the mind races,
how can I go in circles?
I have lost count of my paces,
What is to be?
Does that really matter to me?
I guess it should but here I am.
And there is sleep.
Dangling and watching as I try,
to catch some peaceful shut eye.
Yet when I approach as a silent native hunter
my mind suddenly startles the beast I seek,
and again I am left searching for sleep.
As you can see from some weak poetry I am not asleep haha. I guess I might as well throw up something of a car review.
I mentioned before that my dad and my self just got our vw bus on the road and since that is the most recent interesting car I have driven lemme tell you a little about the experience.
The model I labor over and occasionally drive is a 1974 Volkswagen Westphalia Camper-Van. Quite a mouthful and certainly deserving of the extensive name because it likewise has extensive features.
To start ours is equipped with a 2 liter semi-stroked flat four cylinder mated to a four speed gear box (manual). The stroked 2 liter means that this car red lines extremely low compared to most new(er) cars.
I read in a manual that this VW boxer engine and most of the like in vdubs and porsches of that era see "excessive crank vibration" past 5000 rpms. This means that because of the long stroke there is a large amount of pressure which begins to build on cylinder walls (as a result of the angle the connecting rod makes with the crank and the cylinder). This all gets translated back to the crank and overtime means failed bearings and rods which is no fun.
Needless to say the old girl, named Karmaan, doesn't pass this mark on the tachometer.
Now I guess the first thing people will assume after these facts is that bus' are slow....Yes that is correct. Ours has the largest engine available, although it does not have an optimized carborator setup and it is indeed slow.
But I have to say that the bus is not a dog. It will get moving and top out around 75 mph. However any person who decides to venture to that speed is brave and suicidal.
The first thing I noticed about our old girl is that on the highway, cruising at about 60, any wind makes here want to jitterbug more than those people from the 50's who couldn't look at elvis' hips.
None the less the vehicle is an absolute joy to drive. The driver sits almost directly above the front wheels and the steering wheel was probably taken from a school bus. Thus the car seems to pivot on an axis with the driver at the epicenter.
At cruising speeds nothing I have ridden in is more sublime than the bus. You feel so unattached to the world and there is nothing to worry about and no one to call.
While the rear interior is rather loaded, with two beds, a sink, a fridge, and a host of other cabinets and stash-spots, the front is sparse. There is a radio (a necessary mod), a few gauges and a steering wheel which could double as a hula hoop and that's it.
Also ours is a bay window which means that you dont need anything else because the road and all of its wonders are in your'e face...literally.
The one downside to this is that because you are so close the crumple zone (much like the smart fortwo) is non-existent. But the good news is if you rear end someone you will probably be going about two miles an hour.
Overall if you have had one or want one get (another)one. They are relatively cheap and the thrills are definately worth the costs. Plus what other vehicle allows a person to pop the top up while you stop and get ice cream?
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