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The BYD Han interior does look really good. Shame the outside looks like a 2-generations-ago Civic.

No one cares about that amount of horsepower in this class. These are chauffeur driven vehicles. Up until electrics came around, most were trundling around with 2.0T 4-cylinders or diesels. While Genesis is still relatively new to us in the the U.S., they've made such strides on interior quality that I'd put them up against MB dollar for dollar. The nicest of the Chinese EVs sedans, the NIO ET7 is a pretty good looking car though I kinda think it looks like a Model-3 had it's way with a Buick Envista. It would do really well in the US up against the Teslas, but it is still not playing in the luxury ballpark with Genesis (or Benz or Audi) when it comes to design and materials. Low end EQE Sedan rival? Sure. G90 rival? No.

The thing is that Panera offers a better laptop and hot drink environment than does Starbucks and they cash in on that. It's "space rental." The tab for a HALF chicken avocado chipotle sandwich and a small CUP of baked potato soup (both good, not great) was absurd. Coffee, tea, and lemonade are roughly the same. I go there because it's near a friend's condo and it's better for having a discussion than a fairly nice Starbucks nearby. A Starbucks has to have an excellent interior for me to go there and pay their now crazy prices for coffee and tea.

While I really like Panera's concept and vibe, their portion control is, literally, for the birds.

You’re thinking in purely North American terms. China and Middle East still have decent sedan sales. It costs Genesis next to nothing to put a couple of these on a boat to the US with some GV80s. The boat is already headed that direction anyway. As for coupes and convertibles, these are just concepts for now, but as platform flexibility increases with the move to EV, I think we will see he return of lower volume body styles like these.

Well kids, today's lesson is: Just buy the effing tool you need. Last weekend I took the R1100RS out on the longest ride I've been on with it. A total of 5 hours of wandering. Even with 109k miles on it, this bike just loves to chew up highway. The engine runs superbly. I was really trying to burn off gas that's been in the tank a little long for comfort, but even with 5 hours of riding, I have more than half a tank left! No issues on the trip except I noticed that the right fork was leaking oil. These are telelever forks that don't actually have any suspension components in them. The shock and spring are mounted on a cantilever platform between the forks. Essentially, all the forks do is slide up and down and keep the wheel aligned. When I got back from the trip, I ordered a set of fork seals and picked up fork oil. Watched a few videos on the process and decided I was set. ALL of the videos suggested that I could get the oil seal out with a flat head screwdriver. Both my Haynes manual and the BMW service manual I have said to use an oil seal remover tool. You can see where this is going. I effed with that oil seal for a good hour with a flat head, some long needle nose pliers, even some plastic bodywork tools I have before I gave up and drove to Harbor Freight. Harbor Freight has an Oil Seal Removal tool for $7.99. I got that and a few other things that I decided I might need to try also. Got home and with the tool I had the oil seal out in 15 seconds. . I replaced the seals, topped it off with some fresh fork oil, and had it back together faster than the time I spent just trying to get the damn seal out. So, moral of the story is: Just buy the damn tool.

Just not good enough at being a motor vehicle period...just hideous, shoddily built chod..

Old school...

Awesome job Drew, looking so good!

Updates spanning a few days. I got the left-side case lock fixed. The key provided couldn't unlock the case all the way. I ended up having to drill out about 10 riviets, cleaning the mechanism, and rebuilding the lock cylinder. It looks like someone attempted to re-code the lock but didn't get it quite right. I recoded it and it unlocks, but something still isn't quite right with it, so I'll probably buy a new lock cylinder. I can still use it for now. I've also found the top case for it and will be picking that up and re-keying it soon. Additionally, @smk4565 would be quite proud that I purchased the proper bolts that are vastly superior German engineering. $5 per bolt for a screw with one end hammered flat. That's $30 worth of screws in my hand, but they're the only thing that works properly to keep the front lower fairings in place. BMW did want another $4 per rubber washer, but I got the dimensions of them and bought a 30-pack from Lowe's from the plumbing repair shelf for $3.97. These dashboard switches have seen better days, beyond the obvious wear, their switching action didn't work well. I found the hazard light switch and the ABS disable switch on E-bay for $25 each. I still need to find the headed grip switch. Looks and works so much better. I'm also starting to do detail cleaning in small batches. I got a set of motor bolts for the engine breast plate and alternator cover. I swapped out the bolts, cleaned up the alternator cover, and hit it with the Meguires Back-to-Black. I'm not going for perfect, just better. To this.... Taking off the breast plate involves removing the exhaust, which I'm not going to do this season, but I would eventually want to repaint it. I'm still riding it several times a week, and I should have another update next week when I get the top case.

Been thinking on this and I honestly have to say that I think the Tariffs are going to do what 47 is not wanting to have happen. The DEATH of ICE!!! First is IRA has been a massive hit in regard to investing in battery plants and EV production plants. Second is ICE autos are far more complex than EVs with the average ICE having between 20,000 to 30,000 parts and most of the small stuff is imported in. Third EVs are far simpler to produce here in America with the average EV having between 15,000 to 20,000 components and the motor, battery and controler plant as well as wiring is already built here. As the RAW Material for Lithium and other battery components builds up in North America, I see no reason to go backwards for the Boomers with more ICE, but move forward with Hybrids for the Boomers and pure EVs for those that have common sense on moving forward into the future. Tariffs is death to ICE more than EVs as it also brings parity in price to EVs due to the increase in prices for ICE built outside the U.S. People will see this now that various auto companies have stated like VW/Audi/Porsche will have a Tariff line on the window invoice showing how much extra money will be paid to the U.S. government. Taxation at it's biggest point ever since 1930. Pathetic that they kept prices the same and shrunkflation has happened in the portion size. Pretty much you have to order double to get what they used to serve.