Generators

caboose56 said:
Your loud trash compactor gets lost in a sea of trash compactors. That doesnt make yours any quieter.

Come to a race weekend where more people are using inverters and you'll notice that the noisy generators are a lot more obvious (and annoying).
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Just yesterday morning (7am) someone started one of the aforementioned compactors about 20ft from my trailer, where I was sleeping. It was well away from his pit though so it was all good.

Calabogie pit area is just a huge car park. So it is nigh on impossible to have your generator 50ft away from you and everyone else. Unless you're right against the road fence side. Then the raccoons wake you up trying to break into the bag of chips soemone left out.

Not everyone can afford a high end Honda inverter I get that. But what about trying to screen your noise? Even a well placed trash can will dull the sound.
 
caboose56 said:
Lap times ;-)

Those of us who went through the process of buying generators usually suggest buying the Honda or Yamaha.

It seems like the Champion inverters are ok but in general a lot of us bought the cheaper generators only to have them fail, let us down mid weekend, then throw them in the garbage. After that we went and bought the Honda/Yamaha.

We would have saved some money had we just bought the Honda/Yamaha at the start. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight I don't know why anyone buys the cheap ****. The cost of ownership of a Honda or Yamaha is actually lower than anything else.
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Lap times---yummmy :D

Bought mine for $175 (50% off during the off-season) + 13% = ~200. It ran without a hitch for 12 days already, so that's $17/day. Even if it quit tomorrow (I doubt it, but you never know), I still had it cheap and would buy it again. Reliability--that's a different story, if you're racing and the genny quitting on you can really ruin your race, then sure. For all other cases, I feel like I'm totally getting my money's worth with the cheap Champion.
 
Corsara said:
Lap times---yummmy :D

Bought mine for $175 (50% off during the off-season) + 13% = ~200. It ran without a hitch for 12 days already, so that's $17/day. Even if it quit tomorrow (I doubt it, but you never know), I still had it cheap and would buy it again. Reliability--that's a different story, if you're racing and the genny quitting on you can really ruin your race, then sure. For all other cases, I feel like I'm totally getting my money's worth with the cheap Champion.
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Here you go. You like projects;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EujojffYOmU
 
Corsara said:
Lap times---yummmy :D

Bought mine for $175 (50% off during the off-season) + 13% = ~200. It ran without a hitch for 12 days already, so that's $17/day. Even if it quit tomorrow (I doubt it, but you never know), I still had it cheap and would buy it again. Reliability--that's a different story, if you're racing and the genny quitting on you can really ruin your race, then sure. For all other cases, I feel like I'm totally getting my money's worth with the cheap Champion.
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If you retire from track riding now you won't get much for your generator on kijiji.

I bought my EU2000 for $1000. I can and will use it for years and years. When I'm done with it I will be able to sell it for almost what I paid for it. Cost of ownership in the long run for a Honda or Yamaha is actually cheaper.
 
caboose56 said:
If you retire from track riding now you won't get much for your generator on kijiji.

I bought my EU2000 for $1000. I can and will use it for years and years. When I'm done with it I will be able to sell it for almost what I paid for it. Cost of ownership in the long run for a Honda or Yamaha is actually cheaper.
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While I understand your logic and completely agree, not everyone looks that far ahead.
Some people just look for the most cost efficient way to get by, even though it will cost them quite a bit more down the road.
Some people need to learn this the hard way.

I know for a fact I can sell my EU2000 today for what I paid for it last year.
 
Let me give you a similar example

-Bought cheap *** Tire warmers
-Used them a few times and decided they were not good enough
-Bough another set of better but used tire warmers
-Used them a few times and decided that they may not be warming my tires properly
-So now I am going to spend what I should have spent at the beginning and I am going to buy a proper set of tire warmers

I wish I had listened to more experienced people that told me "Buy proper tire warmers"

End of story :)
 
Resale value makes sense only if you paid a lot for it, certainly not worth the hassle for a mere 200 bucks of investment, lol.. The value of $17 / day (which has the potential to decrease even further) is totally worth it however I look at it.

Mina said:
While I understand your logic and completely agree, not everyone looks that far ahead.
Some people just look for the most cost efficient way to get by, even though it will cost them quite a bit more down the road.
Some people need to learn this the hard way.

