Occasionally an idiot will ask me about my motorcycle:
Idiot: How much did you pay for the bike?
Me: 17,000 €
Idiot: :eek: you could buy a car with that money
Me: Yes, a 17,000 € econoshitbox car that I will have to go out and push when going uphills vs. a bike that can do 0-100 in less than 3 sec and has a top speed of 300km/h? Thanks, I’ll pass.
Idiot: B…b…b…b…b…but 17K is too much for a motorcycle
Me: :rolleyes:
It’s funny how that goes. I work in a little store and, among other things, we sell faux-wicker patio furniture. The nice shit is really, really expensive to a lot of people, including me.
Most people look at the price and totally eek out. Some folks come in and say, “Wow, this is beautiful. It can stay outside? Like, by a pool? Sweet, let’s do it,” and they think nothing of dropping 4000 or 5000 bucks. Everybody’s different.
There is no “true” value of things. That *is *too much to spend on a motorcycle, if one isn’t interested in motorcycles. If a motorcycle is all one ever wanted, then it’d be a bargain at twice the price.
Funny, I get annoyed by idiots that inflate prices because credit comes cheap and “_______” is so cool. To each his own I suppose.
Uh. That’s $24,000 US. You could get a very good car for that that does not need to be pushed up hills.
So. What did you get? What kind of motorcycle for 17k? I thought my Wife’s $2000 bicycle was expensive until she bought the $6000 one.
I forgot to mention that this is Greece and cars are taxed through the nose and then some more. All you can get here for 17K euros is a rather basic car.
The motorcycle in question is a Honda CBR1000RR C-ABS. And I actually haven’t bought it yet but I am going to have it sometime in August 
This is most of the problem, I think. It’s not that people don’t understand value, it’s that they don’t understand the product.
My bicycles are what commonly cause this reaction for me. When I say that I bought “a bike”, most people who aren’t themselves cycling enthusiasts, are picturing the cheap thing they rode when they were seven years old. They have no idea that “a bike” could be the utmost in high-tech hand-made carbon fiber/titanium/unobtanium, weigh less than what they ate for breakfast and be more stiff than their definition of “value”.
When someone raises an eyebrow at the cost, I usually just ask them to pick it up and see for themselves.
Edit: Oh and Dog80, imagine being told that you could’ve bought a motorcycle for the price you paid for a bicycle. Talk about missing the point.
Nothing has any intrinsic value other than what someone will willingly pay for it.
I rode motorcycles exclusively when I was young, but stopped years ago after too many accidents, injuries, and inattentive motorists took the pleasure out of it. Even if I spotted a brand new, top o’ the line Triumph Thruxton for $100. it’s value to me would still be nada.
I pit people who make threads just to brag about their expensive motorcycle.
I’m sorry that people who are reacting to your penis extension don’t react the way you want them to. I can certainly understand how annoying it must be to find that your planned status symbol purchases don’t seem to convey the attitude of respect and coolness that you were hoping for.
Meh. Everyone has their own interests and hobbies that they’re probably willing to spend mounds of money on that would make other people go :dubious: or 
I guess we’re all guilty of it at some point or another… Like whenever I see a girl with mounds of shoes just sitting in the closet (except that really IS pointless :)).
That’s way too much to spend for a motorcycle.
I think it’s more appropriate to pit people who express shock at what someone else spends their money … after they’re the one who brought it up in the first place. I get this now with my condo assessments, I bought into a building with crazy high fees because I personally thought it was worth it. So people ask what I pay, I answer politely, and I get “OMG that’s almost what I pay in rent!” or some such. I know most people think it’s too high, they can think what they want but that doesn’t mean I want to listen to their opinion.
I’m curious - why did you think it was worth it? what are you getting for your money?
I’m genuinely curious - I’m not familiar with this practice. Maybe because in the past, I’ve typically been in lower end apartment buildings. Does this buy you special services?
That’s about average price for a decent bike brand new. If people don’t know what motorcycles cost them then whatever. For the cheap used bikes that they are referring to, someone at some point paid sticker for it when it was new. shrug
If I were to get a bike I’d look for something in the range of $ 2000 that I could fix myself, a good starter bike that I wouldn’t feel horrible about beating up.
EDIT: Actually I take it back a brand new Harley Sportster costs about 7000. A Softail Springer on the other hand starts at around 27k
Those must be some serious taxes in Greece.
To change the subject 79 degrees:
My brother (we’ll call him #2) was helping “clean out” a house the family owns after a “tenant” (actually another brother “#1” who squated there for years). In a storage garage under the house were a dozen or so windows, complete with frames, screens and the works. #1 actually upgraded to double-pane units (of course he could afford to do this, since he wasn’t making any rent or mortgage payments) and had saved the old ones. Now, that is some valuable shit.
#2 (who can’t change a light-bulb and is ALWAYS broke) shit-canned them! Took them to the DUMP! I asked him, “What happened to all the windows?”
“I threw them away”. :eek::rolleyes:
Fast forward 2 years: I install new garage doors and openers, but save the old openers and one door that wasn’t junk. I stuck em in the now empty underhouse garage till I can drag them to my house. Dumbass brother calls me and says, “Are we saving old junk now?”. Again with :rolleyes:
No, you broke Dumbass. We save shit with value.
Eh, whatever. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Wait a minute. That sounds kinda…
Don’t get me started. My uncle does this and it drives me crazy. He hoards shit like that, doors, windows, metal frames, sheets of wood or metal, old machine parts etc. He keeps them for decades until he finds a use for them.
When finally he finds somewhere to use that crap the result is hideous because 1) It doesn’t match with the rest 2) it is out of style or obsolete 3) it is deteriorated.
If you had an immediate use for those doors and windows or you could sell them for money then that’s ok. But if you intended to hoard them “just-in-case” then fuck you. Your brother was right.
** Discipline ** - I hope you don’t think that I was faulting my wife for buying a $6000 bicycle. As far as I’m concerned, whatever gets her home quicker and safe is fine with me.
Iron Mans aren’t easy. Every ounce counts. At that level, every gram counts.
I gotta go with you on the windows Dog80. Ya just can’t hang on to stuff forever. I would never put old windows in a new house.
I rented a 30 yard roll off dumpster to clean out my dads house a few years ago. Because of all the ‘just in case stuff’ It’s now crammed to the ceiling again with ‘just in case stuff’ But that’s another story.
Enjoy your bike.
Most of it is that my assessment includes a bunch of utilities that owners around here usually pay individually – heat, basic cable, water, gas for the stove. The heat especially is no small matter (here=Chicago). The building also has 24/7 security, which is really the big special extra I get over a plain-jane building. The security is nice for peace-of-mind because I live alone, and it also means there is someone to call if one of the neighbors is having a loud party or something. When you own the place it’s harder to just up and move if the neighbors turn out to be loud jerks.
It makes sense to most people once I tell them what I get. Which is why I wish they would hold in their “OMG!! :eek:” commentary, my total costs at the end of the month aren’t unreasonable when you add it all up.
My security is that no one in their right mind would ever venture to where I live. And two dogs. And a bit of very fast lead. We don’t lock our doors. There is really no point in it.
When it comes right down to it, it’s a bitch to live anywhere. Some of us prefer the snow some of us prefer the sun.
Some prefer hammers and nails, some prefer a doorman. I’m sitting here at 11,200 feet and feel quite secure.
So it goes.
I love my life, and I never had any guarantee that it would be easy or secure.