Puzzling Economic Thoughts
Having a head full of 1980s prices leads to endless shocks when paying for things. Doesn’t matter if it’s a ribeye steak at the grocery store or a new pair of jeans from L.L. Bean. Thankfully I seem to be insulated and unconcerned about the price of gas at the pump. No doubt buoyed by fuel stingy two-wheeled machines and an insignificant number of annual miles on our four-wheeled vehicles.
Wandering around the past few months shooting film costs money compared to the mindless triggering of digital images. Even processing Tri-X 35mm film myself costs $0.55 each time I press the shutter button. For some reason I don’t flinch. But there are a few things lately that have strained the economic area of my brain.
Sticker Shock
The W650 had been hard to start. I blamed the cold weather. Then the battery as it slowly lost its charge while trying to crank the bike to life. Maybe the carbs required some work. And while looking the bike over I checked the DOT codes on the tires and realized they were pretty old — seven and eight years of aging rubber. So I called the local Kawasaki dealer to schedule a time to have the bike serviced.
A quick check on Revzilla revealed the tires would be expensive. The dealer quoted a price that was nearly the same for the two Bridgestone Battlax tires I wanted. In keeping with my growing desire to have others do the service and maintenance I abandoned old habits of trying to save twenty or thirty dollars by supplying the tires. Dealers need to make money to stay in business. I want them in business. And I have the cash. But letting go of old habits doesn’t erase the thought patterns.
So off it went for the following work:
- PA Safety Inspection
- Oil and filter change
- Chain maintenance
- Adjust the carbs
- Two new tires, new tubes, plus mounting
- New battery
- Adjust the clutch and brake cables
A lot of work. Going over the invoice line by line I nodded my head at the price of each line item. I knew the time involved and was grateful that I wasn’t doing the work. The final total still startled me — $1306.30.
My brain was balancing that number against the numbers stored in my head from 30 and 40 years ago. I need to upgrade the system.
Other Shocks
The W650 runs like a dream again. Starts instantly even on cool mornings. The idle is perfect and all the controls feel positive. And the tires are things of beauty. I’ve come to accept the cost of maintenance and am grateful someone is available to do it and the cost for me is not prohibitive. I want to ride and safe, well maintained machine. I no longer want to wrench. Even though I could. It’s taken some time to embrace the idea that just because I have the skill to do something does not mean I have to do it. And to also release financial fears from years ago when chasing checks to the bank at the end of the month was a frequent sport.
As someone suggested recently, I could put the $1306.30 in cash on the driveway and set it on fire and it would have absolutely no effect on my life. I wouldn’t like doing it but it brings things into perspective.
And the brings me to our 2011 Honda Fit with 48K miles on the clock. It has become our primary vehicle for now because our Toyota Sienna van is in the shop. Needs new head gaskets. If I thought the cost of the W650 was shocking the head gasket repair feels like assault.
Riding into a New Perspective
Riders everywhere talk about the therapeutic effects of riding motorcycles and scooters. It’s one of those ideas built into riding mythology that it’s easy to embrace a slogan without ever embracing the effect. For me, the therapeutic effect of riding is in how it creates an awareness of the things I am suffering. Could be money, the weight of health issues, too much to do, or just plain negative and destructive thoughts and emotions. Riding pulls the curtain aside for me. But, and this is the big but, if I don’t change my behavior it is empty therapy.
Take the estimate I got for replacing the head gaskets on my Toyota Sienna — between $5K and $6K. *cough*
Despite my desire to respond thoughtfully my emotions get there first. WTF?? The damn van is only worth $12K. I’m going to have to get a new one.
Riding to breakfast on the W650 I was asking myself if it made sense to fix the engine. I understood the costs. The Toyota book time for this engine is notoriously high — 28 hours. Engine removal. Two heads. Intense work.
Assuming the work is done well I would end up with a vehicle in great shape in a body with no rust. And to replace it with something identical, if I could find something would be $12K. And probably more with no guarantee that a head gasket replacement would not be in my future.
