Category: Corvallis

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Automotive Classifieds of Interest Corvallis German Cars For Sale Motorcycles Oregon

Empty Nest: All my enthusiast cars and bikes are sold!

I’ve been a little radio silent since stating I’d try and make a comeback on this site, but I find it’s hard to be inspired during the pandemic. Shana and I take this situation very seriously and we’re both lucky to be able to work our career jobs from home — and I’m truly grateful. But when COVID-19 first hit I thought we’d be working from home a few weeks, maybe a couple of months. Five disciplined and socially distant months later, Oregon is starting to show signs of turning the tide from our first major surge in cases. Even still, it’s pretty clear at this point that life isn’t going to return to normal anytime soon. I’d even go so far as to speculate that we’re likely to see another surge nationally as the winter months set in — but I hold out hope that I’m wrong.


Credit: KGW

Since late March when we were all sent home, I’ve slowly been clearing the stable. I had been thinking about a fresh start on all moto fronts for nearly a year but wanted to wait for spring to get started for best values. My experience has always been that April and May hit the enthusiast buyer sweet spot after a cold winter and sale prices seem to spike early on. While there was some early bargains on the market due to COVID-19, the analytics on both my enthusiast buying sites showed there was more collector marketplace activity than I expected this year. I figured I might as well try to turn over my collection after observing these trends and in the end if for no other reason: to avoid boredom and look forward to shopping again soon!

I started with the sale of the Z4 M Roadster. The market for these models is currently way undervalued compared to the e46 M3 CSL that it shares most of the suspension, braking, engine and drivetrain with. The M Coupe typically commands another $10k over the M Roadster as well. On the other hand this is partly what compelled me to purchase the Z4 M Roadster in the first place as an amazing value then and now. Luckily a very happy father and son agreed, snapping it up pretty quickly for about what I paid for it 3 years ago, then $21k. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t missing it, but what I’m really missing is the convertible sports car, not so much for the awesome 330hp beast that it was.

Next up we sold the 2003 BMW X5. This was a car Shana always wanted since it was new and I had always wanted to get it for her. 6 years ago we found a perfect one in Medford with just 55k miles and we happily bought it for $15k. A little over market at the time but it was by far the best example we had seen in a 300 mile radius. 6 years later the resale plummeted and we ended up selling it for $6k with 100k miles on the nose. It felt like a bit of a gut punch but after averaging out the deprecation and maintenance, it only ended up being about $300/mo. I like to think of it that way anyway as almost any repair on the car was at least four figures and sometimes those came several times a year.

Replacing that vehicle for Shana was a tough choice but we decided we didn’t want to pay that much again just in maintenance. After several out of state trips in 2018 and 2019, we realized most rental cars had far more everyday features that we enjoyed more than having the best SUV BMW ever produced (and the associated cost of ownership). Enter our 2019 Toyota Tacoma Limited in Quicksand:

It’s definitely no BMW, but it has plenty of the everyday features we love and it’s been very helpful already in the first year as a pickup we can put to use.

Back to my stable, the Ducati 750SS was next on the block. I’ve loved owning this bike but it is rarely ridden now. Even during the pandemic when it was used as a housebound pain reliever, I ended up returning home thinking it was time for something new. For starters something fuel injected that wouldn’t be as worse off for sitting long periods without loving care. A great local guy I know from the enthusiast motorcycling circles in Corvallis bought the bike soon after listed and has great plans for it alongside his 900SS/Superlight and other Duc’s in his own collection. Thanks Bert!

So what comes next? We’re still in semi-lockdown to some degree with COVID and I have some time on my hands. But for once I’m entering the off-season with a wad of cash on hand and ready to pounce on a listing that I would usually groan, “if I had the money it would be mine”. This time it will be, and with COVID and a sketchy economy on the horizon, it might be a great time to act. Let’s see what happens next!

dc

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Corvallis Oregon Photography

I rented a Canon 300mm F4L and I loved it!

During the pandemic lockdown, we’ve been heading out to the Finley Wildlife Refuge quite a bit to get out of the house and enjoy the birds. I previously rented the Nikon P1000 super zoom and visited the refuge. After returning that camera, I turned back to the Canon 80D I already own. I use a 70-200mm F4L for that camera but wanted something with a bit more reach to get the small birds and prehistoric herons. I ended up renting a Canon 300mm F4L IS and a 2x teleconverter.

Right off the bat, the teleconverter wasn’t really for me. I’ve seen some nice results posted online from other users but running around hand-held, I wasn’t able to get sharp results. It also disabled most of the 80D focus features and required going with manual focus in most cases. Here is probably my best shot with the 300mm and 2x converter:

Spring 2020

This quick hand-held of Pepper also turned out well:

Spring 2020

The ten day rental with both the 300mm and 2x converter, only cost $141 with a discount. I didn’t use the teleconverter for the rest of the rental but at that price I didn’t get too upset.

