Month: June 2021

An Enfield Oil Change

This blog is a maintenance tutorial on changing the Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor’s oil.  The Interceptor requires a motorcycle-specific 10W-50 synthetic oil.  Motorcycle-specific means that no friction reduction additives are in the oil.  If you use an automotive oil with friction reducers, the Enfield’s wet clutch will slip.

I bought Maxima oil online for this oil change (you can get it from CSC Motorcycles or from Amazon.com).  It’s the synthetic oil CSC uses in their motorcycles and it served me well in my RX3 and TT 250 (both of which are wet clutch motorcycles).

I changed the Enfield’s oil in my garage.  I usually leave the Enfield on its sidestand, but I put it on the centerstand for the oil change.

The bike should be straight and level for the oil change.  This will let the oil drain more completely and make the oil site glass reading more accurate.

I have an oil drain pan I’ve used for years, and it was put into service again for this Enfield oil change.  You can see the oil filter in the photo below; it mounts on the front center of the engine.

Removing the oil filter for the first oil change was a challenge.  It was put on way too tight at the factory.  I have an accumulation of oddball tools in my rollaround tool cabinet, and I found this oil filter wrench.  I have no idea when I bought it or where.  It’s been with me for decades.

Even with the oil filter wrench, getting the oil filter to unscrew was not easy.

The oil filter finally came off, and I allowed the oil to drain into the pan.

The oil drain plug is just to the right and below the oil filter mount (as you face the engine from the front).

I guessed it was a 13mm, and I guessed right.  It, too, had been installed way too tight.

When the plug comes out, you’ll notice it has a crush washer (which doesn’t really look like a crush washer) and a magnetic pickup that sits in the oil bath.  The intent of that oil pickup is to grab any bits of loose steel that float around in the oil during the break in process (and after that, too).

As mentioned above, the oil drain plug is way too tight from the factory.  Be careful not to screw it up taking it off.  And remember when you reinstall the oil drain plug, it’s a steel part threading into an aluminum engine case.  Don’t overtighten the drain plug when reinstalling it.

Next up is removing the oil fill cap.  Mine was installed way too tight and if you’re taking it off for the first time you probably won’t be able to remove it by hand.  I grabbed a rag to protect the plug and persuaded it a bit with an adjustable wrench to get it started.  Once it was loose, it unscrewed easily.

After the fill plug was out, I let the oil continue to drain.  Note that there is no dipstick on these bikes.

I let the oil drain about 20 minutes so it would drain completely.

After the oil drained, I installed the new oil filter.   You can order the Royal Enfield oil filter if you want to wait months for the official Royal Enfield filter or you can hit Amazon.com and get a Mobil 1 M1-104A oil filter.  You can guess the path I took.

When installing the new oil filter, hand tightening (as tight as you can go by hand) is good enough.  Tighten it more and you’re just making life miserable for yourself at the next oil change.

So, here we are.  Oil drained.  Oil plug reinstalled.  New oil filter installed.  It’s time to add the new oil.  You’ll need a funnel at this step.  My advice is to use a plastic funnel that will deform when you flex it.

Wedge the funnel outlet into the oil fill port as shown below, and it will stay in place when you add oil to the engine.

There’s an oil sight glass on the engine’s right side.  The idea is to add enough oil (about 3.2 liters) so that the oil is approximately halfway between the lower and the upper fill marks.

After you see the oil level between the sight glass upper and lower level marks, reinstall the fill port cap and then start the engine and allow it to run for a minute.  The level will go down.  Add a bit more oil to get the level where it is supposed to be.

After adding a bit more oil, install the fill port cap, hand tighten it, and you are good to go.  Take the bike for a short ride and check for leaks.  And that’s it.

In case you were wondering, I called the nearest Royal Enfield dealer and asked how much they would charge for parts and labor to do what I described in this maintenance tutorial.  There’s no rocket science here, folks, and changing the oil is one of the simpler things you can do to maintain your motorcycle.  The dealer’s price for an oil change was a cool $170.  My cost to do what you see in this blog was about $50.

