Mikelly

Just got back from the hospital. Donna has been moved to her own private room on the 6th floor. She's no longer on a ventalator, and she can speak and is doing much better. There's serious hope for her, as she is regaining some sense of feel in her legs... This may just be something that comes and goes, or it may well lead to her being able to one day walk again. I almost was reduced to tears when talking with her for the first time since the accident happened. I told her that we'd do whatever we can to help get her back up and on her feet again. I also told her about the time I broke my pelvic and couldn't feel my own legs, back when I was 16. This raised her spirits and gave her hope that did my heart good... I also told her about you guys and this thread, and the others on the various car boards I post on. She again raised her spirits and was ear to ear with a smile. Thanks gang for keeping her in the prayor lists and for thinking of Donna and the family... Mike

Although I do not disagree that a bachelors, or advanced degree is going to bring you more income, I will say this: MOST people graduate from a four year institute with WAY MORE debt than is reasonable. Why not let an employer (Like ME for instance) pay for your education while you work for them? There's simply no reason in this day and age for people to pay their own way through bachelors and especially advanced degrees. Find an employer who will take care of you, and then take care of them. It's a big happy cycle, if you can find it! Mike

Best piece of advice I can give you is to set up your company structure so that it can run without you. Make sure you hire people outside of family and friends. Keeping this seperated is important, although my best friend is my partner in the company, we won't hire anyone else who is related to either of us. Make sure you have an accounting firm to do your taxes/bookkeeping/payroll outside of family and friends. Make sure you have structured your benefits such that they can expand as you grow. Make sure you have policies and proceedures documented for your employees and keep them in manuals, approved by your attorney and HR consultant... Make sure you can isolate yourself from the day to day operations, so you can focus on growing the company, and running the business side of whatever it is you do. You want to have a successful company that will work? Stay out of the workplace, and do NOT micromanage your people. If you do this, you might as well let them go and do the work yourself. The best thing I ever could have done is start my own company. Our quality of life has improved 10fold. That said, it takes risk, hard work, late nights, and good people. Surround yourself with good people and a great business plan and you will succeed. But skimp on one or the other, and you will fail... Prepare for high costs... A full service CPA will cost you... ours was costing us $2000 per month, because we used their business coaching services from the beginning... The information we learned early on was more valuable than I can place a figure on. That said, once we got a grasp on it all, we dropped the business coaching service and now pay as we use them. Make sure you cover all you legal groundwork... Do you know what it will cost to setup a business? DO you know all of the places you have to register your company with? Do you know what tax liabilities you'll be responsible for and to whome you pay? I didn't... Our CPA did. One less thing I had to worry about, which let me focus more on setting up the other, more important parts of the company. Contact me offline for more insight into standing up a company... Mike

It boils down to where you want to live and what you want to do with your life... I'll throw this one out, since I own a company and hire people for a living... Degrees are nice. Degrees are not always necessary. I'll hire someone who has no degree, but lots of hands on experience any day of the week... Because I can spend (And do) $10K per year on the employees education and training needs. Pick a career path that isn't slammed full of other candidates to compete for work in your area. If you live in Michigan and want to be a mechanical engineer and work at one of the big-three, you're gonna have some stiff competition. Find a field where you'll have relative good chance for success, and less competition. I like Sparks' comment about geology... There's a smart man, thinking right there. If you like the sciences, and don't want to always be stuck behind a desk, there's a good bet that you'll be able to have a good career, and lots of fun at work... I'd also caution anyone thinking about anything computer related... Make sure you are living in an area where hi-tech computing is needed... or plan to move. My oldest went to ecpi technical institute and got an associates degree in computer science. He was hired right out of school and two years later he's making over $50K per year, and the ripe old age of 22. The company that hired him is going to pay for his bachelors, and continues to send him to school for training certifications. If he ever gets a clearance, he'll be able to nearly double his current income as a Unix System Administrator. But he's living in an area where these types of skills are needed, and companies pay huge for the skills... You've got time to think about what you want to do... I know that I changed my mind many times, and still wonder what I'll do when I grow up! Mike

JOe, THe Maxton Monstor Mile is run by the ECTA and is a standing mile timed event. My top speeds in the other Zcar have been posted elsewhere, but I have stalker radar gun verified 168mph in one session. In the last Zcar I had, I could run at over 150 in 6th gear turning about 4000rpms and the 383stroker had plenty of umph left. Of course, the whaletail spoiler didn't like it, and the pressure on it caused the tail to crack at the mounting surface points on the rear hatch, but the car felt very stable. The windtunnel testing is with two weeks gang! We'll have some very good data very soon! Mike

YUp, There's simply nothing "Painless" about it... The system isn't worth the money, in my opinion... I raved about the lettering pre-printed on the wires, and yea, that's about the ONLY cool thing.... I believe you'd be better off buying a fuse panel and running all your own wires to each circuit. Shoulda Coulda Woulda... And yea, I'm keeping mine, since it's in the car now, but honestly, I'll never buy another one... Mike

David thanks for posting that... Mike

Guys, I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to scale on these things... The bodies both are I think 1/10 scale... The S30 was the one that I think Owen had a run made of, and the 510 is from David's 510 club run! Mike

I Have an S-30 W/ Flares and Gnose, along with a 510 Body... Still need to buy a Chassis though... Mike

That's funny, because I think this thing, piped and jetted is only making about 105WHP. So my guess is it isn't any faster than the VFR. It's by far the slowest bike I've owned in a number of years, but so much more enjoyable! Mike

That was one of my pics for a newer bike... I ended up with a Kawi ZRX1100, but could easily have bought an intercepter VFR800... Nice ride! Mike

Yup, you guys nailed why my rear arms failed and why I eventually bought a set of the AZC rear arms... You have to be able to get the toe back in the rear... BJ's got some nice parts there and I especially like the way he did the stock rear control arms. Only issue is will adding too much toe put a bind on the arm's travel? I bet it doesn't, or he wouldn't have them on his car! Mike

You're learning a valuable lesson about friends and money... I've got one or two good friends on here I've helped out, and would again in a heart beat... I've got one person besides my wife and kids (and of course my parents who I give money every month to help out) who I'd give money or the keys to my porsche. He has the capabilities of paying me back, would, and would never hang me out to dry... What you'll find is that you have a lot of friends who you might think are like my friend described above, but when the rubber meets the road, few are there when it truly counts... That's why my best friend is also my business partner. We trust and can count on each other... And we're under no illusions as to where we stand with the rest of the world. Figure that one out early enough in life and you're well on your way... Mike

I'm not trying to stir up any controversy. If Speeder's tire fits a 10inch wheel, great. Good for him for doing the research, and THAT's the point of my comment. Rick's no dummy and I'm SURE he's done the appropriate research. My point in this, and my previous posts is that 9 months down the road someone will hopefully search, read this discussion and then THINK, and do their research. Mike

That's bare minimum for a 315 size w/ low profile sidewalls of any of the makers out there. I'd never go less than a 10.5 inch wide wheel, and ideally you'll want a 12 inch wheel. Consult Tirerack.com for recommended sizing on tires. This stuff is serious business... Mike

Terry, THat's correct, but I want to make something clear to others who may read this thread... The tire TERRY is speaking of is specifically designed to be placed on narrower rims. Do NOT try to place a 275-40-17 on an 8 inch rim if it isn't a cantilever design tire. ALWAYS check the tire manufacturer for specific width rim recommendations. Mike

We were asked by the dyno operator to move the date. We've done that because it gaven JT1 the chance to get his hands on a perfect Gnose, and it gave BJ more time to finish up the pantera hatch. Unfortunately I may not be able to attend because it's going to be mid april now. We'll update you guys on it as we get closer to the day. We can't have 800 people there guys. We wouldn't be able to get the job done if we announced the date. Anyone with serious concerns or wanting a refund contact me offline, but this actually worked to our benefit... We REALLY wanted to get a Gnose in the mix. Mike

Exactly... You can get away with cantilevering the sidewall on a drag slick, but youll get killed trying that on a road race slick... First Hi-G load corner will pull the bead off the seal and the tire will walk off the rim... Thanks, I'll pass. Mike

I still don't think it'll give you enough travel... We were looking at Jim Mcnemar's car the other day and his flares, although HUGE, have the same issue the ZFG flare would encounter... Under full compression, there simply isn't enough room inside the flare/fender to fit a 305 series tire... My ZG flares are barely enough for the 275s on the rear of my car. Mike

Amazing Ride for sure! Mike

I just bought as Sherline scale for measuring tongue weight. It came in very handy yesterday evening while loading the 996TT into my car trailer... I had no idea how much tongue weight I was adding with all the additional "Stuff"... Mike

Pete... Pete... Pete, stop the music... ... IN my head...! Thanks Pete! Mike

I'm amazed at how some people get offended when they are asked to help themselves to the information that is abundantly available. I'm further negatively moved that people find it rude that those of us who provide the information, and its ability to be accessed by this very website, and brand us as Asses... TRWEBB, Consider it a gift that you haven't been banned by one of the admins in this thread. Also consider your actions before posting in the future. You are now in the unfortunate position of being a topic of discussion in the admin forum... Ass, indeed... Mikelly

You can actually do something like this with a simple GPS monitoring tool. It wouldn't be as extensive as Data Aq, but would at least show you where the individual has been and the speeds traveled... And Chris makes some very good points that should also bleed over into motorcycle licensing. 240Z_Master, Sorry to hijack the thread. I'm dealing with a family tragedy as well, but involving a semi-truck driver not paying attention to her rig and the road. Lot of people out there on the road doing other things besides driving. Mike

I just trashed a GT2 lower chin spliter on my Haulmark 24ft. enclosed trailer... Uhhuh, it's on the porsche and is a genuine P-car part! Stupid is as stupid does... If you go open or closed, and the car is lower than normal, opt for one of two choices... The gucci aluminum extender ramps OR the 2X10 stepped wood planks for walking the car up to the dovetail on the trailer... Mike