So I gave the OK for the repair. And repeated the thought experiment of burning $6K in the driveway. Painful yes. But it would have no effect on my life.
Food for Thought
Dining alone at Bonfatto’s Italian Market & Corner Cafe offered the space for me to intellectually make peace with my emotional response to the repair quote sticker shock. I’ll be ok spending the money. And even if it turns out to have been a bad choice, an expensive lesson, I’ll still be ok.
Riding home I had a better idea of what riding therapy does for me — it reminds me of what’s important. I want peace in my life and that I can take actions that lead in that direction. Or I can let the anxiety, fear, and anger swirl making me miserable.
The choice is mine to make.
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Hello Steve,
Glad to hear from you. The 650
Really looks good, that’s real motorcycle riding at it’s best. My head is stuck in 70’s/80’s price points too. Thanks for the posts, keep the two wheels turning and you all take care.
The W650 gets better and better for me. Simplicity, reliability, and an ability to transport me into a serene riding space. And perhaps make it easier to reset those old price points in my head.
I’ll keep riding on two wheels until I can’t. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hello Steve. The maintenance cost of the W650 may seem high-ish, initially. New hoops generally last 3-5 years, if the cables are OEM and the clutch as well, intrinsic value there. Divided by miles ridden I reckon that it’s inexpensive wind therapy.
Great post
I’ve made peace with the maintenance costs. A big part of it is knowing that it will likely take me to the end of my riding on that bike. I hope I can ride longer but who knows. My 72nd birthday is almost hear. Five years on the new hoops will have an old man riding.
My fingers are crossed! And thank you for taking the time to comment.
Nice post Steve! I certainly agree with your thoughts on maintenance and pricing. I am 74 and don’t wrench as much myself anymore either. I like supporting my local shops too. I want to keep them in business.
I have two BMWs, a 2006 F650GS and a 2010 R1200RT. My wife has a 125 Buddy Scooter.
These days I usually ride the 650. It is smaller, simpler, and lighter. Plus it gets 73 mpg! I think that these will take me to the end of my riding days too.
Best Regards. I enjoy your posts.
Steve Cass
As much as I can I support local shops. They are a dying enterprise. Especially in the realm of motorcycle shops.
I hope I can still ride my 650 when I’m 74. Trying to just accept what each new morning brings in terms of riding. So far so good.
Thanks for commenting. I’m glad you find some value in the posts.
Back in the 1980’s the tires on my 600 pound shaft drive Kawasaki 1000 lasted well. 14k for rear tires and 35k for fronts. Now that the tire companies have to construct stickier and softer tires to protect the foolhardy they last half as long. The OEM tires on my W650 were worse. The rear went bald at 5,000 miles of sensible riding while the front tire signed off at 8,000. I was peeved beyond belief.
The batteries on my W were my one area of real complaint. I was lucky to see around three years of life. Maybe if I had installed a trickle charger it would have been longer. The bike’s one saving grace was the kickstarter. I wasn’t stuck when the battery signed off.
As you said it was simple and reliable. I just wish it had a little more oomph.
I’ve never gotten any outstanding mileage from tires of any sort — motorcycles or cars. I just replace them when they look worn, or regardless of how they look if the rubber is more than five years old. I’m fortunate that I have few expectations of the life span of tires or batteries. One less thing for me to be peeved about.
The W650 battery was really old. I bought the bike from the Kawasaki technician and she said the installation date of the battery, noted in her father’s handwriting, was 2012. A long lived battery. I recently changed the battery in my Toyota. It was 9 years old. I’m having luck with batteries at least.
The kickstarter was nice. Even though the engine cranked it would not start. One kick and it started right up.
For me it has plenty of oomph. Far more than I’ll ever need. A sixth gear would quiet the engine sound though!
Yep, sticker shock hits unpleasantly about my head and shoulders a lot. Driving the RV right now towards the east coast right now and gas prices are a bit painful.
I too have reached the point of paying others to do maintenance and repairs….such is our stage in life I think
Getting older is pretty demanding. For those of us who don’t like change it’s a real unpleasant situation.