Our next tutorial will be on valve adjustment.  Stay tuned.

Malibu!

1.5 liters and 117 mph.  Don’t ask me how I know.

And at that speed, the Malibu rode on rails. Flat. Smooth. Planted. Well behaved. One with the road, in perfect harmony with the universe.  It was a glorious ride.

Color me impressed.  I rented Chevy Malibus on the last two secret missions and I loved the car.  I’m no James Bond and the Malibu is no Aston Martin, but as secret mission motor vehicles go, this is a cool car.  It would cruise easily at 85 mph, and jumping up to that big number listed above (117 mph) was effortless.

At first, I could only wonder what was powering the thing…a Z06 engine?

My preliminary Internet research showed the Malibu has two engine options:  The base model 1.5L four, and an upgraded 2.0L four.  Mine must have had the 2.0-liter four banger, I thought, because it was just flat quick.  There was nothing posted on the Malibu’s exterior to tell us how many hamsters were hiding under the hood, so Big John and I took a look.   Every secret agent needs a wing man.  Big John was mine.

1.5L.

Well, I’ll be.

How the hell did Chevy get that kind of giddyup out of a measly 1500 cubic centimeters?

Turbocharging.  That’s how.  But you could have fooled me.  The car has no markings to indicate it hides a turbo, there’s no discernable turbo lag, and it just feels good.

I think it looks good, too.

Chevy’s Malibu MSRP is around $23K, and that ain’t bad.  The car is roomy and comfortable.  There are no machine guns or passenger ejection seats, but the Malibu clocked around 40 miles per gallon.  In the real world, this thing checks all the boxes.

So what did I dislike?  Nothing, really.  Well, maybe that automatic engine shutoff at stop signs that all new cars seem to have these days, but I’m getting used to that.  I’m not in the market for a new car, but if I was, the Malibu would be at the top of my list.

Here’s another shocker.  It seems Chevy is going to discontinue the Malibu in the next year or two.  Discontinuing the Chevy Malibu.  We are living in a world gone mad.  I guess they are not selling, but I can’t see why.

Chevy, your marketing weenies are flat on their overpaid butts.  There should be lines around your dealerships waiting to buy these cars.  They are that good.  You should advertise with us.

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Product Review: Turn and Washington’s Spies

Sue and I are Netflix junkies, and an evening in front of the big screen watching a Netflix series is a typical night here at the suburban version of Tinfiny Ranch.  We recently watched Turn.  It’s the story of Washington’s spy ring during the Revolutionary War, and folks, it was good.   It’s four seasons long and each season has 10 episodes.  The first season was a bit slow, but we’d heard good things so we stuck it out and we’re glad we did.  The action picked up dramatically in the second season and it continued nonstop thereafter.

The Turn story occurred mostly in and around New York, New Jersey, and Long Island.  Although filmed in Virginia, the terrain looks exactly like my old stomping grounds (central Jersey, where many American Revolution events occurred).  The battle that turned the war happened 10 miles from my home, and every time I’m back there I take in a bit more.

Turn is based on the Alexander Rose book, Washington’s Spies.  I enjoyed the Netflix series so much I read the book.   Like the television series, Washington’s Spies started slowly and then the action accelerated rapidly.

Trust me on this:  You won’t go wrong with either Turn or Washington’s Spies.  Jump into either and you can thank me later.

More ExNotes product reviews are here!

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A Note From Bob on TJ’s Custom Gunworks

My good buddy Bob, who enjoys playing with things that go bang as much as I do, followed the stories I’ve done on my TJ-modified revolvers and pistols.  Bob wrote to ask if the guy really is that good.  He is, I said. In fact, he’s better.

Bob took the plunge and had TJ refine several of his guns.  Bob sent this note to me after he took his TJ-modified automatics to the range.

Joe,

I got my Berettas back from TJ. I initially took him a M-1951 and a 92 and when he was done with those I picked them up and dropped off another 92 for a Level 1 package and a Radom P-64 that I was having trouble with. Picked those up a few weeks ago and finally got to the range yesterday. Took the M-1951 and both 92s and what a difference. Just wonderful.

