FR-S vs Motorcycle. There can be only one...
 

If you could have either your FR-S/BRZ, or your motorcycle, but not both, which would you choose? I'm having a hard time deciding.

The principal issue is that our new house has a steep driveway that's all but impossible to scale without scraping, the natural slope and terrain of our home's property required the driveway to be constructed in a way that leaves no room for parked vehicles to reside on the driveway outside of the garage, and the neighborhood covenants forbid parking vehicles on the street. I have a SUV for family hauling/camping/towing/and winter travel. The missus has her minivan. That leaves one garage space left for either the car or the motorcycle, and no where else on the property to park the other.

I love the FR-S. It's a joy to drive, especially at track days and auto-x events, and it's much more practical than a motorcycle for running errands. But anymore, my car is typically parked at another garage away from my home, and now I hardly ever drive it. If I do keep the car, there is no way it can ever be lowered. Ever. In fact, I've been giving serious thought to the TRD rally suspension if I keep the car. But either way, one of my joys is track days and auto-x events, and a nice set of coilovers is now out of the question. Maybe rally-x is where it's at?

The motorcycle is the best commuter vehicle ever. Always fun to ride, it just zips through traffic better than any car, is much faster than the FR-S, easily handles the driveway and speedbumps, is easy to work on and keep clean, doesn't get doors dings in parking lots, averages 60 mpg, and costs only $25 a year to insure. I love the motorcycle, but except for joy riding and commuting, it's not practical at all. And I don't expect that I will ever buy full leathers and take it to the track, so goodbye track days.

I can't keep the car at another garage forever, so one or the other has to go. I've gone through just about every pro and con in this decision at least a dozen times over the past month, and am absolutely deadlocked. Maybe some of you will have an idea or consideration I've yet to think of. Let me know your thoughts...

Sounds like you already made your choice ......... :)


humfrz

Well until I got to this part I was just gonna say keep the car in another garage and keep the bike in your garage (or vice versa). But with that not being an option I would go with keeping the car and letting the bike go. Why? Always needing to run your errands in a tank of an SUV or a barge of a minivan will totally suck. Keeping the FR-S gives you a fun car to drive that can still haul groceries or whatever when needed. Sure, you could do a limited amount of errands on the bike but your cargo space there is gonna be limited to a backpack or saddlebags or whatever. And rain? The bike is staying in the garage when it rains. The FR-S will still be fun to drive. Same goes for winter/cold or otherwise unpleasant to be in weather. It sounds like you're not going to be able to get as much track enjoyment as you would like out of either vehicle, but the FR-S would seem to offer more possibilities on or off the track.

Also I'm not familiar with your driveway in particular, but is it something that driveway ramps would enable a FR-S to scale without scraping? I know I've seen 1 person around here that has them. I don't recall the exact product they had, but it was something like this:

http://www.bridjit.com/blog/bridjit-for-lowered-cars/

+1 to this. I actually did this once sold my FRS and kept the bike, fun but not practical at all. So now I have no bikes and a BRZ lol. So hello to track days and even taking the wife and kids for a cruise.

Sounds like a new home purchase is in order in all reality.

I once kept my bike in the kitchen when I was in a similar situation so, have both and find a way to do it.... until you find a different property anyways.

If married then stick with the car.

If single then a bike..

Summerwolf ........ off to work ........:eyebulge:


humfrz

:eyebulge::lol::lol::party0030:

Here's a pic of the driveway to show the layout and give you an idea of how steep it is:
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...e/IMG_0087.jpg

I actually did better than the bridjit ramps and built my own rubber ramps to traverse the curb:
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...e/IMG_0091.jpg

The driveway is so steep that the front and rear overhangs still scrape going up and down. Even at an angle. It's not so bad I can't get the car up or down it at all, but so far it has scraped through the clear bra and paint on the bottom of my front bumper and taken about a 1/4" off the underside of the rear diffuser.

Time for a lift kit on the FR-S?

Stock, a BRZ is still great at the track. Mods are only necessary for competition, ego, and fun in installing. Over-inflating your tires might make the difference for scraping. You can even put slightly over-large tires on.

Motorcycles are dangerous as fuck. That goes 100 times over at the track. EMTs hate motorcycle track days.

Cars don't have to be garaged. Bikes probably should be.

But it sounds like, as @humfrz / @Tcoat / @Generic-old-white-man said, you already know what your decision is.

I would have said keep the 86, except you've already said you can't get it up your driveway so there seems to be a issue with keeping it long-term.

Can't see your photo, but I have a relatively steep transition from street to driveway, both have inclines, and don't have any issue with my stock height FRS. I would probably not be able to get it up the drive without being "really careful" and angled it if were lowered.

Once you go to 2 wheels - 4 will never be as fun. Leave pandoras box shut.

The car is also much easier to enjoy finding a significant other - but if that's the goal... may I introduce you to any one of 100 BRZ vs Porsche threads? haha