Circumstantial Nostalgia, Chinese Motorcycles, and Rebuilding Bugattis

Welcome to the Avants Podcast. I'm Dan. I'm Nick. It's snowing. Oh, God, it is. It's so cold. It's so cold. I love it. I've been missing snow.

Well, I mean, it's because it's been February. It's been like 50, almost 60 degrees. Yep. I, uh, today's the first day of Lint, and then I've decided I'm going to exercise every day.

And I was out walking this morning, and it was cold. Somebody looked at me. She goes, you look cold. And I said, no, ma'am, I'm fat.

And if I, if I start, when I start feeling cold, I'll know I'm losing weight, which is a good thing. She started laughing. Yeah. Oh, that's funny. Yeah. How you been?

All right. I wasn't feeling that great over the weekend, honestly, but I'm feeling better now. Yeah. I don't know what I got or what I ate or whatever, but I'm fine now. I'm not fine, but I'm better.

Every once in a while, the body just says it's time to rest. Yeah. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. Yeah, I'm just busy.

Well, I'm just saying, sometimes you just, if you don't slow down, your body will. Yes, it will slow you down. Yeah, that's right. That's good.

I was driving with my lovely wife and we were having a conversation about this start, stop technology and how it's probably going to go away. And she said, do you think they'll take it out of the cars?

And I said, I don't know if they will. I wonder if it'll just sort of become the opposite where instead of, you know, it always being on the new cars will just have it always off.

And if you want it, you can turn it on because it's already a part of the technology. And I feel like, and I also said this too, I said, look, I said, obviously this administration is changing this or wants to, if the next administration has a different view and those car companies have to go

back to that, you're better to just keep it as part of the software and then be able to turn it back on kind of thing. Yeah. Some being counter somewhere is going to look at this though as an opportunity.

And I'm hoping that's the case because I've already got the defeats for both my vehicles. Like I can't stand it. Yeah, it drives me nuts. It cuts down on my reaction time. I just I hate it. I don't think it doesn't be good.

So I'm glad to see you go. Well, I mean, anybody who's making starters is making money off of that because, you know, they're growing out. But I think I think it'll be in all the cars and new new models.

I'm talking about from now on, if this does go through. And I feel like that way if the if the administration changes and it comes back, then they're easily turn it back on. If it doesn't, then people that care about it and like it can turn it on.

I've never met anybody that's really a fan of it. Like nobody's ever been like, I love my start stop. It's like saving gas. No, you're not. No, you're not. I mean, even if it says the little meter up there says you have your cars been turned off for two hours.

Yeah, you know, it's bullshit. Yeah, so, yeah. Yeah, it's I mean, I think in my case, I don't usually keep cars long enough to worry about the starter. But that doesn't mean I want more cars. No,

eating starters down the road. Like the idea is to keep cars on the road, not to give them we already have enough stuff that's designed to fail. Some day a car will tame you, Dan. Some day. And it will last longer than two years.

Maybe my favorite cars, the next one, I understand that that there's nothing wrong with that. I saw that some dealerships, I didn't know this were taking deliver people are starting to take delivery of the ZR one X is now. Oh, I didn't

know the extra. Yeah, there's a bunch of bunch that have hit the internet as far as videos and stuff like that. So that'll be some fun crash video. Yeah, you will.

Well, maybe they'll break the record for that. What is that the Dodge Charger Charger that left like the parking lot and hit a pole like across the street. Like that's like the least that's like the least the least amount of mileage a new car made it before it being not even

.1. Yeah. So yeah, that's funny. Yeah. Um, I've been scouring a lot of our good people on YouTube like Matt Farah and Doug DeMiro and things like that. And Doug was talking about, you know, who's done the name the worst and obviously the prelude came up.

Oh, yeah. We were talking about. But one of the things Matt Farah was talking about. And I don't ever get a chance to really listen to him very much just because I kind of a lot of times I'll hear clips, but he had somebody written it wrote in the show and was talking about.

And I've had this dilemma. It's like when you're friends with somebody or somebody in your family has a little boy or a little girl and they want to go for a ride in your car and you have like a car that's not really safe. Like when is the right time to take that child for

Right. Yeah. A car that's pre-airbags, pre-shoulder belts. Yeah. If you got classic cars, that was all the time. And Matt made a good point, which I like. And I have been at this because I've had multiple people want to ride in the Triumph.

And that's not going to kill you with speed. That would kill you if somebody else hit you. But he said, you can take a child for a ride in any car you want as long as you're controlling the environment. If you're doing it on a closed road or you don't have to drive them fast, which is kind of interesting.

Because I mean, we've seen this a lot through exotics. I mean, how many people have come up to us and been like, can our kid continue to take my kid for a ride? It's like, well, I don't know you first of all.

And I'm not doing that. But it was just kind of interesting to listen to the both sides of, well, not even both sides. They were kind of Matt and his guests were kind of talking about that. And they were kind of saying the same thing.