You were totally right about TJ. And I would like to do a guest blog at some point. Any tips?

Bob

Bob, thanks for the note and the photos, and the offer to write a guest blog.  We always love receiving them.  As for tips, if the question refers to writing, my advice is to just be yourself.  If it refers to shooting, that’s easy:  Focus on the front sight.   And thanks again!

Hey, all of our gun stories are here on our Tales of the Gun page!  Revolvers, autos, milsurps, lever guns, single shot rifles, reloading, and much, much more!

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Check out my custom guns from TJ’s Custom Gunworks!  I’ve had six handguns and a rifle customized by TJ, and every one of them is a stellar example of his craftsmanship.  These include my Model 59, a bright stainless Colt 1911, my MacManus Colt 1911, the Rock Island Compact, a Model 60 Smith and Wesson snubbie, a Ruger Mini 14, and my new Colt Python.  TJ’s emphasis is on reliability and perfection and he’s met both of those objectives in every case.  When it comes to custom firearms, TJ is in a class of one!

Colt Walker: The Official Handgun of Texas

Governor Greg Abbott of the great state of Texas is a leader who gets it…he understands what “common sense” gun laws should be.  Need proof?

Good buddy Paul alerted me to Governor Abbott’s proclamation, and I like it.  I used to live in Texas, you know.  Sometimes I wonder why I moved.

In case you were wondering, here’s what the Resolution for such an act looks like:

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The original 1847 Colt Walker pistol was
historically crucial to the early survival of the great State of Texas; and
WHEREAS, The original 1847 Colt Walker pistol was an essential tool in the defeat of the Mexican army during the Mexican-American War to reclaim Texas, the 28th state of the Union; and
WHEREAS, The co-inventor of the original 1847 Colt Walker pistol, Samuel Walker, was a captain in the Texas Rangers, the first state police agency in the country; and
WHEREAS, The original 1847 Colt Walker pistol was America’s first pistol to hold six rounds, otherwise known as a “six-shooter”; and
WHEREAS, The original 1847 Colt Walker pistol is still the most powerful black powder pistol in existence; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby recognize the original 1847 Colt Walker pistol as the official handgun of the State of Texas.

That’s pretty cool.

We’ve written about the Walker Colt, its history, and the Uberti replica of that great gun before.  I haven’t shot mine yet, but that’s a character flaw I aim to correct in the near future.  When I do you’ll read about it here on the ExNotes blog.  At the risk of being redundant, here are a few excerpts from our previous Colt Walker blogs:

And one more…a photo I like a lot. It’s my Uberti duo…the Colt Walker and a Single Action Army.

There’s more good gun stuff here, folks.

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Chongqing to Tibet!

The RG3 is Zongshen’s newest motorcycle, and yesterday this video and its description showed up in my feed:

We are excited to share the epic journey of RG3 crew! Along the 318 national highway, our RG3 adventurers spent 12 days riding to reach Lhasa, Tibet from our factory in Chongqing. May the journey inspire you to start you own!

This is cool stuff and Zongshen (sold by CSC Motorcycles here in North America) is a cool company.   I’ve been in the Zongshen plant a bunch of times along with good buddy Gobi Gresh, and we rode with Zongshen across China.

Gresh and I had a lot of fun with the Cult of the Zong, and we joked about the lines we’d be able to use after our 6,000-mile ride in the Ancient Kingdom.  You know, little things we’d slip into a conversation like “as I was riding across the Gobi Desert” and “when we rode down off the Tibetan plateau” and others. We knew it would gave us the street cred we needed to converse with hardcore riders making the trek to Starbuck’s.

Zongshen puts together first class videos, and I always watch their new ones as they are released.  One of my Zongshen favorites is the one they did on our China ride:

And another I enjoy is Joe Gresh’s video on that same ride:

I enjoy videos, but I enjoy a good book even more.  You might, too!

