to ride or not to ride...

ok so its payday...ive got a couple hundred extra burning a hole in my pocket and its riding season...however i know if i start to spend money on my maxim...it will not stop at a couple hundred, i'll be posting kidneys for sale on ebay... :wink: ...so i found a gasket set for the maxim for around 80 bucks... i want it now...however my daily driver (car) is dying and i need to get my saturn moving correctly (other car)a diagnostics on that technical beast is also around 80 bucks


i have a problem with priorities, just wondering what everyones opinion was...

fix the car?

fix the bike?

i feel so shakesperean...

 

My vote is to fix the car first. Unless you live close enough to work to walk or ride a bicycle. :roll:

 

Go the car first. XJ's love the patience and attention you give them making sure the job is done right and not in a hurry. :wink:

It'll still be riding season next payday.

 

I would fork out to have the car fixed first. I'm assuming you don't have children (given you have money to spend) but Mother nature might have more bad weather in store for us just before summer gets underway and it would suck to ride in the rain and try to bring home groceries. That said I'm voting to fix the bike first but that is my wild side throwing caution to the wind, with no particular eye toward practicality.

 

Fixed my bike first, with van supposed to be right afterwards (no car).
But, now that bike is fine, bought an old Wellcraft V20, and am fixing it, then the van.
Boat is now done, so next week is van. (unless something else comes up).
It's been 2 months with only the bike, and it's been a happy two months!
Of course Florida 80+ degree and no rain helps..
Conversion van is modified with one of my leftover '70 stage 1 motors that only gets about 16mpg, and now needs head gasket (and since I will have it apart a bigger cam), so the 40mpg bike makes sense.

Me? Fix the bike.

It may cost you a little to get a reliable bike going, but the car may keep taking your money before it runs right. While it might not be as good, at least you can count the the bike to get you there while you get the car right. Fix the cheapest 1st, then move on to the unknown.

 

What's a car?

 

4 wheel cage things that have (windshields?) obstructions between them and road that ruin their vision of the road

 

around here you can buy beater cars that look like sin but run pretty good for around $500 CAD or so. Until i got my nice car, i would work on the principal that once the repair to the vehicle costs more than $500 it was time to get a new one and find a creative way of disposing of the old one, then selling it to the junkyard. Just a thought. And in all honesty which is more fun, a sweaty tin box or 2 wheel fury. Although I'm in the same group as you(bike not yet road worthy) that's where a good chunk of my disposable income seems to go. Someday i might even get to ride it. so i'm voting fix the bike. Unless it's snowing where you are right now.

 

I have 3 trucks at my disposal to drive to work. I just got home riding my Maxim in the rain... I wouldnt have missed it for anything. fix the bike and post your car concerns maybe somebody on here could save you the $80

 

Yikes! An enjoyable ride in the rain? Sounds like a an oxymoron. You sir, are a far braver soul than I. I'll wait 'till they make tires that stay put in water thanks.

 

Depending on this decade or the past, OBD III or OBD II. Good question Sno, I see where your going with this. He's right Dude, you could also rent the scanner from most major parts chains. I'm aware of this program at Kregens/Schucks/Checkers and AutoZone. Give them a shot, might save yourself a bunch of dough.

 

no savin money on this one guys... the guys at advance auto congratulated me on having the longest list of codes they had ever seen :lol: ...however its a saturn, what i have come to find out is they are a very tempermental car and saturn has a old on almost all their parts for it. the codes are transmission oriented, gear ratio off, gear one ratio off, etc. on to four, near stall indication (it wont shift til it practically dies) then temp prob's...the car was meticulously maintained until my buddy got ahold of it from his parents :roll: then he preceded to run it w/o a fan it could be something as simple as a speed sensor which i can get from advance...to the ecu. there are six sensors that could have gone bad that i have to buy from saturn, the throttle body thru saturn, and the ecu also have to get from saturn....so instead of buyin and tryin...ill just have them tell me what is wrong for 80 bucks... meanwhile the car im driving (87 olds delta 88 ) 8) has a bad ignition control module, and balancer...only 160 bucks but when you got two hundred and you want one runnin vehicle, its a hard choice :? . now on hot days i cant run the saturn, til i bring it back friday from grandmas and fix/hotwire the fan...my olds will die (bad icm) and the bike will be a pleasure to ride....now though the bike might need some serious help.... check my other posts on this here

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=986.html

i think im gonna go with the bike on this one...however your posts in the other forum on my head problems might influence that...thanks guys!

 

ok guys...my final decision.... fix both! i had enuf money to fix the saturn and the bike... saturn required new temp sensor, thermostat, radiator cap, cooling fan, fan relay, and throttle positioning sensor to the tune of around 100$ (junkyard-fan) and my head gasket is coming in today (69.95 yamaha replacement)... the car did come first after i got stranded by my oldsmobile on an 88 degree day ... thanks for your vote!