Like you control the environment. Right. Yeah. Yeah. There's plenty of places around here with a really big parking lots. I mean, well, yeah. And you can still give a kid a lot of joy by, you know, doing that.

And hell, wait for it to snow. Spin around. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that is fun. Yeah. What do you got for this week's Carter Automotive tip of the week?

I was going to talk about LS engines, actually. Okay. So the what the LS actually stands for. Since we use the term all the time, LS one, LS two, I mean, I'm not talking about what they actually are like LS ones, the 5.7 this LS one classic is the 5.7 vet Camaro,

everything engine. L Q four is the truck. L 33 is all aluminum 5.3. There's all these different codes. But where does that what does LS actually stand for? Unfortunately, it's really lame. Longitude.

There's a couple of people who have suggested that there's a bunch of there's a bunch of different theories on the internet. And none of them are defined by GM for the record. Chevy does not define this GM does not define it.

Do they not know? I don't know. Yeah. Okay. From what we can gather. And I looked at Jalopnik car and driver, I looked at different sources and did my own googling and grokking and co-piloting and all that other crap, nobody can come up with a clear answer.

But most sources agree that the most likely answer is just luxury sport. Very generic, because it was originally as a luxury sports car engine, which was for GM, I guess that's a luxury sport follows the Camaro, but it's kind of it's just a name though.

But that's generally what it stood for, what it stood for in the very beginning. Some people say long stroke, some people say longitudinal short block, and may even represent the initials of the designer. I think it was Louis Sanchez is the original designer.

I was going to say either that or an internal code for the engine.

Yeah. And it really just, it really comes out of just an internal code, but there's the source of that code. Luxury sport seems to be the most agreed upon one. So, but if anybody wants to be that fun person or parties who says, well, actually, well, shut up.

It's probably not weird. You might not be right. And there's not a good source on it because that is not a definitive answer and it's not defined by GM or Chevy.

So I was going to say that tells you right there. If GM or Chevy is not saying this is what we think it means. It didn't really matter. It stuck. Somebody said it one day it stuck and people went with it kind of thing.

Yeah. The original thought was when they did the motor, was that it was going to be a luxury sport motor. It never made it into some luxury sports van that was never produced. Like it maybe it was originally designed to go into a Cadillac sports car.

And then they decided, no, we're going to put this in the Corvette and it's still going to be like, well, this is what the engines are even coated in all of our systems. And there's nothing more permanent than a temporary fix.

When it comes to stuff like that, speaking in really big corp terms, we have some really hilariously old names. A public one is a funny one from the tech side.

Do you know what RDFE? Have you ever heard the term RDFE? It stands for Red Dog Front End.

Yeah. This is an Azure cloud term.

Yeah. And so instead of going into a tech loophole, but that's what RD stood for was Red Dog. It was Project Red Dog.

Somebody was drinking that crap when they were coding.

Ballmer Peak. If you want to laugh, look at what the Ballmer Peak is called on the internet. It's a joke about the perfect blood alcohol level for maximum efficiency in coding.

It's called the Ballmer Peak. It's a joke. But yeah, that's what RDFE stands for. So I'm just saying these temporary names that were never really meant to be a public thing were just code names.

They will stick around forever. And I really, from everything I read, this seems to be the case with the LS as well. It was originally like a code name that just never went away and now it's become a public thing.

Sure. Yeah. It's kind of funny.

So I was watching this individual on the internet. He buys, beat up motorcycles, dirt bikes and re-does them. He's in Idaho and Montana, I think.

And he was talking about he's got a 450 right now and he's getting rid of the 450 and going back to the 350.

And what this problem in my mind was, why do we continue to do that? Like we sell things that we know we love even though we're not using them and then we come back to them or you go buy something else that you think is going to be better.

No. And I'm using motorcycles as an example. And I'll use my big bike, my 450. I love that bike.

Me still searching every day for my white Z07, Z06 or the 7-speed manual.

And maybe it's a question to the audience and both of us. It's like, why do we do that? Why is it when we know we have something we love?

And again, we go back to the beginning of this episode. Your favorite car is your next one. But you still look back at that, obviously.

Yeah. It's a nostalgia thing, I think.

It's partially that. So this is a good question. I like this topic. Great topic, Nick.

So I think most normal people don't have the luxury. I did not have the luxury of the time of selling the Z06 and buying a Turbo S.

Like I had to do one to do the other. I couldn't afford both at the same time. I gladly would have because one's a manual, one's a rear-wheel drive, one's a target top, one's a front-mid configuration, one's a true rear configuration, one's all-wheel drive.

Like they're completely different vehicles. They go fast. That's all they have in common. Design-wise, they're completely different.

But yeah, I couldn't have both at the same time. And that has been, you know, that budget has dictated most of my car buying experiences.

It's not that I don't want to go back to that or wanted to. I never really wanted to sell the Z06.

I just knew that if I wanted to try anything else, I had to. For those of you that do, like with the motorcycles where I could,

like I've kept both the Monkey and the Grom even though I rarely ride them right now, just in the off chance that I'll want to later because, well,

they haven't turned in the next bikes that have come along. Like what did they add? A five-speed versus a four-speed to the Monkey and the Grom and slightly different body work?

