On 6/18/19 9:41 PM, Vic Smith wrote:
On Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:03:44 -0400, Wade Garrett wrote:

On 6/17/19 6:57 PM, Rod Speed wrote:


"Wade Garrett" wrote in message
...
On 6/17/19 5:08 PM, Vic Smith wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:49:24 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:29:32 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 16 Jun 2019 23:45:01 -0600, rbowman
wrote:

On 06/16/2019 09:52 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 16 Jun 2019 21:07:17 -0600, rbowman
wrote:

On 06/16/2019 07:38 PM, wrote:
BMW is a whole other thing. It means Bring More Wampum. A ****ing
battery can cost you $500 by the time you get out the door. .

That philosophy has carried over to their bikes.

Pretty soon you figure out why they lost the war. Everything
German is
very expensive, over engineered and hard to maintain.
One exception might be the old VW bugs but even they had some
strange
stuff, like threaded exhaust fittings.Â* Then of course there was the
gas tank, guaranteed to arrive first at the crash.


I had an Audi back in the day. They must have improved quite a bit
since
they're still in business. It took VW a bit to figure out how to
put the
engine and drive wheels in front.

In its defense Nixon dreamed up the 55 mph speed limits after I
bought
it and it really didn't have a gear to handle that speed.

If you had an old (36 HP) Beetle the 55 MPH speed limit wasn't an
issue. That was about all they would do.
The REALLY old beetle (mine was a 1949) anything over 45 you KNEW you
were going downhill with a tailwind - - - -

I commonly did 70-80 mph in my stock '64.Â* 90 mph downhill.Â* The 36
HP did 65-70 mph.

I had a '66, the first car I ever bought new.

Me too.

My father had an Pan Am airline pilot buddy with a side-gig buying
Beetles on his layovers in Germany, He imported them back to the US
and sold them for a lot less that the car would cost at a dealer.

I bought mine from the dealer.

I really liked the car and drove it until the early 70's.

Yeah, me too.

At that point, it was burning a quart of oil per tankful of gas

Mine didnt.

so I decided to trade it on a new car, although it was in pretty
decent shape otherwise.

I traded mine in on a Golf/Rabbit, because by then I had a ****ing
great alsatian dog who was obsessed with having his head out the
window when I was driving around and the bugger used to slobber
all down the back of my neck in the summer. With the Golf he got
his own window and the heater was so good I could let him do
that right thru the winter on a long distance trip.

But one of the secretaries in my office said she wanted to buy the car
and wasn't scared off by what I told her about the oil-
burning. I told her emphatically that if she didn't add a quart of oil
at each fill up, the engine would seize... and somewhat reluctantly,
sold it to her for a very low price.

I traded mine in to the VW dealer who gave it to one of his kids
that worked in the dealership and he used it for at least 10 years
more. May well still have it, I havent come across him for decades.

Long story short- she didn't and it did- the first month she owned it.
She came back at me madder than hell- saying I didn't think you really
meant it about the oil. She said she thought my stories and warning
about adding a quart per tankful were just an office joke.

Last time I sold anything to anyone I knew!


I had a 79 Rabbit that was really fun to drive. Good handling, not bad
acceleration, roomy enough for me and I'm a big guy.. After a lot of
years and miles, it started to eat spark plugs. I'd have to change them
every 1000 to 1500 miles. Apart from that, it ran fine. I don't recall
the cause of the problem- only that the dealer quoting a way too big
number to fix it.

Back then, plugs cost maybe 69 cents. if that. And since the Rabbit's
plugs sat right at the top of the engine, you could install a new set in
less than five minutes without getting your hands dirty. Did that for
many times!

The '79 Rabbit was an oil burner. A friend had one. I think there was a class action
lawsuit about them.

Yeah, now that you mention it- mine was burning some oil too, There was
a problem with defective valve stem seals in late 70's rabbits letting
oil leak into the combustion chamber. I think that's what was fouling my
plugs.

First few times around, I scrubbed them with a stiff wire brush then
re-gapped and reinserted them. But it was a PIA to scrub them plus I
frequently managed to take enough skin off my fingers to draw blood-
even when holding the plug in a deep socket rather than with my bare hand.

The plugs were cheap enough to start with- plus one time I bought a
mechanic's box of 36 when they were on sale.

--
Early in life I had a chance to choose between honest arrogance and
hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no
occasion to change.
-
Frank Lloyd Wright