Robin: In this episode, Brian's Tiny Tasty Tooltips will make a return. Segment two is the new Alliteration Grab Baguette. And segment three will be joined by Joanne Don for the Armory. I have no idea what she's going to talk about. I think she had some ideas last time. We'll just, we'll figure it out as we go. But this is all impromptu. I'm two episodes behind.

Brian: That's okay, man. Is anybody cutting you checks?

Robin: I'm doing my best to find them. Got to tape them all together from the shredder.

Brian: Ha ha.

Robin: How are you, sir? Good to see you. We've already talked a little bit about this, so I'm not trying to manufacture conversation, but please tell all.

Brian: I am excellent. It's warm today. Road to a lunch meeting. You know, that's the height of excitement for the day. Headed out to California next week for a series of business meetings in the San Francisco area. Wisely or unwisely, I have rented one of the cheapest motorcycles on offer on twisted road.com. I wanted to rent a bike. I thought it would look bad if it costs more than renting a car. So I found a bike where everything with all the insurance and the fees and et cetera came in underneath what a car would.

Robin: Is it like a 78 CX 400?

Brian: It's like a 2009 Vstrom 650 with a bunch of miles on it. And it's got like this, I wouldn't call it a Captain America paint job i'd call it like maybe corporal america private america paint job like the screen's all yellow and shit you know private america private america yes sir yeah so i'm gonna rent that we'll see how that goes you know the forecast is a little mixed but which is normal for that area southern california sunny happy fun times i'll make it work you're

Robin: Gonna get on a plane you're going to fly to a pretty state. You're going to see nice things on a bike. Is there still a notion of an opportunity that you're going to run into the one and only Angel Marie?

Brian: Absolutely. Got a time set. That's the plan.

Robin: Well, more importantly, random song of the minute. I'm the president by knower.

Brian: That's a deep cut.

Robin: You have to look this video up. I'm going to link you to it.

Brian: Knower.

Robin: Your turn though, because you've got one here. Yours is a paragraph. That's a long title.

Brian: So the random song of my minute is not this AI, slop-tastic, artificially created robot song that snuck its way into my Pandora feed. I'm nowhere near his hip. I'm not nearly as cool as Robin.

Robin: I'm not.

Brian: He's downright chilly. But anyway.

Robin: I would not claim that.

Brian: So I have a real soft spot for like what I call sneaky pop songs that are really popular, but actually really, really well made. So the one that burrowed its way into my ear, and it's an old one, it's from Chapel Rhone. It's called Love Me Anyway.

Robin: Oh, okay.

Brian: Gorgeous song. Love it. And again, I've got a weird soft spot for like pop songs that are like, well, actually, That's a good song. Even if everybody's sick of it, it's a good song.

Robin: Yeah. I can hear the listeners right now. And what does this have to do with motorcycling?

Brian: Not a damn thing.

Robin: Nothing. Change the channel. We're going to do what we want to today. This is a good time. You want to have a party?

Brian: Let's do it.

Robin: Listener questions and or questions from the wild and or 404 Clutch Not Found. If you'd like us to field your questions, visit email.tro.bike in your web browser and send us a message. A couple questions from the wild here. SW asks, should I get a 1,000cc or a 600cc motorcycle for my first track day? So first off, get. Should I get? I've never done a track day. I'm going to go buy a bike, I suppose. I mean, or maybe they're going to get a track ready bike.

Brian: Let's be charitable. Let's think the best of people. Let's assume this person already owns motorcycles and knows how to ride. Because a track day is not where you go to learn how to ride.

Robin: Do not pass go.

Brian: I just found this hilarious. You know, should I go get a 1,000? No.

Robin: Go get.

Brian: Nobody needs a leader bike at a track day.

Robin: Well, we don't. There's not much in the question. It's like, is that all they typed? I'd be curious to find out what the rest of their responses to the replies were. Information is everything.

Brian: And the replies I saw when I saw this question were... god no don't get a leader bike they're worried they'll be underpowered and it's like no

Robin: You can get the weakest 600 and you're still having a good time i've personally seen people go out on antique 75 to 175 cc bikes at a track day 175 cc japanese bikes doing track days that are like antique grade and they were having a ball you'll be fine on 600 ccs whatever yeah.

Brian: The best bike for your first track day is your bike

Robin: This question it's where a pane of glass used to be you're.

Brian: Saying you don't have the whole picture i know

Robin: There's no picture i'm gonna go with what i'm feeling like today and if it were me i kind of like to hop on a thousand cc machine myself because it's been a while but a 600 cc is still gonna make me grin my ass off get the bike that's fun i've.

