I like the motocompacto. Not enough to spend a grand on it, but I think it looks fun. Also I’d look like a circus bear or a gorilla trying to fuck a football on it.
When I started out on bikes, my uncle who got me into it (who was a semi pro road racer in the 80's) told me I needed to be on a 600cc + bike, otherwise I'd be the proverbial 'Camel riding a pimple'.
Let's be honest, if you're smart enough to wear a grid-pattern suit to a trade show and get photos with products with the intent to copy them...kudos, my man. Fool me once, shame on me.
I'd still be pissed, but a respectable pissed.
Also, I do not follow F1 AT ALL. Are they really ordering drivers to give up spots / orchestrating the racing between team members? And these supposed alpha-male top-tier daring-do specimens of humanity are OBEYING?
Michael Schumacher supposedly insisted that the other driver would KNOW THEIR PLACE because their place in the pecking order was spelled out in the contract.
Actually, it was Ferrari and they’ve always had designated number 1 and number 2 drivers, unlike other teams, who allow their drivers to race (within reason). Team orders have always existed in F1 because the team is more important than the driver.
More complicated than that. Ford brass tried to orchestrate the three remaining cars crossing the line at the same time. But the ACO then determined that the car which had traveled the most distance would win, which was the Mclaren/Amon car having started further back on the grid. I’m a huge Miles fan but there’s no evidence the decision was made to, as you put it, *^*& him. Also, Mclaren had done most of the early development testing on the car for Wyer and FAV so he was hardly undeserving.
Yes, I think so. Other complication is that (arguably) Miles had disobeyed orders to slow down while Mclaren and Amon had kept to the pace given by Shelby (or Wyer?). Have to check Lerner’s Ford GT book and see what he says re this. Had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Agapiou, Miles’ mechanic, in LA once, and he was still emotional about what happened 40 years before.
The teams are paid based on how the team finishes overall so some decisions are made based on that. Sometimes you have a kind of "domestique" relationship where one driver is expected to help the other one. And a few teams pride themselves on allowing drivers to race no matter what, which often doesn't end well.
I can understand it from that perspective...but do they give up wins or podiums? That would seem like a hard line to cross...but I'm of the Ricky Bobby school of competitive attitude.
That HAS happened but more often its a case of letting a car on soft tires past the one on mediums without a battle that makes them both vulnerable to the cars behind them.
Ferrari under Jean Todt once ordered Barrichello to let Schumacher pass on a race that he was set to win. Crowd was pissed. Everyone booing and Schumacher did not look like he wanted to be there. He kept handing the trophy to Reubens and I think he was fined for violating podium protocol.
The guy was an absolute psycho when it came to winning and never seemed afraid to really straddle the line. People still call him a cheater for running people off of the track and all stalling his car at Monaco; I don’t think any of those people ever won an F1 world championship.
On the virtue side of things, he left a competitive team where he was a two-time winner to drive a POS Ferrari and have the opportunity at turning their fortunes around, did his part, and then won five more championships.
Schumacher is probably the F1 GOAT. He had opportunities available to him that no one else has had since then (rules change but I’m specifically thinking about testing and working for a team with tobacco money and a test track) but he exploited every opportunity better than anyone else probably could have. He’s a fascinating guy to hear other drivers talk about. The documentary from a couple of years ago is worth a watch.
2016 Daytona 24 when Corvette let 'em race to the finish was awesome. It was around that era when Porsche took each other out at night, don't remember the year. That was awesome, too.
I believe the Porsche incident was 2014 or 2015; one of the combatants was Earl Bamber.
Bear in mind that the stakes for the Rolex 24 are vastly lower than a Formula 1 championship. It’s like comparing community theater to a Marvel movie. I say this as a fan of both forms of motorsport.
Every race engineer’s plan for a given Grand Prix is predicated upon the ultimate goal - minimizing race time (the time between the five lots being extinguished and their driver taking the checkered flag however many laps later).
Let’s say the team’s simulation work predicts that a two-stop race will lead to a race that lasts 1 hour, 42 minutes, 30 seconds (assuming no safety car, etc). Racing against your teammate - which slows both cars down - ain’t gonna help achieve that goal.
That’s also why you will often see a driver NOT fighting against a driver in a faster car who is passing him (faster car was out of position for some reason).
When younger [and driving less than reliable vehicles] the idea of a car with a life raft included sounded like genius. Just never made much sense to me that it would be needed on a Honda.
I'm not taking the bait on the F1 driver speculation you like to stir up every time.
Lewis is a dumbass. A lucky and talented one, but a dumbass nonetheless.
I said it first, Piastri is the real deal. He needs to work on his pace in the second half of the race, but that's essentially more seat time.
I don't even warrant the Honda POS a second look. Its a stunt, and one that's worth 10000 clicks when it takes 10000 times that to be meaningful as marketing.
What do you think of LIon car batteries? Anti Gravity and Braille each make them for the cars I drive and the prices are getting closer to AGM. Much as I'd like to take 35 pounds out of the front cowl of my car, I keep thinking about the fire risk, especially in a tracked car. What say you?
I'm not Jack (obvoiusly lol), but here are my thoughts.
Easiest and cheapest way to pull weight out of your car, and usually in a critical spot furthest from the centreline of the car. Motoiq uses Antigravity, Braille might have had issues in the past with batteries not performing as described due to poor design (if I recall correctly but that might have been another company).
Not sure of the fire concern, I've not heard of only the batteries catching fire.
We’ve thought about that, but have stuck with a lead acid and a lot of cranking amps for one main reason: if the engine dies on track (and you’ve got a manual), throw the thing in gear and drive it on the starter to a safe spot waiting for a tow.
They are great! I did a series with them a few years back on my Jetta project, was supposed to do one w my Porsche, but I got slammed and dropped the ball.
Jack has written about it here, but the quick and dirty is that the electrical grid as it stands today is not capable of supporting even twice the number of EVs that are currently on the roads, that there are not enough new nuclear plants being built to accommodate future energy requirements, that the fundamental problem is one of energy density (not to mention the problematic source of EV battery materials), and that the much more feasible future energy source will be either hydrogen or synthetic fuels.
All true. Not enough Grid power or infrastructure to deliver it. The only way forward for EV's is building new power plants (coal would be best and quickest but, you know) and new Transmission lines. The greenies will fight against Coal and NIMBY's will cancel new Transmission lines. I think the entire EV movement is a giant Ponzi. Pumped up until it appears inevitable, until it is not. There is simply not enough supporting infrastructure to make this happen in the 10 years that the dreamers want it to. I'd guess that barring a breakthrough not known yet, we're looking at ICE for at least another 35 to 40 years. That's if we start building the infrastructure today. Too much dope(s) in the government currently. Like every Ponzi though there's eventually someone left holding an empty bag.
There’s a coal plant in Kansas that was scheduled for closure but now they’re keeping it open to, wait for for it……., power a Panasonic EV battery plant. Can’t make this stuff up.
I don't want Lawson to get Albon/Gasly'd. Fire Checo, put Danny in the Red Bull for a curtain call, give Lawson a year in the AT, then re-evaluate.
Checo's utter collapse has been fascinating to watch. He let himself think he could compete with Max, then the utter embarrassment at Miami just put him on a downward spiral. I think a decision might have already been made. He drove at Suzuka like a last ditch attempt to save his career, and at Qatar like it was already over. The tone of Horner and Marko's comments has noticeably shifted.
I think Checo has bought Lawson some space in that regard. He could take some time with middling results. Hell, his results in the AT are better than what Checo's managed!
I think putting Lawson next to Max is a career killer for him.
What drivers on the grid could (1) perform respectably in the Red Bull and (2) get along with Max?
I think it’s Ricciardo (he’d be better than Checo, which isn’t saying much, plus he’s already broken from his time at McLaren), maybe Lando, and Fernando. And perhaps Piastri, although he is locked down now at McLaren (very canny move by them).
Were I Lawson, I would beg for a seat in the RB20 with the caveat that I wanted access to Max's data. That's the best opportunity available. Everything else you won't really know where you stand. How good, really, is Yuki? Or Danny Ric?
