Those 200hp VW engines are grenade engines, they won't last half as long as a regular VW engine/

Again, I was never a fan of those cars, but don't feel bad, there were a lot of cars I was never a fan of. Just my opinion in my own taste of what a car should be of course. I have several other classic cars too, but that Plymouth is the first one that I kept in my small current collection. I got my cars cheap years ago before the prices started to get too nuts and bought them from friends, or people who were just selling them below market value. I never buy stuff like that at market value, it has to scream deal for me, same with my small vintage bike collection, I won't spend a lot of money for a vintage bike just because it's listed as "vintage"; all my vintage bikes I paid less than $100 for over the last 6 years or so. I didn't even think about collecting bikes until the car market when to far north, I still look for cars but haven't found any outstanding deals in a while, so when the prices got to crazy I looked to lower costing options...bikes, but even that has stopped now since they to have gone to far north in their prices, but like cars I still keep my eye open.

Not true... my last engine was 180hp and I put 97,000 miles on it. My current is over built and will last as long. Let's just say you could by 2 Chevy small blocks for what I have in it.

I've been riding a '72 Schwinn Super Sport. It's all modified, single speed, fat tires. It's about the best all round bike I've ridden. The fit is perfect for me. It pretty much disappears under me. It glides along just as nice as an Italian super bike. I was riding it today and thinking there's really not much difference between a Schwinn Super Sport and a Colnago, or Masi, whatever. Very subtle differences and only beneficial to certain cyclists. A bike is just so simple, and you can only improve on it so much. The stuff offered now is just fractionally better than what was available 50 years ago.

My bike is a time machine. Once I begin pedaling, I eventually notice that I'm having fun and that time has passed. Works every time!

Cognitive dissonance is when I perceive that, contrary to my internal feedback, I'm not really 18 again despite the young lady smiling at me as I ride by...

FarHorizon

Back in my day they had what were known as VW Super Blocks, can't recall the horsepower that they were getting out of those, but those engines back then lasted maybe 30,000 miles. They have improved the metallurgy in those after all those years. However after some internet research I think my original assessment of those being grenade engines is still at least partially right to this day. Please read this: VW Performance Engine Building: Considerations Where this is quoted:

• How reliable does the engine need to be? Are you prepared to tinker with it every other weekend? Are you prepared to pull the engine for maintenance or repair every six weeks? (the upper echelon (180 – 200 HP) of performance VW engines typically need this kind of attention)

So no, I still don't think their long life engines when pushed to 180+ horsepower.

Not to get into a argument over VW engines on a bike forum, but i've built over 40 engines ranging from stock 48hp to 200+hp engines and none have exploded. My last engine had 97,000 mile of me driving it like i stole it before it failed. But the engine case had over 200,000 miles on it. My current has a heavily machined VW case that only had 30k on it when I got it. Forged internals, H beam rods, hand ported heads, dual valve springs and everything dynamically balanced. The engine starts on the first turn of the key and revs to 7800rpm.

Take a look at my website if you want to see pictures of the build.

Come out to Long Island and i'll take you for a ride. Just bring a change of underpants... you'll need them by the end of the ride. ;)

Oh.. as far as tinkering... I haven't touched the carbs or ignition for 8000 miles. The valves haven't needed to be adjusted for 12,000 miles.

All I do is change the oil every 3000 miles and add gas when it needs it.

You must be doing something right with your engines then, good job.

I won't be needing underwear, my 79 Camaro Z28 I put in a 383 stroker engine a friend sold me that had nitrous for a total output of around 650 hp. I played with that engine for a couple of years at dragstrips than sold it back to my friend for a new project he had and I reinstalled the original 350 back into mine. I still have that car too among others but not as fast and more classic type stuff.

Speaking of fast cars for 2015 Dodge Challenger came out with a stock 707 horsepower version called the SRT Hellcat! This blows away the nearest competition by Ford or Chevy by more than 120 hp! 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat - Video - Car and Driver

The makeup of a human being is apparently complex and it is composited from direct perception, filters, memory, passport stamps and escape velocity. We see what we want to see, even when we don't exactly know what it is we want. We are reactive and active, passive and overtly creative. A bicycle can be a magic lantern showing our life thus far. And like any movie projector, or any screen caught in light, it disappears when the story/ride begins. Oh, I know, I turn my attention back to what a joy it is to ride THIS bike. I feel the irregular surfaces and grades of the roads that belt the earth. I adjust myself, keeping loose and connected when the ride is rough, but in the end the bike is subsumed, extruded, sublimated to my will. It is such a gift to have a will that rides.

Sounds like you got some of those Cuban cigars before they lifted the embargo.

Which ones? the ones with the green leaves or the ones with the brown leaves?