Brian: Seen all the above yeah but yeah given the few words that you have there is a wrong answer here and that is the leader bike that's the 1000 cc bike there is a wrong answer there so the next This one's got a little more information. A.N. asks, I'm 64. I'm retired. I used to race, but I haven't been on a track in 10 or so years since a big crash. I have a jixter and I'm feeling pretty good on the street. I'm getting interested in the whole track day scene. Will I be the only old guy at the track day?

Robin: Not at all. Not even close. There are all walks of life and ages at track days. All of them contained in the safe structure of the curriculum or lack thereof, depending on the situation. It's not an age-centric thing. In fact, I'll support the idea that for some, it is a next destination when they themselves don't feel comfortable with their own reaction time on the open road. Shout out to Don B. There's nothing you can't do that you do regularly with the same interest you had when you started. You should always be able to continue on. It's just a matter of maybe a change of venue. If that's what's going on, I mean, at 64, this guy can ride well into, you know, he can ride coast to coast no problem he's got years of road riding left but the track scene no you will not be the oldest guy there unless you happen to be the oldest guy there kelly howard is so deep into his 60s he's surpassed 70 okay so.

Brian: A couple of decades into his 60s anyway yeah go on and

Robin: He's definitely still got it and was a track instructor for many years i do know other people from the motivated scene who are also well into their 70s who are still control riding because it's just they've done it so much that they know exactly what they're doing so go have at it go get into it and know that you are welcome.

Brian: Yeah the other thing i don't know where this guy's skills are assuming it's a dude yeah he's a dude it comes back to re-entry riders we talked about that before like no matter what skills you had you don't have those anymore so you make sure you stay a little humble and start with somewhere this guy's been riding on the street some and feels pretty good about it but yeah make sure your skills are polished up a little bit there's a lot more training now than there was even 10 years ago like we took the art class in september we've been riding all summer and it's still just polished up things so much it was just one day and i think at most track days no matter what you know even if you were joe blow in 1990 you got to start novice from what i understand just to learn the procedures yeah yeah That's one of the things I always find something to get confused about as far as, you know, on, off track, hand, you know, hand up, hand down. There's always something in the processes to get confused by, and they do a good job of explaining that and novice and, you know, where you are in the track, that kind of thing.

Robin: That lingo is the same across the board, too. So typically from one outfit to the other, you'll be using the same signals because that's just how it's done. But I will say, research your provider. Some are better than others. You should feel confident about what you're getting when you arrive in terms of safety, containment, education. That's high on the totem pole for what you should get out of the money you're spending.

Brian: Cool.

Robin: You ready?

Brian: I'm ready.

Robin: Assuming I still have any of it, I'm pretty sure I do. That leads us to 404 Clutch Now Found, featuring the brave questions of new rider Angel Marie Kendall. Angel has willingly stepped into the,

Angelmarie: untold beef between Harley riders and sports bike riders. What is going on? I get the little peace sign to them. Nothing. My heart breaks. I wave at them. Nothing. It's like they hate sports bike riders. I don't understand. Is there a beef that I should know about? Such a loaded question.

Brian: Yeah. How long you got?

Robin: Can we not talk about that?

Brian: Let's put this one on the table, Robin. What do you say? We're going to make people mad.

Robin: I'm listing them out.

Brian: That's fantastic.

Angelmarie: Harley versus sport bikes. Oh, this is the one I've been waiting for.

Brian: Let's get this on the table.

Angelmarie: I'm not bashing the Harley riders. I just want to know if there's any unspoken beef between Harley riders and sport bike riders. Like, what's going on?

Robin: No. No? Okay. There's no beef between real riders.

Brian: Right.

Robin: I said you did there. There's no need to engage in those conversations or to take part in that division or dichotomy. You don't have to do anything with that. You do not have to enter that territory. There is no competition between real riders. the problem is the ignorance of those who want to engage you in that conversation and think they've made their point with underhanded remarks as they go by or in passing in a conversation in a bar or something they say yes my part about that whatever i've met some sick harley riders slow they're slow they're slow it was richard hammond on top gear he's like people who don't ride motorcycles who think Harleys are fast. And then he takes this long pause and they are not, And he says it was so much, he just, the delivery is so true. They are big, slow, classic machines of, you know, classic design nature. They do make some interesting stuff. The Buells were amazing. But as for the conversation and the debate about what's better than the other, anybody who needs to get into that conversation, probably, number one, we can outride them. Number two, we wouldn't want to ride with them. Just sit there and wait for it to be over. Okay. And move on.

Angelmarie: Don't engage in the gossip. Keep waving. Always wave. I'll keep my little wave. I'll be heartbroken when they don't wave back, but I'll keep doing my little wave. Just wave and keep riding. I'll circle around the block again and wave again until you wave again. I said two wheels down.

Brian: Keep being positive. Yeah. It's basically that there's just a big brand loyalty thing going on. It's like Ford versus Chevy, but it's Camaro versus Mustang, except. to a much higher degree in some people's minds.