I think he gets access to the data. He may not be privy to the setup on the other side of the garage, particularly if they’re in an intramural title battle. It’s having the data and the setup and not being able to get close that drives the Checos of the world crazy - you spend your entire life climbing the motorsport ladder, and you make it all the way to the very, very top just one rung away from winning a Formula 1 title (only 33 men have done it) … and you meet a guy that makes you look as average as all of those people you sent to sports cars or HPDE coaching or a civilian career.
Let’s say Checo takes a siesta at the end of the year and Lawson gets the seat.
If they get to the summer break and Max is curb stomping him like he did to Checo (most of the time from ‘22 onward, and it’s only gotten worse), Albon, and Gasly, what will they do with Lawson? Stick him back in AlphaTauri and call up Yuki or Ricciardo to suffer the same fate?
If Liam’s only racing resume is a handful of encouraging starts in an AlphaTauri and a drubbing next to Verstappen, he may find himself watching on TV, like Mick.
SHAM was on the radio about the softs before the start. He knew he was going to get slaughtered on them. The move was based on ego and not strategy. Supposedly Russell was supposed to move over for some short term gain by SHAM. Slamming the binders on for SHAM to get his shot would have resulted in GR possibly being buried by the rest of the field.
The crossing the track fine was pocket change for SHAM. I assume that every hole in the fence onto the track is manned by workers. I picture this by the workers:
GR, which I am not a fan of, I believe was driver of the day though. What's pissing SHAM fans with SHAM footie PJs is GR isn't trying to be Bottas 3.0.
The biggest bunch of stupidity is the FIA is threatening TRACKS that are designed in such a way that track limits is a big problem. "Fix it or we pull the race". My solution would be the Canadian "Wall of Champions". I posted on a web site that I wasn't aware of anyone ever nailing it. I was wrong. Someone responded with a YOUTUBE video showing the hits. The last being Vettel in 2011. That one I should have remembered. Funny thing, you only exceed track limits at the Wall of Champions once. Also funny is no one has exceeded track limits there since 2011.
Tracks are supposedly FIA approved. Yet the FIA goes "Not our fault".
I've given Perez the nickname of Paruresis. Bashful urination. I think he makes it to the start of next year. I'm sure he's being told "You know how we operate. You signed up for this. You game?". I expect him to be replaced/demoted during next season. The team may love him to death as a person. But it's performance driven. Horner has 2 kids. Don't know their age nor gender. If one of them was driving, s/he would get the same treatment. No Daddy Stroll at RBR.
In team's eyes the WCC is more important than the WDC. Without a decent buffer, that could be in doubt next year.
I think Mercedes genuinely tries to give Lewis the better strategy, out of respect, and that's what they TRIED to do at the start. Imagine deliberately giving the #3 qualifier the edge over the #2, when he's also your guy! But they wanted Lewis to have that start.
The other dynamic was the stupid 18 laps rule on the tires. I have no idea, wasn't paying attention, if either of them was using NEW tires or not. If you had 10 laps on used, you only got 8 laps in the race. Their strategy might have been that they didn't have much choice. "This sucks, but that sucks worse".
Extremely confusing race because of that. I believe everyone was going flat out but until say the last 10-15 laps the positions for the most part didn't really matter.
Agree totally about the Wall of Champs being a little more unforgiving than the acres-wide runoff areas at most of the Tilke tracks. It's very simple; you have curbing, and then grass. Oh, you can't grow grass at your track because it's in the fucking desert? Tough, no GP for you.
He had a long career in F1, he won 5 (off the top of my head) races (including the Monaco GP), he is a Mexican hero, he’s wealthy.
I’d think that he’d be thrilled to retire with dignity (announce it AFTER the Mexican GP) and enjoy the rest of his life - he can do just about whatever he wants (tequila, siestas, entrepreneurial pursuits in Mexico, commentating, Indycar, WEC, Formula E).
Not tears. Pure wonderment about what it is all about. I think he's 33. It might be an extremely old 33 and his reflexes fell off the cliff in season this year. Or, he turned into a head case because he and his old man were doing a reach around about him possibly winning the WDC this year. To which he got stomped on good.
He seems like a decent guy. He's not stupid. He's acting like Charlie Sheen in Major League.
I've already made this joke once, but it's not just Qatar. They gave three races to a country with an abysmal record of killing children, interfering in local governance, and doing regime change by force.
Do the feds try and start a draft? Do that states push back if they do? If they pull my draft card, "come and get me" but it's gonna get really bad before they start drafting middle aged men. What happens when they realize china really can produce 100x more ships and has a lot more expendable men? All questions I'd rather not see answered in my lifetime.
It’s already there. China is somewhat terrified of the backlash of war as so many families only have one son, so losing them would cause internal strife.
It is the consequence of essentially declaring we won't be involved with any front of any war. I for one am glad he didn't demand the American hostages are released, since it would have resulted in us once again not following through with a threat.
I still think the CRX Si, especially second gen, is the perfect sports car. Nothing else is just so connected. So fun. Plus, it feels faster than it is, it's super practical and easy to maintain and wrench on. And I fit comfortably into it. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, front wheel drive. Who cares. The car was a total blast.
Before I bought my ZR1, I was cross shopping it with CRXs. Probably the first time that's ever happened. I went with the ZR1, but I probably made the wrong choice. I can't do much with a 180 mph top speed, but I could drive the CRX flat out all the time. Sadly, most that I saw were "modded". Read, screwed up.
Do people race Minis? I had the super charged R53 version and recall how fast and fun it was. Did my first track days with one. I'd think it would be a perfect car to strip and go racing.
80s-mid 90s Japanese "sport/economy" cars were so damn good in hindsight, for the exact reasons you mentioned. And you're right, at this point almost all of them have been run into the ground, which I suppose what they were built for. My dream car in HS was a third gen Honda Prelude Si (88-91). Back in the late 00s you could find a rusty driver grade car for roughly $1500. Now complete basketcases fetch $3-4k.
Those were great times for small Japanese sporty cars. I went ‘86 CRX Si, ‘90 Miata, ‘91 Civic Si (needed the rear seat), to ‘95 Integra GSR 4-door. They were all manuals and so much fun to drive.
My family owned an '82 Civic Wagon (5spd), '85 Civic Sedan (5spd), '90 Wagon (fwd, auto), and finally a '07 Honda Fit (base, 5spd). Quite frankly the Fit was a big letdown after the "Golden Age" Hondas.
I had a ‘87 CRX Si that I bought used in 1988. I’d love to have that car back. 10 years ago I bought a ‘84 Mk1 Rabbit GTI. The CRX Si was light years ahead of the GTI. I laugh at how the Mk1 GTI is talked and bid up on BaT.
Some of those sporty cars lent their mechanicals to fantastic everyday cars, too. I would pay late-model used car money for a good '90-'91 Civic EX sedan with a stick - that was the one with the 16V SOHC engine and suspension from the Si. But I doubt there is a single clean one left on earth.
Yup! In the same way you could get a hot little 130hp DOHC 1.8L Mazda "BP" motor in the Mercury Tracer LTS, and other fun "easter egg" type of stuff during that era. Man, so many fun little sporty economy cars back then. Geo Storm GSi, Chevy Spectrum Turbo, Ford Probe GTs, Chrysler turbo stuff, Plymouth Colt GT Turbo, etc.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The 2nd gen is the first car I remember liking, solely on the basis of looks. My dad tells me I would be quietly looking out the window, spot one and scream “CRX!” And make him nearly jump out of his skin in surprise.
Supposedly the designer of the first generation of the CRX owned an Alfa Junior Zagato, and used it for inspiration. I’ve seen the story a few times, but it never names the designer at Honda. Given what Jack has revealed about auto journalism, some scribbler probably made it up.
There's been some interesting developments regarding electric motorcycles that sort of fit into this thread:
HRC will be entering the "Mugen" CR prototype at Round 8 of this year's All Japan Motocross Championship. This, I believe, marks the first time a major manufacturer has entered an eMX bike into national-level competition.
The Stark Future "Varg" eMX bike is still going through a lot of teething pains, especially with regards to manufacturing. With MX media being more compromised than automotive media, nobody is really reporting on this. There haven't been any real comparisons of the bike vs. it's ICE counterparts in any of the magazines either.
