so, what now? car/bike advice

I'm kinda lost on what to do to replace the Yamaha as I'm fairly certain its not going to be recovered.

option 1 - find a cheap truck or van (preferably 4wd), use the rest to buy a used dirt bike (thinking a KDX220 or XR400) and plate it for local trips and messing around the woods, start messing around with hare scrambles and/or enduros too.

option 2 - find a $3000-4000 car, setup for autocross already (there's a couple ES MR2's available right now, as well as a few ST civics and STS miata's and crx's...). Or cheap truck/van + kart and go racing.

option 3 - buy a more road oriented bike and continue along w/o a car. Stay home if the forecast is even remotely predicting frozen precipitation. There's a few bikes I've been somewhat interested in, but nothing I'm particularly enthralled with. Short list includes the 883 Iron, maybe a DR650 or KLR, an older VFR, F800GS, older GS BMW's, etc sport tourer, or possibly an older sport bike.

option 4 - Find another WR250R and continue along w/o a car. I really loved that bike and want it back. I might be able to find one used with the same aftermarket stuff as mine had for what I get for mine from insurance. Still no car with this option.

My commute's about 20 miles into Baltimore 3-4 days a week, and where I work motorcycles park for free and I can find a spot anywhere w/o a problem. I usually ride to campus as again its MUCH easier to park a motorcycle in the designated areas right by the entrance to the buildings my classes are in, and the parking permit is cheaper by half, but there is a campus shuttle that stops at my complex. My apartment complex only gives us 1 space for 2 cars, so with a car I'd have to always fight for a visitor spot, a bike fits nicely in front of my roommates truck in our spot. I do have a place to put a dirt bike and/or a kart.

I'd like to get back into racing somehow regardless. I'd either get a stock class car that someone is selling to move up, try to build a LO206 briggs kart for w2w racing, or build an f125 kart for autocross. I could get by with a plated dirt bike on the local DS rides I do, but would probably not be able to take the longer trips that I'd really also like to keep doing w/o trailering. Considering most of the trips I do are pavement or soft-roading, a street bike would probably work just as well and be more comfortable on the pavement and high speed stuff, but more hell in the dirt, tire selection will be key of course. And I could always just stay the course and get another WR250R. It did just about everything I wanted a motorcycle to do except make my eyes bleed with acceleration without complaint, and I'm having trouble thinking of a car, truck, or bike that I'd rather have instead of it.

Wait, what happened? Did your Yammie get nicked?

I'd personally go option 1. I lived without a truck or van (without a four-wheeled vehicle at all, for that matter) for about 5 years, and although it was workable, it could be a pain at times. I know you're familiar. Beyond not having a car, not having a truck/van is all but unfathomable now that I have one again. Makes things soooo much easier. I'd get myself something cheap and 4wd/AWD, and a cheap dirt-oriented bike, and get the bike plated for the occasional jaunt into the twisties. Hell, go a step further an get a set of wheels/tires to swap to a motard setup when you feel like a little strafing. Meantime, you'll be able to haul the thing when its broken and/or to/from races/scrambles, and something to drive when you've got 2 feet of snow like I assume you got two weeks ago.

Option 1, or a hybrid of option 1, and 2. Buy a little cheaper car that you can autox, small trailer, and a dirt bike.

A word of advice. I have a plated KDX 220. It's not a street bike. 5-10 mins on the street, at slower speeds is all it's really good for. The KDX will make your WR feel like a heavy, comfy cruiser. It is an awesome trail bike, and also capable of doing a little MX. The KDX would be a far better bike for hare scramble, and enduros.

I would think an E30 would be fine towing a small trailer with a dirtbike on it.

Check out a buell blast, people seem to deride them, but I'd bet with a little work the blast will be able to beat an 883 through the corners. Plus the blast stops on a dime. The only advantage to the 883 is you can get a 1200kit, you might even be able to get OE cast offs.

My blast has over 28k on it so they do run a long time if you maintain them. The big issue is the first two years 2000-1 they used crappy paper gaskets on the rocker box that were garbage. I think the new seals are MLS and won't blow a gasket if revved while cold.

In reply to alex: How this started

I like Evan's E30 suggestion. Basically Option 1, but with a car in favor of a truck.

Option 2 sounds like fun, but a dedicated auto-X car might not be the most pleasant DD. And it sounds like it would be your only vehicle.

I don't mind DD'ing an autocross car, its more interesting than a penalty box sedan or econobox. The autocross option would leave it as my only vehicle however.

Buell's do absolutely nothing for me.

I'm personally leaning towards 1 or 4, with the former being the most responsible and the latter being what my heart wants.

option 1 looks good, but replace dirt bike w/ dual sport. I have a street bike DD, with a beater truck as backup/hauler. It works well, the truck sits 90% of the time. You won't have to worry much about visitor parking if you rarely move it.

If you get a bike, you can't do much better than a VFR; extremely well rounded machines in the later versions, there's luggage available for the 5th and 6th gens, the V4 is a great engine package and it's not something you see every day.

I bought a KLR 650 from my brother and then bought a 1976 460 ford 4x4 van to put it in. Never had the van running long enough but I suspect that the KLR may not have fit very well due to the tall windshield that I added. I have since sold the KLR unfortunately!!! It was a good idea though and it sounds like you're on the right track.