I hope not. There is no earthly reason to buy a bike like that unless your goal is to kill yourself. If you want something faster that handles better get a Triumph Daytona 675. It's got more power than any human needs on the street.
Of course the problems being that 1)you can't buy that BMW or anything like it in the states (as far as I know) and 2) diesel currently costs nearly a $1/gal more than gas, meaning that your diesel better be getting a lot better fuel economy compared to the hybrid if you want to keep fuel costs low.
Can't say I've had that pleasure, as a direct result of the absurd prices that they command and especially now that I'd need two of them. I do have some uber rare Bendix tubes to roll in at some point, but I'm waiting till I'm done experimenting with input tubes first.
Heh, as if Conn has anything to offer other than proximity to NYC and Boston.
Conn Moto: Come live here, you'll love it so much you'll work in another state just to get out of here during the day!
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1217085475
Not trying to pimp stello since I've never heard any of it, but reviews seemed generally positive.
Oh, and I thought folks were fairly fond of Monarchy stuff too, but I could be getting confused now...
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1216844266
There was a Stello DA-100 listed on Head-Fi, that might make a decent, inexpensive source. Otherwise I'd be trying to get someone to build a Buffalo DAC for me (Twisted Pear's newest).
If anyone is seriously interested in a Chip Amp project I've got a working prototype plus a shit load more parts including two more amp modules (fully populated) that can be had for cheap (less than the cost of parts). PM for details/pics - all that would be required to get the prototype working is a chassis and I probably have something that I could offer for that as well... [/shill]
They needed to replace their car anyway and had been thinking about a Prius for a long time (before the current gas price issue). And I've been in both Carolla's and Prius's and I greatly prefer the Prius. Also, given Toyota's recent trend of vastly over-estimating fuel economy I'd take whatever advantage I could. Example: my wife's 07 Camry (4cyl) gets 27mpg on the highway even though it was rated at 34. It's never gotten even close to 30 and is a major disappointment in that regard.
Yeah, my parents ordered a Prius yesterday and I'm having serious thoughts about replacing my truck. I'll probably try to commute as much as I can on the bike this summer but that's a temporary solution to what is rapidly appearing to be a permanent problem.
Yup, I'd say we've seen around a $.30/gal increase in the last week around here as well. We haven't broken $4/gal but I doubt that'll hold through the week. Pretty friggen amazing really.
Got up, made pancakes, worked for a little while from home, ate lunch, worked more, did some chores around the yard, repaired and amp, cooked dinner, built a octal/loctal adapter, watched a bit of BSG, now it's sleepy time.
Given your size constraints I'd say that your odds of finding something cheap and commercially available are pretty slim. I think you're going to have to get creative and find something that's the right size but not designed for the job. Example: a couple of bricks would be about the right size, though potentially unstable.
It's still on the books for Headroom to release an new version although I'm not sure where that project is right now. I haven't talked w/ Tyll or Pete about it in a while.
And lucky you were to grab that, they are few and far between these days. I don't think I've seen one for sale since I sold mine last year.