Circumstantial Nostalgia, Chinese Motorcycles, and Rebuilding Bugattis
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Term
start-stop technology
Start-stop technology helps save fuel by turning off the engine when the car is not moving, like when you're stopped at a red light. It turns the engine back on when you need to drive again, which can help the environment by reducing pollution.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's famous for being used by police and in movies, which makes it exciting for many people.
Term
airbags
Airbags are cushions that inflate quickly during a crash to help keep you safe. They are found in most cars today and help prevent injuries in accidents.
Term
shoulder belts
Shoulder belts are the seatbelts that go over your shoulder and help keep you secure in your seat during a car ride. They are important for safety in case of an accident.
Car
Chevrolet Spin
The Chevrolet Spin is a family-friendly car that has lots of room for people and their stuff. It's a good option for those who need space but don't want a huge vehicle.
Term
5.7
5.7 is a measurement of how big the engine is, specifically 5.7 liters. Bigger engines usually mean more power, which is why this size is popular in sports cars.
Term
LS engines
LS engines are powerful V8 engines made by General Motors. They are often used in sports cars and are popular for upgrading other cars because of their performance.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a cool sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fast and having a strong engine, making it a favorite for people who love cars.
Term
luxury sport
'Luxury sport' is thought to be what 'LS' stands for in LS engines. It suggests that these engines were made for fancy cars that also perform well.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fancy sports car that looks really sleek and can go super fast. It's considered one of the best American cars and is loved by many car fans.
Car
Bentley Azure
The Bentley Azure is a really fancy car that can turn into a convertible, meaning you can drive it with the top down. It's super luxurious and is made for people who want the best of the best.
Car
Porsche 911 Turbo S
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is a very fast and luxurious sports car. It's known for its powerful engine and is designed for people who love to drive quickly and enjoy high performance.
Term
rear-wheel drive
In a rear-wheel drive car, the back wheels get the power from the engine, which can help with speed and control, especially when driving fast.
Term
all-wheel drive
In an all-wheel drive car, power goes to all four wheels, which helps the car grip the road better, especially in slippery conditions.
Car
Corvette Z06
The Corvette Z06 is a super-fast version of the Chevrolet Corvette, designed for racing and high performance.
Car
Ford F-150 Raptor
The Ford Raptor is a special version of the Ford F-150 truck that's designed for off-road driving. It's built to handle rough terrain and has a powerful engine.
Part
drive shaft
The drive shaft is a long metal rod that helps the car's engine power the wheels. If it gets damaged, the car won't be able to move properly.
Part
fuel tank
The fuel tank is where the car stores its gas. If the tank gets damaged, the car won't be able to run because it won't have fuel.
Part
lower shocks
Lower shocks are parts that help the car's suspension work better by absorbing bumps in the road. If they break, the ride can become very bumpy and uncomfortable.
Car
Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV that can handle rough terrains. It's known for being reliable, but some people find it doesn't have the best gas mileage and can feel underpowered.
Term
80 series
The 80 Series is a specific version of the Toyota Land Cruiser made in the 1990s. It's popular for off-roading because it's built tough and can handle rough conditions well.
Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV that can go off-road and is popular among people who like outdoor adventures. It's known for its strong build and cool design.
Term
Sasquatch package
The Sasquatch package is a special upgrade for the Ford Bronco that makes it better for off-roading. It includes bigger tires and better suspension.
Term
off-road
Off-road means driving on rough surfaces that aren't paved, like dirt or rocks. Some vehicles are specially made to handle these tough conditions.
Brand
Jeep
Jeep is a car brand famous for making tough vehicles that can drive off-road. People love them for their ability to handle rough terrains.
Car
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a fancy sports car that looks great and goes really fast. It's designed to be eye-catching and has a powerful engine.
Car
Ford F150
The Ford F-150 is a popular pickup truck that can carry heavy loads and is great for work or play. It's known for being tough and reliable.
Car
BMW 535
The BMW 535 is a luxury car that was popular in the 1980s. It's known for being comfortable and fun to drive, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Term
bra
A bra is a cover that goes over the front of a car to protect the paint. It helps keep the car looking nice by preventing scratches and damage from things like rocks and dirt.
Term
budget
A budget is how much money you have to spend. When buying a car or motorcycle, it helps you figure out what you can afford.
Term
investment cars
Investment cars are cars that people buy hoping they will be worth more money in the future. They are often rare or classic models.
Car
Mazda Miatas
The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a small, fun sports car that is easy to drive and not very expensive. Many people enjoy it for its sporty feel and open-top design.
Term
cheap speed
'Cheap speed' means getting a lot of fun and speed from a car without spending too much money. It's about finding cars that are fast but affordable.
Car
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport
The Bugatti Pure Sport is a supercar known for its incredible speed and luxury. It's a special version of the Bugatti Chiron, made to be even faster and more agile.
Brand
Bugatti
Bugatti is a famous car brand that makes very expensive and fast cars. They are known for their high quality and performance.
Car
Audi A3
The Audi A3 is a small, fancy car that feels nice to drive and has a lot of cool features. It's a good choice for people who want a luxury car that isn't too big.
Car
Revuelto
The Revuelto is a really fast and powerful car made by Lamborghini. It's designed to be super exciting to drive and looks amazing, making it a dream car for many.
LIVE
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?
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.
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
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I don't know if we should put
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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.
About this episode
Dan and Nick dive into a wide-ranging conversation covering automotive tech like start-stop systems, the mystery behind LS engine naming, and the appeal of Chinese motorcycles such as CF Moto. They explore the nostalgia and practical reasons behind keeping or selling beloved vehicles, including motorcycles and off-road rigs. The hosts also discuss a fascinating Bugatti rebuild project by YouTuber Matt Armstrong, highlighting the challenges and innovations in repairing ultra-rare supercars. Along the way, they touch on 3D printing's impact on repairs and share upcoming automotive events.
Original notes
For almost all of us out there, affording a new car means selling the old one. As we get older and more settled in life, sometimes the idea of a project car or buying a replacement for that vehicle you wish you still had becomes more obtainable. Which vehicle would you repurchase and why? Which project car is right around the corner for you? We also talk about the rise of the Chinese automakers that we can't get in the States, but Chinese motorcycles have already snuck in and they're actually good! Will the Chinese motorcycle market direction be an indicator of the upcoming automotive market?
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