new member in Silicon Valley

[paulnerd]

Hello all.  New member here in Silicon Valley and I'd like to introduce myself.  I've been interested in the Atom for a few years but did not get serious until I saw some cars locally, including the Wrightspeed electric test car.

Some background: I'm a long time Honda NSX enthusiast looking to chase up the performance curve and down the complexity/bloat curve.  No track driving experience but looking forward to some in the Atom.  Have been wanting to get back into motorcycles but maybe an Atom will get that out of my system.  I work in mobile OS software.

I would like to trade notes with folks, especially local enthusiasts (thanks Karl!).  The community looks quite strong though small, compared to the NSX.  I'm going through the process of deciding between a used car and a new one.  I would appreciate any pointers to California cars that might be for sale.  Ideal would be an already California registered car that's been well sorted out.  Dreaming but who knows.

Paul

[Karl]

Welcome! 

[payne]

Welcome.  I'm in Menlo Park.  I should be getting my roller around March/April and hope to be on the road by the summer.  Happy to chat with you about CA registration. 

JP

[atomizer]

welcome...the lone Atom in Sacramento

[FutureAtom]

What is the deal with California, you have to get a roller and then install the engine yourself?

Have any of you registered the car outside of california and drive in california with out of state plates?

[payne]

[quote="FutureAtom"]
What is the deal with California, you have to get a roller and then install the engine yourself?

Have any of you registered the car outside of california and drive in california with out of state plates?
[/quote]

Yes, the Atom has to be registered at a Specially Constructed Vehicle (IE a Kit Car).  The chassis has to come from a different manufacturer than the driveline and you have to assemble the kit yourself (or pay a 3rd party like Sector 111).    It's much easier than it seems.

Messing with out of state plates is a bad idea.  No good comes of it.

[FutureAtom]

What is the deal with sector 111, they actually install the different engine for you? Do you wind up paying more for the atom if they do this?

[payne]

[quote="FutureAtom"]
What is the deal with sector 111, they actually install the different engine for you? Do you wind up paying more for the atom if they do this?
[/quote]

They sell drivelines and they offer engine installation.  I think you will pay a bit more overall for the engine install labor, but you should check with Shinoo, the owner.  He's been awesome to work with (as he's the CA dealer), and I have nothing but good things to say about Sector 111 so far. 

JP

[993rs]

I am just up the road in Alamo.  At first I got anxious to get an Atom, and looked into buying an out of state car to bring into California.  I do not recall all the details, but there were a number of potential pitfalls in trying to register an out of state kit car.  There were few Atom owners with any experience in this, but I found some useful information and warnings by going onto some of the kit Cobra club sites.  Those sites have a lot of info about registering kit cars in California.  I ended up getting one of the very early Atom 3's from TMI, and after all my worrying, the registration process (using SB100) was quite painless.

[paulnerd]

Thank you all for the welcomes.  Looking forward to meeting some of the local folks.  Anyone up for coffee?  I'm in the mid-Peninsula.

Are there any Atom 3 owners here in the Bay Area?  I would like to compare/contrast the Brammo and TMI cars and learn as much as I can.  And of course I am studying the SB100 process.

[Back to reading the forum archives!]

[993rs]

PM sent.

[payne]

Paul-

Thanks for the cup of coffee.  Good luck w/ your search/build.

Jason

[paulnerd]

Jason - Great to meet you in person.  Looking forward to seeing how your K24 car turns out and definitely willing to lend a hand or at least bring beers.

Paul

[dp35]

Welcome,
We have every type of Atom here in the Bay Area, and we've gotten them together a few times in the past couple years. I've had mine at the SJ Santana Row exotic car gathering a couple times, would like to get a few together & do it again this spring/summer.

[Karl]

[quote="dp35"]
Welcome,
We have every type of Atom here in the Bay Area, and we've gotten them together a few times in the past couple years. I've had mine at the SJ Santana Row exotic car gathering a couple times, would like to get a few together & do it again this spring/summer.
[/quote]

I'd be interested in get-togethers as well. Do we have an Atom 1 in the Bay? I'm not sure that we do.