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Loud Pipes Save Lives
May. 28th, 2022 10:54 pmI rode my motorcycle or the first time this year a week or so ago.
"Loud pipes save lives" – that is a phrase used by some idiots who think that making deafening noises through the neighborhood is fun, and that their loudness makes it so that all four-wheel vehicle drivers know that they are there, and therefore those drivers do not hit them. Really, it's just an excuse for "I need to show off how awesome I am" from some idiot who is not awesome at all.
Sadly, people probably think that of me, because apparently my rusty exhaust system has developed a large hole, and it makes a ton of noise.
So, today I called the shop to inquire about getting it fixed. Official parts would cost $600; unofficial parts cost $200. Labor will be in the $250 range.
I have hardly ridden my motorcycle since the pandemic. I have ridden 500 miles in the last two years. It's not like I was a huge rider before that; it was about 2000 miles a year.
So, is it worth $500 to have a working motorcycle that I will ride 300 miles this year? What is the difference between the price I can get for a working vs. nonworking motorcycle? (It's "working" – it runs, and it goes from one place to another, it just is really noisy, and presumably more polluting, though I don't imagine I actually have a catalytic converter.)
Before I discovered that it was not really working, I was actually contemplating whether to sell it, and was thinking "I will maybe wait until the next big problem that it has". Little did I know that it already had the problem while I was contemplating. If I sell it, then I will be slightly sad whenever I have a place I could go on my motorcycle, and have to drive a car instead. The stars don't very often align, because it has to be good weather, a place I'm going alone, where I don't need to take or pick up cargo, and where it's reasonable to show up in "weird clothes", and that I have the ability to carry or store said weird clothes (my protective gear). At least, the car I drive will be electric…
"Loud pipes save lives" – that is a phrase used by some idiots who think that making deafening noises through the neighborhood is fun, and that their loudness makes it so that all four-wheel vehicle drivers know that they are there, and therefore those drivers do not hit them. Really, it's just an excuse for "I need to show off how awesome I am" from some idiot who is not awesome at all.
Sadly, people probably think that of me, because apparently my rusty exhaust system has developed a large hole, and it makes a ton of noise.
So, today I called the shop to inquire about getting it fixed. Official parts would cost $600; unofficial parts cost $200. Labor will be in the $250 range.
I have hardly ridden my motorcycle since the pandemic. I have ridden 500 miles in the last two years. It's not like I was a huge rider before that; it was about 2000 miles a year.
So, is it worth $500 to have a working motorcycle that I will ride 300 miles this year? What is the difference between the price I can get for a working vs. nonworking motorcycle? (It's "working" – it runs, and it goes from one place to another, it just is really noisy, and presumably more polluting, though I don't imagine I actually have a catalytic converter.)
Before I discovered that it was not really working, I was actually contemplating whether to sell it, and was thinking "I will maybe wait until the next big problem that it has". Little did I know that it already had the problem while I was contemplating. If I sell it, then I will be slightly sad whenever I have a place I could go on my motorcycle, and have to drive a car instead. The stars don't very often align, because it has to be good weather, a place I'm going alone, where I don't need to take or pick up cargo, and where it's reasonable to show up in "weird clothes", and that I have the ability to carry or store said weird clothes (my protective gear). At least, the car I drive will be electric…
