shamino wrote:

That era of Thunderbirds (I guess they're called "MN12") are great cars. We've had a few of them in the family, but they're all […]
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SpooferJahk wrote:

A 1997 Ford Thunderbird LX. Scored this first car of mine for 4,000 USD with only 48,000 miles on it initially and a practically brand new engine.

That era of Thunderbirds (I guess they're called "MN12") are great cars. We've had a few of them in the family, but they're all gone now.
Keep an eye on the cooling system. From the problems I've most often seen with old cars, I've come to the belief that the gradual decay of aging cooling systems is at the root of most of their suffering. They start to run hot which leads to a domino effect of more serious problems that eventually send them to their grave.

I remember one V6 Thunderbird that a relative bought. The previous owner was a bit of a car nut, which seemed like a good thing because that's the type of person who probably looked carefully after his car. Unfortunately that reasoning backfired because the car nut had thoughtlessly installed a radiator from a V8. That was a big mistake - the V8 radiator was meant to be used with a pressurized overflow tank, but the V6's tank is unpressurized. So every time it got hot it would blow coolant. Who knows how long it had been running like that, but it turned out to have lots of overheating inspired problems, plus all the electrical headaches that were caused by some aftermarket security system somebody had installed.
That particular car was problematic, but I can't blame any of it on the car.

It's a V8 and the previous owner barely drove it as it is, and it has been doing well so far. Good tip on the heating thing, I know it runs warm but I have yet to see it overheat though, so it is probably just my general inexperience in the field of cars talking there.

SpooferJahk wrote:

It's a V8 and the previous owner barely drove it as it is, and it has been doing well so far. Good tip on the heating thing, I know it runs warm but I have yet to see it overheat though, so it is probably just my general inexperience in the field of cars talking there.

There's 2 important temperature thresholds. The first is where the thermostat opens (usually about 195F, not sure on the TBird). Below that temperature the thermostat closes off circulation to the radiator so it's normal for it to stay at or slightly above that temperature.
At some higher temperature the radiator fan will turn on. It's important that the fan reliably comes on when it hits that temperature (if it doesn't, then on many cars you can force it to run by turning on the AC, even if your AC doesn't work).
With the fan running, it should easily be able to cool itself back down until the fan stops. It should be basically impossible for the coolant to keep heating beyond the point where the fan starts running (allowing for a little bit of lag). On a hot day the temperature will cycle between the fan start and fan stop thresholds.
If the fan isn't able to easily push the temperature back down then it's a problem. On a car like that, it won't take much of a nudge in it's conditions to reach the boiling point. Disaster happens at the boiling point, because the coolant stops circulating properly and runaway overheating ensues. Aluminum heads are especially prone to warping or cracking when that happens.

I couldn't help but to resurrect this thread as I've seen some beautiful specimens in this past week. While driving through a residential area I spotted a 60's Valiant, Mustang and a 70's Pontiac Trans Am all parked in the same block. These two just happened to be on the way there. Summer is DEFINITELY around the corner 😊

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Love the idea of a bike but seems so damn dangerous with the way I see car drivers behave every day. More so inattentive drivers than anything malicious, but that's no consolation after the fact.

bjt wrote:

Love the idea of a bike but seems so damn dangerous with the way I see car drivers behave every day. More so inattentive drivers than anything malicious, but that's no consolation after the fact.

True, It is definitely dangerous not having that cage around you to cushion a blow, however I will point out a good portion of motorcycle accidents are single vehicle accidents and there is an inherent danger in just about anything you do. Its a calculated risk and risk vs reward where some people prefer extreme sports and others get their kicks from less dangerous activities 😀

Besides that there's a lot more to consider when riding a motorcycle, its more difficult than driving a car and its extremely addictive, I dread having to take the car out.

I replaced my old Saab 9-3 99 a couple of months back.

Newer car: 2009 BMW 325i with m-sport package. It is pretty nice.

A few days ago I was turning left on a 3-way crossroad, giving way to the oncoming traffic, and just as I started to turn, this thing happened:

(You can turn left here. The picture is not very accurate - there is actually a gap in the central line - but I'm too lazy to do draw it online again)

According to Russian rules, if the accident happened, I would've been guilty. He would pay the fine for going "against current" and would've lost the liscence, but I would have to repair my car for my own money and my insurance would cover the motorcycle. And if the guy died, I would've gone to jail. Nice. Don't ask me how much I wanted to kill him afterwards.

My point is, small wonder people think motorbikes are dangerous. But it's not the motorbike that is dangerous, it's the biker. I think that if you haven't got sh*t for brain, you'll be allright on any type of transport.

Yeah all the Russian dash cam videos on youtube always show drivers (of cars too) doing this kind of thing, I don't really understand it, must make it very difficult to avoid a crash!

mwdmeyer,
Nice ride! I wonder why people on this forum like BMW so much 🤣 Not that I have anything against them, but there are lots of great cars from Japan and Korea with friendly prices. Though I heard some people say that no other car steers like BMW, is that true?