Here are the other shots I got that really turned out great. One of the best features of this lens is that it’s not only great for reach, but also can focus at 5ft for awesome macro images as well. These are processed through Photoshop with mild RAW filter adjustments and some cropping:



My conclusion for this lens is that I want to buy it! The image stabilization is a little slow, but once used to it, the hand-held quality of these shots is awesome! It’s an older model at this point, debuting in 2015 I believe, and brand new it comes in around $1,100. While I’ve seen some used for about 60% of that on eBay, the rental I had was quite noisy and I’d want it brand new so I could care for it appropriately. I’ve been tempted by the similarly priced 400mm F4L, but it doesn’t have the stabilization. Cropping pictures from the 300 turned out to have very little loss of sharpness and detail, even on a crop body and hand-held.

If you’d like to try out a rental before buying, check out LensRental.com and this discount for first time users. They make it easy to rent through the website, and the shipping back is a breeze with everything included. I get a perk from you clicking that link but I also have had great experiences renting from them.

dc

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Corvallis Oregon Photography

Nikon P1000 Wrap Up and COVID-19

My intention was to make use of the Nikon P1000 in different situtations each afternoon and evening for the week I had rented it. Then the COVID-19 curtailments hit the OSU campus (my day job) and my plans were out the window as we all shifted into high gear to accomodate. Unfortunately I didn’t really have time to make full use of the camera during the rental period. I even extended the rental after realizing it was going to be busy but the situation unfolded very quickly and the spare time never really materialized.

With the pity party out of the way, I did still learn alot about the camera.

First of all, this is not a camera for beginners or casual shooters. You have to have a pretty good idea of what you’re intending to capture and how you’ll prepare to get the quality that many P1000 users publish on social media. I followed the Nikon P1000 Photography group on Facebook and was routinely impressed with the quality and professional results shared. Unfortunatley I was largely unable to match the effort during the 10 rental.

Here is what I was able to produce with limited time under the circumstances:

This is Mary’s Peak. just outside Corvallis
My family moved to Corvallis in 1980 and this backdrop was ever-present in my childhood. The view still stops me dead today and invokes memories of my youth.
This was taken on Sunday after a week or so of rain and clouds, but a very cold morning to follow. This always rinses the atmosphere and the following day has the clearest sky.
This is from the same location fully zoomed, no digital crop. It’s handheld, but with a tripod you’d easily be able to see the weather station at the top much clearer.
We went to the Finley Wildlife Refuge to catch the migrating geese but they had already moved on. These ducks were about 300 yards out.

Here’s what it looked like earlier on March 1st:

My best of the week was this video of the super moon. While the result was good, it would’be been better out in the country. I got this in my back yard just over the neighbors roof. The heat rising off her roof distorted the edge in particular, and the focus wasn’t perfect. On the other hand, I was exhausted after a few days of intense work and just put the tripod in place and pressed go. All things considred, not a bad result:

My main takeaways:

  • This camera takes time to master, not only in it’s technical abilities, but your time to adaquately prepare. Tripod, location, remote trigger, weather, etc… But get everything right and this camera produces pro results. I wish I had had the time to master it.
  • I can now see how an even more robust tripod could’ve yielded even better results. Again, you have to know what to plan for.
  • In the end, it’s $1,000 dollars and while it’s trump card is the amazing 125x zoom (3000mm equivalent), it’s not really a “bridge camera” in my mind.

In the end, the results from my Sony HX400V are still so comparible, it doesn’t warrant the additional purhcase. Further it makes me wonder what I could do to take advantage of my Canon 80D and 70-200mm f/4L to get similar results and at a higher quality.

But I’m glad lensrental.com had this avaialble to try out. Their service was easy to use, thought out, and safe both ways with a hard case and return shipping in the same box. I’m not being paid for that endoresement, but I appreciate a well designed online business. Edit: If you use this link, you’ll get $25 off your first rental.

Being quarantined is rough but does allow for self indulgent exploration of abondoned hobbies. Be well,

dc

Categories
Corvallis Motorcycles

First Day of Summer, I Ride to Mary’s Peak

Our weather in Oregon has been a bit on the cool and slightly wet side this spring. But today temperatures jumped to nearly 80 degrees and it was too good to pass up. I did ride the bicycle a bit to try and get back on that horse, but the ride on the Ducati was sadly only the third ride of the year.

Paul and I are planning to hit Laguna Seca for MotoGP and do a proper vacation on motorcycles. But I’m a bit out of practice to say the least. He may be taking his BMW R75/5, but he’s damn proficient on it in the corners and I really do have to work to keep up with him. I need to attend one of Roger’s MotorcyclExcitement schools in the near future! (I maintain his current website and hope to make a new site for him soon!)

