| Author | Message | ||
     Treadmarks |
The uly is my daily transportation. But since we live in the hurricane capital of the world, I wanted to prep a vehicle that is as fun to drive as the uly for when the weather is really bad. It should be able to ford 12" or more of water on the road, be able to do light off roading, have power similar to the uly, have good traction and handling but above all it must make me smile like the uly does. Permagrin  My previous bad weather vehicle was my 99 ford F150, 160k miles on the clock and 12 mpg. Also farkled to death and a little light on power.  Well, the wife lost most the use of her right side due to a stroke last year.  Since her car was a standard and my truck was an automatic....she sort of claimed it as her own. I did quite a few mods to allow her to operate the truck safely and with confidence. I feel comfortable that she is pretty darn safe and secure driving the tank, but that put me out of a bad weather vehicle rather quickly as her car was not well suited for driving in adverse conditions. It was a 96 mustang, lowered by steeda to the point it would drag on every speed bump in it's path. It needed a more robust suspension and aggressive tires at a minimum to do foul weather driving. I installed a complete off road tubular chromolly front and rear suspension and exhaust, raising the vehicle almost 5 inches from the lowered starting point. (I can still flat foot it though)    Hell, I even had to make the scoops on the hood functional just to get the RSS advantage.   Soo....when the weather turns to sheit, what do you drive?  | ||
| Nipsey |
Those two the same color? Very nice work- dig the wheels on the Mustang! No matter how much time I spend in the gayrage working on bikes - I cannot muster any interest in working on wheel transportation devices. Wifey drives an 02 Audi A6 and I have the ultra economical Nissan Titan (also in that 13 mpg city realm)- both bone stock save for tinted windows. Had thoughts of using the Ural for bad weather --- but I am to much a pu... errr too soft. | ||
| Froggy |
Dude, is there anything you leave alone???? How about you get a Hummer H2? The 2008s have a 6.2L V8, 393 hp/415 lb ft. Knowing you, you will supercharge it  You can get one dirt cheap these days, and since it wont be a primary vehicle, you wont be buying much gas. | ||
| Froggy |
Oh yea, I got a 2002 Chevy Monte Carlo 3.4 as a cage. Fast as a Buell? Well mabey a Blast... but its got tons of room, a trunk big enough to fit a Uly, and mid 30's for MPG. Going to be trading in for this in a year:  | ||
| Darthane |
I ride the Blast sometimes as a 'bad weather vehicle', usually in winter once the salt hits the roads and I'm unwilling to coat my Firebolt in it. Other than that, I've got a 2002 Dodge Ram Quad Cab that was recently garaged (only comes out to play for Home Depot runs and camping, now) in favor of a little Mazda3 hatchback manual. Awesome little car, which is unfortunately what I'm in today due to predictions of large hail and driving winds to accompany the thunderstorms (rain doesn't stop me, but I don't particularly want to be hit with hail...>.<  . | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Damn, Tread! Is there anything you own that's not tricked out? Now if your electric toothbrush has been modded, with a more powerful motor ... it's time for an intervention, bro. . | ||
| Treadmarks |
Those two the same color? Thanks Nipsey. Yep, had the cobra and the truck both painted when they were paid off. Paid off=almost free.  Had the dings removed, then painted laser red metallic, with a couple coats of candy clear on top. candy laser red metallic.....  Dude, is there anything you leave alone???? Yes, my gayrage could use some farkling. It's on the list, just not near the top.  Pretty cool looking green thing, what ever it is.  With everything (except the house) paid off, and the economy in the crapper, I'm gonna have to hold off buying anything new for a while. Which means more farkling! | ||
| Treadmarks |
Now if your electric toothbrush has been modded, with a more powerful motor ... it's time for an intervention, bro I didn't actually mod the motor, just a lil teflon.....er....I mean...  | ||
| Ratbuell |
My Uly *is* my foul weather vehicle. Unless you count accumulated snow and ice, in which case I've been using my 93 Wrangler YJ with 2" lift and 31s. 4.0 six, 5 speed, soft top, carpet replaced with Line-X. Never washed, never waxed, runs like a champ. The wife has a "nice" 4x4, 2005 Ram Cummins quad cab automatic. Although...we (my father in law and I) just got an old M35A2 deuce-and-a-half for working on the farm. THAT might be fun in the snow! | ||
| Neurorider |
Mine is a 1998 K2500 GMC Suburban 4wd with the 454, 4.10 gears and tow package. It gets 12mpg which isn't bad for a 454. We also keep it to haul a bumper pull horse trailer, as my daughters show Arabians. Just got my wife a Mazda5, the only minivan that comes with a stick shift! and 28mpg. | ||
| Harleywern |
The Uly is my bad weather vehicle. It's cleaned and polished within an hour. To clean the Road King properly takes two days. Ride safe Werner | ||
