Jeff wrote:
Run the first race. You can then decide if you've lost it or not. If you have, still early in the season to lquidate. This is a hobby/passion. Nothing wrong with changing direction when th mood strikes.
BTW, did you ever bag that 8000 meter peak?
No. The trip got cancelled due to my partner hurting himself pretty badly practicing on an icy water fall. He's all healed up but neither one of us have discussed revisiting it. I think I'd still like to try - but he is the experienced guy with gear and I'm the tourist so it's really up to him.
Simple. Do the thing that most makes you happy. The thing you go the bed looking forward to like a kid on Christmas eve. If that's bikes do that. If it's something else do that instead.
You can go do "that thing" without having to decide the fate of the race cars and accessories right now. All that stuff will still be in the garage.
I'll say this: I get falling out of love with it.
Honestly, I just don't even enjoy wrenching on cars anymore. And while I've got some great stories about heroic fixes, long stints in the pouring rain, etc, I don't miss it.
When I do miss it, I hit an autocross or AMP, and resist the urge to dump a bunch of money on picking up that extra half-second.
Right now I'm more focused on just hanging with friends & family, and a rekindled love for playing music.
Just one dude's experience. YMMV.
PS: Trying to rally the troops to get "the last challenge" car ready, but it's kind of hard to get all excited about pouring a ton of blood, sweat & time into a FWD car with (maybe) 200 HP, when I'm DD'ing a 400HP heated leather couch.
Everyone I know who loves motorcycles has been seriously injured. Quite a few have been killed (6 so far).
For me, it's an easy choice. I stay away from bikes.
How bout side car racing? That looks like fun. And, you can worry a lot less about not dying in a motorcycle crash. Win-win. 
LanEvo wrote:
Everyone I know who loves motorcycles has been seriously injured. Quite a few have been killed (6 so far).
For me, it's an easy choice. I stay away from bikes.
No offense intended here, I know you've lost people so don't take this as anything but advise to those who do ride.
It doesn't have to be that way. I've been riding for 32 years now, and I have a tendancy to ride very hard. I haven't had a down on the street, and don't intend to. The secret is as I've said in the sprockets forum…. If you get hit, it doesn't matter if it was your "fault". The wheelchair you're in doesn't care who had right of way or if the driver ran a stop sign. All that matters is your well being, so ride through intersections like everyone but you has a green light, act like that car is going to pull out in front of you. The only laws that matter are the laws of physics.
To Gps: I'm of the opinion that people know the answer most of the time when they ask for advice, no one on here knows what the right choice is for you, except you. Ask yourself what makes you happy. Then do the e36m3 out of that for a while.
Also, ask yourself if the setup you have will work for something else too? So you don't have to go through the hassle of hitting the reset button.
Go win the championship this year, then sell your E36 M3 and do whatever comes next.
I'm too lazy to read anything more than you're initial post.
2 wheels is an entirely different ballgame run by the young guys. They simply have the lack of abandon that the older gents don't have. Period.
Maybe build the E36 M3 for a faster NASA class with a nasty V8?
Nothing against you, but you won't keep up with the young guys on 2 wheels, trust me. I'll put $100 toward your campaign. It's just how it is, you will be too busy thinking about your mortgage payment vs some kid that is sponsored by the local dealer, etc.
You are approaching the same crossroads I was at two years ago. I used to be at every autocross and most local Lemons races. I even have a SCR-SCCA E-Mod season championship to show off. It's in a box somewhere.
It started with the prep work no longer being fun. I'd procrastinate getting the car ready. Then it was the time and money. I was spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on a car I couldn't drive 99% of the time.
Then, at the end of a race weekend, I realized I just wasn't having fun. We had run well, finished in the top 10 out of 90+ cars, and I just didn't care. I've run a couple of autocrosses since but not many. Usually two or three a year. The car hasn't been cranked in several months. It's even lost it's place in the shop and moved to the regular garage for storage, because other projects are in its place.