If you can get the transmission to work in the Grom, yeah.

I was going to talk about that later. But I haven't had a big reason to force upgrade. The 450 is a good example, though, of a bike that I actually, the guy did sell it, unfortunately.

For more than I would have paid him for it. So good for him. I'm glad to be like, good job Ian.

But that's a bike I kind of wish I hadn't sold because it was built perfect.

Yeah. I loved my build. It was paid off. It wasn't.

Yeah, exactly.

But at the end of the day, I was sitting there thinking it's paid off. It's just sitting there. I'm not using it.

And I think the reason we go back to it is, oh, my situation has changed.

I have more time to do what I want now because these other things have gone away.

It's like, during that time you sold your bike, I think you were getting married or freshly married.

Yeah.

Like, your priorities were way different then. And now it's like, now that you've kind of gotten into the rhythm of being married, settling down, your budgets are combined, or whatever they're at, you guys have a bigger picture of where your life is at now.

Yeah.

Oh, let me be clear. If I buy another motorcycle, it's coming out of my money.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm just saying, like, you know...

No, I'm just saying in my situation.

She's not going to help with that.

Totally normal.

I have a clear understanding of where your budget is at now and where your life is at.

Like, she doesn't need a new car right away. You've already got your truck now.

And so now you can go back to those things and be like, okay, now I have time for this, I want to put more...

Or I'm going to choose to put more time in this because I miss the way it was.

And nostalgia somewhat, but...

Well, that's the missing the way it was, obviously, but it's, you know, I loved...

I think I've come to know that even though I'd like to keep things, I like the project of it.

And that's why I've always gotten into cars and Legos and stuff like that.

I've always enjoyed doing the...

Bringing together of the project is my favorite thing.

Like, as you know right now, which we will reveal in a couple of months, I'm working on a project for my family.

And I am loving it because I'm getting to talk to all these vendors and working on things and pulling things together.

And I really... I get a lot of joy.

I love the end product.

Like, I love my Raptor, you know.

But building it was one of my favorite memories of it, minus taking it to Moab.

But I was building it to take it to Moab.

Yeah. Well, there's a lot of satisfaction.

I think a lot of people love the build to do the build because they like creating.

But for me, that ultimate satisfaction is when that build pays off.

I learn a lot in that process because I get to know, well, that was stupid waste of money and time.

I didn't need that.

But there's also, oh wow, this project went really well.

And look what I can do because I completed this project.

I'm going to do so much easier.

You weren't scraping on a bunch of rocks.

When you did it, it didn't matter because you had all the right armor in place.

You can still turtle it?

Yeah. But I mean, it didn't stop the day.

Without any armor in place, that could have been a drive shaft.

That could have been a fuel tank.

It could have been lower shocks.

So it's like when you have all that money into a project and you're like,

oh wow, I can really use this thing now.

It's so rewarding for me.

I think on the other side of that, like I was...

Yeah, you weren't feeling this good this weekend.

We went up in the mountains, Brian and I and some of his people.

And I was realizing that I would love to have, add this to the list,

an off-road vehicle like he bought that I don't have to worry about

if I go past a tree and things like that.

There's still as much as I love that.

I didn't have to really worry about it in Moab that much

because most of the time we were staying away from the rocks.

That was all the point.

But like as you're dragging trees down the side and things like that.

I think that's...

Totally understand.

My Land Cruiser, unlike a bunch of people, was underpowered.

I don't think it was as reliable as it should have been.

It sucked on gas mileage.

It had a rear locker, which is fine.

But other than that,

I don't actually consider it the special vehicle a lot of people do.

The 80 series maybe with the solid front,

but I think so underpowered it's awful.

So I don't have any love for the Land Cruiser in the sense of like,

it's the biggest vehicle ever.

It's cool, throw me wrong.

I'm glad you like it.

It's not my thing.

The Bronco is better in every single way without fail.

The Land Cruiser.

I wish I had when now they're coming down in value.

I really want a two door Bronco.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just for that.

And I don't want a new one.

I want one that somebody's taken out and used and it doesn't have to be.

I don't want it beat up, but like a few scratches.

I don't care.

I want something I need for a reason.

Like, am I going to fit there?

We'll know in a minute.

The plastic vendors coming off or it's not.

Yeah, right.

I'm looking forward to those coming down because I think those

doors, especially if you can find a manual with the 2.7.

Yeah.

Not even the smaller turbo four.

That's a great engine.

No, it is.

We had that friend that lived in North Bend and she had one.

Yeah.

And it was great.

Yeah, it's like those things will go anywhere and they actually,

they said even the smaller engine is just fine.

The only reason you want the larger one is because you get the better

suspension really, but with a manual.

You get the Sasquatch package with the small engine.

You're right.

I don't think, yeah, I don't think so.

Michael would know should ask him, but I mean, yeah, any,

any two-door Bronco, because it's physics, short approach,

short departure, short break over, and I'm building it for off-road.