Customer reviews your the Varg as more of an "Alta 2.0" than the "greatest" MX bike of all time or whatever nonsense their CEO was spewing. While fast and easy to ride, there are still issues with regards to battery life that even Helen Keller could see. At current battery life, it's unlikely to complete a 20+2 pro moto at full power. More importantly, the bike can only run a few hours of singletrack, making it a complete non-starter for trail riders.
Last month, Ego Power Products (market leader in battery-powered OPE) unveiled an electric minibike that is powered by their 56v OPE batteries. While not a real motorcycle in the traditional sense, this is the first we've seen something of this size and performance running off of a swappable battery pack that many people may already have in their homes.
Chervon, the parent company of Ego, is a large manufacturer of electric power tools. In additional to Flex and Skil, they also produce for Kobalt and others. Interestingly enough, Kobalt had a Razor scooter a few years back that was powered by their 24v power tool batteries. This seemed as a sort of POC for the mini bike idea. I know for a fact that Chervon is prototyping other "toys" leveraging their existing battery platforms, which is an interesting idea to think about.
For the record, I still would prefer a CR250 2-stroke to any of these eMX bikes. Barring the big breakthrough in battery technology everyone has been claiming is right around the corner, an electric bike (or snowmobile, for that matter) will never reach parity with ICE models.
From a consumer perspective, I do see the benefit of electric pit bikes, mini bikes, and scooters. I would've gotten a lot less trouble as a kid had we been riding electric scooters vs. Gopeds. Of all the use cases for electrification, I see the space between kids toys and ICE ORVs to be one that may actually work.
I've never ridden an aluminum frame Honda from the 2 stroke golden era that I liked, but it could've been the shock valving rather than the frame itself that seemed harsh. Initially the E bikes seemed interesting to me because they would in theory open up new places to ride, since noise wouldn't be an issue - but this year I've been riding my RM125 more than ever as I've gotten access to a private practice track, and I'm of the opinion that there's nothing more fun in the dirt than a well-tuned 2 stroke. If I ever replace this bike it'll be with either a KTM 150 or a TM 144, the latter of which I rode recently and was quite impressed.
You have great taste. I'd love to have a TM 300 EN.
My thoughts on the eMX bikes were similar to yours. In theory, they should open up more places to ride. In practice, I fear that they'll try to keep the water boiling. First, they came for 2-Strokes due to emissions. Next, we get rid of 4-Strokes due to noise. Then, they will go after eMX bikes due to soil erosion. It's the same playbook as gun control. The only way to secure our ability to ride is to tread lightly/responsibly and fight tooth and nail for every riding spot public and private.
The idea of people just riding off-road and having fun is more offensive to these people than any 2-stroke emissions. Who here remembers the brouhaha about lead-free primers?
It's my theory that MTB prices are artificially high specifically to make sure that only the "right" people have access to some of these locations. It's ridiculous to me that a middle of the road Trek Fuel costs the same as a CRF250.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Having worked at a bike shop and ridden since I was a kid, MTB pricing baffles me. I can only assume that it is meant to be exclusionary.
Ultralight wheels made of exotic materials? Check, also, check out Berd wheels.
Each of the components is designed down to the gram, and as the grams go up they get a little less expensive. They are also designed to be only durable enough to usually not break, but still sometimes break. Hence why your 11k XC will have a hard time getting through a full downhill course at pace, but your 11k DH bike weighs a lot in comparison.
What is really interesting is when you put this stuff on an eMX bike and bump they weight up 10%. It either gets a lot cheaper, Suron, or a lot more durable.
I travel for work and am only in the office once every few months. My main priority when I'm there is to make fun of my buddy for spending motorcycle money on his gravel bike. I thought he was screwing with me when he told me his then gf spent 10k on her bike.
My Gravel bike was 3k and I've ridden it twice this year cause I have to get it to the shop and I've been lazy. I long for a 10k moots titanium bike. It's stupid but not as stupid as the people spending 5k on chinese carbon fiber.
It does seem exclusionary, I agree. But the Walmart specials roll alright for people who don't care about decent bikes.
But racing is of course another thing entirely. Quality matters, and buying used is the only way I could keep two kids racing affordably. As most owners don't wear out bicycles, this worked for me.
Take my Session 9.9 (MSRP $9500) and a CRF250 apart. Look at what the bolts are made of, what the frame is made of.
Someone recently wrote that "bikes are basically F1 cars" and that's true for the nice ones. Exotic materials everywhere and fine tolerances. Compared to a high end bicycle, a McLaren is plastic trash filled with pour-cast parts.
Hell, the frames on my Radicals wouldn't pass muster for a $500 BMX bike.
i had a beloved matchless g80cs 500 single that would roam the hills so easily--i'd pull the spark advance way back and chug up hills like a steam locomotive. sold it to a friend and asked for first refusal (i'd broken my back mildly in a car crash). he lived 50 miles away and sold it way less than a year later 'cause his wife couldn't ride it and he never called. i used to dream about discovering it in the garage a couple times a year. gorgeous bike to my eyes.
I have a Varg on order and should receive it mid-Feb. The date has shifted, but I'm fine with that. I'd rather they develop a strong process than rush it out the door.
My use case, in the middle of Dallas, is probably different than most die-hard motocross folk. I realized I could take my Surron to work (~7 miles) by taking smaller, residential streets and not being a jerk (riding between cars, wheelies through red lights, etc). Then I made my own e-bike that has serious acceleration (27,000 watts) but only goes 50 MPH. Perfect for the commute.
When I get the Varg, I'll probably add Supermoto wheels and tires and use that for the commute. It will have more than enough range to do a few round trips. And it will be a blast to ride.
I fondly remember living in Colorado and riding up my street, which turned into a dirt road, which led to a whole mountain trail system. If I still had that, I would be more concerned about the range and the battery capacity.
That's a perfect use case for the Varg, IMO. When the bike does arrive, I'd love to hear your experience. I enjoy the videos of guys bombing around cities on a Surron and think a Varg would be even better.
There's no way in hell I am going to pack up everything and drive a few hours to the trailhead just to ride for an hour and a half between charges. Maybe the use case for a vet rider at the MX track is different, but that is not what most riders in the US use their dirt bike for.
In my busy city, it really has brought the fun back into riding. I can ride on city trails, cut through parking lots, have fun in empty lots - and no one hears me at all. My new bike has a lot more power and has addictive acceleration.
Most of the city riding now is stop and go traffic and that's no fun.
I also have taught my daughters how to ride on the Surron as it's super easy with no gearbox. Perfect campground runabout as well.
What was the recipe for your DIY e-bike? I looked into them briefly as my drive to work is only 4 miles but includes several steep hill climbs.. I stopped looking when I saw that the prices were usually 1.5x what small displacement real motorcycles cost.
The prices are still high. Mainly because of the battery. Check out https://mysuperebike.com/cyber . Completely quiet. And the acceleration is suck a blast. I keep ripping valve stems there is so much torque!
Electric snowmobiles have to be the very last thing anyone will truly make work. Gasoline is such a wonderful energy storage medium to use in the winter. The initial start is a bitch but from then on everything works in your favor.
They're selling electric boats on my parents lakehouse for 100k+ and people are buying them. Honestly, probably 200k plus at this point. I don't get it.
Washington State Ferries is switching over to 100% electric (diesel backup i think) for all future purchases. It didn't make any sense to me, until I realized they can split battery banks and have as many massive shore powered chargers as they like.
Given the predictable routes and dock times, its brilliant.
Same thing for boats on small lakes, you can calculate how many times you can zoom up and down the lake on one charge, or how long you can pull a wake board/tube/skier and decide if it works.
After you spend 200k for a toy like that, what is the harm to spend x$ on running 3 phase to you dock for a quick charge while you load up more beverages and change passengers.
The kids are too small right now to do the fun boat stuff but 5 years ago, we'd spend hours a day on the boat switching between tubers, surfers and skiiers. We'd have burned through that battery real quick. Now I ski half a lap and I'm winded. I guess the rich people probably just switch to the pontoon when the battery dies.
Outside of the PNW, which has hydro for generating electricity (which has been deemed non-renewable) I would imagine the environmental impact of generating the electricity to charge the displacement hull ferries is greater than running the current diesel-electric boats. I’ve heard the drag of water for a displacement hull vessel kills range if you power it with batteries. I don’t think I can call anything the State of Washington comes up with as brilliant. It’s all PR for The Loathsome Jay Inslee.
