Miata or Bike?

I am in a bit of a conundrum here. I used to ride a long time ago, as in more than 10 years ago. I now have a Miata as my toy/fun car and I do probably 5-6 laid back/non-SCCA autocross events. My Miata is not competitive (i.e. not fully built to any SCCA class spec) and I am not a very good driver anyway so the autocross is mostly for fun. Besides the autocross I probably drive it less than 1k miles every year. Anyway, my buddies are now getting bikes and when I tried riding again in one of the bikes I suddenly got the urge to get another bike. The thing is my wife told me that I had to choose either get a bike or keep the Miata, it can't be both. For my bike I am thinking about getting a used Monster 696 to ease my way back in. I have an '08 GTI as my DD.

Since I am asking in this subforum I'll probably get a biased opinion but what would you do? Ideally I can sell the Miata, get a Monster, sell my GTI and get a DD/fun car like a WRX or Mustang GT. What say you?

Sell the GTI or Miata and get a WRX STI. Atleast you can drift it through the snow or put some fast laps on track or Autocross.

Get the Bike. I had both a Miata and have had three different Monsters. I would never trade the bike for a car. An older Ducati M900 or a SR800 can be had cheap, like sub $4000. All the performance and style you will need without the depreciation.

ea_sport wrote: ...I do probably 5-6 laid back/non-SCCA autocross events... ...My Miata is not competitive...so the autocross is mostly for fun. ...my buddies are now getting bikes and...I suddenly got the urge to get another bike. ...I have an '08 GTI as my DD.

Get the bike. For the amount of autocrossing you do it is silly to have a dedicated car. Besides you could autocross the GTI.

I am bikeless at the moment but if I had buddies to ride with I would definitely get one.

In reply to Rusnak_322:

675 Daytona should also be on his list.

Depends - what's your plan for the bike. Is it to ride out with friends, or are you going to take any weekend trips with it? If quick trips out of town are a possibility, and if your wife joins you for these, I'd suggest keeping the Miata, its a lot more practical thatn 2 up on a sport/standard. If you already tend to be going it alone in the Miata, no harm in switching over to a bike if you want.

I think a Miata would be more fun to drive than the GTI, but not nearly as much of the scratcher of a different itch as a bike.

That is, you already have a reasonably sporty car which could be autocrossed in the GTI.

So, sporty DD plus bike. Doubly so if you can swap out the GTI for an even-more-fun DD.

Since he is going less than 1000 miles a year in the Miata, I would just get any not new bike and then see how you use it. You may find out that you use it more or less than you anticipate, you may decide that the way you use it requires a more specialized bike (two-up touring, adventure riding, sport riding).

Then sell the old bike and buy what you want/need.

+1 to the above.

Get a well maintained used monster 600 it that floats your boat and ride. Then make a decision a year or so later on what you really want.

Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it.

You posted in the sprockets thread. You've already made up your mind what you want. You're just looking for validation.

You want the bike. Get the bike.

BeerBaron said it, you want the bike.... come to the dark side

I traded my fun car for a bike and don't regret it for a second.

Doooo eeeeeet!

I have both a bike and two Miatas (three if you count the parts car). Sadly, none are currently running. The '99 Miata will be first to be resurrected first, since it is (theoretically) a DD, and has rod knock. The V Strom will be # 2 on the resurrection list, I'd do it first, but with the ice that we tend to get around here instead of snow, 4 wheels tend to work better. Still, the next purchase of a vehicle is planned to be a bike, not another car. Monsters are fun, do it!

This might sound wacky but the exhaust sound of a Monster is more intoxicating to me than one from a Miata so Monster gets my vote.

Bike.

Keep the GTI and get a bike. I have a Mk6 TDI and Yamaha FZ6R. The Golf is a fun and practical, but the bike is a different world. The bike is great for day trips and cruising around, but anything more than that and it's just too easy to pile a mountain of gear and beer into the Golf and set out for a distant race track. The Daytona 675 is on my wish list.

Take a look at the Yamaha FZ-09. My buddy just bought one and its cheaper than the 696, faster, and has a great sound from the 850cc triple.

Triples are awesome- The End

Was it Pobst that GRM talked mentioned towing a track bike behind his veggie oil TDI a few years ago?