I don't care if it's got terrible in the corners and the G-forces.

This is why everybody loves the two-door Jeeps.

I mean, before the Bronco was back, that that was the...

Well, I was going to say Jeep, but I think they're...

Well, I'm talking like 70s, 80s, 90s.

Well, that's what I'm saying.

They're worth too much now.

And they're really cool.

Don't be wrong, but I really like them.

I mean, you don't see a lot of the new ones coming off the line,

like the two-door Broncos who do.

I mean, obviously everybody wants a Bronco or a Jeep and a four-door.

Yeah.

Mostly, but yeah.

Yeah, we have talked about that here about like,

it'd be really fun to have a vehicle that we just drive

through the trails, type trail, like,

oh, this trail isn't very open, whatever.

Who cares?

Yeah.

What are you going to wrap it with?

Cedar.

Yeah.

I mean, that's just the thing is like, I just want something...

I mean, I've talked to John about this too.

Like they really need to make an off-road kit.

Oh, just a thicker film?

Thicker, but not also edge-to-edge.

Like, I want something that is made to be pulled off after a year.

They have like an off-road film.

They do have a thicker film.

I was like, but I want something that when you look at the template,

like it needs to cut down on install costs.

Because right now, S-Tec, X-Pel, whatever you want,

they're all designed to be perfectly beautiful

around the car.

Like you don't even notice them on the R8.

It's a godsend, right?

Yeah, the F-150 and everything too.

But I want something that, you know, I'm going to drive it

through that stuff.

I want something that's going to just protect the paint

and take a beating.

And then after a year, I don't have to pay five grand

to replace it.

Like something that's just like, yep, good enough.

It's close enough to the edge.

Like, I don't care.

It comes pre-cut.

Yeah.

Like four hours, you know, because I was like, what about...

Because you don't care what it looks like aesthetically.

You just wanted it for the protection.

Yeah, exactly.

And on older vehicles, like Jeeps and stuff,

you have those magnetic ones, which are don't...

They look really cool, but that's almost as much prep

as S-Tec, you know, doing a PPF,

because if there's anything under there,

those magnets move a little bit

and they just scratch it into the paint.

I remember when my dad had that 535 and 1985,

we had a bra that went on the front of it.

And it looked so cool and I thought it was so cool,

the damage it was doing on the car moving back and forth.

Yeah.

But to get back to the original question,

I don't think it's just nostalgia.

I think there's a lot more to it than that.

It's your time and place in life at the time.

I think budget is the biggest one for most people,

most normal people in the world have a budget.

And then getting as your life changes

and the amount of time you have changes,

it shifts all the time.

So it's like, man, motorcycles are great like that though

because they're not the investment cars are.

They can be if you're into, you know,

the story, but for motorcycles are like Miata's.

They're great when they're cheap because they're cheap speed

and they're fun even when they're not fast.

And they do hold a value at the low end.

Like you go on, like you looking for your Corvette,

I'm always looking for the next bigger bike

and I'm on Facebook marketplace.

And I mean, you know, that three to $5,000 range

is where things tend to sit no matter what,

like brand new.

But if you're 2018 to 2013, something like that,

you're going to be in that three to $5,000 range.

It's a nice entry point, you know,

and if you can somehow get a off-road motorcycle

and not put tabs on it, you know, things like that.

Have you looked at the CF Moto bikes?

I have actually, the Chinese bikes.

Yeah, they're new 450.

Yeah, like they're copy of the African Twin kind of thing.

Yeah, it's like a mini lightweight rally bike.

Yeah.

But built better for highway.

So I looked at those and I looked at the Tenere 700.

Okay.

The Tenere is like peak.

I know everybody wants one of those.

But this is the first time a Chinese made motorcycle

has really actually caught my interest.

Is this stuff from CF Moto?

Am I just catching on to it now or is it just happening

as I'm catching on to it?

No, it's happening now.

It wasn't, they had made a pretty good dent

in the market already just because their bikes are cheap

and they're not trash, which is sort of a first.

Chinese bikes have been around since I was in the industry,

but they were always sort of like the power wheels.

Pretty much just throw away junk.

Yeah, and that's where they were and they're not so much now.

And the cars are doing the same thing for that matter.

We're seeing actually competitive Chinese cars now.

But yeah, we're seeing it more in the motorcycle world

more than ever because they've actually been doing this a long time.

Somebody just decided to actually do it well.

But you know, every Briggs and Stratton engine is made in China.

Those are in every product you buy, whether you buy it at Home Depot,

it's pretty much if you're buying a Honda engine

or you're buying a Briggs and Stratton.

And there's a few out there from Kawasaki, things like that,

but they're still mostly made in China.

And so, yeah, the new, what is that thing?

For Anthony, it's CF Moto.

It's not the Ibex, what is it?

It's the, oh yeah, Ibex, Ibex 450.

Okay, that was right.

Yeah, and it's a good-looking bike.

It's got a rally tower on it.

