SuperCub

There's good news and bad news. After several years following the dealer arsoning his own stock of Sym Symba supercub clones in North Carolina, they are back for sale again.

The bad news is they want $2400 for a $1100 bike with drum brakes and 100cc engine and you can't get parts from Taiwan because they don't know how to find the airport, or understand they can ship things on the daily flights out of the country to Tokyo, who has a regular international mail hub. Most reports from buyers seeking parts indicate a minimum of 6+ weeks and a minimum fee of $45 to put it in a box and a stamp on it. Are you kidding me? I won't invest in a Taiwan scooter when they can't be arsed to ship parts. With the hills here, I'd go through brake pads every month. This is why I do my homework before spending any money. I've made plenty of bad financial decisions, including marriage. I must learn from them or live in a trailer.

The Symba is pretty, but Honda's Wave 125 EFI is better in every way, has real brakes and a much stronger engine and better everything. Proper brakes? Check. Better engine? Check. Automatic transmission? Check. Better seat? Check. Fuel injection? Check. Means you can start and go, and stop reliably. This would be an easy sale in PRK. Why aren't they? Thank CARB. Obstructive jackasses.

The cub is a beautiful old bike. Its ancient and gutless and James May rode one in the Top Gear Vietnam Special (series 12, episode 8) which can be seen on Netflix streaming or lower quality snippets on You Tube. Its the most popular model of transportation on earth. It just needs improvements. And improvements exist. If they can't be arsed to improve it, they need to cut the price quite a lot.

Yesterday on my commute home, some lad passed me on a Piaggio MP3 motorcycle. It has three wheels. The wheels are articulated and doubles your grip on uneven surfaces, won't flip the bike under braking like a standard trike, and can handle bad bumpy roads with grit on them, like sand and gravel a bit better than a motorcycle. It also leans into corners so its like riding a motorcycle. It reviews reasonably well. A good idea, but massively overpriced. This is a $7000 MSRP, but you look like a massive dork riding one. And you really do. The only thing worse is this:

Never fear! It's just a prototype. 

Even a grungy plastic covered Enduro is a better deal with more potential value long term. A $1000 enduro will likely need its engine rebuilt, possibly its transmission swapped or at least its tranny oil changed to remove the iron filings ground off by bad gear changes, a new clutch, muffler replaced with a quiet one with no holes in it (many rust), progressive suspension installed, slick tires for road use and you end up with possibly $2500 in it. Since this would be actually highway capable at that point, its a better investment than the Symba or MadAss. I'm reasonably sure I wouldn't accidentally wheelie up a hill and break my neck on an Enduro. Not so sure with the MadAss; its trailing arm is too short. It won't have fuel injection but in a long-shot Chinese EMP, it will still run thanks to carburetors. I'll put spare electricals into a Faraday cage under the house. Considering the hills, a 600 might be a better choice than a 250cc. Meh.

Might get a DRZ since that's just about ideal displacement and comes with progressive suspension. Brand new with all the goodies installed thats $7K. How much gas can I buy for that? The project bike, if I can get parts, is probably a better deal, and more interesting for me. My tastes run to old UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle), 500cc-ish Hondas and Suzukis and such. I'd love an old W650 Kawasaki, since the styling is right and the electronics reliable. Weird how they didn't sell. A Triumph Bonneville is a great weekend bike, but I'm really looking for a styling commuter that will pull the hill with less than 5 minutes warm up.

With my expenses right now I can't buy anything until Fall anyway, when the Motorcycle Fever wears off and people are pondering snow tires and firewood instead of bikes. Winter Projects time. Best time for restoring old machines. Downside is I'd lose the summer riding. Well, there's my bicycle. Weather has been ideal for that. It's been 83'F every day this week. Sweaty, but not overwhelming. I will feel better once stuff is resolved properly. Maybe Honda will cut their prices and a scooter will become viable again. Or I'll find a longer trailing arm for the MadAss and the rear fender. Once they get more in. Meh. If my job gets iffy, I'm wasting money on a bike if I can't ride it on the local roads, so I'd better think hard. Its just frustrating. I could buy $500 worth of new tires, upgrade my suspension if the shocks really are worn out, and replace my windshield, and get the paint professionally repaired and still be ahead of the expense of a bike. Of course, my car is only worth about $3500, so that's sort of wasted, but only sort of. I really ought to just get the Dot-Code reader. And maybe order a new oxygen sensor. Those things always fail in a Honda.