I bought the Samurai and a couple of canoes, built a boat, started camping and exploring. I spend a lot less money and have just as much fun. I'll probably make the next autocross because it's local. I still enjoy hanging around with the people. I still enjoy thrashing the car on course, I just really don't care if I win and I'm not willing to devote the time, money and energy to do so. It's not the end of the world.
If I were in your position, I would make the first race. That might be all it takes to rekindle the fire. Do the prep, make the race. The bike isn't going anywhere and you can still sneak it out on the off weekends and during lunch. (That thread really needs some warmer weather.)
If, at the end of a race weekend, you can honestly say you didn't have fun, it's time to move on. I'm betting you will be wound up like a top though. You aren't quite at that crossroads yet.
I often get completely distracted in the off season and go off on a tangent. Come preseason it all comes right back. So if it doesn't come back for you, take the year off and enjoy your bike. You'll know by next season what you want to do.
Nothing against you, but you won't keep up with the young guys on 2 wheels, trust me.
I'm 53 and my trophies disagree with you 
Come down to my region where you have guys like Danny Eslick.
Beating the competition only means something if they are actually competition.
Interesting topic; I think there are a lot of people who can relate to that feeling in one way or another. I never got into racing as much as you; I just did a lot of HPDEs and autoxs, though I do also have a lemons team. I love it, though, and had dreams of someday being where you are now. I've ridden on the street for about 7 years now, and once I got a bike I really liked (KTM 950 Adventure 
) I realized that I almost never drive the cars unless it is really nasty out. I've since gotten into dirtbikes and local harescrambles. It is a ton of fun and really isn't that expensive, and the dreams of racing have dissipated somewhat. Now, I just want to travel. I spent 3 months on the 950 last summer riding all over the U.S., and camping the whole way. Most of the trip was in the dirt. Sometimes that change of pace really does it; I think it would suck to sell everything, but there is no point in doing something just because you feel like you have to. You already have the bike. I'll echo what other people have said - run a few races, and see how it goes. If it doesn't feel right, move on to the next thing.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
I sort of have a similar problem. I enjoying building searching and struggling to complete a goal. Once I have whatever I wanted to build complete, I lose all interest in it. I find this to be a problem for my wife in our current carrer choice, once a I can handle a job I get antsy and want to move on to the next thing.
A guy at my office has a really extreme version of this. He puts tons of effort into building something, usually for a purpose, and then he keeps it as a show piece and moves onto the next thing without really using it. So far he's done it with a RunX (JDM hatch), a Samurai, and a racing bicycle.
I'm the opposite, if I had the money I'd be one of those guys who doesn't touch his car and just shows up on the day of the event to a car prepared by a shop whose bills eclipse an average person's salary.
Get out of the snow for a weekend and come to one of the races here in the south. See if that sparks anything. The snow gives you too much time to think. Escape and stretch the legs.
When you give an activity everything you've got for several consecutive years, it's natural to start burning out. That's been my experience. Motorcycle racing for 14 years. Rifle competition for 13. Glad I had them both, but they're now in the BTDT realm. The obsession just costs so much, all the spare time, most of the money. Eventually, we move on. No one can tell you whether you're at that point but since you're not sure either, see whether the first race is as exciting as it needs to be. The off-season is usually when these thoughts arise. Good luck to ye.
My re-formulated attack plan is to prepare the car, shake it down with a for sale sign on it and a firm price tag. If the problem solves itself one way I take down the sign, the other... I cross off "FIRM" ;)
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
My re-formulated attack plan is to prepare the car, shake it down with a for sale sign on it and a firm price tag. If the problem solves itself one way I take down the sign, the other... I cross off "FIRM" ;)
That's probably not a bad plan.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
My re-formulated attack plan is to prepare the car, shake it down with a for sale sign on it and a firm price tag. If the problem solves itself one way I take down the sign, the other... I cross off "FIRM" ;)
I would like to be the first to offer you:
