Charlotte, Nc; Dec 05, 2014 - Dec 07, 2014

[zelio]

I'll be there first thing tomorrow when the mall opens, stay until lunch then come back around dinner time. Staying at the DoubleTree next to the mall.

Hi and welcome from Oregon, Mr. 9973. Enjoy your Elio visitation day. I believe one or two of our members are going to be there tomorrow although most are going to be there Saturday. Have a wonderful Elio Day. :-) Z

 

[Jambe]

Mr. 9973, I hope you will be an active member of this forum.






( From a private message: "He's my dad!" )

 

[Oldfarmer]

JEBar/others going to Charlotte, Please drive safe.
I had asked, a while back, for someone to ask the staff, what would be the bolt pattern of the front wheels of the final production Elio, another thought comes to mind, what size will the stud bolts be?
The reason for this is, the more I think of Wire Wheels and open fenders, the more I want the 'Vintage Look'. I am trying to cost the add ons I plan to add to My Elio. The latest we hear is the fronts will be 15", I can work with that for now.
Thanks for any info you can get, along these lines.

Go for wide white wall tires too. I put them on both my late model Vespas and it does give a sharp retro look.

 

[Oldfarmer]

That's bigger than anything on my property, way beyond what I could do with my MS250 with 18" blade. That firewood would heat my house for years. Too much splitting unless you have the right machinery. I'm down to basic splitting wedge, axe and sledge hammer. I have a pretty impressive beech tree out there that will some day fall and crush the property line fence but maybe I'll be gone by then. That's my biggest pine is the picture there and a white oak about the same diameter or a little bigger. Come down for a tour when you get your Elio.

Believe it or not, we split that whole tree with sledges and wedges. Burned it all in one winter. We heat with wood and I have a wood stove in the shop. I would love to get a good splitter but my wife says I need the exercise. But, I'll tell you, it gets tougher every year to swing that hammer. I had another thought on this too. I could rent a splitter for a day or two for about $100. No maintenance, upkeep, storage or repairs. I could rent one every year for 10+ years and not spend what a new good one costs.
That's a good sized pine. If you had a bunch of those they would bring some decent money. I've got a 12 acre patch of old growth hardwoods and the timber brokers call me at least once a month. My wife would kill me if I had it clear cut. She won't even let me do a select cut. Plenty of firewood there I guess.

 

[Oldfarmer]

Maybe I'll see you there around that time. I'll have my tan #5614 cap on.

Black cap w orange lettering.

 

[JEBar]

Go for wide white wall tires too. I put them on both my late model Vespas and it does give a sharp retro look.

I suspect that anything but black wall tires would have to be purchased from an after market source ... with all three wheels being all but completely covered, I don't think EM would want to spend more on tires .... with exposed tires I do think that the old style wide white walls might look good with retro rims

Jim

 

[Oldfarmer]

It wasn't easy finding the odd size white walls that fit Vespas. Pricey too. And they only last maybe 3-4000 miles.
Once we get the Elio we'll probably sell the Vespas. The weather is too cold and wet too often around here to get much practical use out of them. Between tax, tags and insurance, the gas savings don't add up for a vehicle that's parked at least 6 months a year.

 

[JEBar]

Once we get the Elio we'll probably sell the Vespas. The weather is too cold and wet too often around here to get much practical use out of them. Between tax, tags and insurance, the gas savings don't add up for a vehicle that's parked at least 6 months a year.

quandary understood .... we don't need an Elio .... we travel the country in our camper for 6 months or so each year .... we already have 4 vehicles, three of which sit at home being driven occasionally by our kids when we are gone .... buying an Elio will simply add another vehicle sitting idle while we are gone .... well, that isn't exactly right, one of our sons will probably find an excuse to drive it some .... with our level of use, we will never save enough gasoline to pay for the Elio .... what it can do is help limit mileage on our other vehicles which should make them last longer

Jim

 

[Oldfarmer]

We were in the same boat. 2 Hondas, 2 Vespas, a Prius and a truck. 2 people. Recently sold 1 Honda. Pulled the tags and insurance off the Vespas. Pulled tags and insurance off the truck. It never leaves the farm. Our out-of-town kids use a car when they visit but there are still vehicles parked everywhere all the time.
Planning on selling the Vespas and the other Honda once the E is here. One of the kids, wife and grankiddos live in the burbs north of Detroit. 658 miles door to door. I'm looking for to driving the E nonstop. Well, maybe a pit stop. Unless I wear a diaper.

 

[JEBar]

my cardiologist has given me some pretty strong orders to get out of a vehicle and walk around every couple of hours .... the longest trip I can foresee ever making in an Elio would be from our home in NC to my wife's hometown in South Dakota .... we spend two to three months a year out there in our camper so we know the 1,500 mile trip pretty well .... when we are going to be out there for an extended period it makes economic sense to take the camper but for short trips it doesn't .... the difference in cost of over 300 gallons of diesel and less than 40 gallons of gasoline can easily be used to help offset the cost of motels and meals .... if the ride of an Elio proves to be comfortable, I can see us making such a trip .... if the ride proves to be "firm" so that one feels every bump in the road, no way

Jim