Automotive Outlier Update or the Lost Soul of VW

Since July, I have been thinking about this issue and an electric car still seems like a good idea.  In fact, once I got my mind around the idea, buying another fossil fuel car just seems wrong.

But then, there may not be a good choice out there for me, at least not yet.

When I started researching EVs, I thought about what things would be important to me in choosing a electric car.  Of course, most important would be fitting in the car with my height and neck/headache issues.  Not many cars are truly a good fit, so this isn't trivial.  

Next would be a good driving feel.  I can't seem to live without that.  And styling fits in there too.  I can live with a lot of styling choices, but there are some I just can't.  Alas, one of those is the Tesla 3.  Besides being expensive, I find both the inside and outside ugly.  The nose reminds me of a duck or the back of a Henry J without fins.  

Plus, I don't really like Elon, so Tesla is off the list.

I had been leaning toward VW, since they are working very hard on changing to EV after their diesel debacle.  The Buzz microvan that I mentioned in the earlier post looked promising and the ID.4 looked good enough that I put down a refundable deposit to order one.

 

But then I drove a current Jetta.  What an awful disappointment.  The ride was soft and floaty.  The steering was very slow, very light, and non-linear.  There was absolutely no precision and no joy in driving this car.  As it happens, a friend of mine rented a Passat for work about the same time.  He reported the same issues.  Basically, US VW cars, except possibly GTI variants, drive like 1980's Buicks.

I remember visiting Germany and working with the VW engineers on what character a car had to have to be a VW and driving precision was at the heart of it.  I'm afraid that VW in the US has lost it's soul.

 

So now what to do?  Tesla is out for me.  VW looks doubtful too.  My best possible guess at this time is the Ford Mach e.  I hope I fit.

KLR, the next step

 The last few posts have been more about people than projects, so I thought I would go back to the motorcycle that started this blog.  Or more correctly, this blog has been about travel and projects, but since much of my travel has been on a motorcycle and motorcycles have also been projects, there are more than a few posts on the KLR.

In truth, I find it hard to sell projects, especially cars and motorcycles.  I kept Gidjet for more than 30 years.  I have had the KLR since 2003.  When I bought the KTM in 2016, it replaced the KLR for club riding and other motorcycle travel/exploring.  I thought about selling the KLR, but it has more emotional value than it is worth to any other person.

Over the years, one person really liked the KLR, my friend Mark Doman.  I had sort hoped that I could pass it on to Mark, but if you read a couple of posts earlier, Mark passed away this summer.

 Tomboy Basin, 11,500 ft elevation and once the richest town in Colorado

With the pandemic, I didn't ride very much this year, just a few hundred miles, but those miles were on the KLR.  It is still a solid, reliable bike with lots of life left in it.  As winter came on, I needed to decide what to do with the KLR.

Headwaters of the Rio Grande

After not traveling for more than a year, I kept reading about places out west that I had been or wanted to go.  The Tomboy Basin and the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Colorado. Elk City, the White Bird Grade, and the Old Spiral Highway in Idaho.  Actually, the whole Salmon/Snake River area.  And eventually Brittania Beach, Bella Coola, and Gingolx in British Columbia.  Many of those places are dirt road or off road.  

 Old Spiral Highway

So I hatched a plan.  The idea was to convert the KLR for dirt/off road use, get some training and practice in riding off road, and get the bike out west for a few weeks (hopefully 2021).  Then store it out there and go back west every year for a few weeks of exploring.  Leaving the bike out there makes sense because the ride across the plains isn't any fun.  Tentatively, John D. will join me the first time and trailer our bikes out the first time.  

Bella Coola, BC

 Gingolx, BC

I want to acknowledge the pictures above.  The historical picture of Tomboy comes from WesternMiningHistory.com. The historical picture of the Old Spiral Highway comes from the Lewiston Tribune.  The pictures of the Rio Grande, Bella Coola, and Gingolx come from Google images.

 I admit to getting older, so the riding won't be aggressive, but it is still necessary to prepare the bike for tipping over and for good traction on poor surfaces.  The KLR is too heavy for riding in much mud or sand and I don't like that stuff anyway, so the plan is to mainly stick to Forest Service and mining roads.

 

It's amazing how adding some knobby tires makes any bike look tougher.  The luggage rack came from Ukraine, but the other bits are more local.  The skid plate is for Rocky Mountain rocks and the crash bars are to keep the radiator from being crushed in a tip over.  Off road footpegs have been added for traction and lowered for riding out of the saddle.  I also made some spacers to lift the handlebars for a more comfortable standing position on the bike.  Just a few things left to do like power the GPS.  This year has reinforced the idea to live now, don't wait.  I am looking forward to new explorations.

Happy 100th Birthday

 Today would have been my father, Art Brown's, 100th birthday if he had not passed in 2015.  To be honest, I had forgotten his birthday for the last few years and had completely missed the idea that this year would have been his 100th.  This post is about remembering, about ongoing family connections, and "traditions".

I may have forgotten his 100th birthday, but I remember him in little ways everyday.  He was a wonderful father and he and I were as close as father and son, and as friends, as any father and son can be.  From him I got my love of audio, my foundation in electronics, my love of cars, and my curiosity about how things work.  I also learned respect for every person, the importance of one to one relationships, and that family is a constant that you can fall back on and that continues on beyond each of us.

Each family has its small traditions.  One of ours, after our mother passed away, was Sunday dinner (noon meal) at a restaurant with as many family members together as possible.  Father always loved Italian food and we would often go to Olive Garden.

This year, of course, we have been staying home with the pandemic.  The person that remembered Art's 100th birthday was Amanda, his granddaughter.  She and her guy, Tim, remembered him with delivery food from Olive Garden.  Mmnnn.  Those bread sticks look good.

Here is to Art on his 100th birthday, to family connections, to memories, and the traditions they create.