Angelmarie: Mm-hmm.

Brian: It's not a large number of people's minds. Once in a while, you get some crap. When you go and get a real bike, you know, stuff like that. And the machines are fine. They do what they're designed to do, and they look the way they're designed to look, and people love them, and that's great. And if they're out there riding, that's great. I've ridden Harleys. They do what they do very well. They're very friendly to ride. They're very easy to ride. They're slow, yes. But a lot of people want something to ride around town on, you know, or they may tour on whatever. It's fine. Not my cup of tea, but I get it. I understand it. But yeah, there's kind of this extreme, you know, when people are tattooing the company logo on them, there's a lot of people that have to take it a little farther.

Angelmarie: The brand loyalty.

Brian: And that can spill over. So you will find the cruiser riders sometimes will just have that grim look on their face. And in Indiana, Illinois, and a lot of other states near me, there's no helmet law at all. So they're bareheaded. They got this grim look on their face. Like Robin said, it's just not worth engaging with. Just be yourself and be friendly and so forth. But also never have any preconceived notions because I've had some great conversations with people I met who walk up dressed like a pirate the whole nine yards. And there's somebody who does thousands and thousands of miles a year and they've been all these cool places and we have a great conversation.

Angelmarie: Yeah. Can't wait to meet one of those. You will.

Brian: Preconceptions shouldn't go either way.

Robin: They'll stand between you and the other guy, too. They'll be like, no, no, no, no, no. This is a rider. It's time for the optional, Brian's Tiny Tasty Tooltips.

Brian: You going to do the thing?

Robin: One or two per episode. Yeah.

Brian: It's almost like music to my ears. Anyway. Been a while since we've had a Tiny Tasty Tooltips because I kind of ran out. So my trip next week has got me kind of in mind. So I'm flying out to California next week for a business trip. I'm renting a bike through Twisted Road. Go to twisted.tro.bike. get yourself a discount so i thought i'd mention a few things i'm bringing in my checked bag just to be a little bit more prepared for the most common stuff because you never know what you're going to find at the other end and quite frankly i rented almost the cheapest bike i could find i think there was a monkey a little cheaper but so basically my helmet gloves jacket go into the carry-on so when i land i'm mobile tools and a few other things and some stuff i need for blah, blah, blah is going into the luggage. Don't carry tools on the plane. They don't like that in the carry-on.

Robin: Your selection's interesting, though.

Brian: It's a little weird. What I'd done before when I went to New Mexico, one time I basically went to a Walmart, bought a few basic things to handle some of the most common crises, mainly a hole in the tire. Before I left, I just dropped everything at like a, what looked like a worthy thrift store. And hopefully they found another life somewhere. It was like, I think it was only like $20 worth of stuff. Didn't want to carry it. Hopefully they went to a good home. But anyway, my list for what I'm going to put in my bag.

Robin: Samurai sword, nitroglycerin.

Brian: Yeah. Well, you know, you got a samurai sword, you can get anything else you need with that. So a small slime air pump. And it's like, you know, the little square air pump you can get at Walmart or wherever. They're pretty cheap. Tire plugs. Bike has tubeless tires, and that's the most common thing that happens. So I've got a way to plug a tire. Got a way to put air back in it. Great. A cheap tire gauge, obviously. I mean, you know how much air you're putting in. A cheap multi-tool for pulling, twisting, et cetera, cutting. Cheap Allen wrench set. And again, these can be really basic, or they can be the little kind with the handle or whatever. and i've got this little l handle thing i got on amazon or something but it's basically a it's an l-shaped piece of metal with a little quarter inch drive socket thing at one end it's not a ratchet but you can do ratchet things and then comes with like a couple of sockets 8 10 12 14 millimeter sockets and then maybe a little screwdriver if the if what's on the multi-tool isn't enough this is good That'll be a nice, compact little kit. Just be a little peace of mind. What would you add to that, or what would you take out of it, Mr. Robin?

Robin: You're just waiting for info.

Brian: You thought it was a weird...

Robin: No, I think it's really quite good. I don't know that I would add or remove anything from that. I mean, I'm pretty heavy into the Leatherman Wave, because that one's been good to me, and you can get a ratchet for it. I think it's probably only got, like, one bearing in that ratchet, whatever it is. But it does a job. It's helped out friends before. It's helped out more of my friends than it has me, to be honest with you. But I'm more curious about getting it there. This becomes a problem I would love to solve, which is arriving with everything waiting for you sounds more appealing to me. Like if I'm going to do the motorcycle thing, it's all about what is it going to cost me to send these things, pay double that, put the sticker into the bag with the things you intend to have there, mail that bag with the second sticker. to the destination, fly out, it's all waiting for you, and then do the riding and then fly back. I'm wondering if that would ever work, but I haven't really had the opportunity or rhyme or reason to try to figure that out. So it's just a fascination if anything else.

