Drew Dowdell

Again, you’re wrong. Solar hasn’t been 3 times the cost of traditional generation for years. Same for wind. Additionally, the fossil fuel industry gets loads of subsidies too in the form of socializing external costs. I worked in the energy industry for over 13 years. I can go buy wind power for my home right now at equal or lesser cost than coal or gas. Furthermore, a significant amount of those high California costs is the result California’s decades long boondoggle of selling their grid off to private for-profit companies to run, those companies putting profits ahead of reliability and upgrades, and way back when forcing blackouts to drive up energy prices through market manipulation. California is still trying to catch up on years of grid neglect. And we’ve seen what can happen when you turn a power grid over to a for profit company in Texas.

Well that's simply, flat out, false. I'm not sure if you're intentionally lying because of your anti-green agenda or if you're simply using data from 15+ years ago. LCOE is the levelized cost of generation after all of the construction, generation, maintenance, and decommissioning of a project is completed. Basically every dollar that goes into building, running, and then tearing down that generation. It's reflected as dollars per megawatt hour. Projected LCOE in the U.S. by 2025 (as of 2020) $/MWh Plant Type Min Simple Average Capacity weighted average Max Solar photovoltaic (PV) 29.75 35.74 32.80 48.09 Geothermal 35.13 37.47 37.47 39.60 Combined cycle 33.35 38.07 36.61 45.31 Wind, onshore 28.72 39.95 34.10 62.72 Hydroelectric 35.37 52.79 39.54 63.24 Combustion Turbine 58.48 66.62 68.71 81.37 Ultra-supercritical coal 65.10 76.44 NB 91.27 Advanced Nuclear 71.90 81.65 NB 92.04 Biomass 86.19 94.83 NB 139.96 Wind, offshore 102.68 122.25 115.04 155.55 Those are 2025 estimated numbers, but they're based on today's numbers and a prediction on the direction of costs. However, this time last year On-Shore Wind and Photovoltaic both fell below fossil fuels in lifetime costs. Solar And Wind Costs Continue To Fall As Power Becomes Cleaner (forbes.com)

Is electric that much near you? I’m at like 14c/KwH total, and I’m on renewable energy.

My Avalanche has these chrome body strips that were added by the previous owner and I quite like them now. That and the chrome wheels would need to match for the bike if I do this.

Sorta kinda? BMW does make the R nine T in a very similar color to my Avalanche. But that's not the Scrambler and I wanted the Scrambler. If I do it it will be blue and chrome.

Private purchase. And I want to have the bike in my hands before I hand over the check.

2 problems with that, though the idea sounds amazing. 1. Its a 10+ hour trip non-stop. I haven’t ridden regularly in 20+ years, and only once or twice a year since I got my motorcycle license 4 years ago. I think tackling a trip that long on my first road bike wouldn’t be wise. 2. I won’t have a plate for it until I get it back to PA. I did find the Mototote I wanted at a very good price last night, so I’ll be getting that and canceling the U-Haul. I didn’t want ramps really, I was just looking for an alternative to the U-Haul.

I pretty much only like standards, not cruisers and not overdone sports bikes. So that pretty much rules out Harleys. One thing I dislike is the feel and performance of any V-Twin. It hasn't mattered if it's a Harley, Indian, or Kawasaki. They're rough, unrefined, have mediocre performance for their size, and loud. Engines I've liked are the Honda inline-4, the Kawasaki inline twin, and of course the boxer twin. My second choice was the Kawasaki Vulcan S which is sort of a modern take on a sporty cruiser... it's in a weird category in that it looks cruiser-ish, but it also is modern and streamlined. It's also powered by a modified version of the Ninja inline twin. But as I was telling @A Horse With No Name in chat, I decided to aim for exactly what I wanted rather than going for my second choice. The Vulcan S is generally 50% of what the R nine T cost me. I do like R nine T Scrambler the way it is, but I may add a few protective accessories like engine guards and an oil cooler guard. The oil cooler tends to get banged up with road debris. It's supposed to be a sacrificial part, but I'd like to delay the inevitable as long as possible. It is coming with an extra set of mirrors and a small luggage kit, so I could use it to commute to work without having to have a backback on my back the whole way. I may get pricing on what it might cost to have the tank vinyl wrapped.... just because I'm Extra, I might try and get it in a scheme that would match my truck. I already have all the riding gear I need for now, but I might also start looking for a pair of riding sneakers to supplement my riding boots I already own. I have the U-haul reserved, but I'm debating if I will go buy ramps instead and put it in the bed for the trip back.

