# Car/Bike Peeps... What we got in here.



## 1sImage (Jan 2, 2013)

Hey guys, I'm a Big car nut an Bike NUT... Whats everyone driving, anyone got anything cool?

No pics required, just looking for car peeps.:biggri


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

In order of awesomeness.

1971 Buick Riviera.
1965 Honda 50 Super Cub
1994 Chevy Suburban
1995 Buick Riviera (with the supercharger)
2004 Chevy Venture

The Honda and '95 Riviera aren't currently road legal. Too many toys, not enough time or cash.


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## 1sImage (Jan 2, 2013)

crazyjackcsa said:


> In order of awesomeness.
> 
> 1971 Buick Riviera.
> 1965 Honda 50 Super Cub
> ...



The 65 honda sounds real nice, old dirt bike?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Yes and yes..

M3 as my grocery-getter and 800GS utilitarian/touring bike. No more sports cars when I move back to Canada though for me... (hmm except maybe an STI hatch..) I still have my old FZR in storage because it's so much cheaper to register/insure in certain provinces now. I figure in a single garage I could eventually fit the GS, a used track-dedicated bike and a used motocross. Then I just need an old truck or G-wagen for the winter and hauling toys. I can dream right?

What kind of riding do you do?


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## 1sImage (Jan 2, 2013)

Me an my girl both have 600's. 05 zx6rr. 08 gsxr. Got an 04 Sti aswell... wicked cars. Also riding an 87 t-top GT stang.

Few other toys an couple more cars.

M3 eh. What year? love those cars!!


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

2006, the last of the e46 i6. I always wanted an '04 sti as well, that would be a blast in the snow

I had an '05 z750, similar parts with the zx6r but more street oriented (the zx6r's are ungodly expensive to plate in Québec) I'd love to have a 600cc track dedicated bike sometime

I'm enjoying motorbiking all year round now, but I do miss snowmobiling/ice fishing about this time


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

I have a couple of bicycles now, one a department store bike and another touring bike. (cro-mo frame)

Used to have an 07 cbr 600 (amazing bike) and 97 r6 (not as good)

Got my full licence but figured I would probably kill myself on the bike becuase the rush is so addictive and I would push myself.. Still have my gear but I wont ride.


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## 1sImage (Jan 2, 2013)

Jungle said:


> I have a couple of bicycles now, one a department store bike and another touring bike. (cro-mo frame)
> 
> Used to have an 07 cbr 600 (amazing bike) and 97 r6 (not as good)
> 
> Got my full licence but figured I would probably kill myself on the bike becuase the rush is so addictive and I would push myself.. Still have my gear but I wont ride.


Yes its very addicting. Very fast... it try an be very careful.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Jungle, what kind of touring bike do you have? Do you tour? I toured Sweden in summer of 2010 and it was amazing. My touring bike is an Opus Largo. I'm hoping to do the Waterfront Trail (Lake Ontario) this year.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Bikes - 2012 Trek 1.2 and 2008 Jake the Snake (purchased yesterday).


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

My ride looks something like this:









hehehe


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

I bought something like this mainly so my husband wouldn't ride it to work. He's military and rides his bike to work in his uniform, so imagine this, both his bicycles are in for repair so he rides mine to work one day. The man has self confidence that's for sure.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

And yes, my bike has the front basket.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

Bicycles? I've had a few.

My first "real" bicycle was purchased April 11, 1977 IIRC, a Raleigh Super Grand Prix. It is a real POS compared to what $500 will buy today, but it took me around 100,000 km over the years including Winnipeg to Vancouver the summer of 81. It almost fit me too.

With more money in my pocket some years later, I got a custom road bicycle, a Bertrand made in Hull PQ (now Gatineau). What a joy to have a proper frame size (26 inches) and a longer wheel base and heel clearance to the panniers for my size 14 feet. Unfortunately the paint job was botched, so I disassembled the bicycle and stripped the paint, and that is how it has sat for 10 years or so. I never felt the need to get this bike back in one piece because frankly there are not any roads worthy of a road bicycle any more.

Now I spend almost all my time on two rides.

The preferred ride is my Greenspeed tricycle (model GTR maybe?) circa 2000. No more sore ***! And neck and hands ... This is a lawn chair on wheels. There are a couple of minor negatives. One gets a sweaty back. My feet go numb, and certain conditions are impossible or unsafe: It won't climb a dirt road of any grade due to insufficient drive wheel loading. Also not my preferred vehicle in a downtown scenario, I am so low to the ground. But reasonably paved country roads or paths, ahh...