Brian: And I looked at that, and the cost for checking a bag was actually somewhat less than shipping. So the problem with shipping is you need somewhere to ship it to, and you need to be able to get to that place. You know, you can't really ship it to an airport, and it won't hold it for you there. you can a lot of times most of the times you can ship to the hotel you're going to be staying at uber or lyft to the hotel or whatever but yeah 35 bucks each way i just signed up throw it in my luggage and that way hopefully it gets there if it doesn't get there then i've at least got what i need to operate on the plane with me i've got my helmet i got my jacket got some gloves i'll wear my boots and some kevlar jeans and i can move around i can make moves i can do stuff do

Robin: All the dance moves.

Brian: Do some moves. I can get around. I've got like a little clamp on mount for my phone. that I can put on the handlebars of any bike. And I've got a USB charger that I know works and I can hook up to the battery if I need to. I don't know what's on this bike already. It may have whatever, but I always throw that in. That way I've got my navigation ready to go. If it rains, I guess I'll throw a Ziploc bag on top of it. Wherever you go, there's a lot of stuff you can find at the local Walmart or the farm store or wherever. So there's a lot of stuff I'm not taking because I'll find a way to get it when I get there. I mean, San Francisco, I hear, has a few people living there, so it should be.

Robin: One or two.

Brian: Should be able to find things. A lot of the places we ride are really empty, so yeah, you have to think about, okay, do I have the materials? Do I have wire? Do I have this, that, and the other?

Robin: And we were talking before about multi-use items to the simplest extent, zip ties. Did you put zip ties on this list? That's a good one.

Brian: Good one, yeah. I do want to throw a few in there in case I need to wire up a charger.

Robin: Yeah, or a variety of sizes to save the plastics that were never on in the bike anymore in the first place. Like, you arrive and it said fairing. Well, yeah, here's the fairing. It's bungee corded into the back wheel. You'll figure it out. Thank you for your dollars. Zip ties, maybe some twist wire. You got some sort of toolage going on. That's not so bad. How's the tread on the tires on that bike?

Brian: No clue. I've seen pictures. It

Robin: Remains to be seen.

Brian: They say the treads at 75% We'll see

Robin: 75% used.

Brian: That's happened to me before, but I made it work.

Robin: You ready for a social experiment?

Brian: Let's do a scientific social experiment. Let's do the science.

Robin: How are we going to do this?

Brian: Do you have a book within arm's reach?

Robin: You do.

Brian: I do. Yeah, let me grab one.

Robin: Grab a book.

Brian: I'm going to grab the Encyclopedia of Rock.

Robin: Yes, this is perfect and properly timed.

Brian: Give me a number between 100 and 300.

Robin: 179.

Brian: I'm looking at page 179 16th sentence Assistance And 7th letter

Robin: No, fourth letter, please. Fourth. Don't fuck this up. Fourth letter, Brian, please.

Brian: C.

Robin: We're doing C.

Brian: It's an entry about Dionne Warwick, and the word was vocals.

Robin: From the alliteration grab baguette, our newest something that we do at random for no apparent reason, courtesy of an incredibly dedicated fan out there. You know who you are, and we really appreciate the funds.

Brian: It's a good idea.

Robin: Just raining money thanks to this person who shall not be named.

Brian: C.

Robin: It's counterculture, a look at methods and mindsets that have no relation to our default ridership.

Brian: I have half an idea of what that could mean, Robin.

Robin: Have at it. Go ahead. Give me your half of the idea and I'll see if I can't complete it with the other half at random.

Brian: Okay, so we may be best described as sport touring riders heavy on the sport. We are a distinct minority among the motorcycling public.

Robin: A niche within a niche within a niche. The nichiest niche.

Brian: The largest subset of the riding culture would probably be the people riding cruisers. So cruiser culture, where, you know, your boot soles are in the wind out in front of you. You've got the scowl on your face. In Indiana, you have nothing atop your head aside from a bandana. Maybe some mirrored sunglasses if it's sunny out. Chaps that are assless, because if chaps weren't assless, they'd just be pants.

Robin: This has been said recently to me, all chaps are assless.

Brian: So obviously we're making fun of them but let's turn this around what's good about it what's fun about it these are people enjoying two wheels what do we say that's positive like I've ridden a lot of Harleys I've ridden a lot of cruisers I kind of get the appeal also I understand it's not really my bag my cup of tea Yeah, there's a certain something to it, a big V-twin. There's a certain something to it.

