Budget Discussions

Cyklefanatic

Well-Known Member
When discussing the cost of my bike obsession I always have to remind my wife how cheap ebikes are compared to the other midlife crisis purchases that I could be fanatical about. It helps to bring up the subject of the desirability of an expensive boator a Ferrari from time to time to keep complaints to a minimum.😇
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Or even golfing....
 
When discussing the cost of my bike obsession I always have to remind my wife how cheap ebikes are compared to the other midlife crisis purchases that I could be fanatical about. It helps to bring up the subject of the desirability of an expensive boator a Ferrari from time to time to keep complaints to a minimum.😇View attachment 55443View attachment 55444View attachment 55445

Electric vehicles can also be an expensive hobby... the infamous Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. 😉

P.S. Tesla uses the same battery type that is found in many EBikes... Panasonic 18650 cells.

Refuel Car Session 3 (corkscrew).jpg
 
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O.K., Porsche pics. Here's one where I'm chasin' down a Miata at Thunderhill:

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Porsches weren't even so bad (and they were a lot easier and cheaper to store) as compared to another hobby:

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Then again, you can always just show her the cost of some high end bicycles, and many e-bikes look a comparative bargain!

I've only had one boat and that was many, many, many... many moons ago!
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Electric vehicles can also be an expensive hobby... the infamous Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. 😉

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Even more off topic, but it truly was an honor and privilege to have been able to run Laguna Seca at speed. It is a track so steeped in history and tradition. It was also the only track where I ever had an 'incident', where I looped my 911 by letting off a little too much coming into turn 9, and got burned by the rear end weight of the 911. I remember always having to fit a special pipe to the end of my exhaust to direct the sound to the left, as the sound monitoring checkpoint was on the right side after turn 5 (and I still got black flagged for sound more than once!)

Sears Point was another local 'famous' track when I lived in the Bay Area, but it just never felt as special as Seca.
 
Here's a couple old hobbies that come up occasionally in our "but it's cheaper than" conversations-

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Great thread and insights shared. Much appreciated.

I have never had any of the suggested other hobbies...closet perhaps was a used Charger Daytona once but it was a daily driver for 9 years and my pickup truck cost a lot more (again daily driver=needed right? lol).

I recently did the math on my fleet of ebikes, including what I have already/plan to spend this year and it's coming close to what a 2 year old Corvette would have cost me...😂...but the joy I get upgrading/tuning my own bikes and most of all the healthy journey I'm on riding them every chance I can (now a 4 season rider) blurs the line between 'hobby' and 'healthy lifestyle choices'.

And thank you for the reminder that I never had to have this conversation or be prepared for it as I have never had a wife to express such valuable opinions. ;-)

Happy Sunday Gents, hope you're all staying safe and enjoying the day.
 
I recently did the math on my fleet of ebikes, including what I have already/plan to spend this year and it's coming close to what a 2 year old Corvette would have cost me...😂...but the joy I get upgrading/tuning my own bikes and most of all the healthy journey I'm on riding them every chance I can (now a 4 season rider) blurs the line between 'hobby' and 'healthy lifestyle choices'.
I try never to do such math!

And boy is my wife glad I never got into airplanes! A buddy is into stunt flying and last I heard he had 3 stunt planes. But although we're the same age, he is still working and I was able to retire 12 years ago...
 
I try never to do such math!

And boy is my wife glad I never got into airplanes! A buddy is into stunt flying and last I heard he had 3 stunt planes. But although we're the same age, he is still working and I was able to retire 12 years ago...

You are a wise man - so many 'live to work' and a few like yourself figure out how to flip the script and 'worked to live' (congrats on enjoying the retired life!).

A non cycling friend of mine pressed me for my 'number' of what I have spent on my bikes (known the man for 30 years) and I gave it to him. He was a little shock and awe and started to question why...

I simply asked him how much his young girlfriend he has now, rather the divorce he had as part of the package deal...cost him. It really put things into perspective how a few simple choices each of us make changes the course of our lives.

For me, if I live 5? 10? 15? extra years because ebikes got me up off the couch, knock 100lbs off me (half way there, 1 year in) and take me from 'you should be considering diabetic medication' to not...then every penny I have spent on my bikes is worth 10 fold if not more to me.

Cheers Gents!
 
I try never to do such math!

And boy is my wife glad I never got into airplanes! A buddy is into stunt flying and last I heard he had 3 stunt planes. But although we're the same age, he is still working and I was able to retire 12 years ago...
Reminds me of my buddies who have boats...they have a simple language 'boat bucks' - Every Boat Buck is a $1,000....'that cost 2 boat bucks, that cost 5 boat bucks, that was a cheap fix, only half a boat buck'...

And their wives even speak the language now...heard one at a Christmas party late last year say 'Hopefully we can keep next summer under 10-12 boat bucks for the season'.
 
Even more off topic, but it truly was an honor and privilege to have been able to run Laguna Seca at speed. It is a track so steeped in history and tradition. It was also the only track where I ever had an 'incident', where I looped my 911 by letting off a little too much coming into turn 9, and got burned by the rear end weight of the 911. I remember always having to fit a special pipe to the end of my exhaust to direct the sound to the left, as the sound monitoring checkpoint was on the right side after turn 5 (and I still got black flagged for sound more than once!)

Sears Point was another local 'famous' track when I lived in the Bay Area, but it just never felt as special as Seca.
The picture in my post is my Porsche Boxster S but I find driving it very frustrating because I can never let it loose. Always holding back its true potential requires a level of control have never had. Porsche puts on track days at Mosport race track where you can thrash brand new Porsche’s all day for around $1,000. Much more satisfying as far as I am concerned. I suggest it to everyone rather than actually buying a Porsche.
 
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Even more off topic, but it truly was an honor and privilege to have been able to run Laguna Seca at speed. It is a track so steeped in history and tradition. It was also the only track where I ever had an 'incident', where I looped my 911 by letting off a little too much coming into turn 9, and got burned by the rear end weight of the 911. I remember always having to fit a special pipe to the end of my exhaust to direct the sound to the left, as the sound monitoring checkpoint was on the right side after turn 5 (and I still got black flagged for sound more than once!)

Sears Point was another local 'famous' track when I lived in the Bay Area, but it just never felt as special as Seca.

Laguna is my favorite local track... I raced my 993 there for many years and now I also enjoy racing my EVs at ReFuel.
Sears Point is also great and I spun by 911 there back in the day before I understood the mean of trailing throttle oversteer.
Sad to say that many races have been canceled this year along with the Pebble Beach car week... the silver lining is that I'm riding EBikes more! 😉

Are you still a PCA member?
 
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The picture in my post is my Porsche Boxster S but I find driving it very frustrating because I can never let it loose. Always holding back its true potential requires a level of control have never had. Porsche puts on track days at Mosport race track where you can thrash brand new Porsche’s all day for around $1,000. Much more satisfying as far as I am concerned. I suggest it to everyone rather than actually buying a Porsche.

Bring your Boxster to Laguna Seca and let it loose... glad to instruct if you like. 😉

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