For ugly conditions or one way trips that involve taking the bike by car, I go with a run of the mill Giant mountain bicycle. About same dollars as the old Raleigh (or after inflation about 1/4 the price) but much better bicycle. If I only had one bike, this would be it, can do everything with at least a C grade.

I also have a 27 inch Norco of similar vintage to the Raleigh that fits me well, but frankly my body just doesn't take to the drop handle bars like it did 30 years ago.

One of my best garage sale finds was a Miata (I think that was the name) something or other road bicycle that would have cost $1000 new in the late 70s. I picked it up I am sure with under 1000km on it for $20. The frame size was 17 or 19 inches, so nothing I would fit on past age 8, but I couldn't pass it up. It sat in the barn a few years until I gave it to my cousin's daughter, she all of maybe 100 pounds soaking wet after a big meal.

I spent a lot of time on bicycles over the years, much of that time also avoiding the ownership costs of an automobile. It
cost about $9000 to land the two tricycles, and most people thought we were nuts to spend so much money on them. I would counter with yes, but you own two cars, at about $9000 annually each, so who is really the nut here? I spent $9000 one year, you spend it every year.

I don't get out much any more, but this past season, I did Barrie to Belleville over 4 days on the mountain bike. I also did Penetanguishene to half way home over 2 days until I had to bail due to my back side literally bleeding (also mountain bike). Apparently cycle shorts are no longer optional for my *** on a safety bicycle for any distance over 50km. Did I mention I like my tricycle ...

hboy43


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Hey Spudd send me a PM if you want to do a short-medium lake front this summer. 

Sorry I ment to say I have a hybrid bike, NOT a touring (which is road bike? )

When I was yonger I did some tours of New Hamsire and Mount Washington, 240 k rides. 

But now a long ride would be 30k lol


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Spudd said:


> I'm hoping to do the Waterfront Trail (Lake Ontario) this year.


What kind of trip are you planning? Ie where/how far/how many days etc?

I did Toronto to Cobourg last fall. It was a bit too long on the trail - 130km in total. We took the via train back. Next time we'll just go to the end of the Go train system (ie Newcastle if heading east) and GO train it back.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Spudd said:


> I'm hoping to do the Waterfront Trail (Lake Ontario) this year.


We rode from Toronto to Montreal a couple of summers ago, using the Waterfront Trail in Ontario and La Route Verte in Québec. It was an awesome tour. The Waterfront Trail was pretty good; some terribly misleading and missing signposting in areas between Toronto and Oshawa (that was our first day's ride), and a few places where you're riding on busy roads, but for the most part we felt safe and saw some beautiful scenery. We rode our bikes from home in Montreal to the VIA Rail station downtown, put our bikes in boxes, took the train to Toronto and rode our bikes back. Sometime we'll ride the train to Toronto and take the Waterfront Trail to the west, or ride the train to Niagara and ride our bikes back to Toronto. But our upcoming tours will be Montreal to Quebec City and back in a big loop, and then the following year we'll do Montreal to Boston (or Boston to Montreal, we haven't decided). That will be challenging because of all the hills -- I lived and biked in Vermont for 10 years so I know what those are like, and they're a lot harder when you're carrying heavy panniers.

I use a Trek 520 as my touring bike; my girlfriend has a Kona Sutra. They've both been very reliable and comfortable for long rides. We typically go for 80-130 km per day, although we find that 70-80 km is about right for a leisurely pace with lots of sightseeing. We usually stay in B&Bs or motels rather than camping, mainly because we sleep better at night (especially during thunderstorms) and it's a lot more fun to ride when you're well rested.


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## Celso (Jun 5, 2012)

I used to be a bike nut, but sold them and made the move to 4 wheels. 
I currently drive a BMW e30 318is, a BMW e34 525i Sport, and an Alfa Romeo Spider. I need to pare down, but i can´t decide which one should go. They´re all so much fun to drive :biggrin:


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

I'm hoping for a week tour from Niagara Falls to somewhere. I don't want to deal with boxing the bikes (we did that for our Sweden trip and while it's not THAT big of a deal, if I can avoid it, I will) so I want to take the Go train back. So I'm thinking we'll ride past the end of the Go track (since the Go only goes like 200k or something) and do a circle tour of some sort at the end to get back to the Go to return home. I haven't actually done any detailed planning yet. 