Robin: Well, no matter what bike you get on, once you throw a leg over it and you start moving, you start feeling that I'm a rider sensation, you always start out feeling great. I don't know that there are a lot of bikes I'll throw a leg over where when I get back, I'm like, I want that time back. That's the positive is I never ask for the time back. It's more like, well, that was different. I don't know if I would choose that in the future. But if somebody has me the keys is what I got, I'm going to have a good time on it. So you and I agreed that because I can be pessimistic in riding some of these alliterations, that any of them that are by default negative, looking for a window into the world of rant can be inverted into something positive. And that's what we're going to do all the time is if it sounds negative, we're going to flip the coin for something better. I mean, my default doesn't have to be an absolute. You've thrown your legs over a chieftain. And Armin A. Piper, who was just on, she was talking about how she went from an Aprilia RSV4, which she was riding the hell out of and was like, I need to chill out. So she got herself a chief dip. Very different dynamic there. It's like relatability is the question. Are we able to relate to the people who choose these things by default? Everybody rides for different reasons. That's the real trick of it. I know an episode or two ago, we were talking about that with Joanne. It's like nobody needs to be stepped on for their reason to ride, but relating to people. Now that's a thing. So a look at methods of mindset that have no relation to our default relationship, but you run into these people. Where do you bridge it?

Brian: Well, and I think you said something very crucial earlier. When you start moving, a lot of the BS falls away. When you, are you moving on two wheels? Great. We're all together. That's good to see. And again, we're picking on cruisers sort of like I sort of get it, but I also don't. But there's also things like I straddle two worlds. I also do a lot of dual sport riding. And that's a very different world. Very different set of skills, different bikes, different, you know, sometimes different people, sometimes the same people, a wholly different mindset. You see a lot of people doing a lot of dual sport riding because they don't want to be around cars. They feel it's like less dangerous than riding around town.

Robin: So there were two things that came to mind about this if I enter this from the negative side underground and climb up out of a freaking pine box about it friends will tend to steer the narrative in a conversation about motorcycles now people come to this show for the things we talk about but in a public environment talking about bikes, I'll try to keep my ears open and just list, okay, this, that, oh yeah, you're doing that with a beak bike or you got to, you know, whatever it is, you're riding a dual sport bike, you're riding a hypermotard, you're riding a cruiser. I'll listen. I try not to be the person on the delivering end of this, where people who know about one kind of motorcycling, they know nothing about any other kind of motorcycling. And so they blanket what they do know over top of the rest of us and try to steer the narrative. So I do have a friend or two that will say, you know, like when you get your Harley and you feel that wind on your open scalp because helmets are dumb and you're riding off into the sunset in a straight line to look at that beautiful sunset because that's what you do. And we all do that, right? You know what I mean, right? And it's like, no, that's not who I am. That's a negative point. Right. Let's look at this from a different perspective. The most bonding thing that we as motorcyclists can do at the corner store when you bump into the fellow rider is surprise the other person with an unexpected amount of knowledge about what it is that they're on and why they might like doing that. If you can actually acknowledge what the other rider was drawn by and make that the conversation, you might be surprised to find that they can do the same thing with you. They may be able to say like, huh, is that the new 270 degree crank parallel twin? That relatability, it's like, First off, it's just a reason to have more knowledge in your head, even if it's about a bike that they're... Let me explain to you the ways that that bike sucks. And you don't say that to the person, but you know that you would never buy it, but you know, and that's the thing.

Brian: Well, they bought it. They like it. Yeah. Yeah. They're happy.

Robin: You've got fuel for conversation.

Brian: I will say you're like riding a vintage bike, my 83 Suzuki GS850. Mm-hmm. You get a lot of those. You get a lot of the used to haves or the, you know, I used to have one of them. You know, if you're into middle-aged guys, you know, ride a vintage bike, they'll be there in droves. I'm kind of not. I've still had a lot of really interesting conversations with people who, you know, used to have or they understand what that is. And then there are some who are like, oh, what kind of Honda is that? It's a CBGS, yeah, whatever. Four cylinders, what?

Robin: But there are times when I find myself inventing arguments that never happened in anticipation of a conversation that's never going to happen. The meanest thing I've ever done, this was the cruelest, most unusual and unnecessary thing I've ever said, was in line at a hardware store. Somehow the conversation with the girl at the cash register was what the part, what I was buying was for. And I was like, I'm repurposing this for repairs on a 1988 Honda Hawk GT, which is a beautiful, obscure little minx of a 650. V-Twin. She's like, well, if you're having so much trouble with it, why don't you just get yourself an American Harley? And I stopped. I didn't have to say this. There was no reason, but I am who I am. So I was an asshole. And I said, I've already got a riding mower. And three people down, I hear this old guy who's clearly a Harley rider just go, oh, I hear this mighty blow. It was a huge mayday hit to his jaw. Now I'm older and I'm looking back. It's like, Like, did I need to do that to anybody? It wasn't, I just needed to park.

