The new hybrid Wrangler Jeep manages to get 50mpg while also being able to run entirely off battery for my entire commute to work. It's also tow capable and even stronger than the 21mpg of the base 4 cylinder model it's based on. It'll tow, it'll use barely any gas under normal circumstances and it's a genuinely useful utility vehicle that also lets you take the roof off and make driving an event.
An easy to load, multi-functional trailer that'll carry up to 2000lbs (3-4 bikes). The transformable nature of it means I could also hang it on the wall in the garage out of the way until it was needed.
They have bike-specific trailers too, but this one would handle bikes while also being a multi-purpose thing that lets me utilize my new utility vehicle in many ways.
This one has a cosmetic scratch but is low mileage (35k kms) and would be dependable for years to come. As a big, functional, dependable 'modern' bike, this one checks all the boxes. I'd like to keep the older Tiger, but this bike would take the all-ways on demand for riding off it.
It comes with all the luggage, just had new tires put on it and has had major services done recently, so it'd be a no-headaches addition to the paddock that would take all the pressure off the old things.
This P.O.S. on Kijiji is a fine example. It's a 20 year old bike that the seller couldn't even be bothered to pick up off the floor for the photo. It's broken, not running and they still want over two grand for it! Dirt bikes get abused and then still seem to retain their value. I'm asking about the same amount for a safetied, perfectly running Fireblade super-bike from the same era and can't get a bite.
The other recent P.O.S. I looked at was this trials bike, which was ancient, technically uninteresting (being the year before they got good) and was being sold in better condition anywhere else except in Ontario for half the $1800 the owner wanted. It's not longer available. I can't beleive that he sold it, but maybe he did. People in Ontario are willing to pay a lot of money for money-pit projects.
I always thought I'd be rebuilding an old dirt bike from re-machining the cylinders all the way up, a complete rebuild, but the obscene pricing of dirt bikes in Ontario makes that unlikely.
There are other Chinese off-roading alternatives like the Tanaci-Wong, which is intriguing. Their Facebook page has a Canadian distributor offering their 150cc trials bike for under $3500! That'd only buy you a non-working 15 year old POS on Kijiji.
Chinese engineering has come a long way in the last decade and harbouring old prejudices against it doesn't make a lot of sense.
In a perfect world I'd have that Tiger purring like a kitten, the Fireblade for dynamics focused rides, a C14 for two up riding and a trials bike for exercise and balance practice. Alas, these things would necessitate a bigger garage.