| Darthane |
Those 5s are so bizarre-looking, but considering it's a 3 platform - good choice! | ||
| Harleywern |
Forgot my cage for real bad weather: Jaguar X-Type 2.0l Diesel 7,5 liter /100Km doing 200km/h on German Autobahn. Ride safe Werner | ||
| Skrobe |
Treadmarks, Sorry to hear about Mrs. Tread, kudos to her for still getting out. Does she ride with you still? Will you (both) be at Homecoming? My restrictive road attack vehicle is a 1990 Jeep Wrangler - never washed with soap or waxed. | ||
| Treadmarks |
Thanks Skrobe. We ride on the softail every weekend. Hell, I can't even start it up without her jumping on it.  She will ride on the Uly if we are doing cross town stuff or shopping. We did 2000 miles in 5 days on it last November. Now that was a blast. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
bad weather vehicle?.... I thought that was the whole point of the Buell  | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Bad weather? Do you mean when it's really, really hot? Like been over 110F for the last 30 days hot? I have an '03 F-150 for towing my race trailer. It has A/C, so sometimes when I'm tired of the heat I'll drive the truck for a day or so. Mark in Arizona | ||
| Nutt |
Bad weather... the KLR (with 17" wheels & a few other changes). Really bad weather... 2008 F-150 FX4 SCrew. 5.4 Liters of gas guzzling love machine. | ||
| Diablobrian |
95 Chevy Caprice 9C1 (interceptor not utility  ) LT1 etc. 02 Chevy Suburban LT autoride 4wd (every option) 5.3 liter. much more refined than my previous 89 suburban which was very much a TRUCK. With 3 kids I have to have the ability to carry all of us so the price of gas is hitting us HARD. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Werner - thanks for rubbing it in our faces over here stateside that you have all the cool diesels in europe. I'd KILL for a US-spec diesel Wrangler, 300 or Magnum (I think it's a 300 Saloon or Estate to you folks)....grrrrrrr. My wife loves her Magnum R/T (5.7 Hemi), but the fuel is starting to tickle the wallet over here. If we could put her in the same car with 40-50mpg diesel? Perfect. The diesel Grand Cherokee is a good start, hopefully it'll homologate the Bluetec for our usage...but in the Grand...well, the truck is just too damned heavy to see any serious fuel economy. If only they'd gotten it right in the Liberty a couple years ago... | ||
| Harleywern |
We will hit € 2,00 per liter by the end of this year. Compared to $ 4,50 per gallon (4 liter), fuell is still a bargain in the States. Ride safe Werner | ||
| Scallywack21 |
 This gets me where I need to go when my Uly can't. 1000 horsepower, 1 gallon of jet fuel a MINUTE and just a 'lil slower the the Buell!! | ||
| Danger_dave |
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| Xbimmer |
  JK... Danger_dave, just how much do you like the Syncs in unpaved cruddy environments? It's front tire time for me and I'm thinking of a Distanzia although I worship the Syncs for road use. | ||
| Danger_dave |
To me there are two types of tyre. Knobbies and not-knobbies. Syncs make me feel better because they are supposed to be Dual Sport. The fact is off road/dirt road there is very little difference between any of the not-knobby tyres. At the moment I have an Avon Storm on the front and a Metzler on the rear. No difference. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I just changed out of the Mt-60s into the Distenza (sp) I do not like them much, for flat rock shale/pea rock gravel (which there is a crap load of here) you will plane out at the 45-52 mph mark, it feels exactly like hydroplaning,  NOT CONFIDENCE INSPIRING. I will be out of these tires fast and most of it will be black top, then I am back to the Syncs which never failed me except for really chunky meaty gloppy ploppy thick MUUUUUUUD. | ||
| Xbimmer |
D_dave, 'slicker, thanks! Not meaning to hijack Tread's thread here but that's the feedback I can use. The Sync is the most trustworthy front tire I've ever used on the street considering its durability. As far as a "bad weather vehicle", my Uly is my only trans other than my wife's car which I dislike. My search is on for a VW Diesel Sport Truck, call me Screws Loose but I'm not too crazy about cars and one of those would suit me just fine. | ||
| Atoms |
Xbim, You are not crazy. Cars suck. I ride this:  year 'round through snow, rain whatever. The Uly is fine in rain of course, and when I brought it home from Atlanta I rode though some snow, but usually I don't ride it much in the winter because the streets here are too salty. | ||
| Jammin_joules |
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| Treadmarks |
Nice Shot JJ! Don't get me wrong guys, I have no problem making the 30 mile hump home in a very tropical storm or monsoon.  It's the 30 mile hump in a storm in the dark (0530) on the way to work that I consider a foul weather vehicle use is justified. Besides, getting soaked and nearly run over a dozen times on the way to work generally makes for a crappy day. |
