What is your "inexpensive" hobby that turned out to be expensive/ you gradually invested lots of money into?
What is your "inexpensive" hobby that turned out to be expensive/ you gradually invested lots of money into?
Edit: so it turns out that every hobby can be expensive if you do it long enough.
Also I love how you talk about your hobby as some addicts.
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Motorcycle riding, done the right way.
Bought a decent street bike to start on, learn the ropes for several years, had the occasional mishhap or two which I fixed by myself. Still, cost money to fix things right?
Upgraded to a proper sport bike and realized how much fun it is, also with a new level of danger involved. Still, I wasn't an idiot into things right. Bought 100% proper gear, including a track suit, good helmet, gloves, etc. as any motorcyclist knows, you'll eventually drop your bike, which I did. Again, fixing it yourself is certainly an option, but also again, it cost money.
Then, I made the mistake of going to my first track day. They will allow you to use your own motorcycle as long as you prep it correctly and have decent tires and safety gear. This was an absolute game changer, and I was hooked harder than a heroin addict with an unlimited bank account. Unfortunately, I am neither of those two categories, and track days only get more expensive the deeper you get into them. First of all, they are not cheap to begin with. A decent track day will set you back 300 to $500 just to get on the track. Then, to really get the most out of it, you should have true racing tires with tire warmers. Then there's the matter of getting your bike to the track, race fuel, a place to hang out, etc etc etc. The list goes on and on.
Since when has any hobby with an engine been "inexpensive"
They all have that same joke attached to them:
"How do you make a small fortune?" "Start with a large fortune and buy a racecar/boat/sport bike etc."
this is true outside of the motorsport too. Oh you want to use your bike to take trips or go motocamping? every single little things is gunna cost $50+
Maybe you can try table tennis
Maybe it's midlife crisis, but I've decided to get a motorcycle now that I'm pushing 50. Turns out, I can easily spend 3500€ for my gear and classes before even getting a bike!
Unless you have a dedicated track bike with an ECU map and engine modifications that requires race fuel, you don't need it. 93 octane ethanol-free is just fine. It's all about what the compression is in your engine; higher compression means that you need higher octane fuel, and higher octane fuel in a lower compression engine isn't helping at all. (Most modern bikes also have anti-knock sensors that will retard the timing if your fuel is too poor for the engine.)