It looks comfortable.

It looks functional.

The reviews on it are good.

And it's 6,500 bucks brand new.

And the parts for it, if you look for aftermarket stuff,

like graphics kits, it has decent parts on it already.

It has a show.

They're cheap and they're direct to consumer.

So like you can go on, I think their store is on,

is it Alibaba?

We've heard about CF Moto for years.

Yeah.

The Papio is the little one, the little Vigrom competitor,

the little 125cc.

We looked at those.

There was a dealership that had them down in Tacoma.

We thought about, yeah.

Yeah, and a lot of people, they're very popular online

because they're so cheap.

That's where we CF Moto's popped into my head.

That they're direct to consumer.

So they have dealers.

But this is a controversial shift in the industry

that I am partially in favor for

because there's a lot of things dealers don't do well

in that area, which we've talked about before.

But I mean, 3% interest, 6,500 bucks brand new,

freight included.

The problem is these parts are coming out of China

where all their other parts are.

And they're charging not a premium,

but they may take some of the other companies like Honda,

Yakima, Yamaha and Suzuki and make them realize

that they don't need to charge that premium.

Yeah.

So Honda has their big parts come out of Thailand,

Japan and Mexico and the U.S. a little bit.

Some Honda stuff has been in the U.S.

But you're right.

The Japanese stuff obviously is nicer.

Nobody's pretending that these bikes are like,

you're not going to cross shop at Ibex 450

and what would be...

CRF 450 then.

Well, sort of, but it's got a rally bike.

But I mean, you're not cross shopping them and saying...

Then the African twins could be the closest with the rally tower.

Well, they have an 800 for 10,300, the Ibex 800.

And that is, I think that's too expensive actually for that bike.

But you don't cross shop those and expect the CF motor

to be every bit as good as that.

Same with the Chinese cars.

There's going to be cuts and corners to get to those price points.

But this kind of goes back to what we talked to before.

Do those cut corners reduce the fun factor?

Because if my plastics don't fit perfectly on my grom,

I don't give two shits at all.

I have never looked at that thing and been like,

I want perfect Honda quality fairings on my $3,000 mini bike.

And if you go into it with that mindset of,

hey, as long as it runs reliably, the suspension works great

and parts are easy to get, how often do we ride our bikes?

Like if I lived in SoCal or Utah maybe where I was like,

I'm going to beat this thing every freaking day.

I'd probably be crossing, you know, looking for a bit of a nicer bike.

Something that's really made to take a beating that they've looked into.

Let me give you an example.

A lot of Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, KTM parts are designed to crash

and still work.

They are meant to bend in certain ways, get damaged in certain ways

that they are still rideable.

You're not going to see that kind of level of detail in these bikes yet.

You're seeing it.

Some of it have KYB suspension.

It's just a Honda's KYB suspension and they have the good stuff.

Rebound and dampening control.

There's different levels, but this has nice suspension on it.

So like where the parts you're going to feel it at are there.

It's got good wheels and tires on it.

It's got a pretty lightweight exhaust that actually sounds okay.

It's just kind of nice.

It's not like you can get an aftermarket sport exhaust right from them.

So they're drilling into the areas that people are already going to swap out

no matter what bike they have and they're providing that.

Is it going to be, it's got 44 horsepower on the 450.

That's not a lot.

That's not a little.

That's more than the CRF 450.

It's not as much as some of the other race bikes.

Is that more than the CRF?

Yeah.

Okay.

That is my guess.

But that's why I'm coming back to, is it going to decrease my experience?

Not really enough for the way I ride.

For some people, for that nine, you know, that one tenth of riders

who are wringing the piss out of their dual sports.

Sure.

But as much as, like we've said before, as much as we like to think we're really fast,

then you ride next to each other.

You are really fast.

It's like compared to newer riders, I'm really fast.

Compared to veteran riders like Josh and Brandon.

Oh yeah. Brandon's gone.

Yeah.

Brandon rides so fast he knocks rocks into the car.

I'm in the same boat you are.

Yeah.

Sure.

And then if you ride one of those guys with a pro like Pastrana or Carmichael

or somebody you're like, they're going to be like, are you even with me?

You know.

So it's just levels.

I'm happy and comfortable, but I don't think I would see the value out of,

like this would be, this would hit for me the way I ride.

I can't outright that bike.

No.

And I think it'd be a good bike.

Like what I want to see, and maybe this is the approach,

is to see what happens on the used market with these.

Yes.

Because if they're not on the used market,

it means people are ringing the piss out of them, they're riding them

and they're not breaking down and people like them and they're keeping them.

Yeah.

And you don't, I mean, it's enough that I know the big manufacturers are worried.

That's good.

That's good in the sense that, you know, it's market share.

I hope there's some kind of incentive to let other countries be competitive

because the last thing company or places need,

like Japanese bikes need is tariffs.

Yeah.

There's enough fees already on top of bikes.

The last thing I need is another thousand bucks on top of it.

Hey, you guys could build them here super easily,

where the majority of your market is.

