'Madrone' - 1989 4Runner field workhorse

My field truck, Madrone, a 22re '89 4Runner is always a work-in-progress, yet rarely ever fails to start and never gets under 20 mpg (!) - not bad for a 28 year old 4wd truck! Its taken me over nearly every pass in the Northern Sierra, camped from the coast to the Great Basin and trundled along slowly everywhere in between.

I've done a few modifications for better fieldwork and camping, including:
  • 4' cutting board tailgate
  • LED lights throughout the interior and bed
  • Bumper-mounted fog lights (better to see snakes, poorwills and kangaroo rats at night)

And for general getting around
  •  31" BFG A/Ts (roughly 1 mpg less than old ones)
  • Metal timing chain guides (common failure of 22re)
  • Ported head (PO)
  • Repainted, all surface rust removed and primered with rust-proofing primer. All rolled with rustoleum, making it a <$200 paint job that most folks can't tell isn't sprayed!

Bicycles

Even before moving to Davis (the biking capital of the US, unquestionably), I was pretty into bikes. Jimmy Tarrant and I did most of our birding in college on bikes (we have the RI big day biking record of over 100 species). Since moving to Davis, my bike collection has increased. I commute on, build up, and generally enjoy a variety of bikes... (currently, the kick is tandems - I've restored/built a couple old cruisers,  including "Daisy", a fixie "Blue Steel", and a nicer 90's Motobecane 21 speed.
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1974 Auranthetic Charger

The FIRST production electric motorcycle, by a little company in LA that lasted a few years during the gas crisis. Runs on two car batteries and had a claimed range of 25+ miles at 25 mph. 

Found on craigslist for $75 - it was a rusty mess, but only took a few days of work to get it back to decent. Converted it to 1000W motor (from 750W), put a real motor controller and throttle, and upgraded to 48V for increased range. I also replaced the brake shoes and rear shocks (rusted solid) and converted it to LED lights and turn signals to keep the batteries going longer. Running on 4 12V golf cart batteries in series currently. Slow but quite fun. I haven't yet calculated it's range with this set up. 

Registered as a moped under CA laws! 

1970 Citroen DS21

My dream car for a long time, I drove a '70 DS in college. 25-30 mpg, cruising for 5 (or 6) at 70 mph, the most cushy interior ever put into a car and all the other oddities that a 40 year old French car comes with. 

(note the '78 Alfa spider in back - another daily driver of mine from long ago)
 1972 Saab 95

This sturdy little wagon gets 30 mpg, holds 7 (tiny) people and is generally a fun car. I had one of the best roadtrips of my life driving it up from LA the day I bought it. The weak transmission finally went, but after a new (old) transmission, a carburator rebuild, a brake rebuild, a new fuel pump, and more... it seems to be running again! It also awaits a proper name. 
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 1967 Yamaha YCS-1 180 twin, "cafe racer"-esque

Bought as a stripped frame/engine, as the previous owner had cut frame down and stripped all unnecessary parts for racing (though I don't think he ever did). Made a fiberglass seat/tail section, put on all the missing parts. Still needs a connector piece for the front fork fabbed (for increased rigidity), but runs and rides nicely. 

Another 1968 YCS-1 restoration (to factory specs) in progress. I was pretty much finished, including a .5 overbored engine and all new paint, rebuilt autolube system, etc., but when all together, the transmission was bound up somehow. Need to get that straightened out.