Brian: No, no. Just give me this hunk of pipe I need. I'm trying to make it work. That's the beauty. Such a marvelously vague collection of words. Gave us a lot to do. We've used this one up. I think we've chewed this to a pulp.

Robin: Texting Joanne now. And send. What do you want to talk about?

Joanne: I honestly forgot to come up with something.

Robin: You need to check out the alliteration grab bag at...

Joanne: What is that?

Robin: Do you have a book anywhere near you?

Joanne: Yes.

Robin: Brian, pick a number.

Brian: Just go to a random page and tell us the seventh letter on the seventh line. Any random page.

Joanne: Any, okay, any random page, then what?

Brian: The seventh letter on the seventh line, yeah. Just open it up the book somewhere. Okay. Seventh letter and seventh line. What is that letter?

Joanne: The seventh letter on the seventh line is R?

Robin: Joanne Don, you're going to discuss rich ruminations. Abracadabra, you're a Brazilian air. What's in your garage?

Brian: That's a good one.

Joanne: I don't know what just happened here. But what's in my garage is going to be a different bike for each lifestyle that I personally enjoy or different ways of riding that I enjoy. So one would be something, maybe a Ural, something with a sidecar so the dog could go in. I mean, she's small, so theoretically I could get a whole rack system anyways. But if I have money, it'd be a, yeah, maybe a Ural similar with a sidecar for the dog.

Robin: Nice.

Joanne: Okay, second would be see a Moto 450 Ibex or the Himalayan equivalent. Either of those two, the 450s.

Brian: It's Himalayan.

Joanne: Sorry, the Himalayan.

Brian: We asked a guy from India.

Joanne: Himalayan. So the Himalayan or the Ibex, either one. I like adventures. I don't want like a 450 Enduro. I'm not there.

Robin: You knocked me on my butt when you mentioned the Ibex the first time. I was like, that is an awesome bike.

Joanne: It's a really good bike. Been watching it for like two years. Sat on it, but I didn't get a chance to ride it, but I don't think I even really need to. Anyways, so it'd be one of those. And then I would still have my street triple because I don't have any reason to sell it or get rid of it. Like, I'm just going to keep it.

Robin: And you went for a ride.

Joanne: I did. And I haven't. I need to go again. But the weather is changing. We're going to dip down into 30s for a couple days and then it dips up again. So when it comes back up, I'll go back out again.

Brian: Excellent. What else is in there?

Joanne: There's probably a Supermoto. There's probably a 690, a KTM, an SMR. Because I rode one of those years ago. It was a 2012 or 14, and it was so great.

Robin: SMCR?

Joanne: No, SMR. Look up an older one, a 2012 690 SMR, a KTM.

Robin: Like a Hypermotard spokes?

Joanne: Right. It's their OG classic Supermoto.

Brian: Yeah. Nice.

Joanne: So great. I mean, it's really a pure street bike. So much fun. Really light. And it wasn't that, I mean, it was tall, but it really wasn't that bad. So there'd be that. And then there would have to be something really comfortable and cruisy like a BMW RT 1200, you know, or an R 1200 R. That was the last touring Beamer Eye Road.

Robin: What about the R 1800?

Joanne: That's a little too much. The R1200 was more, you know, it's beefy, but that was much more nimble. And, you know, it's not an adventure bike. It's just a good sport tour. And I got to spend a good 600 miles on it. And it was great. So it'd be something like that. I mean, it doesn't have to be a Beamer, but something in that class. It could be the Yamaha version, you know, something to tour. And then, of course, there has to be a pure off-road. Yeah. 200cc, maybe a Yamaha or just something that's only off-road. That's it. That's all that it's there for. But it'd be a small one, you know, like a 200 or something.

Brian: Nice.

Joanne: Honestly, it could just be the XT. I'm not a hardcore single track girl, so it would probably still be that XT250 because it's a great bike and I love it. Yeah, I think that's it. Oh, and probably a scooter, a little 150. If you live in a city, it's the ultimate little around town vehicle.

Brian: Yeah, nice.

Joanne: Got a box, got store. Because I live right down the street from the grocery store and the store. So it's a much easier, it's just a quick and dirty little, you know, it's good around town. But the scooter, bigger one though, more than 50. It'd have to be at least 150.

Brian: Robin, do you and Maggie still have that weird little scooter?

Joanne: Oh, a kind.

Robin: Yes, we do. It's a Buddy 125, 2008. The Buddy is not weird.

Joanne: Honestly.

Robin: Oh, no, it's great. It's fantastic.

Joanne: The Genuine Scooter Buddy is one of the most popular scooters that I sold at the dealership I used to work at years ago. And so popular, very reliable.

Robin: Takes a beating.