Yeah, but I don't know if the price would be the same.

No.

That's where you're going to see your price difference.

Yeah.

That's a good question.

Is labor that much cheaper in Japan?

I mean, building would be, but Honda's already got plants here

and nobody likes to admit it, but Honda.

Oh, I thought you meant building the CRF here.

The CRF, not the CF.

Sorry, the CRF Modo, like building those here.

The CF Modo.

Yeah.

No, not those.

But I want to see Honda and Yamaha and Kawasaki compete.

I mean, we have an economy that's trying to push that

and get more manufacturing here.

So you never know.

Yeah, I hope they think about it.

But either way, we'd love to hear your feedback audience.

Yeah.

What do you think about the new Chinese stuff?

Leave politics out of the discussion when we bring it up.

That's not what we're talking about.

I'm just thinking, is the quality there?

We're seeing it come up.

I think CF is the first time I've seen it come up in a bike

where I'm like, this is not throwaway trash.

These are good bikes meant to last.

They're not built like junk.

The 675, like their sport motorcycle and the little ones.

I haven't seen any of their dirt bikes yet.

I've watched a bunch of reviews and I've seen the Papio

and that I did a double take when I saw the 675.

I wanted the Papio before I got the Grom.

That was the big thing I looked at him.

I like the bike.

I love the sport, the bodywork on the sport.

I think it's a cool little bike.

As far as having a street bike.

Yeah.

I want to talk about Bugatti for a little bit.

Oh boy.

If you know there's a YouTuber and a crypto guy, Alex G.

If you don't know, he was the guy that street during the Super Bowl this year.

Oh yeah, yeah, that guy.

If you also don't know, he had a brand new Bugatti Pure Sport that he crashed

and bought it back from Copart

and then got some quotes from Bugatti to have it fixed

and it was ungodly numbers, 1.72 million bucks.

Of course.

So he reached out to the YouTuber Matt Armstrong, who I love Matt stuff.

He does great stuff.

And they're going to fix it.

He's the gentleman in England.

I was like, I know that guy.

And they decided that they're going to fix this car.

This is a Bugatti.

And obviously, if you're in the car world and you know Bugatti,

don't touch it.

If something breaks on a Bugatti, you take it to a Bugatti dealership

and they're trying to prove that that is wrong.

I forgot his first name, Remac, that is now the CEO of Bugatti.

And they've made this very public.

They're making videos about this and about repairing this car when they tore it down

and Bugatti started to kind of have a fit about the fact that, you know,

they were exposing a lot of the technologies in the Bugatti.

When they stripped the interior, the knee airbag that Bugatti said was so rare,

comes out of an Audi A3.

We talked about that a little bit.

So they looked at the car, they put it up on a rack and they realized that this

bracket between the engine and the transmission was cracked

and which would involve splitting the car in half.

And if you've never seen a Bugatti be made in Bugatti factories,

it's on two different poles and they push it together and the floor opens up

and it's a very beautiful process.

And so Mr. Remac had come on Instagram and made a general message

that was pointed at them saying, you know, this car needs to be repaired by Bugatti

and we've offered you and then they all of a sudden changed the price

as far as they'd lower the price to fix the car.

But, you know, you send a car like that back to Bugatti.

It's gone for two years, no matter what.

So Matt and Alex took the car into this warehouse in Miami

and they split the car apart.

They did exactly what Bugatti told them they couldn't be done

and couldn't be done and could only be done two places in the world.

And they did it with those garbage can lid things that go under garbage can with the wheels.

That's how they split the car apart.

It's like 17 bolts.

It's not that complicated.

It's funny.

Exactly.

So just to bring this up, people who listened to the show really sharply,

a long time ago I talked about something that was worth it,

that garbage can coaster.

So I have one in my shop.

It's a 55 gallon drum, but it goes under a garbage can

and it's made to tote a fully loaded 55 gallon drum around.

One other thing and I specifically remember this.

I love that thing because it's one of those weird things

I never would have expected it showed up and it's so overbuilt.

Yeah.

And I think I joked like you could put a car on this thing

because your shop is a dolly.

So I think it was like a Christmas episode or something.

I was like, don't buy the cheap one, buy the good one

because you could run it over, store it outside for a year

and still it would still move around shop flawlessly.

That's hilarious.

So but this is causing a lot of waves in the world

and the fact that not that you should be

and they have now pulled off, they pulled the car apart.

They've pulled this beautiful piece by the way

of mechanical engineering that makes the engine

transmission and again, it's something you'd never see

even if you own a Bugatti and now they're going to go remake it.

They're going to have it tooled and things like that.

And this is really, I say Bugatti's got egg on their face

because not that you should be fixing your own Bugatti

but it opens the world in the fact that you have an option

like this, this could be done.

3D scan it, 3D print it out of metal.

It's exactly what they did.

They brought those guys in and they were joking about

the fact that the scanner that they were scanning with

was I forgot like $100,000 or whatever

but it was going to make this piece.

But it's really make, obviously Bugatti has that prestige.

