Manual chokes: why not?

Funny, I’ve heard analyses of the data that reached the exact opposite conclusion: that absolute speed (on limited-access highways) didn’t cause accidents; relative speed did!

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The other day, there was some lame-o driver on the freeway, doing about 35mph . . . it was NOT raining that day, by the way, so there was absolutely no excuse. It was actually kind of dangerous, because everybody coming up behind this guy naturally wants to pass him

Traffic was flowing, no accidents, weather was fine, everybody else was doing probably 70 - 75

Yeah, I could see how relative speed could result in an accident, if everybody is doing 70 - 75, and suddenly this guy is there, doing about 35mph

It wasn’t some truck, loaded down with tools or equipment. It was just one guy in a plain jane sedan, the car was only a few years old, so I’m assuming it was capable of keeping up with traffic.

It was obvious the problem was the driver, NOT the car :nerd:

Our shop is close enough to the freeway, that I can see it, and hear the vehicles. Every once in awhile, a highway patrol officer will pull up behind one of those slowpokes and tell them to either speed up, or get off the freeway. I always bust out laughing, when I see and hear that :laughing:

…unless you wrench motorcycles for a living.

My link seemed quite detailed in the specifics of fatal accidents and speed limits @meanjoe75fan. But since I rarely drive over 45 and accumulate less than 6,000 miles a year on 2 vehicles speed limits don’t affect me much. If I were commuting 50 miles to work each morning or trying to earn a living on the road driving 340 miles each day again I might see things differently.

Even motorcycles are rapidly rapidly transitioning to EFI. About the only bikes still using carbs are a few small bikes such as the Honda Rebel 250 and Kawasaki KLR-650, both of these models are hold overs that have been manufactured for decades.
Even Harleys are completely EFI today.
Kawasaki finally redesigned their Ninja 250 and gave it fuel injection, along with increasing the displacement to 300 cc. I have one of those and it’s wonderful to just push the starter button and have a running engine that doesn’t have to be nursed for the first couple of blocks before it runs clean. I rode it last week for the first time since Christmas and it started as if I had ridden it yesterday. About the only hint that betrays a not completely warmed up engine is a somewhat fast idle.

[quote=“meanjoe75fan, post:81, topic:100125, full:true”]

Funny, I’ve heard analyses of the data that reached the exact opposite conclusion: that absolute speed (on limited-access highways) didn’t cause accidents; relative speed did!
[/quote]Physics makes lower speed crashes less likely to kill you, all other things being equal.

Isn’t the single greatest issue with traffic safety saving lives?

I know, but Honda didn’t change over to EFI on many of its models until 2008. That’s hardly “ancient.”

If I meant motorcycles, I would have specifically said motorcycles, not automobiles :smile:

Honda, and the other Japanese motorcycle makers rarely switched a model to EFI, but dropped the carb model and replaced it with a new model that’s injected. Maybe it’s because if they switch over to fuel injection, they have to get that model certified by the EPA all over again.
That’s why the Kawasaki KLR 650 and Honda 650 air cooled single dirt bike have carbs to this day and probably will have until they stop making those models.

When did motorcycles stop being automobiles? :slight_smile:

Although I’m sure you are just giving me a friendly ‘ribbing’ I will explain those 2 steps. Since I am reaching the age when some drivers unintentionally install “drive throughs” in buildings I shift into neutral prior to starting. Depressing the clutch pedal to the floor disengages the safety switch allowing me to use the electric starter motor. I suppose my car could be push started with my foot off the clutch pedal but that sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.

“The roads are in better shape” is quite an understatement! European paving methods and maintenance are far superior to ours. I can’t imagine driving triple digit speeds on our rutted/pot holed interstates. I read somewhere that we are currently experimenting with the more expensive paving methods to determine if the less frequent maintenance requirements will even out the cost.

I have never heard or seen a motorcycle referred to as an automobile. In my state driver manual they are included with all other motor vehicles.

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All interstates I am familiar with have a minimum speed of 45mph. Your idiot should have been rewarded with a big, fat traffic ticket.

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I have personally driven on the autobahn at triple digit speeds… for as long as the road signs would let me. :smiley:

The roads are in good shape, for sure but so are the roads in my state (Florida) and others that don’t have frost heaves and spend their gas taxes on keeping the roads up.

Th real difference is lane discipline and driver attention. NO left lane bandits, NO drinking coffee, applying makeup or eating while driving. It can be done safely but it requires proper attention.

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Smart alec, eh . . . ? :smile:

You might be technically correct, but I have personally never heard anybody refer to a motorcycle as an “automobile”

I agree with that completely

When I was still living in europe, our version of the auto club magazine would occasionally talk about the roads, and the technology involved. And they sometimes chose to compare the european roads, versus the US roads, and the two took VASTLY different approaches, in regards to constructing them, and the later maintenance.

I’m not rubbing it in, or talking smack, in case anybody’s reading this and is getting upset. I’m merely reporting what I read, and that was several years ago.

Alas, where is the highway patrol, when you need them . . . ?

It’s interesting that the 2-stroke has such low nitrogen oxide numbers, but perhaps not surprising. Auto engines recirculate exhaust gas to keep the flame temperatures low enough to keep nitrogen oxides from forming. A two stroke just naturally leaves a lot of the exhaust from the previous firing event in the cylinder, thus diluting the air fuel mixture with exhaust gas.