The good news is that Paul did such a stellar job dialing in this bike for Sears Point last year that she’s ready to hit the road again with nearly no adjustments.

dc

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Automotive Classifieds of Interest Corvallis On The Job

My 2001 Honda S2000 AP1 Has Been For Sale for 2 Weeks with No Bites!

Well this hasn’t happened to me before. I think all the cars I’ve offered for sale in the last 10-15 years have all sold in less than 2 weeks. After a full detail from Carlos at Sports Car Shop in Eugene I was confident that my 55k mile AP1 would have lots of attention, especially with the VIN-matched factory hardtop being available as well. Amazingly the only contacts I’ve had are standard issue Craigslist spam farm emails. See to the right for my ad, which I think is priced below book and accurately represented.

And here is my competition:

2001 Honda S2000, 31k miles adult owned – $13900 (Beaverton)

This is a 2001 Honda S2000. It has been adult owned and garaged it’s entire life(sunny day car). It currently shows 31,830 on the odometer though the weather is getting nice so it may get a few more miles on it before the car sells. I hold a clean title in my hand. This car has never been wrecked and the original soft top is still in excellent condition. The interior is also excellent, it looks pretty darn close to brand new. The drivers side seat foam is still perfect which is very hard to find on S2000’s. The exterior has some minor rock chips etc as you’d expect with a used car but still shines and looks VERY good. No dents or door dings. The car will come with all the manuals, aftermarket car cover, both keys w/remotes, convertible boot cover, and front license bracket and plate(not currently on the car). The car is all stock minus the following:

1)Boston Acoustics speakers. The OEM speakers are included so you could go back to stock though I can’t think of any reason you’d want to. The OEM speakers have PAPER cones!!!

2)USA-Spec ipod adaptor. This allows you to plug your ipod in to the OEM stereo and control your playlists via the CD shuttle controls. This is one of the few adaptors that allows full control of your ipod through the OEM stereo. It’s plug and play, so no holes were drilled nor any wires cut. You can simply unplug it and throw it away if you don’t like it.

3)Short antenna. The OEM antenna looked bad and such a sporty car. Again, this is plug and play(it just unscrews). The OEM antenna is included in case you want to go back.

4)K&N air filter. The OEM filter was dirty and I wanted the best replacement so I bought a K&N. It simply drops in the OEM airbox.

5)Updated banjo bolts. Honda changed the bango bolts mid ’02 for better oil flow. This was a recall everywhere else in the world but in the USA. Better safe than sorry so I replaced them.

6)rear suspension tweek. The ’00-01 cars were known for their snap oversteer. Part of this is because they had the stiffest rear sway bar of any other year and part was the suspension geometry. I have corrected the suspenion geometry and replaced the rear sway bar with a ’02-03 model. This is the next stiffest sway bar if you look through all model years. This helps take the ‘edge’ off without changing the feel of the car much. The original sway bar is included.

I’m asking $13900. Cash talks and BS walks. Please don’t contact me if you don’t have he funds available and no test drives without funds either. I can email more pictures on request and I can show the car most evenings. Low ballers will be ignored. I’ve watched the market for two years and I know what these cars sell for and what they are worth. With 31k miles this Honda is barely broke in…

Honda S2000 OEM Hardtop Extras Clean Title – $18500 (vancouver)

2002 S2000. Only 53k miles. Well maintained. Needs nothing.
Sebring silver with RARE red interior/black accents.
Soft top is in excellent condition.
2002 models are by many considered the most desirable. First year with a GLASS rear window in the soft top, suspension updates, cosmetic updates…and it was before the second generation changes, which in my opinion took away a bit of the character of the car. They kind of toned things down a bit too much for my taste.
Anyhow, it includes a lot of great extras that really enhance the appearance and driveability of the car, such as…..

*AP2 Wheels (17″), bigger size than AP1 for better handling and road grip (one of the few knocks on the stock AP1 models)
*OEM matching Honda Hardtop (a few scratches on it but in excellent condition)
*Clear Bra (great for keeping the rock chips away)
*Upgraded Comptech Exhaust/Sounds great
*Upgraded Stereo and Speakers (kenwood excelon with infinity speakers)
*Wheel and Seat locks
*High End Alarm (lots of extra features to keep it safe)
*Honda factory shop manual

So for the time being I think I’m going to pull the car off the market and enjoy it. Almost as soon as I had the car listed the spring weather turned to awesome and we’ve really enjoyed having a convertible for three weekends straight. There’s also an autocross coming up that I’d like to do with my buddy Gary who campaigns his Cadillac!

In the meantime I’m going to assess how much I’d like to keep the car versus shopping for another bike with the equity I have in the car. I miss the hunt and because aside from when the weather is nice, the car really doesn’t get driven much now that I work full time from home.

Decisions, decisions…

dc