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Marlin Cowboy Front Sight Replacement

About a dozen years ago I bought an impressive Marlin 336 Octagonal in 30 30, but that’s not the rifle you see in the photo up top.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but that 30 30 Marlin was a collectible rifle and I got a hell of a deal on it.  I’ll give you a link to that story at the end of this one.

When I started the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia paperwork on the 336 Octagonal, I saw a brand new 1895 Cowboy Marlin at the same gunstore with the John Marlin proof and exceptional walnut.  And that, my friends, is the rifle you see in the photos here.  I’m not in the habit of buying two rifles at the same time (in fact, you can’t even do that here in Nuttyland any more), but wow, that 1895 was pretty and I bought both the 336 and the 1895.  That Marlin rang all the bells for me…an octagonal 26-inch barrel, the .45 70 chambering, and killer wood.  The time to buy a lever gun with superior wood is when you see it, and that’s what I did.

Wowee! A Marlin Cowboy in .45 70 with super walnut and a John Marlin proof mark!

Over the last dozen years, I only had the Cowboy on the range a couple of times, and that was enough for me to know the sights were way off.    A couple of weeks ago, I decided to find out exactly where it was printing with my favorite .45 70 load (more on that in a bit).  The Cowboy grouped superbly well (it coverleafed rounds at 50 yards), but I had to go to the very top of the adjustment range on the rear sight to finally get the bullets to hit at the point of aim at 50 yards. In the rear sight’s middle elevation setting, the point of impact was 10 inches low at 50 yards. I couldn’t adjust the rear sight any higher, so I knew I needed a lower front sight.

I tried to call Marlin to ask for a shorter front sight, but all I got was a message telling me to go to their website.  I struck out there, too.  The website said that Ruger (Marlin’s latest and current owner) isn’t in a position to service Marlins or provide parts yet and they don’t know when they will be.  Hey, at least they were honest, and that counts for something.

The lollipop front sight as the rifle was delivered from Marlin. It was way too high, which caused the bullets to hit way too low.
I gently tapped the front sight out with a brass drift and a hammer.
The front sight that came with the rifle was 0.505 inches tall. That’s too tall for my loads.

Okay, I reasoned, this should be no problem.   I called Williams, the experts on iron sights, and I hit paydirt.  The Williams guy told me that in recent years Marlin put whatever front sights they had in stock on their rifles with no thought given to where the guns would print.  That’s what happened on my rifle.

Getting the correct front sight once you know where the rifle is printing is simple.  The height of the front sight that came with the rifle was about 0.500 inches, and it was printing 10 inches too low with the rear sight as high as it would go.  It’s an a/b=c/d calculation.  If you know the sight radius, the front sight height, the distance to the target, and how low or high the point of impact is, you can calculate the required change in front sight height to move the point of impact the amount you want.  I’d like to say it’s advanced engineering, but the truth is it’s a 7th grade algebra problem (and I made it through the 7th grade successfully, aside from a ton of time in detention).  The calculation goes like this:

Required change in front sight height =
(desired shift on target/(50*36))(sight radius)

where

        • 50*36 is the distance to the target in inches (50 yards * 36 inches/yard)
        • The sight radius is 23 inches
        • The desired point of impact on the target is 10 inches up (the rifle was grouping 10 inches below point of aim).

I did the math, and the required change in front sight height was a drop of (10/(50*36))(23) = 0.128 inches.  That meant I needed a front sight about 0.372 inches tall.

What you see above is what Marlin should have done when they selected the correct front sight for this rifle, but they didn’t and I did.  I bought two new front sights.  One would raise the point of impact about 13 inches at 50 yards, and the other that would raise it about 5 inches at 50 yards. I knew that one of the two should work.  The cost for both was only $35, and in the grand scheme of things, I always figured I can’t have too many gun parts to play with.

Williams had .341 and a .410 front sight.  You can’t get the exact height you want but that’s okay…that’s why the rear sight is adjustable.  So I bought both rear sights. The rear sight height adjustment would give me the room to dial either in. The .341 front sight would give me more than I needed; the .410 would give me a little less than I needed, but either one should get me into the adjustment range.