Gas prices. We drive so few miles that fuel would probably have to be $20/gallon before we started to feel it.
Good post! Prices do seem to go up and up, dont they? Where I live (Germany), fuel was up to 10 bucks a gallon after the war in Iran started, but I didnt notice many people driving less. And I hear the same arguments here that there will soon be no motorcycle mechanics, but on the other hand, I do see a fair number of young riders, so someone will have to fix those bikes. As you mentioned, being open to change is a prerequisite to aging.
I’ve never seen behavior changes due to fuel prices but I only see a narrow view of the world from my vantage point. But it seems as if behavior and complaining aren’t aligned.
I see very few young riders here. Nothing like it was growing up in the early 1970s where every kid wanted to drive, ride, and make a trip across the country to California. Times have changed. And so have I.
Hello Steve!
Glad to hear from you. The MX is a great machine; it has been my go-to camera for years, I love it but here in Italy film has slowly become a trend and then a luxury. If I can shoot and process Tri-X at 50c per shot, when I print my pictures the cost increases to 1€ per shot. And it’s just b/w; if I want to shoot color or slides, the cost increases to 1.5€ per shot just to shoot and process. Moreover, I can’t process color or slides at home, so it’s a hell because very few film shooters equals labs which work with old and poor developer; no more trained and qualified professionals means that I risk to have my slides cut in half, scratched or covered in dirt. Not my cup of tea.
So I stopped lying to myself and admitted it was fair to shoot digital.
I can use my PK lenses on my Fuji MX-5 and I’m pretty happy about it, though the feeling of actually touching a negative is matchless and I try to have my photographs printed as much as possible on Fuji archival paper. A tiny consolation, but at least it’s actual photographic paper and not a dye or inkjet print. Then, Reala is no more; Neopan400 and 1600 is no more; all my favourite emulsions have disappeared from Earth, and I still have some precious relics in 120 format into my fridge, waiting for my YashicaMat to awake from hibernation 😉
Saved money goes into gear, good food and wine, books.
Like that old blues:
“Once I lived a life of a millionaire
spending my money, I didn’t care…”
Because nobody knows me when I’m down and out, and I don’t want to be down because my roll of slides has been destroyed by an unknown guy at the lab 🙂
A big hug!
Back in the early 1980s while working as a photographer for Penn State I was in the process of choosing a new camera system to replace our worn and aging Nikon F system. I could make any choice I wanted. Cost wasn’t an issue. I seriously considered switching to a Leica M6 system or the Pentax MX. At the end of the day the huge quantity of Nikon glass we already had kept me with Nikon for decades. But a few months ago when I decided to reopen my darkroom and shoot film I needed a camera. And the Pentax MX along with four lenses was my choice. And I love the camera. My thinking was I would go with the less expensive system to see if I was serious about film before buying another M6 system. Not sure now if I would want a Leica at all. The Pentax is that good.
I have two complete digital systems along with an Epson SureColor P700 13″ Photo Printer. I’m well equipped in the digital realm.
There’s a lot of nostalgia connected to my photography and I want to make sure I’m just not grasping for the past. Time will tell.
That line from Jimmy Cox’s old blues tune strikes a chord man. And I appreciate how bad it feels when the lab man fails you…
Yes, a big ouch to current, everyday prices. I certainly understand and sympathize. I just had to have a sewer line dug at my house. No one likes writing a big check for some pipe and a big hole. Ditto on cylinder head. Thank goodness our elected officials in Washington D.C. are laser focused and working tirelessly to help make life better for the average American.
I made a trip to the grocery store yesterday. Not a big trip. At least I didn’t think it was. Left the store with the biggest tally ever — $447.00. Ouch. Grateful we have the cash. But sad to see the prices rising and rising. And I’m glad those representatives and leaders in Washington are working tirelessly to make my life better.
I complain but actually, despite the inflation, my life has never been better economically. Dumb luck on my part. But I’ll take it.