The same drag burns the energy equivalent in diesel. It should also eliminate the reversing gears, which has been the cause of a large percentage of the accidents for the ferry system over the last 50 years.
There is a non trivial benefit to local air quality as well. California isn't insane in that switching drayage trucks to electric would make a noticeable to anyone around difference in local air quality. They are just crazy to think that the technology is mature enough to do it on their timeline.
I know someone who lives on Mackinac Island year-round. A sled is the only way to get around in the winter. The new Ski-Doo electric sled has a 50km claimed range. It may be suitable for this situation where you need to get a few miles from home to the grocery store, airport, or ferry dock.
Other than that, the thing is about useless. You couldn't reasonably get from one town to the next in the UP on that type of charge.
When battery-positive (pun intended) people start to complain and worry about range, grid capacity, and so on -- y'know all the deep, zero-world concerns of electric adherents -- I occasionally say, "if only we had a way to store energy in an amazingly dense way, available nearly everywhere, cheap at the price, with relatively no wait time for recharging, etc." If only, if only ...
The problem with E-transport is always the battery. Everything else is adequate.
Electro-crap can truly be fun, but it has to get around the dynamic (kek) of excessive battery weight. So the best e-vhicles are e-scooters and e-skateboards. This will forever be the case until a light battery is invented (I'm not aware of any existing or even on the horizon).
I have an e-skateboard that will do I think 26 or 30mph with different drive belts.
I have gotten in to 24 mph (on 5 inch off road tires) and the experience was joyous but frightening. Speed wobbles could potentially follow the most minor error or evasive maneuver.
Jack - interest in guest piece on an e-skateboard?
I've got a variety of the Ego yard tools and several batteries. For a typical suburban sized yard their system strikes about the perfect balance of battery weight / performance and does away with all the maintenance for rarely used yard tools. Big fan for my use case. Go over an acre and that would change.
Hadn't heard about the Ego minibike. If it were more adult sized I'd probably be in the market. Much like the yard tools there is a definite use case for the off road capable ebike toys. Making the expensive batteries easily removable and usable in something other than the toy makes a great deal of sense.
And now they are dumping gently used demo bikes for a good discount. I went down the road of becoming a dealer for them, I have some extra space and it would dovetail with my ebike/mtb rentals, and hopefully help capture some MX fork service work. But mostly I want a couple and hate paying full price for things I could sell.
They seem to be caught in the some double trap of both being a Euro company that doesn't get the US market and distributions models, and also wanting to be a hybrid DTC with demo centers.
0) That Clarkson tweet is fitting, as his fawning over the douche is the only reason I, along with all the anglophiles and people who like to LARP as gearheads/racing fans on the internet, know who he is.
1) "Like Honda at this current time, it is derivative, not particularly class-competitive, and almost certain to be either made in China or heavily sourced from there." I've been saying this for awhile, but obviously no professional review will ever admit this - hell, they won't even acknowledge how badly Honda lags at building a homegrown, USDM-sized EV to join the electric circle jerk.
2) "I hate it the same way midwit women love science." Earlier this morning, "I believe in science" was the deciding factor in me swiping left on such a woman. She was borderline datable, I'm borderline agnostic, but wasting limited profile characters on such insipid, unoriginal virtue signaling is a no from me.
Let's be real, she probably swiped left on me for even more trivial reasons. Assuming my profile ever even showed up among the 100+ likes she gets daily.
I mean, if I really scrutinized them, I'd end up swiping left on all of them.
But since all the dating apps now seem set on maximizing their cut of money that lonely dudes would otherwise blow on OnlyFans, liking more than a handful of women a day is a premium feature. So one must be choosy.
My daily activity on Hinge far exceeds tinder, where I’m usually so bored by vapid nursing majors I swipe left on everyone. Usually a ridiculous comment I leave on the profile of Point Park U art majors (weird Pittsburgh dating phenomena: I get 10-15 matches and 2-3 dates a week from PPU and Chatham girls, maybe 1 from Pitt and none from Duquesne. The mortuary school girls also have taken a liking to me) gets me something, if not multiple things. Apparently, being a decent conversationalist and alright in other areas puts me above most guys after a brief convo--it certainly isn’t the picture of me in the Boxster; that’s girl repellent!
Costs and algorithm fuckery aside, was this ever really true though?
If you're just trying to get laid and you have absolutely zero standards and/or are too ugly/short/broke to filter anyone out, I suppose.
But for a respectable man who's looking for more than a hole, there's no way you can bring yourself to swipe on at least half the profiles...and it gets worse every time you go back to the well.
And don't even get me started on how all the apps refuse to filter out trans profiles from your results.
As a man, why pay attention to a womans profile at all when there is a 99% chance she'll go left on you? Swipe right on everyone, see who you match, THEN filter out the undesirables. That's how it worked pre algorithm fuckery. I'd also ask almost every single one of them out. Most still said no but it was great practice. Basically accelerated withdrawal from autistic tendencies.
This is allegedly the case on all the apps. Whether not this is actually true or purely a rumor that's propagated as cope for overwhelming rejection, I have no idea.
I did see a guy who made a lego-blocks robotic spinning hot dog for swiping women right---I believe this then was fed to a VA who would attempt to set up dates
I am also a believer in the rule of large numbers, swipe right until your thumb cramps, your phone dies or you're out of matches and see what sticks. Must be tough now that they have realized they can monetize that strategy.
To be fair, I also swipe left on anyone who explicitly talks about Jesus. Unpopular opinion in these parts, but I think they might be the worst virtue signalers of all.
And total wastes of time, because they're gonna sit and wait until Jesus swipes right, the rest of us sinners need not apply. Which, comically, isn't what Jesus would do.
all of honda's usdm attempts at EVs so far have been failures. and the darling e sold in europe and japan is too expensive (converted to USD it costs as much as a model 3) and gets 130 miles of range on a good day
McLaren only ever temporarily down on their luck? Not sure I follow that.
They have ONE race victory in a decade and have observed the rise of Red Bull and Mercedes as “Big Three” rivals to Ferrari from afar. Where would McLaren be now if they hadn’t kicked out Honda (thus sending them to Toro Rosso and, eventually Red Bull)?
He’s a capable driver, but probably not at the level of earning one of twenty seats on merit - that’s fine. He had a shot, and many people don’t get that.
He has a good attitude; he doesn’t blame the team or euphemistically say “we had a bad day” like other embattled drivers.
Even just getting the shot should set him up for success going forward. He has talent and is getting the chance to show it. Even getting one of the 20 slots at best there are only 4-6 seats that have a shot at really competing.
I would suggest that McLaren fundamentally understand what is required to win world championships. They haven't been able to do it lately -- but they have the institutional memory and the practices built around it. The 1.80s pitstop is an example. Who works that hard at perfecting stops when you're running at the ass end, as they MUST HAVE BEEN back when they started refining the process?
The 1.8 second pit stop merits acclaim, no doubt. The question is … why is Mercedes so weak on pit stops? It’s the cheapest time you can find!
How much of that institutional muscle memory was tied up in Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh (and, whisper it, Mansour Ojjeh)? Andrea Stella seems to be a better leader than Andreas Seidl, which is a bit surprising, but is Zak the guy to take a team all the way and play politics against Christian or Toto?
You can argue that F1 should operate under modified Schneider Trophy rules: win three in a row and you have to either sit a year out or make some other major change.
There is. And I know Formula One is the top dog, but I’ve always been more amazed by the 24 Hour of Le Mans and the endurance races. Making driver and machine mesh for a longer period of time seems to be a little bit more rewarding. Winning a marathon rather than a sprint.
I would definitely wear that watch over a dictators. But as you wrote if it was earned even better. Just saying you have a watch won by a racer would do nothing for me.
You play the guitars you like not because they’re part of your identity, but because you enjoy them. They’re a tool. Nothing more nothing less. They don’t define you. But used properly they do provide experiences.
I don’t mind small logos of companies that have products I enjoy. When the large Polo logos came out I could remember thinking “Great, the big douchbags are making it easy. Self selection”. But for the most part logos are invisible. The people all about showing them usually have no substance. Almost all remind me of the title character in The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber. Don’t be him, be the hunter.
