Savage_Greg wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:

I have yet to pay for any of my cell phones.  And I only pay $10/month for three of the four phones (Cingular Family Plan.)

It is a matter of priority.  Sure, I could spend an extra $200 on a high quality chromed muffler/pipe.   Or I budget that $200 toward a school trip, or a cello for #2 daughter, or a trumpet for #3 daughter, or something else that is more important to me than a shiny bike with a shiny muffler.  

Most of us are on limited budgets, some more limited than others.   We have just so much money that we can budget toward non-necessities.  Chrome is not a necessity.  Nor is a clean bike.  Or a bike with matching paint.  Or a bike with a new saddle in lieu of duct tape.

The muffler replacement itself is not a necessity, the stock muffler works quite well.  I would like  a different sound, but I cannot justify it as a necessity and thus the muffler has to come out of the far smaller mad money pocket rather than the larger necessary expense pocket.    And it has to compete for that limited amount of money with other wants such as a new digital camera, DVD recorder, VW floorpans, etc..

Paladin, i wish i could have said it better, Awesome way with words and making a point. You ROCK.

Paladin. wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Oh I must disagree with that.  I have met a few owners of rat bikes at rallies, etc.  They most definitely have a sense of humor.  

However, I believe that you also supported my point with "whatever fits, is cheap, and works".

Even when I was pulling in $100 an hour with my shop, I rode rat/roach bikes. My customers trailered butt jewelry.

I changed the Savage livery (color) because I was bored, NOT because it "needed" it.

As far as I'm concerned, a bike is either a tool, or a toy. My tools are crusty, even my welder, but they all work fine. Nobody asks to borrow my tools, my trucks, my bikes, or my guns  (my gold inlaid Winchester is rusty, with a cracked stock and broken sight...works fine).

It ain't easy being fat and greasy.
-WD

Paladin, some of your earlier comments echo thoughts that I've been pondering lately ... namely the whole necessities vs luxuries vs family budget dilema ...
First off, let me say that generally I am not a "materialistic" person by nature ... yes I live in the burbs and have a reasonably comfortable lower-middle class lifestyle, but I don't aspire to have all the latest widgets ... my LS650 is a toy ... one that I enjoy to be sure, but it is an expense that I do have to budget for ... it is my only real extravgence.
It seems that the burbs are the burbs no matter where they are ... too many of my neighbours are into "instant gratification" like the average 12-year old ... spending their hard-earned just for the sake of spending and accumulating more & more "stuff" ... I personally don't see the point of that lifestyle anymore ... and the cumulative affect that a "consumer driven" lifestyle is having on the planets finite natural resources is potentially disasterous ... I expressed these thoughts recently at a neighbourhood gathering where a few people were "going on" about their latest widget purchase, and the reaction I got was the same as if I had spouted some obsure passage from the Communist Manifesto ...

PerrydaSavage wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Ah Perry, somehow I managed to rattle your cage too  

My point is not about having to purchase every little widgit or technical goodie that hits the market.  To be like the Jones' and have the biggest, baddest and best, first.  I don't even have some of the fancy expensive saddle bags and bike accessories that even some of my critics possess.  

On the contrary, here I sit in a rented apartment because I have had some rough and stressful times...due, in large part, to my own mistakes and folly.  On the contrary, I do not have a lot of money, have to budget my resources and therefore have to have priorities too.

My point, concerning my lifelong love for motorcycles, the subject of this forum, and making modifications to both, is that if you are going to do anything to the Savage, then why not do it right?  

To be cliche, what I don't get is the "Just Do It" attitude.

Paladin. wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Of course, but maybe you misunderstood my point...

I'm not really so critical of all the mods, I see.  I do think that a cute little bunny rabbit to replace my stock Savage logo will be an absolute must in the future.  My only hesitation is to whether it is compatible with the Color Rite clearcoat  

BTW - to me, toilet paper is a necessity, and considering those chatting on a cell phone in the check out line....they got the phone on the wrong end.