Hills with panniers are a real *****. Our Sweden tour taught me that. The most fun we had was one mountain where the road up was reasonably winding and flat (for a mountain road), but then the road down the other side was much steeper and we were just FLYING. I'm much more of a daredevil than my husband when it comes to going fast down hills. I always had to wait for him at the bottom. 

It's amazing how many people on the board have done bike touring. I thought it was a niche hobby!


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Mr. MoneyGal has done the Ride for Life (Toronto-Montreal in 5 days). Ms. Moneygal (me) puts 4,000 km on a bike per year (right now I'm riding a Giant Suede) just commuting to work and back, and random shopping trips. Until a few months ago, Mr. MoneyGal rode the bike he got in high school (and he's 50).


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## scomac (Aug 22, 2009)

I have a 2002 Raleigh Odyssey touring bike that has been converted to a heavy duty trekking bike for on/off road use/heavy touring. It's equipped with alpine gearing.

I have a 2010 Masi Speciale that has been converted to a cafe racer style Italian city bike -- fast comfortable and great for recreational rides.

I haven't done any sort of serious long distance touring. My inlaws have done the Waterfront trail route around both Erie and Ontario, although I wouldn't necessarily call it touring as they rode them on road bikes accompanied by a support vehicle, so it was more like credit card touring at best. ISTM that they were more interested in speed than anything else. :rolleyes2:

For those interested in cycle touring, I've always found the adventures of this Dutch couple interesting to follow.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Sounds like some great trips Brad. Agree about the not camping out part - too much stuff to carry.

I plan to utilize the Go Train for biking next year. Ie bike out to the end of a go train route and train back.

One thing I was thinking of is to plan different trips in different directions and then see which way the wind is blowing on ride day and go in that direction.  It really sucks to do a one-way trip against the wind, like I did last year going to Cobourg.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Spudd said:


> I'm hoping for a week tour from Niagara Falls to somewhere. I don't want to deal with boxing the bikes (we did that for our Sweden trip and while it's not THAT big of a deal, if I can avoid it, I will)


The worst part about boxing the bike was having to remove the pedals, because that meant I had to carry a pedal wrench with me for the entire tour -- those things are heavy! We tried to pack light, but once you include all the rain gear, parts and tools, guidebooks and maps, clothes for hot and cold weather, a pair of sandals, snacks and Gatorade powder, it adds up. We rode from Toronto to Montreal because the prevailing wind typically blows from west to east, but wouldn't you know that week it was blowing the other way and we had the wind in our face the entire way. I think we took 7 or 8 days to do the trip, in part because we did some side exploring and spent a few nights with friends off the trail. We like taking our time and seeing the sights; speed touring through beautiful country seems like roller-skating through the Louvre.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Roller skating through the Louvre sounds _awesome_.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> One thing I was thinking of is to plan different trips in different directions and then see which way the wind is blowing on ride day and go in that direction.  It really sucks to do a one-way trip against the wind, like I did last year going to Cobourg.


Years ago I was touring in Nova Scotia and we decided to take the ferry across to PEI. We rode an impossibly easy 30 miles to the eastern end of the island then turned around to go back to the ferry and discovered why the ride out had been so effortless: there was a powerful gale blowing at our backs the entire time. The ride back took us four times as long and we barely caught the last ferry of the day -- I remember at one point pedaling on a dead-flat road in my lowest gear, trying to make headway. It was torture.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

MoneyGal said:


> Roller skating through the Louvre sounds _awesome_.


Have you seen "LA Story" with Steve Martin? If not, I recommend it.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Bicycle touring is pretty cool. It's minimalist-eco-touring and fitness all in one. You're far more in tune with the surroundings, on a unique uncrowded trail instead of a packaged touristic one and you get the sense of accomplishment from your travel etc. I've hosted a few American/Canadian ones crossing Europe and met lots of them on the road. I wish I had a photo now of some French guys I met mountain bike touring up a remote trail at 10,000', they had a cool setup

I've found I hate to use my car in Europe because of the parking, so I bike or motorbike just about everywhere (even now in Jan). While the motorbike burns a third of the gas and can be parked on a doorstep, the bike is good functional fitness. Problem for me it takes too much time, so until semi-retired or something I prefer to cover more ground in less time on a motorbike. I don't feel any need to speed anymore with a torquey bike but I can appreciate the simplicity of bike-touring as well

Not looking forward going back to the huge parking lots, highways and snow. I'd love to do the cross-Canada trail though some day


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