The traffic disorganisation in India and China is much worse, yet people drive there too. I think all they have to do is turn their head much more often 🤣

RacoonRider wrote:

Don't ask me how much I wanted to kill him afterwards.

My point is, small wonder people think motorbikes are dangerous. But it's not the motorbike that is dangerous, it's the biker. I think that if you haven't got sh*t for brain, you'll be allright on any type of transport.

I agree, plenty of bad drivers out there using all forms of transport. I've even had a couple of car drivers take offense to me lane splitting. Lane splitting is legal here when traffic is stopped and it frees up the road for car users but some people take offense to a motorcycle crawling between traffic when its stopped. There are bad drivers across all automotive methods and its sad how angry people get in those road rage YOUTUBE videos.

rgart wrote:

RacoonRider wrote:

Don't ask me how much I wanted to kill him afterwards.

My point is, small wonder people think motorbikes are dangerous. But it's not the motorbike that is dangerous, it's the biker. I think that if you haven't got sh*t for brain, you'll be allright on any type of transport.

I agree, plenty of bad drivers out there using all forms of transport. I've even had a couple of car drivers take offense to me lane splitting. Lane splitting is legal here when traffic is stopped and it frees up the road for car users but some people take offense to a motorcycle crawling between traffic when its stopped. There are bad drivers across all automotive methods and its sad how angry people get in those road rage YOUTUBE videos.

That's easier in Omsk, we don't have lines on 90% of the roads and the rules say that in that case, you count lanes visually based on the dimensions of your transport 😀 I don't know if lanesplitting is legal, but if the inspector stops you, you can always say "I was moving forward in my lane, you see, my transport is pretty narrow" 😁

By the way, cycle on the side of the road a lot (next to zero cycling lanes here, and the ones that we have are crowded with pedestrians). Last year I only had a budget mountain bike and only started to get uniform. This year I'm on a nice road bike in full uniform and I've noticed the drivers now hardly ever take offence. I'm also much faster now and able to move at around 40 km/h with the evening traffic (gets easier when cars obstruct airflow). Russians get quite snobbish when they drive, and the difference between a road bike + uniform and a mountain bike + casual clothes for them is the gap between a sportsman and a beggar.

RacoonRider wrote:

That's easier in Omsk, we don't have lines on 90% of the roads and the rules say that in that case, you count lanes visually based on the dimensions of your transport 😀

🤣 Now some of those dashcam videos make more sense. That must be mayhem on a wide road.

I drive a 1998 Renault Megane 1.6 which I bought back in 2005. It's almost an old timer and has roughly 295.000 km on the odometer 😀

My wife drives an Opel Astra 2007 1.7 CDTi caravan. It doubles as our family car as it has enough space in the trunk and great fuel economy - it averages 4.9 litres per 100 km.

H-D would be nice, but the license itself would be around 900€ + the (very old, used) bikes start from 5k€ up makes it a pretty bad choice. 😢

Half-Saint wrote:

My wife drives an Opel Astra 2007 1.7 CDTi caravan. It doubles as our family car as it has enough space in the trunk and great fuel economy - it averages 4.9 litres per 100 km.

That's some pretty decent fuel efficiency, better than my bike!

sf78 wrote:

H-D would be nice, but the license itself would be around 900€ + the (very old, used) bikes start from 5k€ up makes it a pretty bad choice. 😢

Harley-Davidson? Mate, you pay a serious premium for that brand name. Better off with a Japanese cruiser - more reliable, cheaper to service and source parts and better fuel economy even if they are a little soulless.

rgart wrote:

Half-Saint wrote:

Harley-Davidson? Mate, you pay a serious premium for that brand name. Better off with a Japanese cruiser - more reliable, cheaper to service and source parts and better fuel economy even if they are a little soulless.

Exactly my reason for supporting US car manufacturers. 😈

RacoonRider wrote:

A few days ago I was turning left on a 3-way crossroad, giving way to the oncoming traffic, and just as I started to turn, this […]
Show full quote

A few days ago I was turning left on a 3-way crossroad, giving way to the oncoming traffic, and just as I started to turn, this thing happened:

(You can turn left here. The picture is not very accurate - there is actually a gap in the central line - but I'm too lazy to do draw it online again)

According to Russian rules, if the accident happened, I would've been guilty. He would pay the fine for going "against current" and would've lost the liscence, but I would have to repair my car for my own money and my insurance would cover the motorcycle. And if the guy died, I would've gone to jail. Nice. Don't ask me how much I wanted to kill him afterwards.

My point is, small wonder people think motorbikes are dangerous. But it's not the motorbike that is dangerous, it's the biker. I think that if you haven't got sh*t for brain, you'll be allright on any type of transport.

Check your skills on crossroads in European Union 😉
[google street view] https://www.google.pl/maps/@51.7939034,19.589 … !7i13312!8i6656
[DRONE VIDEO]: http://www.tvn24.pl/lodz,69/sprawa-skrzyzowan … rze,642220.html

One of the main roads from one of the largest cities to the capital city 😀

This one looks intimidating 😁 We have roundabouts on such crossroads. There's enough space to make one, why didn't they?

No permission from antique renovator