Vehicles

I finally heard the news that Buell is being discontinued. Harley evidently didn’t want the Buell name around anymore and instead of selling it, they’re killing it. Be that what it is, I still love my Buell and hope to enjoy many years with it.

While reading up on that news, I stumbled across a nice motorcycling news blog and saw this video on it. It’s a mockery of the high-revving import bikes and it really made me laugh out loud.

Kellie and I hosted a birthday party for Kellie’s sister, Allison, last Friday night. We made some tasty white chicken chili paired with a white table wine from Menage a Trois – very good. After stuffing ourselves with dinner, the ladies played cards while the guys played video games. I hadn’t played Smash Bros on the Wii in ages.

On Saturday, I undertook a project that I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to: a brake upgrade on the Audi TT. Back in July, I was informed by the dealership that my brakes were nearly expired… and they wanted $1400 to fix them. I sourced some better parts on the aftermarket for a fraction of that and they’ve been sitting in the garage ever since. I spent five hours on Saturday (including a trip to Autozone for a 7mm hex 3/8 socket and Sears for a new jack – it started leaking oil on the first lift and died halfway up the second lift) and three hours on Sunday (including another trip to Autozone for a 8mm hex 3/8 socket). Even if I valued my time at $125 an hour, I still came out ahead. They look so much better and work perfectly so far.

Before

During

After

I wrote three days ago about purchasing a hitch by Curt Mfg for the TT and a Thule hitch mount bicycle rack. Both parts arrived yesterday – amazingly – and I was able to get the hitch installed this morning at Community Auto Center – which, I might add, was an extremely satisfying experience. Not only are the employees passionate about nice cars AND their customers, they actually let me in the back to take a look at the underside of my ride. I have a LOT of respect for shops that will do that – I know it’s a huge legal risk and that makes me appreciate it all the more. The tech who worked on my vehicle (Jim) also owns a 2001 TT just like mine (except it’s the roadster) and that instantly gave me a lot of faith in his work (attention to detail, cares about the car, etc.). The hitch went on without a problem and I’m a very happy customer – can you tell??

Back in the garage at the condo.

The hitch is hardly noticeable with nothing attached!

Add on Thule 912. Plenty of clearance from the back bumper.

Extend the rack arms.

Add the bicycles!

Check width and height.. centered behind car very well.

Check the quick release (and other) clearances… no rubbing.. not even close when putting pressure on it. The two anti-sway attachments keep the bikes VERY sturdy.

Final product. A hitch on the TT with bike rack (and soon to be snowboard rack and the occasional trailer to and from Lowes).

Overall I’m extremely pleased with how this turned out. It seems like inevitably there’s always a flaw in my ideas or something doesn’t turn out just how I’d hoped it would. I can’t see anything with this upgrade yet that fits that bill.

As an added bonus, Jim gave me a ride in his TT which has the APR stage I chip upgrade… what an amazing difference! About 50-60 extra horses and better fuel economy all around. I’m just waiting for the next APR sale (perhaps Christmas?) and I’ll probably jump at that. His TT pulled hard! It reminds me of the Altima…

About a month ago, I ordered new EBC rotors and Hawk brake pads for the TT. I haven’t installed them yet because the rear rotors are on back order and I’m still waiting on them. The vendor said it could be another month so I’m just being patient (and easy on the brakes to avoid any emergency replacement need).

For the past year or so, I’ve been trying to locate an OEM roof rack for the vehicle. I’d like to transport my bikes and my snowboard and the OEM rack is such a nice fit. The aftermarket roof racks just don’t interest me. I haven’t had any luck searching ebay or classified ads in all this time so I’m moving on to plan B.

I found out today that a company called Curt Mfg makes an aftermarket hitch add-on for the TT. I’ve never thought about having a hitch before because I always naively assumed they were just for trucks and towing things. There are many bike carriers and snowboard/ski carriers that fit on hitches and as an added benefit, I could hook up a small trailer for transporting things (such as building supplies from Lowes!).

All of a sudden, the TT seems much more practical in my mind. I can still have the sleek, fun, sporty car but it can be versatile too. I ordered up the hitch and the bike rack and am excited to get all that setup. I’ll pick up the snowboard carrier closer to winter. Does anyone think it’s weird having a sports car with a hitch?!

