I will definitely accept your collective invitations to look at these cars. BDR is on my short list, and the SPFs might be on the short list too if the economy keeps tanking and prices drop even still. Bill and Marc are very local and have actually built cars so they are resources I will turn too if they have the time to help in my search. This is a very busy time for me and I have been on trial for most of February and March looks no better. It's just a matter of clearing a day or two and looking at these cars so I can start to see the difference. There is another local company (Tristate motorsports) and they seem to have built BDRs and FFRs for a lot of local buyers. There is another ERA in No. Jersey that prompts my interest as well.
And yes, I accept the fact that these cars are not modern Vettes or Porsches that I won't ever have to touch or tweak something. Believe me, I have not had a weekend of dirtbiking yet where I wasn't fixing something. (Real fun, with a mini tool kit in the middle of the woods). But wrenching a 4 stroke single on a mass produced bike is much different than trying to figure out an engine or suspension problem in somebody's hand built car.
I do want a solid car that I can flog and have fun with. Max, I am not sure that I need 500 HP right now to have that fun
, and I have seen enough people getting airlifted out of the woods because they took on too much bike or ATV too soon. So I would trade reliability, a solid chassis, neutral handling, and a well sorted suspension set up, for HP at least for now. Local servicing options are also huge. My Yamaha dealer is 15 minutes away, the local KTM dealer is 50 minutes, which makes a difference in a leisure activity. When you start talking hours to get a car servicved properly, that becomes important.