Yeah and they have really high end machining processes

and super exact tolerances but

and they've made it really hard in the fact

that they've shut them down.

They won't allow them to buy any parts from Bugatti

and so they're going to do all this stuff

to kind of get around it.

The headlights are broken and headlights are $100,000

but they're realizing that you could probably figure out

a way to do this.

Probably 3D print it.

Yeah.

The one thing they haven't gone around is there is a little bit

of damage to the monocoque in the front by the windshield

but I mean it's an interesting process.

Like the videos are a little bit long

but at the idea of Matt's one of these guys

that so many car companies tell him it can't be done

and then he does it and he rebuilds the car

and he's rebuilt probably 40 cars now.

High end cars.

I mean he took a Revuelto that was crashed

with like 15 miles and even Lamborghini

couldn't figure out how to get the code off

because the battery and he swapped out the batteries

and made it work again.

It's just interesting in the fact

and like he said at the end of the day

it's just bolts and nuts.

Yeah.

And they did anything else would do.

When you go to take something apart you go

you pull on something and go okay where is it attached

and watching them take this car apart

was really cool because again they're in a garage

in Miami and it's all like bright lights

and stuff like this and they're taking off.

I'm thinking how do you split this car in half

and they're taking the whole side of that car

comes off as one piece.

It's just interesting to see.

And it's fun automotive content.

Well we've talked about that before

if you're looking at repairing something

you can watch adjacent videos

where it's like you're doing one repair

but you realize to get to that repair

requires doing the thing you need to do.

Like you're going to pull a core support on a car

but you want to know how to change the headlight

or change your grille.

You can be like oh I'm going to watch them replace

this core support or mount this front mount intercooler

because in order to do that they have to pull off

the grille, the headlights and the core support.

And so you're like oh if I watch the video

I can watch how all this is done

and see how it's put together

and then it saves me a bunch of steps.

Lots of pausing. Where did that bolt come out of?

Exactly lots of pausing but it's there.

We have to say but the tooling

I've got to show you something.

It's on the counter.

I think I can reach it.

So Garov came over because he

had some stuff for him

but he's been getting into 3D printing.

He's got this new bamboo 3D printer

which we're talking about.

Because that's what he needs is another hobby.

So you finally got him

he printed me a manual transmission

and it's a shifter.

Did he design this?

You can just download stuff.

He's just testing his printer.

Everything as one piece.

That's really cool.

And he 3D printed me a gun.

He did.

For everyone listening to this

and going why did you just say that on your show?

It's because it's a little toy

it's about the size of maybe half my palm

and it doesn't shoot anything.

Can I put it in first and it won't come out.

I seem to have that problem with transmissions.

Sorry.

There we go.

Okay I just want to break it.

That's really cool.

Let's think this looks nothing like an actual gun.

Not at all.

It's a toy and it's hilarious.

But it's all just

print and go.

And if the FBI is listing

Garov lives at.

I mean technology is so cool.

I'm going to go see if they do a buyback program

for me on it for like 500 bucks.

I mean they are that stupid it should work.

My hands are just large.

It's big enough for a Barbie.

I mean

you were talking before about the composite

materials and the carbon.

You can build this stuff and it's so strong.

Yeah that's what he was testing

is different types of filaments

because like he's got like this is

all one print but it's two color.

And it's got a built-in spring to it

and all that like it's cool stuff.

Yeah and it's just it looks

you know these are just little toys

but at the same time you can see how applicable that would be.

Garov is your arms dealer now.

Apparently.

Your transmission and arms dealer.

Okay fair enough.

Fixing these kinds of things that were impossible before

is no longer impossible.

I don't know he needs to work on the printing

on the top of that.

Oh that was his blem he tried to get that in there.

So he's like I drew it on because that was my blem.

No it's it's fun pretty well it's just

yeah I get it like.

This is this is a car guys fidget toy.

Right that's the way that needs to

because I could see sitting at my desk

like all day just like going you know

Well and if you go online to look at the

stuff you can print.

There's it's one of those things where

oh I should 3D print this and somebody

should think of this you go look for it

and like 10 different people have printed

it a hundred different ways and you can just

download print you're done.

This is satisfying satisfying every bit of

my ADHD right now right.

I could sit and watch a video of some car

driving down a road and then just be

how would I be shifting in this video.

Yeah I was I told him like I'm so glad

you got a 3D printer because I didn't

want to buy one and have to learn it

but didn't he get a what's that thing

he made you and Shauna was that was

that 3D printed or was that wood burning

laser laser laser printed great.

Yeah yeah he's the he laser can laser

print onto wood okay on to anything

but like stuff like that.

And so these car projects are I'm

hoping we'll see more restorations

of cars that are untouchable.

Yeah and in that sense of course

the spaghetti is not going to have

any of the value the other ones would

but it will it will have celebrity

I think.

And it will still be a Bugatti.