Note to Jack: If you find yourself late at night struggling for what to write next; maybe an expository on the Francis Macomber story. Might break 1000 comments.
I think the issue is that, for a racer, the endurance races are boring to watch. The primary objective is not to break the car and to run at 96% of the available pace.
I like the motocompacto. Not enough to spend a grand on it, but I think it looks fun. Also I’d look like a circus bear or a gorilla trying to fuck a football on it.
When I had my Ninja 300, my dad used to tell me "you look like magilla gorilla on that thing" https://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbseg/56/56517-200.jpg
That was me on my 1986 Ninja 600R
Lol
Thats a very colourful picture you have painted
When I started out on bikes, my uncle who got me into it (who was a semi pro road racer in the 80's) told me I needed to be on a 600cc + bike, otherwise I'd be the proverbial 'Camel riding a pimple'.
He was right.
Let's be honest, if you're smart enough to wear a grid-pattern suit to a trade show and get photos with products with the intent to copy them...kudos, my man. Fool me once, shame on me.
I'd still be pissed, but a respectable pissed.
Also, I do not follow F1 AT ALL. Are they really ordering drivers to give up spots / orchestrating the racing between team members? And these supposed alpha-male top-tier daring-do specimens of humanity are OBEYING?
The suit idea was genius.
Michael Schumacher supposedly insisted that the other driver would KNOW THEIR PLACE because their place in the pecking order was spelled out in the contract.
well...... German you know?
Screw that ~ it's supposed to be RACING not musical chairs .
-Nate
Actually, it was Ferrari and they’ve always had designated number 1 and number 2 drivers, unlike other teams, who allow their drivers to race (within reason). Team orders have always existed in F1 because the team is more important than the driver.
Ford fucked Ken Miles out of a well earned Le Mans win that way almost 70 years ago now. Nothing new under the sun.
More complicated than that. Ford brass tried to orchestrate the three remaining cars crossing the line at the same time. But the ACO then determined that the car which had traveled the most distance would win, which was the Mclaren/Amon car having started further back on the grid. I’m a huge Miles fan but there’s no evidence the decision was made to, as you put it, *^*& him. Also, Mclaren had done most of the early development testing on the car for Wyer and FAV so he was hardly undeserving.
In essence, it was the ACO refusing to allow Ford to orchestrate the finish.
Yes, I think so. Other complication is that (arguably) Miles had disobeyed orders to slow down while Mclaren and Amon had kept to the pace given by Shelby (or Wyer?). Have to check Lerner’s Ford GT book and see what he says re this. Had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Agapiou, Miles’ mechanic, in LA once, and he was still emotional about what happened 40 years before.
The teams are paid based on how the team finishes overall so some decisions are made based on that. Sometimes you have a kind of "domestique" relationship where one driver is expected to help the other one. And a few teams pride themselves on allowing drivers to race no matter what, which often doesn't end well.
I can understand it from that perspective...but do they give up wins or podiums? That would seem like a hard line to cross...but I'm of the Ricky Bobby school of competitive attitude.
That HAS happened but more often its a case of letting a car on soft tires past the one on mediums without a battle that makes them both vulnerable to the cars behind them.
Ferrari under Jean Todt once ordered Barrichello to let Schumacher pass on a race that he was set to win. Crowd was pissed. Everyone booing and Schumacher did not look like he wanted to be there. He kept handing the trophy to Reubens and I think he was fined for violating podium protocol.
The guy was an absolute psycho when it came to winning and never seemed afraid to really straddle the line. People still call him a cheater for running people off of the track and all stalling his car at Monaco; I don’t think any of those people ever won an F1 world championship.
On the virtue side of things, he left a competitive team where he was a two-time winner to drive a POS Ferrari and have the opportunity at turning their fortunes around, did his part, and then won five more championships.
Schumacher is probably the F1 GOAT. He had opportunities available to him that no one else has had since then (rules change but I’m specifically thinking about testing and working for a team with tobacco money and a test track) but he exploited every opportunity better than anyone else probably could have. He’s a fascinating guy to hear other drivers talk about. The documentary from a couple of years ago is worth a watch.
2016 Daytona 24 when Corvette let 'em race to the finish was awesome. It was around that era when Porsche took each other out at night, don't remember the year. That was awesome, too.
I believe the Porsche incident was 2014 or 2015; one of the combatants was Earl Bamber.
Bear in mind that the stakes for the Rolex 24 are vastly lower than a Formula 1 championship. It’s like comparing community theater to a Marvel movie. I say this as a fan of both forms of motorsport.
team orders have been around as long as there have been teams
Every race engineer’s plan for a given Grand Prix is predicated upon the ultimate goal - minimizing race time (the time between the five lots being extinguished and their driver taking the checkered flag however many laps later).
Let’s say the team’s simulation work predicts that a two-stop race will lead to a race that lasts 1 hour, 42 minutes, 30 seconds (assuming no safety car, etc). Racing against your teammate - which slows both cars down - ain’t gonna help achieve that goal.
That’s also why you will often see a driver NOT fighting against a driver in a faster car who is passing him (faster car was out of position for some reason).
Wasn't half the appeal of the Motocompo that it came with the car it was designed to fit in?
I will continue to lol at the implosion of Lewis.
Yeah it was a whole package. Without the City to tote it, you were just riding a low-function 49cc scooter.
When younger [and driving less than reliable vehicles] the idea of a car with a life raft included sounded like genius. Just never made much sense to me that it would be needed on a Honda.
Do you still have your Cygnet?
Never had an Aston Martin or a baby swan.
Imagine your Ferrari failing to start so you pull a compact Ducati out of the back which also fails to start.
I'm not taking the bait on the F1 driver speculation you like to stir up every time.
Lewis is a dumbass. A lucky and talented one, but a dumbass nonetheless.
I said it first, Piastri is the real deal. He needs to work on his pace in the second half of the race, but that's essentially more seat time.
I don't even warrant the Honda POS a second look. Its a stunt, and one that's worth 10000 clicks when it takes 10000 times that to be meaningful as marketing.
Agree with you on Lewis.
I don’t see Lewis ever doing a Fangio to Princess George.
You did! You chided me about Piastri a while back, and were correct.
He is the most likely “Future World Champion” among the Lando, Charles, Carlos, George, etc. set.
When I saw the photo I thought Honda was getting in on the rideable motorized luggage game.
Just don't ride it in London without registering it
They should put it in a cage and let a gorilla toss it around.
Does anyone with a brain REALLY want to put something with Chinese batteries in the back of their car, where it will explode and start a fire?
Don't be hysterical. That only happens all the time!
Ok Jack, good place to ask you a question,
What do you think of LIon car batteries? Anti Gravity and Braille each make them for the cars I drive and the prices are getting closer to AGM. Much as I'd like to take 35 pounds out of the front cowl of my car, I keep thinking about the fire risk, especially in a tracked car. What say you?
I'm not Jack (obvoiusly lol), but here are my thoughts.
Easiest and cheapest way to pull weight out of your car, and usually in a critical spot furthest from the centreline of the car. Motoiq uses Antigravity, Braille might have had issues in the past with batteries not performing as described due to poor design (if I recall correctly but that might have been another company).
Not sure of the fire concern, I've not heard of only the batteries catching fire.
We’ve thought about that, but have stuck with a lead acid and a lot of cranking amps for one main reason: if the engine dies on track (and you’ve got a manual), throw the thing in gear and drive it on the starter to a safe spot waiting for a tow.
There are some that have a kind of in built "battery boost" that can be activated at the press of a button to increase the likeliness of starting.
Love MotoIQ! Are you with them?
I wish! I'm just a fan of the site and have been for years. Gotta improve my knowledge base any way I can.
They are great! I did a series with them a few years back on my Jetta project, was supposed to do one w my Porsche, but I got slammed and dropped the ball.
I run Braille batteries in my sedans, mounted in the center of gravity.
What's gonna piss you off isn't a fire; it's accidentally leaving it off the charger for 90 days in the winter and having a $300 paperweight.
A fire you can't put out unless you toss the whole rig into a swimming pool.
No, there is no problem with extinguishing Li-ion batteries, you just need to close the nearest airport for a few days.
https://dnyuz.com/2023/10/11/lots-of-electric-vehicles-potentially-involved-flights-diverted-as-airport-parking-engulfed-in-flames/
Oh, of course. My mistake.
