collar schmuck, but none of these does a thing for me. They're just cars to brag about owning. I'll take a nice Model A, a bone-stock '56 Chevy, and a Corvette convertible, and I'll keep the change, please.

cyclemikey · ‎31-12-2020

Eh, I don't know about that Pirsig reference, Kyle. Pirsig's entire treatise was about the notion of "Quality". Invoking his blessing on screwing around with a crap knock-off carb from East Cheapistan seems like a minor blasphemy to me. Especially when the proper OEM item is still available used and even NOS.

cyclemikey · ‎25-12-2020

In the spirit of Christmas, I'm going to hold my fire on this article.

cyclemikey · ‎12-12-2020

We all feel that "debt" to the machines, but the truth is we run it up ourselves, willingly. To each his own. I would have left the stock ignition, which worked fine, tossed in a Shorai six-volt, and......done. Then I would have used my time and energy sourcing and building the proper Keihin carb to replace that vile POS that's on there.

cyclemikey · ‎21-11-2020

That junk drawer looks about right, with the exception of the Uni-Syn. What is that doing in there? It needs to go back to its place in the tool box or on the tool board. Sheesh, Kyle, show some respect. 🙂

cyclemikey · ‎03-11-2020

Congratulations. You've made an old Blazer with the carrying capacity of a Corvette and the performance of a Cruze.

cyclemikey · ‎02-11-2020

Anyone who's ever been been part of a wacky group effort like this is slowly nodding and smiling....

cyclemikey · ‎27-10-2020

All things considered, Kyle, it was a pretty minor mistake, and even at that you had a 50-50 shot at being right. At least you didn't head off on some unrelated tangent, and you correctly assumed that the problem was likely to be the last thing messed with.

cyclemikey · ‎27-10-2020

Kudos, Rob, for a very well-written and informative article. This legal tug of war has been going on for a very long time - I was involved with it when i had my independent shops, and I've been retired for quite a while.

cyclemikey · ‎24-10-2020

Come on, Hagerty - you really thought that this list, by Eurosnobs and for Eurosnobs, was going to fly here? You're getting roasted, and deservedly so.

cyclemikey · ‎23-10-2020

Don't laugh. If I had the room for it, I'd buy this. It would be great for exercising the bikes during the long rainy Oregon Coast winters when taking one of the bikes out for a 20-minute run means an hour of cleaning it up afterwards.

cyclemikey · ‎10-10-2020

The Zundapp. I don't want to buy it, I want to ADOPT it. The Ferrari station wagon is nice, too. Would fit right in with my MG station wagon.

cyclemikey · ‎01-10-2020

" what happened to the car they came out of?" RTFA.

cyclemikey · ‎30-09-2020

The Chinese have NO respect for intellectual property, as this POS knock-off illustrates. It's theft and cheating. But who enables it? Do you look to see where a new tool, appliance or device was made before purchasing it? Do you actually look for a made-in USA alternative? Do you default to the cheaper price, even if it's Chinese crap? SOMEbody is buying all those Harbor Freight tools.