I have no experience with Vanderhall, they do look very nice, but also very narrow for two adults. Having said this my Slingshot, to me has a very special quality, or perhaps its more of a lack of refinement that I absolutely love. Back a million years ago when I was a kid I first got into two wheels by building my first few minibikes. Dad didnt want me to have one, but after constant badgering on my part he finally agreed that if I could build it he would allow me to have it. It was pretty clear at the time he didnt think it would actually happen, but I think I surprised him, finding an old used 2 1/2 HP lawnmower engine and a used Taco frijol frame and saving my money for parts like a clutch and chain from a local garden supply center I had my first set of wheels up and running within a few months. From there the "mod" bug took over and that minibike started to constantly improve and upgrade, frame changed out to one with full suspension, larger engines, first a 3HP, then a 5 - - road that thing any place we could find dirt even following the railroad tracks many many miles from home - there was something I just loved about that time in my driving/riding experience, the smells of gasoline, the sounds of the engine and the bumps and rattles absolutely everything about it and knowing that I made it what it is and it was the only one exactly like it - yea my friends all had minibikes, but this was mine - I made it!
Whether for good or bad this all came to an end when I bought a used McColloch two stroke racing go-cart engine I installed this in my minibike with a unmuffled expansion chamber and was in my front yard when I started it up for the first time - - damn thing sounded scary as hell to the point where my father came out front and announced - "I'm not letting you ride that thing, your going to kill yourself, lets have breakfast and when were done I will take you to the Honda dealer and get you something nice and safe" - - that afternoon we went and we came home with a brand new street legal Honda mini trail 50 - - I loved it and actually rode it to high school my first semester before moving up to a Honda 100, and then other better bikes after that, but from that point on I lost something. As nice as it was to have a brand new much more polished machine it didnt have the smells and the rattles or the satisfaction of knowing "it was mine, I made it they way" that all of my minibike creations had had there was just something missing that no other vehicle I had in any of the years that followed had.
Well that all changed when I brought my little red Slingshot home. for the first time in what seemed like forever I was smiling like I did back on those first minibikes, the smells, the rattles, the sensations of being totally immersed in everything going on around me my mind was transported back in time to a time I had always cherished and whats really great is that as I have modded and changed things and removed things not only have those feelings remained thy have grown - - - I love my Slingshot, I love that its a little rough around the edges, I wouldn't change a thing about it - - - there is a visceral feeling It gives me every time I ride in it that goes to my core that I just love.
Yes - Vanderhalls, they look nice, but when I look at them, right or wrong, I see the same kind of "refinement" that my first Honda had, and I don't want that - - you couldn't pay me to do that again - - - made that mistake once and at the time it may have been the right thing to do, but now that I have my rattles and smells and bumps and lack of finish and polish back again after all these years - Damn it I not giving it up again
Cage Free - - - She's mine, I made her the way she is, and no one else has one exactly like her. squeaks rattles squealing dirty belt, smells of the world in my face with the wind - - MINE. ALL MINE!!!
