bpate4home

IMHO Keep the Truck. Prices are up for a lot of reasons but they took advantage of the 'chip shortage' and the pandemic. Dealers were adding a 10 - 40% upcharge and they don't want to give up those profits. The used car market was also through the roof. The trucks today are not worth what they are asking. Dealers are still wanting to sell at MSRP -1 or 2%. About a year ago I told multiple dealers I might consider 2% below invoice. Digging into this Ford, Chevy, Ram, Toyota increased their 'invoice' by an average 25% in 2022 over earlier estimates (early 2020). Toyota's increase was the least 7%. I bought a used F150 overpriced at 12,000. I put another 2K in ball joints, a new computer module, tune up, oil change etc etc. That was far better than the 65K for a new model with similar trim and accessories. It has 120K miles on it and runs well. I drive it less than 5000 miles a year and I expect it will last me another 7 - 10 years. 6 years ago we bought an '06 Tahoe for Loretta with 177K miles. It was fully loaded and I got it for $5400.00, a steal at the time as KBB was 11K and I knew the owner of the shop that had done all work on it since the warranty expired so 12+ years. Over the 6 years I've spent about 3,000 on it total, including tires (My son works at Discount Tire to I reaped those benefits) and other maintenance. It now has about 230K + miles.

This is not to be an arse but as a kid I could read the charts at 20/10, I believe that's correct, what everyone else could read at 10' I could read at 20' using that analogy. Well now I'm in my 50's and got a vision checkup before COVID because I had to start wearing readers for fine print on circuit boards etc and things started looking blurry while driving where I could read them easily just a couple of years. It had me a little worried, we had a friend who had Macular Degeneration and his sight went quickly. I walk into the office and explain to the nurse what I was experiencing, we do the 'test' and I wait for the doctor. She comes in and tells me to get out, tongue in cheek of course. I tested at 20/20. She did some other checks/tests for cataracts etc and all negative. I had a little scarring in one eye where I had a small piece a brick (I was putting in a wall penetration for cabling) got under my safety glasses and caused a scratch on the eye. I cannot fathom or comprehend the serious issues some have with their eyes and when I read things like this it definitely makes me count my blessings more.

Don't always believe what you read. 😉 The key is ONE of those 4 items will kill you. With 3 of them you will die a happy person.

Thanks Don, I haven't been online a lot, so I noticed nothing. That's always the sign of a great job.

OK, I'm calling BS. That is way too nice to be a garage find. Darn fine looking ride. I've said it before I absolutely love the Gen 1, especially those handlebar setups. Those were so comfortable. I just don't have the ability to maintain them. Congrats on the find.

I'm a fan of the Ryobi battery tools. I purchased one of the original 18v blue ones and used it for many years before I finally burned it up when the battery went dead and I was on the last screw for a deck. pulled the trigger and manually twisted it. Bought the Drill / impact combo ~20 years ago and they are still going strong. I have the 18V blower I use regularly and I had the weed eater too and used it for several more years after my son ran that over with the truck, I just bent the tube back as close as I could. Now I have a very small front yard compared to most as we only have 1/4 acre here in Texas compared to the 1/2 acre + we had in Ohio and nothing like Don's setup. I also don't use them professionally, but I do use them while making furniture, building items for us like our outdoor kitchen/gazebo area and any number of odd jobs for friends and family like sheds decks and even some remodeling.

Bourbon, lots of Bourbon. you won't care anymore 😉

Love the 1'st Gens. Wish they would bring the style back with the VMax engine, the same handlebar setup, reverse and all the good electronics like Apple/Android integration. Call it a throwback or whatever I'd sell my '18 and buy one. I don't have ethe skills to maintain one properly with the twin carbs and can't find a 3rd party mechanic around here that can.

Just sent you a PM. Hopefully that helps

Got in a nice 4 + hour ride on Saturday. Followed a route I've done a few times from the house and ended up riding in areas just looking for land. Would love to find something away from any city but land is getting stupid expensive. One property I looked at was nearly 55K an acre for 15 acres or close to 1.4 million. That's stupid for property with a double wide. I need to be within a couple of hours of a major airport for work and have solid internet access to work remote. Personally, I need to keep the wife happy first. She's from Long Island originally and likes the city but I need to get out of the city, reduce taxes, eliminate the stupid association garbage and get back on well water to eliminate those stupid increases.

Hope you heal quickly and are back in the saddle soon.

What did you think of the "one dry side" of the bar. This place is sort of a bucket list just to see how they handle that.

I had this issue on my '06. It was a 2 fold issue, The fuse for the fan was bad and then the fuel pump was in the process of failing.

Right there with ya.

I understand what you're saying. The years of my riding are now on the shorter side so I want to ride as much as possible. I rode year around in northern Ohio as a kid. Had a Honda CB200, Suzuki 400 enduro style and a Yamaha 400. It wasn't terrible salt conditions that I remember but I do remember washing them off constantly. We had an old wood/coal stove in the garage and we always had a fire going. Wash/rinse outside and then into the garage to let dry. Part of the reason I moved south was to ride year around and a job opportunity presented itself for me to make the move.

With 3 wheels I'd ride in that. It's all in what you wear.

Hopefully they find the issue.

Yes, I am Guilty as charged. I've only been riding to work though. Maybe in April I get to do some fun riding.

If you're ever in Big Bend - SW Texas - Run the Rio between Lajitas and Presidio. 50 Miles of pure fun. https://goo.gl/maps/M64YisDBC7ajL24K9

Saw this video with 1 a while back.

Search engine, I think it was DuckDuckGo. I was looking to go Darkside on my '06 in late '18 and came here from a comment in a Darkside forum.

LOL you only need to go near Texas A&M to see this. Not sure if anyone Knew but they have a fairly large logistics studies at TA&M. They actually have a highway where they have the 2 sides switch. Frankly I think it's stupid and if there were much traffic here accidents would be out of control. We were on it this weekend. My son said welcome to England once they flopped and then Welcome Home when they returned. The thought is that they increase exit traffic flow. Don't see it. Kind of like a round about instead of a 4 way. Google Maps

That's awesome. Congratulations.

OMG I know exactly how you feel. We lived in Geauga county for a couple of years, near Kent / Streetsboro area. While we were there THE wife found a great Christmas tree farm. Well, when we moved back to the west side of town she decided that we had to go there to get our tree. I loaded her and the kids up in a Reliant K car, drove 1.5 hours to the other side of town for the tree. She picks one I tell her is too big for our house but I proceeded to cut it down under protest. Kent is in the snow belt and we are getting hammered. coming across 480 from 271 they are closing the highway as we pass each exit. We get off near Rt 83 to head north to Avon Lake. We are the ONLY ones on the road. Took us almost 4 hours to get home. Those from the area will understand the road references. BTW: I had to cut 3 feet off the bottom of the @#$^# tree.

Considering they mount to the trunk, No I do not trust them.