It seems ridiculous to me that the same safety czars who mandate costly technology and driving restrictions on automobiles leaves motorcycles capable of zero to 60 in 3 seconds and top speeds in excess of 130 mph free to operate if the driver wears a helmet as he perches on the seat. If someone will build a vehicle similar to a VW 181 in simplicity and practical utility that sells for less than $10,000 I would take a close look. I don’t need air bags or electronic brakes and handling.
“Whitey, the bulk of the federal employees, the ones on the “front lines” are decent people just trying to do their jobs. But to acquire a senior position in any federal agency requires a true politician. And therein lies the problem. Few politicians are actually focused on serving the people.”
As people advance, the new job takes on more than just the responsibilities in the job description. Managers become responsible for their employees. They feel responsible to see to it that there is work for everyone. After all, most of them have families to support, just like the manager. This is true whether the manger is a federal employee or private employee.
My SIL is a civil servant engineer. If she doesn’t have programs paying for her 100%, she goes part time. Their pay is frozen. Many even get furloughed this year, and the number of agencies considering furloughs is going up next year (starts Oct 1). Is that mercenary enough for you guys?
@GeorgeSanJose, I guess for a DIYer, it’s not so bad. Insurance is a heck of a lot cheaper for a motorcycle, but those darn tires are a pain. The rear tire doesn’t even seem to last the span of two oil changes.
@Rod_Knox, actually, motorcycles are getting more high tech. It’s getting really hard to find one without electronic fuel injection, and even small bikes have a power front brake. You can even get motorcycles with ABS, which isn’t quite the same as ABS for cars and can make motorcycling much safer. Those bikes that can do 0 to 60 in 3 seconds are costly, and most of them have optional ABS. One trim level of the Goldwing even has an airbag.
I seriously doubt you’ll ever be able to buy a new car that doesn’t have power brakes, and I think that’s the way it should be.
@Whitey - I know of no bikes with a ‘power front brake’. Front disk brake(s), sure. And some not come with cat converters.
I’ll start worrying about mandating safety features on bikes after helmet use is required. I’m amazed at how successful some bikers have been at getting helmet laws rescinded. It’s an IQ test to me…
@texases, If you’ve really never seen a motorcycle with a power front brake, take a closer look, and you’ll see the brake fluid reservoir on the handle bar attached to the front brake lever. I’ve circled them in this picture of two Honda Rebel motorcycles. The presence of brake fluid indicates these are power brakes. If they were not power brakes (like the rear brake on the Rebel), they would be cable-operated, not hydraulic.
There are many states that still have helmet laws, but the states that repealed their helmet laws have become destinations for those who are awaiting organ transplants. If I ever need a new heart or liver, I hope to live in a state with no helmet law.
That’s not a ‘power’ brake, there’s no added force from, say, a vacuum booster like a car. That’s a manual disk brake.
If that’s the case, how do you explain all the brake boosters in eBay’s “motorcycle parts” section?
The brake booster on my Shadow Aero sounds like cicadas when I’m applying the brake. It always has since it was new, so I don’t worry about it.
Like I said, if the brake was, indeed, manual, there would be no need for brake fluid. The connection would be a cable. However, if you can follow the brake lines into the engine area, and they don’t just connect the brake lever and the front brake, there is a brake booster under there somewhere.
Those are all car brake boosters. Wonder why they show up there?
‘Power brakes’ are different than ‘hydraulic brakes’. I had manual hydraulic brakes on my first 2 cars, no power (vacuum) booster.
@Whitey you are completely wrong about power front motorcycle brakes and hydraulic brakes in general. Manual hydraulic brakes have existed for 70-80 years. My first car ('64) had manual hydraulic brakes.
Manual hydraulic brakes have completely replaced cable brakes on motorcycles since the 70’s. My 71 Honda had cable brakes but my 80 Suzuki and 2001 Kawasaki have hydraulic brakes on each wheel with no power assist. Some do come with ABS (1/2 a car unit), now and/or interconnected brakes front to rear. Hydraulic brakes does NOT define it as power assisted brakes.
Well, thank you both for the education. I stand corrected.
I am getting better at wearing a seat belt, but always felt the fact I could get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while a motorcyclist in our state is perfectly legal with shorts, sandals, no shirt or no helmet was ludicrous. I am not wishing more controls on anything, but really?
@Barkydog, you just live among a high concentration of Darwin Award candidates.
I wish it were so simple, I see kids cross a street, they do not even look if a car is turning or coming towards them they just walk along oblivious to potential danger, look both ways twice I taught my daughter, that must be old school. @jtsanders I still would ride no helmet as soon as I get the 72 trumpet running, but my goal is to ride it in a parade with other triumph friends, leather fringe jacket molded and tossed, easy rider rides hard.
Parade riding is one thing, but daily riding, especially during rush hour, or on a trip a helmet is a must.
There is a “basic” MODE OF TRANSPORTATION, IT’S CALLED A BYCYCLE.
I ride a bicycle for exercise and it is a struggle to find routes that biking is safe even when they go no where, @Elly. The Kroger that is less than 4 miles from me would involve 2 miles of kamikaze pedaling and the return carrying anything larger than a Snickers bar would be impossible. Mayberry II is not friendly toward bikes. This morning I loaded the bikes in my pickup and drove to a park 8 miles away to pedal 5 miles.