I took the TT into the dealership this morning for an oil change and was presented with a $1400 quote for a full brake replacement. Evidently the fronts are about 90% worn and the rears are 80% worn and the discs are too thin to resurface – meaning it all needs to be replaced. I had some idea that this day was coming – last summer I had the dealership investigate a scraping sound from the rear passenger brake area and it turns out I had rust on the rotor. They removed it and the car felt great for about two weeks, at which point it returned. At that time, I looked into aftermarket brakes kits and such as my gear head past forces me to always think about upgrades versus a simple replacement. I didn’t spend much time on at last summer though as it wasn’t imminent. Now it is.

I ended up researching options and purchased EBC Sport Rotors and Hawk HPS pads for a total shipped cost of about a third of the dealers quoted price. I used to do these upgrades all the time in college, replacing rotors and brakes on both my Altima and Del Sol. Hopefully I still have the ability… if so I’ll be able to do the work myself and save a boatload of cash. On top of that, I’ll have much better quality components on the car… can’t beat that!

If money weren’t a consideration, there is one car that might tempt me away from an Audi R8… the Porsche Carrera GT. This video shows why.

Sometimes something unexpected happens that totally alters the course of your day (or life!). That happened to me today when I purchased a new Buell motorcycle. Yes, that might take a minute to set in. I’m an advocate of buying used vehicles and only buying when necessary but I broke both of those rules today. Here’s how it happened.

I was on my way to Grand Rapids Harley Davidson with the Buell Blast this morning to get a spring tune up and oil change when something just didn’t feel right near the end of the ride. Rolling to a stop in front of the dealership, I knew by the shaking what was wrong.. the motor mount bolt had snapped. Again. Frustrated, I confirmed visually that the bolt was gone. Damn.

The same bolt was replaced last October.. about 250 miles ago. Here comes another large repair bill and being without the bike for a week.. and I’d have to call Kellie for a ride home. This just ticked me off to the point of irrationality.. so I started looking at what other bikes they had available. I knew I wanted to upgrade eventually.. and by golly this might be just the thing I needed to push me over the edge.

This bike caught my eye and never let go. It’s the model and color that I’d dreamed about many times before and they finally had one tucked away at the back of the sales floor. It’s a 2008 model Buell Firebolt XB12R.. in midnight black. After a little haggling, I traded in the 2002 Blast and rode out on the Firebolt with a big grin on my face.

I am in the process of reading through a stack of old magazines that didn’t have time to read when I originally received them. One of these magazines is Fast Company, and the December 2006 issue had an interesting article about a new scooter company that’s aiming to make a usable, all-electric scooter. By usable, it means that the scooter has some acceleration, can travel far enough on a single charge to make commuting possible, and is highway legal and capable of reaching such speeds. The company FC profiled, Vectrix, has done just that. It’s now two years later and the Vectrix is a little-known reality in the United States… but one that I’m very tempted by. I showed it to Kellie and she too seemed interested (mass-market appeal?). Finally there is a solution to transportation that doesn’t involve fossil fuels (at least directly!). It’ll still be years before cars are able to do this and at a much higher cost. The Vectrix is around $8,000 new and costs just a penny a mile to operate. Anyone interested in a slightly used Buell Blast?

Another Mitchell’s run has come and gone but boy was it a good one. Kellie and I headed up to Rockford after work Friday night to join the Semeyns for dinner. We ate at Logan’s with Jen’s brother, John before returning to to their house to have some fun with the motorcycle. Yes, that’s right, Ben and Jen finally rode the Buell! Ben learned very quickly and looked like he was having a great time before we called it a night and watched Phelps win gold medal number seven.

At the 5k the next morning, Kellie and I set out and achieved a new PR together in 35:42! Congrats to her on a new PR. We then did breakfast at Arnie’s per tradition before heading back home and bringing the Semeyns and Paulus’ to the airport for a trip to Colorado.

I finally set an appointment to get the Audi TT windows tinted this afternoon and wow am I happy I did. The car looks so much better now and driving it is much more comfortable as the interior doesn’t heat up as quickly in the hot sun nor is there as much need for sunglasses. I had it done after Delta Audi recommended me to Extreme Car Audio, which is apparently one of the best shops in West Michigan. I’m a believer now. The installers and staff there took VERY good car of the car. There were numerous BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, and Lexus cars there getting various work done… even a Ferrari F430 – I kid you not. That’s a $200k+ car for those of you who aren’t car fanatics.

It needs a wash, but looks pretty good, right?