You should see the EEs I work with talk about EVs and the grid. I have to pass out Delta 9 gummies to calm them down.
Professor Frink stroking out during an impassioned rant?
More like when the good Prof. Farnsworth said "I don't want to live on this planet anymore..."
The idea that the leadership competency crisis would not end with a karmic smackdown was naive
Would be fitting if Mother Nature were to issue a FAFO event.
Please, write down some of what they've said. I want to know what the qualified people actually think of this. Far harder to ignore that way.
Jack has written about it here, but the quick and dirty is that the electrical grid as it stands today is not capable of supporting even twice the number of EVs that are currently on the roads, that there are not enough new nuclear plants being built to accommodate future energy requirements, that the fundamental problem is one of energy density (not to mention the problematic source of EV battery materials), and that the much more feasible future energy source will be either hydrogen or synthetic fuels.
All true. Not enough Grid power or infrastructure to deliver it. The only way forward for EV's is building new power plants (coal would be best and quickest but, you know) and new Transmission lines. The greenies will fight against Coal and NIMBY's will cancel new Transmission lines. I think the entire EV movement is a giant Ponzi. Pumped up until it appears inevitable, until it is not. There is simply not enough supporting infrastructure to make this happen in the 10 years that the dreamers want it to. I'd guess that barring a breakthrough not known yet, we're looking at ICE for at least another 35 to 40 years. That's if we start building the infrastructure today. Too much dope(s) in the government currently. Like every Ponzi though there's eventually someone left holding an empty bag.
Yup.
The trick now is figuring out how to profit off of it.
There’s a coal plant in Kansas that was scheduled for closure but now they’re keeping it open to, wait for for it……., power a Panasonic EV battery plant. Can’t make this stuff up.
the better way to be "green" is to promote more mass transit in urban areas, which the US sorely lacks, and better zoning laws for mixed use spaces
of course its easier to sell EVs through greenwashing as companies usually do
"9"s? They must be pretty amped up.
Can you blame them?
Totally insane that the governments around the world are pushing ev’s. They are not ready for prime time.
Which is why they're pushing them. The peasants have been running around loose and unaccounted for long enough.
Ignore that Globalist behind the curtain.
But they said Free Trade would be good for us!
Good for somebody...
The Japanese Government is not pushing EVs. At all.
China, Europe, and the United States, are heavily pushing electrics, Japan is using logic.
Clever Japanese at it again
i mean my macbook and samsung do fine
I made the mistake of looking at the comments on the stupid Honda e-scooter article on Japanese Nostalgic Car. Oy…
I don't want Lawson to get Albon/Gasly'd. Fire Checo, put Danny in the Red Bull for a curtain call, give Lawson a year in the AT, then re-evaluate.
Checo's utter collapse has been fascinating to watch. He let himself think he could compete with Max, then the utter embarrassment at Miami just put him on a downward spiral. I think a decision might have already been made. He drove at Suzuka like a last ditch attempt to save his career, and at Qatar like it was already over. The tone of Horner and Marko's comments has noticeably shifted.
I think Checo has bought Lawson some space in that regard. He could take some time with middling results. Hell, his results in the AT are better than what Checo's managed!
I think putting Lawson next to Max is a career killer for him.
What drivers on the grid could (1) perform respectably in the Red Bull and (2) get along with Max?
I think it’s Ricciardo (he’d be better than Checo, which isn’t saying much, plus he’s already broken from his time at McLaren), maybe Lando, and Fernando. And perhaps Piastri, although he is locked down now at McLaren (very canny move by them).
Were I Lawson, I would beg for a seat in the RB20 with the caveat that I wanted access to Max's data. That's the best opportunity available. Everything else you won't really know where you stand. How good, really, is Yuki? Or Danny Ric?
I think he gets access to the data. He may not be privy to the setup on the other side of the garage, particularly if they’re in an intramural title battle. It’s having the data and the setup and not being able to get close that drives the Checos of the world crazy - you spend your entire life climbing the motorsport ladder, and you make it all the way to the very, very top just one rung away from winning a Formula 1 title (only 33 men have done it) … and you meet a guy that makes you look as average as all of those people you sent to sports cars or HPDE coaching or a civilian career.
Agreed, but eventually SOMEONE will do it. Why not find out if it's you?
Let’s say Checo takes a siesta at the end of the year and Lawson gets the seat.
If they get to the summer break and Max is curb stomping him like he did to Checo (most of the time from ‘22 onward, and it’s only gotten worse), Albon, and Gasly, what will they do with Lawson? Stick him back in AlphaTauri and call up Yuki or Ricciardo to suffer the same fate?
If Liam’s only racing resume is a handful of encouraging starts in an AlphaTauri and a drubbing next to Verstappen, he may find himself watching on TV, like Mick.
SHAM was on the radio about the softs before the start. He knew he was going to get slaughtered on them. The move was based on ego and not strategy. Supposedly Russell was supposed to move over for some short term gain by SHAM. Slamming the binders on for SHAM to get his shot would have resulted in GR possibly being buried by the rest of the field.
The crossing the track fine was pocket change for SHAM. I assume that every hole in the fence onto the track is manned by workers. I picture this by the workers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVznerpOkTI&ab_channel=saturdaydata
GR, which I am not a fan of, I believe was driver of the day though. What's pissing SHAM fans with SHAM footie PJs is GR isn't trying to be Bottas 3.0.
The biggest bunch of stupidity is the FIA is threatening TRACKS that are designed in such a way that track limits is a big problem. "Fix it or we pull the race". My solution would be the Canadian "Wall of Champions". I posted on a web site that I wasn't aware of anyone ever nailing it. I was wrong. Someone responded with a YOUTUBE video showing the hits. The last being Vettel in 2011. That one I should have remembered. Funny thing, you only exceed track limits at the Wall of Champions once. Also funny is no one has exceeded track limits there since 2011.
Tracks are supposedly FIA approved. Yet the FIA goes "Not our fault".
I've given Perez the nickname of Paruresis. Bashful urination. I think he makes it to the start of next year. I'm sure he's being told "You know how we operate. You signed up for this. You game?". I expect him to be replaced/demoted during next season. The team may love him to death as a person. But it's performance driven. Horner has 2 kids. Don't know their age nor gender. If one of them was driving, s/he would get the same treatment. No Daddy Stroll at RBR.
In team's eyes the WCC is more important than the WDC. Without a decent buffer, that could be in doubt next year.
I think Mercedes genuinely tries to give Lewis the better strategy, out of respect, and that's what they TRIED to do at the start. Imagine deliberately giving the #3 qualifier the edge over the #2, when he's also your guy! But they wanted Lewis to have that start.
The other dynamic was the stupid 18 laps rule on the tires. I have no idea, wasn't paying attention, if either of them was using NEW tires or not. If you had 10 laps on used, you only got 8 laps in the race. Their strategy might have been that they didn't have much choice. "This sucks, but that sucks worse".
Extremely confusing race because of that. I believe everyone was going flat out but until say the last 10-15 laps the positions for the most part didn't really matter.
They were hamstrung by the tires that they had for Lewis.
No one had ideal tire allocations given the circumstances.
Agree totally about the Wall of Champs being a little more unforgiving than the acres-wide runoff areas at most of the Tilke tracks. It's very simple; you have curbing, and then grass. Oh, you can't grow grass at your track because it's in the fucking desert? Tough, no GP for you.
Why are there tears for Checo?
He had a long career in F1, he won 5 (off the top of my head) races (including the Monaco GP), he is a Mexican hero, he’s wealthy.
I’d think that he’d be thrilled to retire with dignity (announce it AFTER the Mexican GP) and enjoy the rest of his life - he can do just about whatever he wants (tequila, siestas, entrepreneurial pursuits in Mexico, commentating, Indycar, WEC, Formula E).
Not tears. Pure wonderment about what it is all about. I think he's 33. It might be an extremely old 33 and his reflexes fell off the cliff in season this year. Or, he turned into a head case because he and his old man were doing a reach around about him possibly winning the WDC this year. To which he got stomped on good.
He seems like a decent guy. He's not stupid. He's acting like Charlie Sheen in Major League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_wc9JvTXGc&ab_channel=Movieclips
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBaNdHqC_Yo&ab_channel=Movieclips
Worst part of the F1 race was where it took place.