The two Williams replacement front sights on the left, and the original Marlin front sight on the right.

The front sight mounts in a dovetail on the barrel, and it has to be fitted.  It’s an interference fit, but it has too much interference as delivered.  You have to gently sand material off the bottom of the replacement sight so it goes into the dovetail with just a little interference.  Easy does it is the mantra here (you can take material off, but you can’t put it back on).  You want enough interference so the front sight has to be tapped in with a brass drift and it won’t move around due to recoil or normal hunting knocking about.

Sanding the front sight base down, a thousandth or two at a time.
The Williams 0.341 inch front sight ready for installation.
A white dot (which I greatly prefer over the brass dot) front sight, on station and ready for duty.

So how’s it all going to work?  I’ll let you know after I get to the range.  Oh, and my favorite .45 70 load?  It’s the 405-grain Missouri Bullet Company cast bullet, crimped in the cannelure, with 35.0 grains of IMR 4198.

One more thing…that 336 Marlin Octagonal I told you about?  It’s right here, along with a bunch of other cool lever gun stuff!  You’ll want to go there…the 336 Octagonal is an interesting firearm.

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The rest of the story with the new front sight installed!

Shoot and Scoot!

I should have won.  It was politics, I tell ya…that’s the only reason the Axis prevailed.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

That photo above?  Like I said, I should have won.  That’s my photo.  I watched the two judges, stooges of the Axis powers, deliberate for several minutes, even delaying announcement of the winner while they looked for a plausible reason to deny what was rightfully mine.

Okay, back to the beginning.  Me and the boys used to hang out at Bob Brown’s BMW dealership on Saturday mornings, and back in the day, Bob and crew were always coming up with great ideas…you know, things to do.   They outdid themselves on the Shoot and Scoot deal.  You see, one of Bob’s BMW customers owned a camera store down in Chino Hills.   Between Bob and the camera guy, they had this idea:  Combine a day-ride to the Chino Planes of Fame Museum and a photo contest.  It worked for me.  I ride (my ride was a Triumph Tiger in those days) and Lord knows I’m a photography phreak.  I was in.

The day started with photo ops and donuts at Bob’s dealership, with a very attractive young model.   Attractive, yes.  Creative or unusual?  Hardly.  But I grabbed the obligatory fashion shot…

From there, it was a quick ride to the Chino Airport’s Planes of Fame Museum.  I’ve always loved that place.  The idea was to grab an interesting photo or twenty in a place jam packed full of interesting photo ops.  Trust me on this, boys and girls…if you’ve never been to the Planes of Fame Museum, you need to go.

Anyway, these are a few of my favorite shots from that day…I was working the Nikon for all it was worth and I was having a good time.  I could win this, I thought.

My last few photos of the day were of my reflection in that big radial engine you see above, and then it hit me.  Like a politician who knows never to let a good crisis go to waste, when I have a camera that’s how I feel about reflective surfaces.  I was getting some good shots of myself in the polished prop hub, and then it hit me.

“Hey Marty,” I said.  Marty is my riding buddy.  You’ve seen him here in the ExNotes blog in many places.  Mexico.  Canada.  All over the US.  “Get in the picture right here.”

And he did.  That’s when I grabbed the photo you see at the top of this blog, and as I saw the image through the viewfinder, I knew I had a winner.  It captured what the day had been about.  Great photography.  Air cooling and internal combustion.  Riding.  Friendship.

So we rode from the Planes of Fame Museum over to the photo shop and uploaded all our shots.  We returned that evening when the winners would be announced.  I wasn’t interested in placing.  I wanted to win.  And I knew I would.  Or at least I knew I should.  The funny thing was, the two judges were the camera store owner and the local Canon sales rep.  I could see they were having a tough time.  They were down to two photos, mine was one of them, and they were struggling with the decision.  I think my photo was the clear winner.  But alas, I shot it with a Nikon.  This was a Canon contest being at least partly sponsored by a BMW dealer (and I rode a Triumph).  The Germans and the Japanese.  The Axis powers.  Still trying to make up for World War II.  Not that it bothers me.  Much.  But I should have won.