As a motorcycle enthusiast, I feel a need to debate some of you on your opinions of motorcycles.
First of all, for those of you who think motorcycles should be banned from the roads, please send me your names and addresses, so I can show up at your doors, and kick you in the nether regions.
Second, motorcycling can be done inexpensively.
There are some motorcycles that have tires that last considerably longer than 9k miles.
Smaller displacement motorcycles tens to use smaller size tires, that you can get hard compound tires in order to increase the tire mileage. Unfortunately, they usually have a negative effect on the fun factor, but still, if you want to ride for cheap, then you have to do what you have to do.
There are other motorcycles that offer long valve service intervals, or even hydraulic lifters that don’t require adjustments over the life of the engine. Of course, those engines don’t rev as high as others, so power is limited in comparison to the same engine design with different lifter designs.
Third, motorcycling can be very, very safe.
First thing belongs to the responsibility of the rider.
If they are not a moron, they tend not to do the things that cause accidents, you know, like riding while intoxicated, or under the influence of drugs. Also, if they aren’t riding like a complete lunatic on the roads, weaving through traffic at high speeds, or using curvy back roads as their own personal racetracks.
If you eliminate the rider as a contributing factor of injuring themselves, then the motorcyclist then only has to be wary of outside influences, namely, the idiots driving cars, trucks, suv’s, bicycles, pedestrians, debris on the road surface, and animals.
If you car drivers would actually make a point to LOOK BEFORE YOU CHANGE LANES OR TURN ACROSS TRAFFIC for us motorcyclists, most motorcycle accidents would then be eliminated, making motorcycling considerably safer.
As a rider with an artificial left hip, I can tell you first hand that the bulk of motorcycle vs car accidents are caused by the idiot driving the car, and the results are typically fatal for the motorcyclist. It nearly was for me, and it still angers me after nearly 15 years. She blew a stop sign, right up the road from my house, because she was running late to work, and had to drop her young son at his school up the road. She never even looked left when she approached the intersection, or slowed down.
And yes, I still ride, and I still love it.
I just set off metal detectors at airports, and I can predict the weather better than weather forecasters on tv.
And finally, responsible motorcyclists tend to protect themselves with full riding gear.
I have a full face helmet, leather jacket and pants that zip together, armored leather gloves, and armored boots. I know what it feels like to suddenly find yourself sliding down the pavement at random moments in life, and I also know that replacing scuffed up gear is not only less expensive, but considerably less painful than replacing flesh and bone that have been scraped off.
I have never had roadrash, and never will.
Not something I want to experience, personally.
Anyway, stop using motorcycles to make your invalid, worthless points.
BC.
My opinion is as valid and valuable as anyone’s, @Bladecutter. Riding a motorcycle is more dangerous than riding on the luggage rack of a station wagon. And it is ridiculous that picayunish safety regulations are put on the motoring public while the motorcycle is ignored. It is outrageous that the passenger air bags cannot be disarmed so that parents can put infant seats up front in sight of the driver, etc, etc, etc.
And over the years I have owned several motorcycles, driving many thousands of miles, several hundred in foreign countries with luck and paying attention keeping me alive and in one piece. Did you ever have a stick shift driver roll backwards over you at a red light on a steep hill?
I am not sure if you are responding to my post about a motor cycle driver with no helmet shirt and sandals and I can get a ticket for no seatbelt, but to repeat I do not favor more restrictions on motor cycles, but less on me. I do not see invalid worthless points based on motor cycles, that could be a speed reading lapse of cognitive assimilation.
I agree with you @bladecutter , drunk friend crosses median and gets hit head on by semi, lived walks with a cane, another on a fund raiser from bar to bar to fast for a turn and killed by culvert, me car turns in front of me, slam on the brakes and lay it down and slide ontop of the bike and the bike is wedged under the car but I am ok, then the screeching of wheels behind me and I wheelie through a 4 way stop to avoid becoming road kill.
There are 2 kinds of bikers, those that have been down and those that are going to go down. Stupid 4 wheelers have been involved in much of the trouble I have seen.
@rodknox
I ride a bicycle for exercise and it is a struggle to find routes that biking is safe even when they go no where, @Elly. The Kroger that is less than 4 miles from me would involve 2 miles of kamikaze pedaling and the return carrying anything larger than a Snickers bar would be impossible. Mayberry II is not friendly toward bikes. This morning I loaded the bikes in my pickup and drove to a park 8 miles away to pedal 5 miles.
How dare you suggest that you make me slow down a little bit and exercise a little Patience in order to share the road with you, I have places to go, people to see, booze to drink and pills to pop, and where I am trying to go is much more important than what you are doing.
It amazes me how so many people are in such a hurry, slowing down or coasting is NOT an option to so many people. They are to lazy to switch lanes if on a 4 lane road and someone is broke down or walking. If they are not going at least 5 over the speed limit they are not happy around here. You can go 5-10 over here and people still ride your bumper. I could not enjoy riding a bike in todays circumstances.