does this make me a Bad Person?

[Charles Scappaticci]

Bob,

Last fall I was thinking the same as you, I need 2 new sets of tires, 
the shock needs serviced at a minimum, it needs a complete tune-up, I 
really miss my Micron and the extra power, and horror of horrors, my 
friends VFR pulled me which has never happened, I used to eat VFR's for 
breakfast.  In any case I was looking at around $2K to put the bike back 
the way I wanted it, or save for a new one.

Thanks to a bonus at work, I made the decision to keep it for now since 
it's paid for and I can do everything on the list and I'll be happy with 
it again.  I could and should do most of the work myself, but I'm 
currently working too many hours to do the bike's needed work and it's 
colder than shit outside anyway.  I'm going to be lazy and have a 
trusted dealer do the tune-up and clean and reinstall my old Dyno jetted 
carbs once I get the new pipe on.  Then install my Koni and get the new 
tires and I should be ready for the next two years.  By then, I should 
be able to find and afford a clean used replacement.  I figure it's not 
depreciating very much these days anyway.

Yours is a tough decision, are you willing to make payments for three 
years or so, or do you put it off and ride the old Geeper a couple more 
years like me.  Eventually those of us who haven't already done so, will 
all be facing this decision, I just postponed mine for a while.  ;-)

Charles S.

Bob Sims wrote:
> All,
> 
> As some may recall, my GPZ is now in my garage, stripped of all bodywork,
> awaiting my winter maintenance plans.  Mainly, I wanted to get the well-worn
> fairing repaired and repainted, the front forks rebuilt, a new-and-improved
> horn, and a few corroded metal parts refinished (powder coated or anodized).
> This is Phase II of my restoration.  I completed Phase I at the end of last
> summer by rebuilding the brakes and replacing some of the critical ignition
> components.
> 
> However, as I look at the costs involved, both in money and time, I realize
> I could easily spend more than half the current value of the bike on this
> modest refurbishment alone.  The paint and fork renewal is especially
> expensive.  I'm starting to think that the money I'm planning for my winter
> maintenance projects could perhaps be better spent towards the cost of a new
> motorcycle.  Am I a Bad Person for having these thoughts?
> 
> My GPZ is still quite reliable, but it is high mileage and showing its age
> from being rode hard and put up wet far too many times.  If Kawasaki made a
> '07 GPZ1100E, I'd probably go out and buy one.  But as it is, it seems that
> every maintenance chore (and there are a lot with this many all-weather
> miles) becomes an expensive, frustrating, and time-consuming ordeal.  Of
> course, the GPZ has never been a purely rational or economic choice for me,
> but man, it sure is getting harder and harder to justify.
> 
> Are there good reasons why I should continue to pour money and time (the
> latter increasingly more valuable than the former) into a scarce, 10+ year
> old, out-of-production, high mileage GPZ, as opposed to saving for something
> new and sexy in the near future?
> 
> Bob
> www.twowheelsburning.com
> 
> "I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart
> many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me."
> 		--Jimmy Carter
> 
> 
> 
> .
>