Should you buy a Subaru?

Wow. I might go look at that '83 here now. The '95 sounds pretty good too. Now if I just knew how to ride. :)

My wife drives our STi and she is 42. She took it down to have the tires rotated and the guy at the tire store about wet himself. The WRX STi is anything but vanilla. And it is way more car than anyone should be driving on the road. I too owned a '90 Honda Civic. I bought it brand new. It was a great car and I only had a couple issues with it. My wife even drove it on a mail route for several years. Talk about abuse! But, the Civic was boring. You might as well just buy a GEO Metro.

BlueSTi "Scary-Fast"

My STi sits in the driveway most everyday. My wife and I commute to work on our Honda ST's. Since the ST's get about 48 mpg and the STi gets about 26 mpg on a good day. The choice is simple. Plus, it's just a heck of a lot more fun to ride a motorcycle! We only bought the Subaru because it was snowing so much last year that we could not ride the bikes.

BlueSTi "Scary-Fast"

My buddy just traded his '03 RT for a '04 ST1300. He really liked the RT but he said he just couldn't get over the quirkiness of the RT's motor. His wife bought a ST1300 and they used to trade off between the two bikes from time to time. He said he like the smoothness and power of the ST1300 better. So, now they are both riding ST1300's. I know BMW has a pretty devout following. And I haven't heard anything bad about the BMW bikes other than they are expensive to maintain and are a bike quirky. BlueSTi "Scary-Fast"

I know.

When we were picking out the WRX, I had a hard time paying attention because I was distracted by the STi.

I just finished rebuilding and retitling a '64 Honda S90, mostly to relive my teen years a little. At 145 mpg, I'll be riding it to work when the weather's good.

Yup... same as a Porsche and a porcupine

Rick C (Heard it way too many times as a Porsche owner, "back then")

Jim,

Are these the latest "cult" restoration item? I haven't seen so many Trail 90s and variants since I was in high school (mid-60s)! Even saw a cute little blue and white one with the wings and all the other day that looked like it was straight off a Beach Boys album cover...

Rick

I suspect so. I wasn't aware of it until I started. You might find this interesting...

They certainly attract attention. My neighbor, an older retired lady, saw me working on it and said "Hey, that's a Honda 90. I nearly killed myself on one of those in high school!"

The first time I took it out on the street, a stranger wanted to talk about it.

I had a used CB160 '66 vintage around 1971. Loved it, but my mom offered me a car if I'd just get rid of that stupid thing. No problem, Ma. It would actually get up to 60 MPH on level ground!

I just picked up a 05 Impreza RS wagon today. It's going to be treated (read: driven) like a Civic, however. I have a 68 mile round-trip hike every day through the northern Sierras. I'm not a performance guy. I just need to get to and from the office somewhat economically all year round. The RS is perfect for me in that respect. I also have a Toy Sequoia 4X4, but it was too expensive for permanent daily commutes.

What was the original post about?

--Felix

Good question. I've been following this thread too. Threads tend to get sidetracked in this NG, but there aren't many resident trolls or flamers here, so nobody really cares.

Hey, we're all Subaru drivers remember? That makes us decent and kind human beings.

At any rate, I've always wanted one of those older bikes to complement the presence of the Subarus in the driveway.

-Matt

You know since the gas prices have gone up this year, over a dozen guys where I work have gotten bikes to drive to work on during the nice months of the year.

The 4xr4s will come back this winter.

Yeah, and do you know how many of them have secretly wanted one for years? Sometimes you need to give the warden a good reason (:

That's true. One of the guys I talked to made his case about money saved in fuel and insurance and now he is driving one too.

Now I just need to see if I have what it takes to ride one. :)

I can tell you how to get what it takes.

First check out the Motorcycle Safety Foundation website:

They can teach you how to ride and sign off on your DMV road and written tests in a couple weekends.

If you do the MSF course, you usually get an insurance discount, you don't have to deal with the sometimes unreasonable DMV riding test, and you'll meet a bunch of likeminded people interested in riding. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the experience. They also furnish the motorcycles so you don't even have to have a bike to take the class.

What I needed to take the class, and your milage may vary, was a helmet, leather or denim jacket and pants and leather gloves and boots. The clothing does not have to be made specifically for motorcycle riding.

If you have a useable jacket and gloves, you'll only have to buy a helmet for the class. The helmet will set you back at least $200. Resist the temptation of buying a used one or buying online. Go to a store so you'll get a good fit.

If you've always wanted to ride, give it a shot. Taking the class will give you a good idea of whether you want to buy a bike or not.

Hey thanks for the information. I will have to look into it further now. :)

Nice info. I've been lurking in the rec.motorcycles NG and that place is sorta like a war zone, a far cry from the Subie NG I'm used to. :) I've been reluctant to make any posts there, let alone a "newbie questions" one.

I've been interested in getting a bike for a long time, I've just never actually gotten around to it. However, the fuel prices and my long commutes are starting to have an effect. Most of my driving takes place on lonely country roads, safe from psycho soccer moms and their cell phones, so I'm not as afraid of riding as I would be with a city commute.

I've been aware of the motorcycle safety courses for a while now, and believe me I wouldn't even ride home from a showroom without first taking one.

And, knowing what I know about my bicycle helmet... I don't think I'd want a used helmet. Period. :)

One thing I really need is more info on motorcycles in general. Know any good links to sites that aren't trying to sell me something?

-Matt

Nope, sorry... but I AM expecting this thread to turn into EJ22 engine conversions for use in motorcyles... ;)

Florian

Try a newsgroup, like alt.motorcycles.rec or check out some of the magazine sites (motorcyclist.com, sportrider.com, et al).