Hope it gets all of its computer chips

You won't have to be... the costs of all autos is increasing dramatically. So much so that even Hyundai and Kia dealers are putting $10,000 of superfluous upcharges on the Palisade and Telluride. Did you ever think you'd see the day where a big Kia crossover could have Additional Dealer Markup slapped on it?

I get that this is funny, but that's Pope Benedict... the retired Pope who always has a handsome younger secretary in tow.

@ykX gets it! I put my deposit down on this 2019 BMW R9T Scrambler with 2900m on the clock. Heated grips, advanced stability control, ABS, cruise, luggage accessories. It has an 1170cc air/oil cooled flat twin boxer engine. The BMW boxer design goes back to the 1920s and was also used in aircraft. As far as bikes go, these are torque monsters for their size, and in fact have a slight issue with twisting under hard throttle. It’s the biggest CC I could buy in a standard bike under 500lbs. which means I can put it on the hitch of the Avalanche without needing a trailer ( though this trip will be completed with a U-Haul). I have to sort out some logistics with PA DMV here first, but I’m planning on driving down to Huntsville AL on April 9th to pick it up on the 10th.

The world is flat.

Moto2 is an inline 3 and that can be had in any number of chevys or fords. The engine configuration is uncommon, but this engine itself is legendary, with roots going back further than the Chevy 350.

The unconventional engine configuration, but not unheard of, should be a clue.

It’s a 2019 and has only 2,400 miles on it. No turbos involved. Though it does use air slightly different than most other vehicles.

One of our members already knows what it is, so I’ll ask him to not tell for now. @A Horse With No Name

Again. Further update: Credit Union approved the loan. Deposit has been sent to seller. Plans are in the works to travel to Alabama to get it on April 10th. This will be the first non-American vehicle I will purchase. Import brand and built in its home country. Edit: This is an addition to the fleet. Nothing is being replaced. It has an uncommon but not unheard of engine configuration. However, this engine is legendary in its own segment.

A thing might be being did. Negotiations have started, FaceTime video inspections have been done, insurance quotes have been obtained, credit union has been contacted.

Absolutely, and they are externally identical (on the Olds at least), so unless you’re looking a block casting numbers you can tell everyone it’s an all original 307 but really be running a 350.

Yeah, no, they’re not spritely. But in normal traffic they barely break a sweat. They just go about their business nearly silently. Way better than spinning a tinny little 4 cylinder up to 6000 rpm just to keep up.

You're probably right in that. I'm probably looking through rose colored glasses, but even my wheezy old 307 glides so easily. Acceleration isn't the greatest, but I keep up with traffic fine and without flooring it. I looked up the torque curves on the Olds, Buick, and Chevy 350s and the Olds and Chevy are so close you can barely tell the difference. The Buick actually slides the torque curve to the left slightly. It reaches 200 lb/ft about 200 rpm higher than the Olds/Chevy and reaches an identical torque peak about 500 rpm higher, but it does get to a higher peak horsepower (as would be expected by those rpm shifts).

The Olds V8 has a legend to it second only to the Chevy 350, and that legend is very much earned. They were very robust engines (all the GM 350s were) but why I favor them is that they were torque monsters and I love low RPM torque. It gives you that strong, silent, effortless thrust and they're able to just loaf along at low RPM at highway speeds (provided you have an overdrive gear, it is a listed Federal hate crime [42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.] if you pair an Olds 350/455 with a transmission that doesn't have an overdrive). The Buick is similar in that vein, just not as legendary as the Olds Rocket. The Chevy 350 is just common, like @balthazar said... you can walk into any pepboys and build one off the shelf if you wanted as long as you had a block to start with.

It's an adjustment, but you can do exactly as you describe once you get a new feel for what the pedal does. It's not unrefined unless you take your foot completely off the pedal. It's just re-training your brain. It took me couple hours max to master it and then I was like "how did I go this long without this?!"

For the record, my Avalanche bed is 95% empty 99.9% of the time. I have a little cargo organizer back there so my oranges don't roll all over the place when I pick up groceries. It will do more hauling duty some day (even later this month when I help a friend move), but I have no illusions that it gets used as a truck. I bought it because I like it, but I could have just as easily gotten a Leaf and an account at U-Haul and had all the utility I need and still spend less money.