I've already made this joke once, but it's not just Qatar. They gave three races to a country with an abysmal record of killing children, interfering in local governance, and doing regime change by force.
Yeah, fuck those assholes.
The good news is that the doddering old man who pretends to lead them is about to blunder into a three-front war.
And, assuming he can still fog a mirror in thirteen months, is going to get re-elected anyway.
God help us!
Do the feds try and start a draft? Do that states push back if they do? If they pull my draft card, "come and get me" but it's gonna get really bad before they start drafting middle aged men. What happens when they realize china really can produce 100x more ships and has a lot more expendable men? All questions I'd rather not see answered in my lifetime.
With any luck, the ships will be made of cardboard and tinfoil.
Quantity has a quality all its own
Some say the one child policy has made the expendable men in China less expendable. We will see…
The other side of that coin is there's no women to pair them off with. Would you take your chance at war for pussy or lifetime inceldom?
It’s already there. China is somewhat terrified of the backlash of war as so many families only have one son, so losing them would cause internal strife.
Good thing you and I are both too old and fat!
Not all services are the same, but air force has max initial recruitment age of 39.
That age requirement will be the first thing out the window in a real war. Fitness will probably be second (90% of .mil is pogues anyway)
It is the consequence of essentially declaring we won't be involved with any front of any war. I for one am glad he didn't demand the American hostages are released, since it would have resulted in us once again not following through with a threat.
We are probably just going to send them another few billion.
their punishment will be a slight decrease in their allowance
brrrrrrrrrrrrr
I had to look it up to see that we really have 3 grand prix in the country now. Wild.
Also harboring Hamas leadership and money laundering for the Iranians. Great bunch.
I still think the CRX Si, especially second gen, is the perfect sports car. Nothing else is just so connected. So fun. Plus, it feels faster than it is, it's super practical and easy to maintain and wrench on. And I fit comfortably into it. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, front wheel drive. Who cares. The car was a total blast.
It's also turned out to be a hell of a race car, winning the SCCA Runoffs this year at the ripe old age of 24.
I didn't know that. Great job, little Honda.
Before I bought my ZR1, I was cross shopping it with CRXs. Probably the first time that's ever happened. I went with the ZR1, but I probably made the wrong choice. I can't do much with a 180 mph top speed, but I could drive the CRX flat out all the time. Sadly, most that I saw were "modded". Read, screwed up.
Cheap coilovers ruin cars more than they improve them.
Truth. My son installed a set on a perfectly good GTI. They rusted into a fixed position. Car rode like crap.
Or rusted into oblivion.
Do people race Minis? I had the super charged R53 version and recall how fast and fun it was. Did my first track days with one. I'd think it would be a perfect car to strip and go racing.
I think they're popular in rallycross. I kinda like them.
Most popular car in "B Spec", I think. Maybe also "Sundae Cup" but I might be misremembering.
They talk about Minis here: https://www.b-spec.org/
Yes, although all of these are the low-end non-blown versions.
Supercharged MINI Cooper S models had a decent run in Grand-Am ST, interrupted only by the occasional rollover.
I had a ‘91 Civic Si that I adored. Then more children came along. I wish they knew what caused that.
I have a '91 Civic LX (sedan) RIGHT NOW that I like alright. It came along well after children came along.
80s-mid 90s Japanese "sport/economy" cars were so damn good in hindsight, for the exact reasons you mentioned. And you're right, at this point almost all of them have been run into the ground, which I suppose what they were built for. My dream car in HS was a third gen Honda Prelude Si (88-91). Back in the late 00s you could find a rusty driver grade car for roughly $1500. Now complete basketcases fetch $3-4k.
Those were great times for small Japanese sporty cars. I went ‘86 CRX Si, ‘90 Miata, ‘91 Civic Si (needed the rear seat), to ‘95 Integra GSR 4-door. They were all manuals and so much fun to drive.
My family owned an '82 Civic Wagon (5spd), '85 Civic Sedan (5spd), '90 Wagon (fwd, auto), and finally a '07 Honda Fit (base, 5spd). Quite frankly the Fit was a big letdown after the "Golden Age" Hondas.
I had a ‘87 CRX Si that I bought used in 1988. I’d love to have that car back. 10 years ago I bought a ‘84 Mk1 Rabbit GTI. The CRX Si was light years ahead of the GTI. I laugh at how the Mk1 GTI is talked and bid up on BaT.
All the good stuff from the eighties in decent condition is currently going for significantly more than original MSRP, but in 2023 Bidenbux.
Some of those sporty cars lent their mechanicals to fantastic everyday cars, too. I would pay late-model used car money for a good '90-'91 Civic EX sedan with a stick - that was the one with the 16V SOHC engine and suspension from the Si. But I doubt there is a single clean one left on earth.
Yup! In the same way you could get a hot little 130hp DOHC 1.8L Mazda "BP" motor in the Mercury Tracer LTS, and other fun "easter egg" type of stuff during that era. Man, so many fun little sporty economy cars back then. Geo Storm GSi, Chevy Spectrum Turbo, Ford Probe GTs, Chrysler turbo stuff, Plymouth Colt GT Turbo, etc.
Mazda MX-3 with a 1.8 liter V-6? That’s almost Italian!
I was just looking at one of these on FB marketplace, unfortunately it had almost 200k miles on it.
One with 37k miles just sold on the trailer site today for $12.5k
It had a great engine sound too, much more Italian than the typical V6. Not quite Alfa Romeo sounding but still very nice.
The CRX is one of those cars for people who want to go around corners fast and don't care what the car looks like.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The 2nd gen is the first car I remember liking, solely on the basis of looks. My dad tells me I would be quietly looking out the window, spot one and scream “CRX!” And make him nearly jump out of his skin in surprise.
Yeah I think it's pretty.
Supposedly the designer of the first generation of the CRX owned an Alfa Junior Zagato, and used it for inspiration. I’ve seen the story a few times, but it never names the designer at Honda. Given what Jack has revealed about auto journalism, some scribbler probably made it up.
There's been some interesting developments regarding electric motorcycles that sort of fit into this thread:
HRC will be entering the "Mugen" CR prototype at Round 8 of this year's All Japan Motocross Championship. This, I believe, marks the first time a major manufacturer has entered an eMX bike into national-level competition.
The Stark Future "Varg" eMX bike is still going through a lot of teething pains, especially with regards to manufacturing. With MX media being more compromised than automotive media, nobody is really reporting on this. There haven't been any real comparisons of the bike vs. it's ICE counterparts in any of the magazines either.
Customer reviews your the Varg as more of an "Alta 2.0" than the "greatest" MX bike of all time or whatever nonsense their CEO was spewing. While fast and easy to ride, there are still issues with regards to battery life that even Helen Keller could see. At current battery life, it's unlikely to complete a 20+2 pro moto at full power. More importantly, the bike can only run a few hours of singletrack, making it a complete non-starter for trail riders.
Last month, Ego Power Products (market leader in battery-powered OPE) unveiled an electric minibike that is powered by their 56v OPE batteries. While not a real motorcycle in the traditional sense, this is the first we've seen something of this size and performance running off of a swappable battery pack that many people may already have in their homes.
Chervon, the parent company of Ego, is a large manufacturer of electric power tools. In additional to Flex and Skil, they also produce for Kobalt and others. Interestingly enough, Kobalt had a Razor scooter a few years back that was powered by their 24v power tool batteries. This seemed as a sort of POC for the mini bike idea. I know for a fact that Chervon is prototyping other "toys" leveraging their existing battery platforms, which is an interesting idea to think about.
For the record, I still would prefer a CR250 2-stroke to any of these eMX bikes. Barring the big breakthrough in battery technology everyone has been claiming is right around the corner, an electric bike (or snowmobile, for that matter) will never reach parity with ICE models.
From a consumer perspective, I do see the benefit of electric pit bikes, mini bikes, and scooters. I would've gotten a lot less trouble as a kid had we been riding electric scooters vs. Gopeds. Of all the use cases for electrification, I see the space between kids toys and ICE ORVs to be one that may actually work.
