Honda boxer 6 motor. 1500 CC.
Yup–has an alternator. Looks like $200 and a PITA. Could still be something else like the regulator, but…
Got a voice mail and the transcript says, “this is Uncle Dave from fun bike center motorsports in Lakeland…” and goes on to say I’m being invited to a Kawasaki demo day tomorrow with free test rides, etc.
Considering the transcribed quality of “uncle Dave” and “fun bike” I figured that Lakeland meant Lakewood; a city about 20 miles from me that I know has a Kawasaki dealer.
Went to the website of the Kawasaki dealer in Lakewood, and no mention of a demo day. Went to the Kawasaki page and the demo tour is in Lakeland, about 1800 miles from me.
So why am I on a list to attend a demo day in Florida? And I guess I’m back to fixing the gutters on Saturday morning.
Might be fun to transfer that to your local Kawi dealer.
About 2 years ago I did a demo ride on Zero’s big dual sport and I came away quite impressed. The instant-on torque, and there was gobs of torque, was seductive.
Back in my motorsports days, I encountered a guy who was just insensed! at the price of a Honda alternator. He raved about how a Chevy one was $30 at Pep Boys…
So he rigged one up, with lots of hose clamps, broom sticks, tape and wire. Oh My God. The shit I’ve seen people to do to their motorcycles…
A motorcycle insurance question:
My motorcycle insurance has gone up from $55/year to $1100/year (that’s not a typo). This is with State Farm. I need to wait until Monday to talk to them.
Assuming that the new rate is correct, any advice on different companies to look at?
I know, every single insurance company out there has horror stories about denied claims and broken promises, but some seem better than others. I’ve never really had a problem with State Farm, but the fact they’ve always treated me well is not worth $1000/year.
Could have been Lakeland Queensland Australia even further away!! 
One of my occasional ride destinations tho the 420 km road trip getting long for old bones,
Good to see a motorcycle thread. Been riding 60 years and hope for a few more.
2014 Honda CB500F I’m quite happy with. I’d post a photo if I knew how. Now I recall.
What is it? Kawasaki H2? Our Cadillac Lyriq (+/- $80k) isn’t much more than that with SF… I’d talk to your agent!
It’s the same 2017 Triumph Street Twin I’ve had for the past 8 years. Probably one of the most boring riding standards one can get.
The massive increase seems to be in uninsured motorist coverage. Maybe I didn’t have that before, which is also concerning.
I guess everyone was out riding (good for you!), instead of answering insurance questions.
The followup: It was a mistake on the insurance companies side, and should be corrected and refunded over the next week.
The details: Colorado (like probably most other places) requires uninsured/underinsured protection—your insurance will pay for the damage if you are hit by an uninsured driver. However, it only has to be carried on one vehicle on the policy (the most expensive one, obviously), and it covers all other vehicles. When I made some changes to my insurance recently, somehow this link got broken, so I was paying for extra uninsured coverage on the motorcycle.
Even then, the pricing was absurd, because a full policy, with the same coverage from Progressive would have been $350 instead of $1100. Shouldn’t matter now.
The motorcycle lives!
Carbs cleaned and installed, new shoes and plugs, changed the oil and coolant, and then started changing out the brake fluid. That was a happy mistake, because sitting for so long had turned the brake fluid into literal sludge. Flushing all that out was a Dwarf Fortress level of FUN!
But put her all back together, sorted the last couple problems (fuck different thread pitch banjo bolts), and took her for a quick putt around the block. Before I knew it, I was miles away, and that’s when I realized the taillight didn’t come on with the headlight. That was a mildly terrifying ride home, and now we don’t go out after dark until that’s sorted. Pics will follow…she purdy.
Yaay!! And just in time for riding weather!
Don’t know if anyone else follows motorcycle vlogs but I have a couple I like.
Marc Travels…a crazy German riding from Berlin to New Zealand on a full sized electric motorcycle with a 300 km range.
and Itchy Boots who I have followed for years and who makes a handsome profit from her travels - estimated around $880,000 per year. She does all the filming and editing on the road with no support crew
and she’s cute 
love her accent.
I’m insured through Dairyland, they have decent rates and good service (or so I’ve heard, haven’t needed to file a claim yet). Maybe they can do you better than State farm? https://www.dairylandinsurance.com/
I’m paying about $450/yr for full coverage on my 2016 Ducati with 1 speeding ticket.
