billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

[bootz]

".so there's a problem. I can't put the roof on as if I do - I will have trouble getting into the car. even with luck and that does happen once I get to the mechanics the roof will have to come off as neither of the mechanics will fit in it and that's with the roof off"

This would drive me bonkers!!!

Basically you have an exotic 4 wheel cycle with the Lotus.

[bootz]

If you re-read 'Zen and the art of MC maintenance' things will appear much simpler.

[billybunter]

bootz

if I had waited years to buy my dream car and say it was that lotus..........i'd be really pi,,ed off . but it was only an impulse buy so I don't care much. plus the only thing which keeps it safe is its a good looking car which attracts attention NO! plus its factory supercharged with an extremely smooth power delivery.
now if I was going to be honest its the factory supercharger that will save it for the moment. these are pretty rare and only one other unit has come up since I bought mine.

madkeen

yes I watch that video and I too am concerned about that curtain but before then I am not one of those silly idiots and I mean outright wankers who will leave the lot to the kids. they can have the house and cars -if any but I will spend all cash prior to the departure date

I do that job quite well. I actually can't be trusted with money! on a good day I would rob myself

[billybunter]

well I should be flogged I've been complaining how friggin hard those probax seats are in the lotus since I bought it and I had a very similar problem in the SE on my last run to the top end i ran the taxi cab style beaded seat covers in the car and it worked sweet.

so on near dark I had the usual brainstorm idea out to the delsol and the taxi beaded seats were still dormant on the boot lid. been laying there for months. so I grabbed the seat covers and the gaffa tape and wrapped the gaffa tape around those highly expensive and highly overrated probax seats then did a 20 klm test ride.

what a difference worked pretty good too. so that idea worked pretty good and then I shot off an email to the usa chasing some special type foam called kemmier air2gel which I will buy and just tuck under the taxi bead seat to complete the job

my side stripes arrived from the usa too. might have a go at fitting them myself. so it reads mazdaspeed turbo 235. well its not for kw or bhp as its well ahead there - its what it ran in the open limit in the Northern Territory with 1000 revs still in reserve

that may never happen again due to its closure but more importantly for me - it did happen

[93_Clubman]

Think that side stripe will look better than the solid black one a page or so back.

[billybunter]

stripes again or one side anyway

[StanTheMan]

That should add 25 kw

[billybunter]

well in my case -I am not short of a $$$$ and I don't mind telling you either! so I can add 25 kw pretty quick I am not afraid to spend it either

[billybunter]

NEW BIKE

got myself a new bike to ride today. bought it off ebay and decided it looked pretty good for $200 new plus the postage. this has nothing to do with the new motorbike as it doesn't arrive till next week

now some who may ride pushbikes might think...bit of rubbish and it probable is..........but in theory I got it for free so I don't really care.

you see on a bird swap I didn't know how much the birds were worth. so I put them up for sale at $500 and got roughly 8 calls in total. then the seller rang me and mentioned why are you selling them so cheep! there worth $1200 and you not helping hold the prices.

well on the finch forum my user name is $bill for obvious reasons - anyway I made a mistake! just like trying to sell the SE a mistake.

anyway I re-advertise the birds and got the sale and money in my a/c today. so seeing money is no good to me I thought I am $700 over my target so I will toss 2 new front tyres on the lotus and buy the bike.......all for free!

sure I pissed off a few bird buyers but business is business and I am in it for the $$$$ and the birds look alright too so its a bonus

[StanTheMan]

are you going to ride the bike?

It will be great to ride around town.

I had a similar bike. It lasted about 6 months before most things was replaced.....but then I was also training for one of those 24 hr MTB races.....no surprise really. We came 3rd in the 2010 AU MTB Championship.. I ended up riding a borrowed bikre for that race in a team of old men ....But This bike hasn't seen a dirt track since then.
This bike now serves as my commuter to work. Its done 12,000 km without missing a beat.Its cheap to run. But weighs in at 16 kg.
It';s nowhere near as pleasurable to ride as my carbon fiber road bike. But like any expensive bike.....is expensive to maintain. My recpo wasn't expensive so every 8000K's its up for a new chain. & chain ring. Brake pads every 1500km or so.....that it. Tyres have lasted me over 10,000 km. but they are specific commuting tyres .....and they don't puncture. But weigh 980gramms each....every 6 months or so I also replace the inner & outer derailour cables when all the muck from the rain makes changing gears a little challenging.

It also gets a wash every year.

My race specific MTB....now thats expensive to upkeep. Tyre every 1000 k's, New brake pads every 1000 k's chains last about 1200 k's thanks to the sandstone in the local area....Chain-rings last 3 chains. Derailleur wheel's ....lost count. fork seals & shock seals once every 12 moths.....and thats pushing it with the amount of riding Ive done. That bike is on its last legs now.....

But Ive think Ive lost passion for riding.....only do about 1/4 of the riding i did this time last year

[billybunter]

and I thought I was just going to ride it maybe it won't last long at all or me either it appears there is really a lot of work involved in the up market road bikes just keeping them on the road.

I actually thought in that price range you could ride them for years trouble free probably best idea for me to keep with the birds!

[speed]

Now you just need a bike rack for the Lotus

Sent from my old phone using crapatalk

[StanTheMan]

and I thought I was just going to ride it maybe it won't last long at all or me either it appears there is really a lot of work involved in the up market road bikes just keeping them on the road.

I actually thought in that price range you could ride them for years trouble free probably best idea for me to keep with the birds!

Let me rephrase that.
It will be fine if you ride it on the road. With the occasional fire trail. and jumping down gutters no more than 100mm high.

You'd be surprised . There is a considerably large crowd, who are happy to drop $10-15k on a bike. All the gear but no idea......
It then collects dust in garage after a few rides.
But it's all relative. If it's just to ride in the park every so often....yours is fine. If you then start seriously riding a bike on the regular basis you'll most likely benefit from a bike that you'd expect to pay about $1k for.
If you start riding say 10-12 hrs per week seriously, the above bike is like my shitter commuter. A $3-5 k bike is going to be such a pleasure to ride in comparison. You'd then be able to appreciate the difference.
It's not about the maintenance.
It's about the pleasure of cycling. You'll do more of it if you enjoy riding your bike.

Mountain bike maintenance is considerably higher than road. Especially if you ride lots. Serous all mountain riders & downhill riders break lots of things all time , including collar bones, wheels,cranks & tubes(if they use them. )

[billybunter]

today the wife and daughter bought a bike too............looks like we all are going on the road to discovery

[billybunter]

the wife and I took the lotus out today to test out my beaded taxi seat/double foam insert/lambs wool seat cover improvement to the ride. this time although the mod doesn't look crash hot like the bare probax seats ...it works a treat so I will try a better and more tidy up look later

so I am doing the legal 50 kph in the main drag when I looked out the rear view at a fast approaching V8 ute. couple of young and foolish guys behind the wheel but no drama I am use to them tailing me now.

this driver came right up level to me in the inside lane and it appeared his main concern was checking out my front left guard - the wife looked across and read his lips and apparently the word was SUPERCHARGED and seconds later he hit the ute with a bit of vengeance and turned off to the left and was not sighted again.

I think he got his thrill for the day