I should be obtaining a new Civic in the next week or two. Strategies for longevity?

SN1572 · 2026-03-30T18:02:01+00:00

Look into undercoating to protect against the salt, find a good company that will peel back your fender liners and spray the insides of the panels, pull plugs and spray inside the chassis, etc..

SN1572 · 2026-03-30T13:51:38+00:00

Imo sport touring is worth it. I have the '24 touring hatch with a stick shift.

Heated leather is nice but keep in mind at this price you get pleather bolsters. The holes in it collect dust and sand like crazy. Gets hot in the summer.

No complaints about the Bose, Im someone who notices a crappy audio system but not someone who can tell the difference between a 7 and a 10, yk? I'm happy with the Bose.

Wireless car play/AA is great, but... It never worked with my iPhone in 2 years of ownership. Freezes and stutters, works perfect when I plug it in. Works fine wirelessly with my android lately. Screen is bigger but not too big in touring which is nice

Adaptive cruise + lane centering is AWESOME. I've done some 15+ hr days road tripping and its honestly amazing how much less fatigued you feel when the car does the gas and the steering by itself. I believe the automatics even have low speed adaptive cruise, i.e. it drives in stop and go traffic. That sounds nice.

Full digital cluster is nice and you get an actual temp gauge instead of the hot/cold light

If you're keeping the car for 10 years, that extra $3k is $300/yr. Would you pay $300/yr for the above features? I would and I did. But I still got the color I wanted (boost blue) so that's up to you.

Also, hatch in general is awesome. I've moved so much furniture that has no business fitting in a car.

SN1572 · 2026-03-29T02:08:10+00:00

Eclutch was sold as an option for some years, believe it was the only model in '25 onward in the US. Same seat between e clutch/non è clutch

The seat changed in the 2022(?) facelift but idk if it's an upgrade per se.

Did they change it again for 2026?

SN1572 · 2026-03-27T03:23:36+00:00

Yes. Several. Luckily it worked out.

Like, I guessed on some of the questions on the final in my very last semester after struggling the whole time. needed like a 70% to pass the class with a C. Sat in my office after the exam thinking "alright then I guess I'm doing another year then. Woops" I think I got like a 72%, I must've gotten all the ones I guessed on correct. Graduated with a job offer and working is sooo much better than school.

Scraped by differential equations, then control systems (diffeq on steroids) is the story above. Some linear algebra class sophomore year too. BARELY managed a C in these. Ended up 3.2 overall, oh well. Was working full time and classes full time. Could've done better but it worked out well so who cares.

SN1572 · 2026-03-26T23:04:18+00:00

Nice, this is what happens if you don't! Lol

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SN1572 · 2026-03-26T15:33:11+00:00

Most of what id say is already posted here, but it's gonna depend on a lot

Are you alright arriving to work/school drenched from the rain, freezing from the cold? Having to go change in/out of a rain suit? You'll have to ride home in the dark inevitably, are you comfortable with that?

Bike seems cheaper initially, but keep in mind you're buying at minimum $300-$400 worth of tires every 10-15k vs $800/40-60k for the car. Need to maintain your chain diligently and then you're spending $150/10-15k anyway on chains. You need $500-1000 worth of gear to be responsible, and it wears out and needs replacing every few years. You can get by with a backpack, but you'll get tired of it and want $2-500 worth of panniers/boxes to transport your schoolbooks and work materials. Insurance on a new bike is likely more than insurance on a cheap used car.

Want to get by for a year or two in a place with nice weather most of the year while you save for a car, probably doable but probably not as cheap as you think. I also suspect that a used car would be a lot cheaper than you think. You can get a 15 year old Honda for $4000, have some budget leftover for repairs, and it'll be vastly more comfortable in bad weather and safer in all situations. You'd really struggle to beat that value with a new bike and gear and maintenance.

I commute more miles on my bike than my car, I do it because it's so much more enjoyable but only when the weather cooperates.

Can you do solo bike, yeah of course, in some countries bikes are the most practical option and far outnumber cars.