Yeah at the end of the day it's

it's still got that big engine in it

it's you know I'm interested to see

the process I think it's going to

take them a while and to be honest

the the best thing and I know they

won't the best thing Bugatti could

do was to say we are going to

provide you parts we're going to

come over there with you we're

going to you know we're going to

be a part of the videos and it

would be I think it would be

yeah carbon fiber is repairable

it's not going to be the exact same

but there's a lot of companies doing

really good carbon fiber repair now

well like even if they repair this

car like you said this car is never

going to go do a top speed record

and there's nothing on the car

like that would really stop it

from doing just normal driving

like it was drivable it the

radiator system the front was

screwed up you know that's

that's just you know aluminum

yeah replacing yeah you can

or I think around Lynn would

or maybe Seattle he did

specifically a motorcycle radiator

repair and the reason it was

specific to motorcycles is because

because at the time almost nobody

was doing aluminum radiator repair

and this is just from rocks being

thrown not having greater guards

right crashing oh okay crash a

street bike radiator you know

it's their their curved their

very special shapes yeah then

I mean most car radiators now

even high-end cars like if

the cooler for the supercharger

but it's still just a flat cooler

like there's virtually nothing to

it they just kind of stick flat

coolers there and a couple cars

have more specific shapes but

by and large most vehicle radiators

are simple straight up and down

pieces yeah motorcycle radars are

not they're very curved even on

dirt bikes you know they can be

really weird shapes so he

specialized in aluminum repair

and I have seen him repair bikes

that literally had sticks go

like you know he'd find he would

buy all the trashed ones you're

pulling the top pieces off and

he would just record it and then

put it in and then but stuff like

the stuff he could fix to be like

it was very rare that he could

not fix a radiator no matter how

bad that was damaged yeah and so

these specialized things like that

like I like all that stuff's

fixable doesn't have to be

replaced I love seeing that this

is the cool time where people

can start fixing their own

3D printing we've talked about

before planned obsolescence is

one of my most hated things where

things just aren't built to last

so they make them expected to

fail they want to fail so you'll

come out and buy another one yeah

funny Linus Tech Tips talked

about this with batteries he was

talking about looking at red

cameras their battery packs are

just generic 1850 mA cells like

you would find in any power

tool but wrapped wrapped with

a red sticker yeah yeah but

if you replace one of the cells

or replace all the cells it detects

the change and it won't even let

you to use it which just pissed him

off so with the 3D printing stuff

though people are 3D printing

wear items with now stronger

composites so like plastic

impellers for water pumps

like oh we can 3D print this

out of a way higher grade

plastic and it's in there and

it'll never wear out because it

won't be it'll because they

can 3D print it out of

way higher grade things like

that because that being said

these parts are meant to wear

that therefore break you have

to bring said piece into the

dealership correct and that's

where a lot of money is made

in dealerships and I'm not

talking card I'm talking

everything oh yeah appliances

appliances cars motorcycles

watercraft everything that's

it's it's it's the unspoken

thing of this stuff supposed

to break so that we can get

it's a tenth of the cost of

buying it from the manufacturer

it lasts 10 times longer and if

you do it when you want to do

it it's less of a downtime when

you're in the middle of a river

and it breaks or yeah

exactly yeah so cool stuff

yeah cool what else

Vance events coming up the

there's not a whole lot that we

haven't talked about since last

week there was the I think

they just launched a new one

down in Arizona and Nicole

just launched that off the grid

event so yeah coming up on

February 28 off the grid at

Porsche Seattle north always

doing the cold stuff up there

if you by the time you heard

this you missed the dyno day

women's off the off-road day

it's coming up on March 14

so that is coming up pretty

quick that's here what I

was talking about Nicole

just launched the private

collection tour is Sunday

March 1st from 9 to 11

they are very cool

yeah Portland you've got Auto

Cross coming up I'll be a wet

one but it'll be a fun one

Vance tour coming up March 7

that's Finns Restoration and

Custom Garage yeah Phoenix

Scottsdale you've got track days

going on down there already

you've got the kicking tires

event we talked about that's

passed but I think you've heard

this but yeah that private

collection tour so Cal you

got a bunch of stuff

coming up on May 3rd so

if you're down there for that

pit stop event do not miss it

no it's amazing Dan and I

you've never gone I've never

gone but I mean everybody

speaks so highly of it yeah

that's a very popular event

yeah just go to Vance.com

slash events check out the

calendar talk to your local

rep I mean they're always

that's what they're there for

they can help you out

not just there to say hi

we've got reviews 46

which means we need four more

before we can send you that

giveaway so please go to

this the only reviews that

matter on iTunes or Apple

podcast excuse me so nobody

looks at any of those all

podcast metrics are so on

Apple podcast so go there

leave us a review please

doesn't matter what it is

just need a reviews because

that's that's what helps

try our numbers to give us

a good review.

I don't know if we should put

that out there.

Excellent

all right well for this

episode of the Vance podcast

as always I'm Nick and I'm

Dan and don't just get there

enjoy the drive.

Circumstantial Nostalgia, Chinese Motorcycles, and Rebuilding Bugattis

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