Joanne: And has like a good dealer network. Because, you know, there's a lot of misinformation about Asian and Chinese motorcycles and scooters. And there's a flood of cheap garbage, right? Right. The way that you differentiate the good stuff is the dealer network. Because companies like CFMoto, companies like Genuine, companies like Kimco.

Brian: Yeah, Kimco's.

Joanne: They've been around for a couple decades and their scooters are very good. But how you tell the difference is a dealer network. Is there a dealer near me that carries X brand? Same with motorcycles, right? That's how you differentiate the crap from the real stuff. is if you're buying a motorcycle or a scooter and you don't know anything about it, really, that's one thing you need to look up is Kimco dealers near me or whatever city you're in. And if you see like, oh, there's four dealers, then you know you're in the right place. But if nothing comes up at all, then you know you're looking at something you shouldn't be buying.

Brian: So you should just type scooter into Amazon and just buy whatever comes up, right? Oh, God.

Joanne: Oh, God. There's so much garbage, right? I mean, there's so, you can buy for like so cheap, these terrible scooters that are cheap. I remember years ago, my first and only time I went to EICMA, E-I-C-M-A, right? EICMA is the oldest, for people who don't know, EICMA is the oldest motorcycle show in the world, international motorcycle show.

Robin: Proper Euro too.

Joanne: Founded in Italy, started in the early 1900s. And it's the biggest. It's the one that everybody in the world goes to. And it's awesome. When I went in 2016, they cordoned off all the Chinese lower brands into one building, which makes sense away from the big OEMs who are paying millions of dollars.

Brian: Away from the real bikes, yeah.

Joanne: Exactly. From the ones that have phenomenal floor displays and are building little cities everywhere. right? I mean, they build like tiny little villages of all their bikes, right? So the small knockoff brands were in another building and there were, I remember seeing two companies knocking off BMWs and Aprilius. Someone had, I have a photo somewhere of an F800 and it's exact copy. But when you look at that BMW emblem, it's this weird little, like if you look at it fast, you're like, oh, it's just a BMW. And then you look at it up close, You're like, that doesn't say that.

Robin: Is that an F or an E? Is that an E? That's like an F. Oh, they got the little Euro Curlicube. That's what it is.

Joanne: So it's a really good copy. And then the same with Aprilia scooters. They had knockoffs there. And the same thing. You walk by and go, wow, why are they over here? Because I remember looking at the scooters and wondering, why are they in this tiny building where there's nothing? And then when I looked at it, I realized these are fake. Oh, and then they, yeah. And then I think they got taken down.

Robin: Yeah.

Joanne: But there's a lot of garbage out there.

Brian: Would you have an electric motorcycle in your billionaire garage?

Joanne: Yeah, I totally would. Honestly, that might even be a better sub for a scooter because I rode in a small electric bike around San Francisco for a year and it was amazing. So I probably would be, I'd totally be open to like a zero. You know, I don't know what other electric scooters, I'm not really up to date on if anyone's making good electric scooters like Kimco or anyone.

Brian: Yeah, that's hard to say. There's electric motorcycles, but yeah.

Joanne: Yeah, Xerox. They have a strong... They have dirt bikes, too, that they're making their electric. Like that Suron thing, I've seen those look cool, but those are really... Little motorcycle, little dirt bikes. But I would totally do electric.

Brian: I think the newest one is like the Stark Varg has come out. Stark. There's still more of a dirt bike type of deal. Be a lot of fun, though.

Joanne: Now, though, an electric bicycle is way more useful. I mean, it's more affordable. There's more options. You can basically do all the same things with it around town.

Robin: It's the bridge.

Joanne: Right, because it's not $10,000. Yeah. You spend like $1,500 to get something good. Why would you spend $5,000 more on the same-sized vehicle if it's just around town?

Robin: If happiness is the goal and your wallet is fighting you, why would you not get something that at least makes you happy?

Brian: Yeah.

Joanne: Right, $1,500, $1,000, you can buy easy.

Robin: You can make payments on that.

Joanne: Yeah, but I also read it's eating at the small motorcycle market, like small electric motorcycle market, right?

Robin: Yeah, or it's like connected to it just enough. You know, everybody's got their limitations. And that's one of the things, it's like reaching beyond your limitations. If it's just not an option, do you just say like, oh, I guess I'll go stand in the corner and I'll just cry until I have money. It's like, no, you're going to do something that gives you a grin.

Joanne: Something that's feasible and accessible. And that's what's really hard right now about motorcycles. If you don't have $10,000 or shoot $6,000 for like even a 250.

Robin: Well, the Ibex is a happy medium.

Joanne: It's great. $6,000, but it's a 400. My bike at MSRP, it's a 250 and they still want $5,500, you know, and it's only a 250 single and that Ibex is at least a 400.

Brian: 450 twin.