I know for a fact I can sell my EU2000 today for what I paid for it last year.
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I'm certainly not one of those people, cause I didn't get any lessons out of going with the clunker. Also, how many days did you use your EU2000 this year? Do you have any debt? If not, then good for you. If yes, chance is that you could have been richer right now if you went with a clunker. To each their own, of course...just giving a hypothetical example.
 
Meh, like i said i went and bought a Bolton Pro for $250 ish .. runs 2 sets with ease and its been running for the last 5 or 6 years easy.
At top idle it is 63 decibels. If this genny blew up on me at the track, id leave it. It owes me nothing at this point ..
 
I have a Honda EU1000 that I bought I think 2 or 3 yrs ago, forgot when I got it. It has run flawlessly for track days to power whatever I need. I change oil on it once a yr and drain the gas for the winter and it starts first pull in spring. This year I didn't do any track days but I put in a cup of fuel a week ago to see if it would still start after sitting for almost a yr and it fired first pull and I let it run until it was dry. Quiet and light, couldn't ask for more.
 
All of these "cheaper to own" arguments rely on selling the item at the end. I know I have used this argument in the past with the purchase of photography equipment, but after using the good stuff, I never sell it. Therefore I am left with the joy of ownership at a high cost.

If people are picking up generators for <$200 that last for years, it will be really hard for the honda/yamaha guys to ever catch up financially. That being said, personally I would go for honda/yamaha as I don't want to worry about whether the generator will work.
 
FYI, there are 2 Honda generators for sale on CherryPicker right now.
 
Thanks AC, I didn't feel like spoon feeding the cheap people today. LOL
 
The Honda and Yamaha generators are great, but like most say, they're expensive. I was hunting for a genny and kept an eye out for ages for a 'cheap' honda to come up. The 2000 come up but I decided to get something I could use as a home backup as well. Went with a 3000. (drag it out of the shed for track days and its a great backup for power failures at home).
I started looking at the db numbers for the different generators (they don't all list the same distances where the noise is measured..kinda sneaky). I found most of the inverter generators are much more quiet and are pretty close to the big two. I finally settled on the Kipor. Same numbers as the honda, service records seem good and parts can be had online. There are a number of chinese knock offs around. they all seem pretty quiet. Service seems sketchy but most people won't be running their genny 24/7 for weeks like pros. You need something that you can run the odd weekend without pissing everyone off.
 
doozerdave said:
Thanks AC, I didn't feel like spoon feeding the cheap people today. LOL
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Ummm

Easy now people.

I bought a loud clunker 3 years ago when I first got into this sport. Why? To keep my costs down.

I now haul 3-4 bikes to the track. So needless to say my capital costs are a lot higher.

But the rattler generator is still going strong.

So will I upgrade? Nope. Not till the clunker dies.

Don't question my judgement or others.

Shoot, Why do people ride track bikes that are old, beat up? Why do people use different tire warmers?

Thanks for letting me know the pros and cons on diffeent generators.

As with everything new I learn from the community I appreciate it.

But I'm cheap just because I run a $200 clunker?

Maybe you want my operating or capital costs?
 
I try to look at expensive purchases with a five year outlook, i don't mind spending good money if it's going to last me a few years, warmers fall into this category as well. Sure there may be the rare occasion that a CT cheapo genny last more than a couple of years, but when it craps out you are actually no further ahead.

Plus i didn't want to be known as the track "gypsy" with a champion generator :)
 
I knew that post would ruffle feathers. It was a joke, after reading all the back-and-forth that went on yesterday. It's the internet, and Wednesday. Take the LOL for what it's worth. ;) I'm not judging anybody. We all do what we can to get out to the track and keep costs down.
 
Jayv said:
I try to look at expensive purchases with a five year outlook, i don't mind spending good money if it's going to last me a few years, warmers fall into this category as well. Sure there may be the rare occasion that a CT cheapo genny last more than a couple of years, but when it craps out you are actually no further ahead.

Plus i didn't want to be known as the track "gypsy" with a champion generator :)
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Who you callin a gypsy? Am I only part gypsy if I have a champion inverter?
 
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