Any thoughts from anyone on the industry as a whole? KTM is in deep doo-doo. They’ll survive, but not in their current form and maybe not as an Austrian company. With them goes a HUGE amount of racing support–Moto GP and FIM hard enduro to start. Harley’s in trouble. Laterally Arctic Cat is dead for now and Bombardier is in the weeds. One of our local shops has +/- 120 unsold bikes when normally they’d have 30. It’s hard to imagine anyone throwing down $10-25k for a toy in these uncertain times.
Get them now before they before they are $13-32K due to “other countries” paying Trump tariffs.
I’ve flipped a few bikes this year transforming a
Honda 2015 CB300F single with 60k km
to
Yamaha 2017 MT-03 300c twin with 20 km
to
BMW 2017 g-310-GS single with 20k km
to
Honda 2014 CB500F twin with 60 km.
with no money out of pocket and circa $1k left over
The first two went to girls which seems the only active category.
I only broke even on the BMW which I could not mesh with and was afraid of BMW maintenance and parts cost.
There is no sales tax on used mcycles in Queensland so much easier to flip. Bikes require to pass a safety check - usually $75 and about $135 for a transfer tax which is flat amount not geared to price.
If I happen to sell the current CB500F ride for asking ( $5350 ) - I’d be an additional $1350 up in profit getting me into newer models.
Being on a zero tolerance pension it’s my only route to improve my ride. I’ve gotten rather good at the ads 
Fuel is expensive $1.80 per liter ( $1.14 US ) ( 1 US gal = 3.8 L )( 4.30 per US gal )
All the bikes were getting circa 65 mpg even the CB500 and with the 4.1 gal tank that’s 266 miles or 426 km range.
The BMW had a ridiculous small tank for an ADV bike …11 L tho it was pretty fuel efficient.
Speed fines are punitive in Queensland and heavily enforced.
| Speeding Offence | Fine | Demerit Points |
|---|---|---|
| Driving at least 11km/h, but not more than 20km/h, over the speed limit | $464 | 3 |
| Driving more than 20km/h, but not more than 30km/h, over the speed limit | $696 | 4 |
| Driving more than 30km/h, but not more than 40km/h, over the speed limit | $1,161 | 6 |
| Driving more than 40km/h over the speed limit | $1,780 8 |
The good side is liability insurance is combined with annual registration cost and you can declare single seat and remove the pillion pegs. $380 or so per annum.
My 2018 CB500x by comparison was $1500 for lowest insurance in Ontario Canada.
There are increasing barriers to new riders with punitive insurance costs and increasingly onerous Learner tests and requirements.
Here in Queensland for the first 3 months you cannot have a pillion and must be accompanied by a licenced rider or car driver. ( in another vehicle ) Talk about a leash …and of course the usual, can’t drive at night, zero tolerance for booze and increased traffic fines.
Little wonder young’uns are opting eBikes and scoots tho they are finally getting some restrictions.
Here I am cooking in tropical weather in ATGATT and the kids are zinging along 25-30kph or more in floppies, shorts and Ts…at least they must wear a helmet.
Few motorcylists here are Atgatt.
I am in lust for a proper sized electric mycle with 300 km range as Marc of Marc Travels rides,
But $42,000 Australia…not in my lifetime.
Are you a pilot? I’ve participated in one of their demo days at an air show and Lakeland is where Sun&Fun is. April 1-6
I’m of the same feeling. I can buy a new 150 hp 450 lb bike for $10,000. I can then buy a nice electric bike for $3,000 and tour Europe with the money left over.
Smells a lot like lightplane aviation at the end of the 1960s. The die is cast, but all the shoes have not yet dropped. To make a metaphor-burger.
Inherent interest in the general public is waning, the minimum acceptable product sophistication is climbing, production runs are shrinking, prices are exploding due to high non-recurring costs amortized over fewer units.
Then the used vehicle supply becomes the largest competitor to new. With the >10yo machines more durable than newer. Low annual utilization ensures 30- or 40-yo machines are not run out beyond practical restoration and may in fact be in good shape w only ordinary maintenance.
IOW, the Golden Age is over. The End Times are near for almost all manufacturers.