Posts by dalancroft

  • Belay that SS!

    My wife gets Veteran's Day off (this year celebrated on Monday 11/12) so we decided to take a mini-vacation in the Sonoma Wine Country. In the Slingshot. Storage bags & helmets ready to go, SS all gassed up ... and then the Butte wildfires hit. It's terribly smokey in Northern California, my wife is asthmatic, and so we will instead take her hardtop BMW 335Ii convertible. It can be shut down tight and cabin air filtered if necessary. (Plus it has a killer stereo.) Oh well, maybe next time. :thumbdown:

  • Insurance/ boring subject but wondering..

    Quote from rabtech

    That price would scare me to death...i would wonder if they picked the correct vehicle to insure. I have no tickets, no at fault accidents, multi car discount, multi policy discount, good credit and a long history of no claims. My Nationwide policy is 610 a year for full coverage with good coverage. You must have something on your insurance agent... Hell a golf cart with bald tires and a bent frame would cost more than that to insure with full coverage.
    Now that I said that.... I bet you just paying liability coverage for that amount. .. ???

    Yes, liability only.

  • Show me your day

    For those deer, elk & antelope hunters out there:
    Berry Pan Sauce
    Tender and lean, these venison medallions pair beautifully with this simple and very tasty pan sauce.
    INGREDIENTS:
    400 grams venison medallions
    olive oil
    Chinese 5-spice
    sea salt and ground pepper
    Sauce
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    ½ cup red wine
    ½ cup beef stock
    3 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
    2 cloves garlic, crushed
    1 cup frozen blackberries or raspberries or a mixture of both
    small knob butter
    METHOD:
    Brush the medallions with oil and sprinkle each side with a tiny pinch of 5-spice. Season with salt and pepper.
    Heat a sauté pan until hot then cook for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare venison. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely to keep warm. Don’t wash the pan.
    Place the pan back over a high heat and add the vinegar and red wine. Let it bubble up and reduce by half. Add the beef stock, redcurrant jelly and garlic and season. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the berries and cook until they soften and the sauce is reduced and syrupy. Stir in the butter to make a lovely glossy sauce.
    To serve: Slice the venison against the grain and arrange on plates. Add the resting juices to the berry sauce and spoon over the top. Serve with a cooked green vegetable.


    Bon apetit!

  • Random Thoughts, Bon Mots & Cheap Shots

    Quote from EjFord

    Forum 'rule' pictures or it dose not exist.... anyway we like pics. If the wife like the covetable she'll come around to liking the Slingshot.

    Don't know what a "covetable" (cofefe?) is but if you re-read my post you'll see where I just had a cancerous kidney removed. Needless to say photography is low on my list right now, thanks.

  • Random Thoughts, Bon Mots & Cheap Shots

    SLINGSHOT: RANDOM THOUGHTS, BON MOTS & CHEAP SHOTS


    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.~Mark Twain


    So not long ago I did a bad thing. A terrible, awful thing. Without my wife’s knowledge, or consulting her, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a 2016 SL metallic titanium with white and gray accents. The next thing she knew, the delivery truck had come and the trike was sitting in the driveway. She wasn’t pleased, but accepting as she knew I needed a) projects to do and b) fun to have. The SS is great on both fronts.


    Now that she’s over the shock — she still won’t ride in it because of no doors or air bags, yet she is obsessed by convertibles. Go figure; I’m having a great time. Or was, till….. a scheduled nephrectomy (kidney removal) due to a cancerous tumor. So for the last two weeks (10/5-19) I’ve just been gazing at the machine longingly through the kitchen window. But now I will am basically healed and back in the saddle. Meanwhile, some random observations and comments.

    • “Bucket of bolts.” If you’re of a certain age, and have watched your dad, grandpa, uncles, etc. shoot the breeze, you’ve almost certainly heard this expression. In the SS’s case, it really is true! Bucket of seats, cockpit, & space frame held together by Allen bolts. So take no umbrage to this intended smear!
    • “Batmobile.” Those with other colors might not get this as much, but the color scheme of mine lends itself strongly to such comparisons. With Halloween approaching I’m sure I’ll get more of this.
    • “Cool car!” Nice older lady, 75-80ish, at a four-way stop sign. I had pulled over to fuss with the new (to me) stereo and that’s what she yelled at me approvingly. We had just enough time for me to explain, to her shock and surprise, that it was technically a motorcycle, not a car.
    • Thumbs up. We’re fortunate to live in a neighborhood with lots of elementary and midde-school-aged children. Sometime I end up being out during pickup hour and I get lots of waves, smiles, and thumbs ups. My son’s karate training partner’s mother was ready to abandon her BMW X1 & the boys and climb on in! She’ll get a ride eventually.
    • Slingshot vs. MX-5 comparo. I’ve had both. Trust me, the SS is way more fun — I think a combination of almost completely open-air motoring and the potential trouble one can get into with a single rear tire. (Plus the SS is faster.) The Miata had been “modded” (poorly), the most notable item being big, heavy 17” wheels and tires, which I returned to stock or better — for example, new lightweight Enkei 15” wheels, sticky Toyo tires, 9.5 lbs. weight savings per corner, and wham! Back to the perfect 50/50 weight balance handling. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Miata and with a real roof and trunk, is obviously way more practical. Fortunately my brother-in-law bought it from me and it sits in a nice cozy garage in Denver. And yes, I have visitation rights!