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Youberty? You bet!

That would be my tuned Taylor Uberti in .45 Colt, the Italian Stallion Single Action Army revolver that has graced these pages in a few earlier blogs.  It was a good day…a couple of my good buddies stopped by with brass they didn’t want (including the ultra-tough-to-get-these-days .45 Colt), and I was hard at it on the reloading bench shortly thereafter.  My go to fun load in .45 Colt is 6.4 grains of Trail Boss, a 200-grain cast bullet (in this case the truncated roundnose thrown by the Lee mold, although just about any 200-grain semi-wadcutter works equally as well), and a crimp for an overall cartridge length of 1.595 inches.   It was 5 shots at 50 feet, and I was putting them pretty much into one ragged hole just about exactly at my point of aim.  You just gotta love a good Single Action Army revolver…I sure do!

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About the only thing I don’t like about Trail Boss powder is that it doesn’t obturate well, although you wouldn’t know it from the accuracy this load delivers.  Trail Boss soils the cases and they take longer to come clean in the tumbler, but it’s a small price to pay for this kind of accuracy.

The nice thing about the Trail Boss load mentioned here is that it shoots just about to point of aim for me at 50 feet.  Another nice thing is there’s almost no recoil…this load in a Single Action Army is a real powder puff.   Yeah, I could go hotter, but what would be the point?

More Uberti blogs?  Hey, take a look…

Colonel Colt and Captain Walker

Men of a Certain Age

And of course, there’s all the other Tales of the Gun stories!

Motorcycle stuff?  Right here, folks!

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ExNotes Product Comparo: Mitsubishi Mirage versus the Milwaukee Eight

Have we finally lost our marbles?  A Mitsubishi Mirage?  I’m comparing it to a Harley Big Twin? No way!

One of the nice things about business travel is the opportunity to sample different cars.  That’s something I like…extended test drives to find out if a car fits.  I’ve rented cars I thought I would really like only to find out I hated them (saved a lot of money on a Jaguar doing that), and I fell in love with a few by accident…mostly because because they were the only thing available and they surprised me in a good way.

My first time for a rental car romance was in August 1972 when I rented a VW Beetle one weekend at the Benning School for Boys (jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia).  (When I say a rental car romance, I’m referring to falling in love with the car, not any sort of an illicit parking lot relationship.)  The Beetle was a blast and I bought one.  I had a cool picture of it somewhere but it was taking too long to find, so you’ll have to trust me on this one.

The same thing happened again when I rented a Subaru (back when Subaru penetrated the US market with dirt cheap rental agency sales).  I was blown away by the Subie’s overall quality and I’ve owned four since (including my dynamite WRX you see below).

A 2006 Subie WRX near the marigold fields above Santa Barbara. That was a fun car.

And then it happened again recently when the only thing left in the Atlanta Enterprise lot was a Mitsubishi Mirage.

Mitzi. More fun than any $14K car has a right to be.

The Mirage is a car that would have never been on my radar, but I liked it.  Oh, it’s tiny and it didn’t have a lot of power, and it only has three cylinders, but somehow that made it even more appealing.  The three-cylinder thing made me think of my old Triumph Speed Triple, but as soon as I stepped on the gas, it was all Harley.  You know…open the throttle and there’s lots of noise and not much else.  But I was in no hurry, and I kind of enjoyed hearing Mitzi’s howling protestations when I poured the coal to her.  Harleys ain’t the only motor vehicles focused on converting gasoline to noise!

Three’s a crowd? Not with my old Speed Triple. Good lord, that was a good-looking motorcycle!

Mitzi.  Yeah, I gave my rental car a name…and that’s a first.

A sparse interior, but the car had cruise control, air conditioning, a heater, a radio, Apple car play, and an automatic transmission. She drove like a comfortable go kart.