Joanne: And it has a windscreen, and you can actually tour on it, and you can go off-road for the price of a $250. That's one of the things I like about it, because what I really want is a... adventurey vehicle with the same weight distribution and sizing of my street triple.

Robin: Because you know that balance. You know what that feels like.

Joanne: Right. Because the center of gravity is low. It's narrow. It's fast. It has plenty of power, but it's not this ridiculously large top heavy thing with a giant tank. And they have a sport. Yes, you can get the Tiger Sport.

Robin: That's a great. Oh, yeah.

Joanne: And it looks fun.

Robin: It is.

Joanne: But the ergos of it are just too much.

Robin: They're not what you want.

Joanne: That's not what I want, right? I want that bike to be not like in front of me like a lawnmower. I want it more compacted and at 450s, fine. I don't need more power. I don't need big stuff. That's not my MO. I just want it to be comfortable and reasonable. You know, a 30, 40 horsepower for a small woman, that's fine.

Brian: So yeah, it's fast as hell.

Joanne: It's fast, plenty fast.

Brian: What's your track bike in your dream garage?

Robin: Because that's the topic is your dream garage, damn it.

Joanne: I don't know. I guess a Daytona because I love Daytona. Oh, all right. But I don't know. Same motor. I mean, it's the same motor. It's the same bike, and I'm familiar with it. But maybe a Beamer. I don't know.

Brian: Well, little tracks, you ride your Supermoto, your KTM. Big tracks, you get a Street Triple or the Daytona, yeah. I think we're going to see a lot of the Yamaha R7s in tracks.

Robin: Yes.

Brian: I think those are going to be all over the place at track days.

Joanne: Oh, you know, I would probably think about is like an RC390.

Robin: Yes.

Joanne: A little less weight to throw in. Like for me, it's just more comfortable if I had a little bit smaller bike to throw into corners, you know, and like the less counter steering. It's just less work.

Robin: And you'll still pass people and be like.

Joanne: Eh. Probably.

Brian: Yeah, me on a 390, no. Because you never know.

Joanne: I mean, maybe, you know, I don't know. But to be honest, I haven't ridden anything smaller than a 650 on a track. I think I've only ever ridden 650s on an actual track. I mean, I've ridden plenty of bikes on the street, but on a racetrack.

Robin: Well, then real quick, 600 or 1,000 cc's for a track day, your first track day?

Joanne: I guess 600, because that was my first experience was on a 600. Right, but I don't have any experience on 1,000 on the track. But I probably would say 600, because if it's your first time, like, you want to figure stuff out, and I, yeah.

Brian: That was a question I saw in the wild. should I get a thousand or a six hundred for my first track day? And I'm like, Jesus Christ. You know, I know what the wrong answer is.

Joanne: That question, just in general, not necessarily track, but that question, oh, should I get a six hundred or a thousand? Am I going to be bored? Can we keep beating it anymore?

Robin: I was telling Brian, there was a guy that showed up on an antique 175cc bike at a track day.

Joanne: Oh, what kind of bike was it?

Robin: It was like a toaster tank set up for the precursors to race bikes.

Joanne: Oh, that's cool.

Robin: They had to roll start it. Every session, it was shove him forward and then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, like the engine would just get going. He went out there and we were passing him all the time. It was just so cool because every time at the break, a lot of us are working hard on some big pig bikes and he's got this little thing, but he's sitting there riding 175 cc's of push bike.

Brian: Wow.

Robin: Still keeping up. I watched him pass lesser riders in the novice group. So 600ccs will do.

Joanne: Totally will do. Shoot, a 250 will do. My friends always told me how much a 250 is so much more fun on a track than a bigger bike. And I believe it. Totally believe it. Actually, and I did ride a 500. I got to ride a CB500, whatever the, maybe it's the R, you know, it's like the sporty version of the CB500.

Robin: The CB500R is a...

Joanne: It's the sporty, yeah.

Robin: It's a full-tuck race record profile.

Joanne: But it was lowered, I think. Or the seat was low.

Robin: Weird geometry feel. Strange feeling.

Joanne: Yeah, I was scraping the pegs a little bit, which is fine. I mean, I still had fun, still had a great time. And that track was really small. It was Streets of Willow. So it was very real-world-like. So for that bike, it was actually very good. But it would have been fun to be on something smaller. Bye.

Robin: Afterwards, the wind down. Brian, what do you want to talk about next?

Brian: That's the thing. Whose turn was it anyway this time?

Robin: This was my turn.

Brian: Yours, and what did you come in with?

Robin: I came in with the alliteration grab baguette.

Brian: So I got to come up with something for next time. All right. What I'll come up with next time is I don't know. I've got that trip to California. We can talk about that. A little midwinter California recap. Yeah. So we'll do a little recap of what's been going on. And we'll do a little look ahead, too.

Robin: Sounds like we got a plan.

Brian: Let's get out of here.