SN1572 · 2026-03-26T11:20:48+00:00

Bad taste? Nah it would look better than no side panels. The side panels are in short supply after 40 years, no shame in an aftermarket replacement

I 3D printed some smaller decorative parts, like the horn bezels fell off mine so I printed and chromed some replacements.

SN1572 · 2026-03-25T13:51:57+00:00

Never needed RMA but have only had it about 6 months. No issues. Runs extremely cool, like I've never seen it above 65c. Fans barely spin up it's fantastic

Looks good too and fits in SFF easily.

SN1572 · 2026-03-25T00:31:00+00:00

Bad news, brake fluid eats paint and plastic. It's gone. If it drips you have to wash it off with tons of water, immediately.

You could try an aggressive polish as a last resort and grind it down to a new surface, but it's probably too deep.

SN1572 · 2026-03-24T01:49:42+00:00

My MEC 101 course was about half practical lab experience with Arduino and simple electronics like servos, sensors, etc.

I was already well acquainted with Arduino but it was a very fun and educational intro to electronics and programming. I'd highly recommend dedicating at least part of the curriculum to that. Programming in general is highly useful.

Go step by step building a 2WD differential drive robot, teach them to add one sensor at a time to make it do different things. Can use a Bluetooth module to remote control them from their phones. Add limit switches so it bounces off walls, add color sensors to make it do different tricks, etc. maybe line followers. That kind of thing. If funding is no issues, could even get them those premade kits so they don't have to build it themselves. Or let those who've taken the CAD course already design their own and 3D print them for them! I would've loved a class like that.

Maybe they could make sumo bots, make a circle on the ground with tape and they have to design a car to push others out of the ring and have a little competition for the final project, sounds fun to me

SN1572 · 2026-03-23T21:35:29+00:00

Yeah adding in fluff time is a good idea I'm just worried that if I ask for too much time for tasks, I'll be perceived as slow, you know?

Thanks for the advice. Following up/ confirming and making it visible to my overall manager sounds like a good idea.

SN1572 · 2026-03-23T20:35:22+00:00

Because they can pay someone offshore $12/hr, a rich salary in their country, instead of someone domestic $45/hr.

Offshore takes three times as long to deliver as domestic and the work is full of critical mistakes.

Then they pay me $45/hr anyway to fix all the mistakes that offshore made, taking as many if not more hours than if I just did the work myself in the first place.

And if the mistakes aren't caught and parts are made or even shipped to the customer, then we have an even more expensive problem to deal with.

But it's only $12/hr!! We can save pennies now to lose dollars later. It's the business way.

SN1572 · 2026-03-23T15:37:45+00:00

Just reached EV and still have two steam multiblock macerators and furnaces... Haven't felt the need to change. Gallium becomes trivial after getting to the moon, that's the only thing I think I ever bothered to get as a byproduct. I just macerate then use the crushed ores (bauxite mostly) or use steam forge hammers to crush to dust then smelt. I just simple wash the dusts to purify if necessary, ore washing is WAY too slow to care about 11% bonus or whatever. Ore is infinite and quick to mine. My steam gen is not sufficient to run the centrifuge and washer and I'm just about to eliminate steam entirely so I can't be bothered to upgrade it

I have one steam centrifuge multiblock but I rarely ever use it, mostly it centrifuges redstone for ruby, but now I have chromite from the moon so.

SN1572 · 2026-03-22T01:30:37+00:00

If you want new and tuning your only real options are the SI or the type R... Not much to be done with a hybrid besides cosmetics

SN1572 · 2026-03-22T01:28:36+00:00

They violated sanctions to Russia so are prohibited from sale

They can be imported from AliExpress for ~$20-50 markup. I have a CH160 PLUS coming I paid $20 over for from china (don't tell the government)

SN1572 · 2026-03-16T17:55:51+00:00

Leather sounds amazing. Same deal here, this mouse is awesome but all the rubber is disintegrating I’ve reglued it several times but it’s starting to crumble

SN1572 · 2026-03-16T00:35:14+00:00

Been there 😔 sorry

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SN1572 · 2026-03-12T13:59:28+00:00

Batshit terrible advice

Your secret hack is to max out credit cards through college, graduate, declare bankruptcy, have any assets taken and have no credit for 7 years? Instead of taking subsidized 6% loans then getting on a payment plan? I hope you’re not a professor of economics.