    Mods (combination previous owner* and mine)
    -Silver belt guard* (factory option? no idea)
    -Red safety cage tubing* (factory option?)
    -Assault flat-bottom QR steering wheel* with NRG short QR adapter
    -Assault “mesh” e-brake cover* (removed and replaced with the Status/NRG combo; MUCH better both visually and operationally)
    -Assault pedal covers*
    -PRP seat belt pads* (since removed on driver’s side)
    -PRP mesh storage, passenger’s side*
    -Audio screen visor*
    -Interior LED lighting*, white or blue selectable
    -Stereo lower-cost upgrades (PM me for more)
    -Windscreen center stabilizer/rear view mirror* and RAM ball-mounted cell phone bracket
    -Carpeted floor mats
    -Assault driver’s side foot rest cover (to match pedals)
    -Red lug nut covers & valve stem caps (just trying to add a little spice!)
    -SS glove box badge
    -Replaced headlamps with ultra-bright units — PIAA
    -Carbon fiber round shift knob and Status marine-grade gearshift boot
    -PRP soft-sided luggage bags
    -Paramount Plastics hood vent
    -Carbon fiber gas cap — why not? (Rationalization: Now I have a spare!)
    -License plate frame & “tuck” mounting bracket


    Likely to come over time:
    -CAI
    -DDMWorks slotted rotors and Hawk ceramic brake pads (or other brands/models as recommended)
    -Upgrade tires for pure dry traction — thinking Nitto NT05R, basically a street-legal racing slick ( I do NOT drive the trike in the rain!) Would love the Yoko ADVAN NEOVA AD08-R but no 20s!
    -Nicer seats should some become available used, cheap & local pickup only
    -Head end unit, amps, speakers — WAAAAAY down the line, if at all


    Hope you enjoyed this lengthy rumination!


    (Cross-posted on the ss-forums.com.)

  • Cali helmets

    To Edwardaneal, that's very similar to the one I wear, without the carbon-fiber look. Just matte black. Advertised as formally the lightest, now 2nd. The lightest was 2x in price and I have a pretty strong neck so no worries.

  • Cali helmets

    Helmets absolutely required in CA. Big outcry about 20 years ago when the Harley & Hog type folks were forced to wear one. They generally responded with what my wife calls "the hard candy shell." Personally, so far, I've gotten away with a half-helmet and shades. I have to be careful -- our local sheriff lives five houses down!

  • Weight Reduction

    There is a maxim governing all road-going vehicles:


    “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” — Colin Chapman, founder, Lotus Cars/Lotus Group


    I was a Miata guy for a spell and the drivers who raced and/or tracked theirs were obsessive about weight (as was Chapman; “Lightweight!” “Lightweight!” was his mantra). A true racing car has no passenger seat or airbag, A/C, stereo … you get the idea. The T-top Elise my wife test-drove had all the creature comforts of a car (well, most, anyway) and it weighed only 1,895 pounds!


    Audi is popular among tuners because their flagship engine, a 2.0 liter turbo, runs stock at 258HP/268 ft. lbs/torque and can be boosted to 300+ ft. HP and ft. lbs. of torque. Voids the warranty but most of these guys either don't care or purposefully buy a vehicle out of warranty. Engine weight is approximately the same as the EcoTec so that's a wash. Wouldn't these #s look great on a Slingshot spec sheet???

  • Heated Riding Gear

    Part of why I grabbed my wife's 335i hardtop convertible for a recent 1,300 mile round trip to Portland. (Quiet, safety, security, comfort and a kick-*ss stereo didn't hurt.) Temps along I-5 were ranging from high 40s at night to a high of 99 in the valley. I would have added probably 3-4 hours just ducking into rest stops to add or delete layers.

  • polaris new engine

    Quote from cbailey7a

    if polaris is lookkng at a new engine for the slingshot I think they should take a look at this one


    Motus Motorcycles

    126 ft/lbs. of torque? No thank you. Needs a stock turbo, which tend to be torquey esp. as revs rise. I'd like to see, say, a 2.0 liter turbo engine that weights 100 lbs. less, or more, and puts out more like 200HP/200 ft. lbs. torque. Now THAT would be a vehicle! Plus tuners could mod the turbo at will to make even more power.

  • Car cover waste of money