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Congrats buddy! Sorry for the late responses I have been MIA for a few months.
I was actually looking for a Mini Countryman sport All 4. And the. I stumbled upon the Subaru Forester XT so thats what I went with. But I still have a soft spot for the Minis whenever I pass them. My brother and uncle both had the sports and they were more fun to drive in manual then I would have thought. It was like being able to legally drive go karts around the roads here lol. I wish my Subie was a manual but I dont believe they made my year in manual in the U.S.
I will be putting some of that gear i got from you to good use for the next generation. I already swapped the mirrors out that I got from you.
2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca
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Nice to see you on the Forum again !
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Hey Houtman! I missed this thread last year, but happy to see that you switched to the Countryman.
Also, funny that your dealer's name is almost like my name...
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Hello John
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Dang, I missed this one too!
I'm shedding bikes myself. Will try to get down to one (the 2013, 2014 is going on the market soon - no tears shed if she don't sell
)
I kinda fit the Miata, little to no elbo room though. I think it would be a very short love affair. So I'm looking at the CX-50...
Distracted drivers are really poring the cold water on my interest in riding. In the end I may switch to dirt bikes only.
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(01-26-2023, 03:59 AM)Rboe_imp Wrote: Dang, I missed this one too!
I'm shedding bikes myself. Will try to get down to one (the 2013, 2014 is going on the market soon - no tears shed if she don't sell )
I kinda fit the Miata, little to no elbo room though. I think it would be a very short love affair. So I'm looking at the CX-50...
Distracted drivers are really poring the cold water on my interest in riding. In the end I may switch to dirt bikes only.
I've been in Phoenix a few times over the last few years and to be honest, the traffic "quality" (or lack thereof) appears to be about par or better compared with some other significant cities. I doubt that helps much since we become acclimatized to our own domains. However, I find getting around not bad.
Unexpectedly, I find getting around in traffic in Washington DC bothersome, as well as Boston.
Also unexpectedly, I find traffic around New Jersey (greater Newark area) and NYC better than expected. I've only been stopped once by Jersey's finest - not bad I think.
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I try to avoid the traffic around the Twin Cities and now I simply avoid the Portland area for the same reason, Life is too short for that.
But I agree; traffic is just as bad around any large metro area (don't get me going about the roads into and out of airports - I'm convinced they were designed by people suffering a really bad fever. I know the real reason they are doing their best given some constraints, but in the end they need to be redone. sigh.
hake my cane:
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Rboe's point about distracted drivers is right on the mark. I had a beautiful Miata, which was totaled in 2019 by the driver of a 20ton gravel truck who rear-ended me as I was going through a left turn at a traffic light. I was not going slow, and I know that at some point he could no longer see the car as it disappeared below his line of sight, but, if I'd been on a bike, my widow would be writing this. He kept hitting me until I floored it, then stopped and jumped out and started yelling at him in the middle of the intersection. He looked at me like "Where did that old geezer come from?"
The Miata was a great car, and by far, one of my favorites, but it is way too small. My six-foot-five son-in-law could only sit in it with the top down and he was looking over the windshield.
It's a zoo out there.
