My new "motorcycle"

[Guth_imp]

Figured Guth, of all people, being an S2000 guy, would appreciate this...









My new 2020 MX-5 Grand Touring, 6-spd manual, black soft top, black leather interior. Bought it yesterday.

Cancer robbed me of my first dream car, back in 2011. Had to unwind the deal and give the car right back to the dealership when I went on disability leave. My recent collision, when the idiot clobbered me while I was riding my Kawi Z900, robbed me of motorcycling. This is my way of reclaiming some of what life has taken from me.

I took it to my motorcycle roads up in the mountains last night. With the top down, it's fairly similar to riding a fast bike up there. The physical sensations aren't all that different. Same basic speeds in the twisties, albeit not on the freeway. There, the bikes tend to want to go much faster. In the mountains, however, this thing is just as fast as the bikes, only it does it much more safely, of course. Much better lighting, too. Plus, hey, similar to throwing on an extra liner when it gets cold while riding, here you just put the top up and/or hit the seat heaters.

Not the worst trade-off in the world, I have to say. The only definite downsides, vs a bike: no lane splitting; upkeep on that soft top; reduced fuel mileage; not as much of a physical workout.

Whole lotta obvious upsides.

Well, you got that right (more than you can imagine) — congratulations!

Good call on the ND. Mazda did right by that car, increasing the power by way of letting the engine rev more freely, just as I feel it should be with a sports car. Naturally aspirated cars like these are becoming more and more of a rarity these days so I was glad to see Mazda go the route that they did with the latest version of the ND. I realize that a sports car is not a direct substitute for a motorcycle. The laws of physics see to that. But I have had every bit as much fun driving the S2000 as I have the riding the CB1100. That MX-5 is no doubt sure to plant plenty of huge grins on your face going forward VLJ.

My time aboard the CB1100 wasn't the only thing cut drastically short over the past couple of years as the S2000 has been spending far too much time in the garage itself. Hopefully that all changes soon enough for me.

Unless something drastic happens to it (or to myself), at some point in time the S2000 will become my only truly fun Honda as I fully expect that my riding days will come to a close before my driving days. I'm okay with that as I have a great time with either the CB1100 or the S2000. I personally know that I could live out the rest of my time on the road with just the S and be completely thrilled. I've already had a history of moving back and forth between sports cars and motorcycles so this is nothing new for me.

In my case, it started with my very first car — a 1972 Triumph Spitfire. (Here are my parents getting ready to take it for a spin back around 1979 or so, this was before I saved up enough money for a better set of tires (blackwalls of course).



After high school I had stopped riding motorcycles so all that was left was cars. My first major purchase after graduating from college was a 1967 Camaro convertible (I've always loved the ragtops).



That car drew a lot of attention. Women literally screamed and waved when I was stopped at lights, etc.. (It was definitely the car, not me, drawing the attention.)

Eventually I wanted something more involving to drive, so I made my very first new car purchase. A "sporty car", the 1987 Honda CRX Si. Man did I ever have a blast in this car.



Of course as you all know motorcycling (and Honda's) would return to my life. But eventually the familiar duality crept back into the picture, lol.