Mitzi’s road noise was a subdued sort of thing…not the screaming tire whine like the Chevy Traverse I rented earlier in Houston (I think a more apt name for the Chevy might have been the Travesty).

Mitzi’s ride was firm and the seats were a bit on the hard side, but I liked it.  And Mitzi is most definitely not a lard butt.  She weighs a scant 2,095 pounds, or just a little more than twice what a Harley Electra-Glide weighs.  And you get air conditioning, power windows, Apple Car-Play, and a heater with the Mirage.  The best part?  I rolled all over Atlanta and the surrounding areas for the better part of a week, used nearly a full tank of gas, and when I filled up before turning her back in at the rental agency, she took just 7 gallons for a whopping total of $21.  I like that.

7 gallons. $21. I could learn to live with this.

Mitzi kind of reminded me of a motorcycle, but better.  I mean, think about it.  The new Harley Icon, a beautiful motorcycle to be sure, but damn, it’s $30K and 863 pounds!  Yeah, you get the Milwaukee Eight motor, but there’s no air conditioning, no heater (other than what rolls off the rear cylinder, as Harley riders know all too well), no spare tire, no windshield wipers, no rain protection, no automatic transmission, it only seats two, and the Harley gets lousy gas mileage compared to the Mitsubishi.  And the Mitsubishi will clock an honest 100 mph (don’t ask how I know).  Maybe the Milwaukee Eight will, too, with that 34-cubic-inch advantage it has over my old Harley’s 80-incher.  My ’92 Softail wouldn’t hit 100 mph.  Maybe this 114-cube Milwaukee monster will.

The Harley Icon. All $30K and 863 lbs of her. 863 lbs!

So I started researching Mitzi’s stats online, and our relationship deepened.  Mine was a no frills model (she actually had hubcaps on her tiny wheels, not the cast wheels you see in the photos above).  The base model I drove clocks in at a starting price of $14,625.  That’s not even half what the new Harley costs.  The Mitsubishi has a three-cylinder, 74-cubic inch engine (compared to Harley’s 114 cubic inch twin).  The Harley is mostly made in ‘Murica; the Mitsubishi comes from Thailand.

More Mitzi magic?  How’s a 10-year powertrain warranty sound?  10 years!  That’s  longer than most folks get for murder!  As an aside, when I owned my Harley Softail, Harley wouldn’t even work on the bike when it hit the 10-year mark.  The Mitsubishi would just be coming off its warranty!

I know I like a motor vehicle when I start thinking about what it would be like to take it through Baja, and that’s what I found myself doing as I was tooling around Georgia in my Mitsubishi.  It’s most likely not going to happen, but it sure would be fun to get lost for a few weeks in Baja in an inexpensive, light, air conditioned car that gets 40 miles per gallon on regular fuel.  With a price that starts under $15K, that leaves a lot of money for Tony’s fish tacos.

Tacos by Tony in Guerrero Negro…bring it on!

Don’t run out and buy a Mirage based on this ExNotes blog.  To balance my rose-colored outlook on life in general and the Mirage in particular, consider this opening paragraph from Consumer Report’s review…

The Mitsubishi Mirage lives up to its name. While its low $16,000 sticker price and good fuel economy of 37 mpg overall may conjure up an inviting image of a good, economical runabout, that illusion quickly dissipates into the haze when you drive this tiny, regrettable car. The Mirage comes as a tiny hatchback or sedan, built in Thailand and powered by a small three-cylinder engine.

Eh, Consumer Reports.  What do they know?  I wonder how the CR folks would rate the Harley Icon.  Funny how all this has come around…I used to refer to my ’79 Electra-Glide as my optical illusion.  You know…it looked like a motorcycle.  When it was running.  Which wasn’t very often.

My take? The Mitsubishi Mirage is one of the least expensive cars out there, it has one of the best automobile warranties ever offered, and it was fun to drive.  No frills here, folks.  It’s just an honest car that’s not trying to pretend it’s something it is not.  I like it.  If I buy it instead of the Harley Icon I could pay cash and still have enough left over for a little more than 20,000 fish tacos!

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