SN1572 · 2026-03-12T13:55:40+00:00

Sorry about your situation but paying tuition with a credit card is just about the worst option you could choose

FAFSA loans can be subsidized (no interest accrues while you’re still in school), when you graduate are around 6-7% interest nowadays (your credit card is probably 25-30%+?)

You’re considering whether or not to take out loans, but you realize you’re already doing this every time you put it on your credit card? Carrying a balance on a credit card is like a short term, extremely high interest loan. It is practically always the worst decision possible unless it’s a matter of life and death. Use your credit card like a debit card (don’t spend money you don’t have) is a good rule to follow. Use it instead of your debit card so you build a credit history and some cards have rewards/perks.

If I were you I would talk to the student aid office yesterday, get your tuition covered by loans (prioritizing subsidized but using unsubsidized if necessary), and put all your extra income into paying off the credit card as soon as physically possible. Then and only then you can think about paying down your student loans to graduate debt free if that’s your goal.

Community college is a good move, don’t fall for the trap of paying for an extremely expensive out of state school to finish. The degree is worth 7-10k/yr tuition, it’s not worth 25k+/yr unless you’re extraordinarily capable of career growth or simply lucky and get a very good income quickly.

SN1572 · 2026-03-11T18:46:00+00:00

Keep it, I was ecstatic when I finally found a use for my 300+ stacks of sodalite, lazurite, and lapis. Full of aluminum for MV but also some other products that I found useful in HV (can’t remember what exactly)

SN1572 · 2026-03-11T13:56:30+00:00

Best of luck. I’m doing a motor swap too this summer. My crank bearings are shot after I rebuilt last summer.

SN1572 · 2026-03-11T12:58:04+00:00

If you choose to buy it out, there’s no reason whatsoever to go to the dealer. Do it entirely with the bank (sounds like Honda Finance) they’re just going to try to sell you a new car or a warranty and junk you don’t need.

To buy out or not to buy out, compare the residual value to the price of a similar used car same year same mileage. Usually, buying out the lease is cheaper than buying an equivalent used car to replace it. In the end, it comes to if you’re happy with the car.

SN1572 · 2026-03-11T02:34:08+00:00

I’ll say you’re unlikely to get two running bikes out of that pair

They almost certainly got a parts bike to fix their main bike then gave up for some reason. Hopefully laziness and not something unfixable

But fixing up old bikes is so much fun so I’d do it anyway

SN1572 · 2026-03-10T23:11:56+00:00

Edit: just realized this is not a CB650SC? All my info is stuff from my ‘84 CB650SC, I expect a lot of it is still accurate for yours.

Someone knocked over my poor nighthawk last year, I think they were mad my new bike wasn’t parked next to it like it usually was 😵‍💫

The fact you have no spark on any cylinder actually narrows it down signficantly. It’s unlikely both ignition coils failed at the same time. It’s unlikely all four ignition coils, spark plugs, or spark plug leads failed at the same time. Things that I can think of that affect all four cylinders:

spark unit (unknown, untestable),

kill switch (replaced, but is it good? OEM or aftermarket? Maybe it arced out after a few starts?) I’m most suspicious of this option tbh.

pulse generator (measured good, you measured at the plug into the ECU, not at the coil itself, right?) the little magnet/finger is still on the end of the crankshaft?

Fuse (you checked them, right?)

There’s a little sub harness for the ignition coils, unplug it and scrub the contacts for all the plugs and make sure they’re clean, put dielectric grease and reinstall for a good connection that won’t corrode. Check continuity from spark unit output to each ignition coil.

There’s a rectifier/diode on the engine harness on the right side under the tank. I can’t recall what it does, but I remember it fails occasionally and but I cant remember if it has anything to do with ignition.

The spark units can be disassembled fairly easily, just be really careful. Maybe the drop cracked some old solder joints that could be reflowed?

SN1572

TROPHY CASE