I've never ridden an aluminum frame Honda from the 2 stroke golden era that I liked, but it could've been the shock valving rather than the frame itself that seemed harsh. Initially the E bikes seemed interesting to me because they would in theory open up new places to ride, since noise wouldn't be an issue - but this year I've been riding my RM125 more than ever as I've gotten access to a private practice track, and I'm of the opinion that there's nothing more fun in the dirt than a well-tuned 2 stroke. If I ever replace this bike it'll be with either a KTM 150 or a TM 144, the latter of which I rode recently and was quite impressed.
You have great taste. I'd love to have a TM 300 EN.
My thoughts on the eMX bikes were similar to yours. In theory, they should open up more places to ride. In practice, I fear that they'll try to keep the water boiling. First, they came for 2-Strokes due to emissions. Next, we get rid of 4-Strokes due to noise. Then, they will go after eMX bikes due to soil erosion. It's the same playbook as gun control. The only way to secure our ability to ride is to tread lightly/responsibly and fight tooth and nail for every riding spot public and private.
The idea of people just riding off-road and having fun is more offensive to these people than any 2-stroke emissions. Who here remembers the brouhaha about lead-free primers?
It's my theory that MTB prices are artificially high specifically to make sure that only the "right" people have access to some of these locations. It's ridiculous to me that a middle of the road Trek Fuel costs the same as a CRF250.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Having worked at a bike shop and ridden since I was a kid, MTB pricing baffles me. I can only assume that it is meant to be exclusionary.
A carbon MTB above 6k is the closest thing most people will ever own to a Formula 1 car.
Carbon Fiber monocoque? Check
Dampers that have service interval measured in the 10s of hours? Check
Suspension 100% dependent on bearings with no flexible joints, that also wear in 10s of hours? Check
Tires that last a few hundred miles and only work in some of the conditions you ride? Check
Multiple brake rotor options for same chassis depending on various factors? Check
Opposed piston calipers? Check
Electronically controlled sequential transmission? Check
Ultralight wheels made of exotic materials? Check, also, check out Berd wheels.
Each of the components is designed down to the gram, and as the grams go up they get a little less expensive. They are also designed to be only durable enough to usually not break, but still sometimes break. Hence why your 11k XC will have a hard time getting through a full downhill course at pace, but your 11k DH bike weighs a lot in comparison.
What is really interesting is when you put this stuff on an eMX bike and bump they weight up 10%. It either gets a lot cheaper, Suron, or a lot more durable.
Remembering when perceived ruggedness was a selling point of a "mountain bike" over a skinny, fragile-looking road bike.
Sheesh, I just wrote this above without checking for your comment. :)
I travel for work and am only in the office once every few months. My main priority when I'm there is to make fun of my buddy for spending motorcycle money on his gravel bike. I thought he was screwing with me when he told me his then gf spent 10k on her bike.
My Gravel bike was 3k and I've ridden it twice this year cause I have to get it to the shop and I've been lazy. I long for a 10k moots titanium bike. It's stupid but not as stupid as the people spending 5k on chinese carbon fiber.
It does seem exclusionary, I agree. But the Walmart specials roll alright for people who don't care about decent bikes.
But racing is of course another thing entirely. Quality matters, and buying used is the only way I could keep two kids racing affordably. As most owners don't wear out bicycles, this worked for me.
Take my Session 9.9 (MSRP $9500) and a CRF250 apart. Look at what the bolts are made of, what the frame is made of.
Someone recently wrote that "bikes are basically F1 cars" and that's true for the nice ones. Exotic materials everywhere and fine tolerances. Compared to a high end bicycle, a McLaren is plastic trash filled with pour-cast parts.
Hell, the frames on my Radicals wouldn't pass muster for a $500 BMX bike.
so the solution is to get cannondale to make a racecar chassis
i had a beloved matchless g80cs 500 single that would roam the hills so easily--i'd pull the spark advance way back and chug up hills like a steam locomotive. sold it to a friend and asked for first refusal (i'd broken my back mildly in a car crash). he lived 50 miles away and sold it way less than a year later 'cause his wife couldn't ride it and he never called. i used to dream about discovering it in the garage a couple times a year. gorgeous bike to my eyes.
I have a Varg on order and should receive it mid-Feb. The date has shifted, but I'm fine with that. I'd rather they develop a strong process than rush it out the door.
My use case, in the middle of Dallas, is probably different than most die-hard motocross folk. I realized I could take my Surron to work (~7 miles) by taking smaller, residential streets and not being a jerk (riding between cars, wheelies through red lights, etc). Then I made my own e-bike that has serious acceleration (27,000 watts) but only goes 50 MPH. Perfect for the commute.
When I get the Varg, I'll probably add Supermoto wheels and tires and use that for the commute. It will have more than enough range to do a few round trips. And it will be a blast to ride.
I fondly remember living in Colorado and riding up my street, which turned into a dirt road, which led to a whole mountain trail system. If I still had that, I would be more concerned about the range and the battery capacity.
That's a perfect use case for the Varg, IMO. When the bike does arrive, I'd love to hear your experience. I enjoy the videos of guys bombing around cities on a Surron and think a Varg would be even better.
There's no way in hell I am going to pack up everything and drive a few hours to the trailhead just to ride for an hour and a half between charges. Maybe the use case for a vet rider at the MX track is different, but that is not what most riders in the US use their dirt bike for.
I've got a friend with a Surron. Lots of fun camping and with the right tires it could be a fun neighborhood commuter in the dryer months.
In my busy city, it really has brought the fun back into riding. I can ride on city trails, cut through parking lots, have fun in empty lots - and no one hears me at all. My new bike has a lot more power and has addictive acceleration.
Most of the city riding now is stop and go traffic and that's no fun.
I also have taught my daughters how to ride on the Surron as it's super easy with no gearbox. Perfect campground runabout as well.
What was the recipe for your DIY e-bike? I looked into them briefly as my drive to work is only 4 miles but includes several steep hill climbs.. I stopped looking when I saw that the prices were usually 1.5x what small displacement real motorcycles cost.
The prices are still high. Mainly because of the battery. Check out https://mysuperebike.com/cyber . Completely quiet. And the acceleration is suck a blast. I keep ripping valve stems there is so much torque!
Electric snowmobiles have to be the very last thing anyone will truly make work. Gasoline is such a wonderful energy storage medium to use in the winter. The initial start is a bitch but from then on everything works in your favor.
Electric jet ski or boat will never make sense.
They're selling electric boats on my parents lakehouse for 100k+ and people are buying them. Honestly, probably 200k plus at this point. I don't get it.
Washington State Ferries is switching over to 100% electric (diesel backup i think) for all future purchases. It didn't make any sense to me, until I realized they can split battery banks and have as many massive shore powered chargers as they like.
Given the predictable routes and dock times, its brilliant.
Same thing for boats on small lakes, you can calculate how many times you can zoom up and down the lake on one charge, or how long you can pull a wake board/tube/skier and decide if it works.
After you spend 200k for a toy like that, what is the harm to spend x$ on running 3 phase to you dock for a quick charge while you load up more beverages and change passengers.
The kids are too small right now to do the fun boat stuff but 5 years ago, we'd spend hours a day on the boat switching between tubers, surfers and skiiers. We'd have burned through that battery real quick. Now I ski half a lap and I'm winded. I guess the rich people probably just switch to the pontoon when the battery dies.
As if rich people would be caught dead on a pontoon.
Outside of the PNW, which has hydro for generating electricity (which has been deemed non-renewable) I would imagine the environmental impact of generating the electricity to charge the displacement hull ferries is greater than running the current diesel-electric boats. I’ve heard the drag of water for a displacement hull vessel kills range if you power it with batteries. I don’t think I can call anything the State of Washington comes up with as brilliant. It’s all PR for The Loathsome Jay Inslee.
The same drag burns the energy equivalent in diesel. It should also eliminate the reversing gears, which has been the cause of a large percentage of the accidents for the ferry system over the last 50 years.
There is a non trivial benefit to local air quality as well. California isn't insane in that switching drayage trucks to electric would make a noticeable to anyone around difference in local air quality. They are just crazy to think that the technology is mature enough to do it on their timeline.
My grandfather begs to differ.
Took a bioluminescent boat ride in Puerto Rico, it was electric to avoid contamination. Worked just fine taking a bunch of tourists on a slow ride.
I know someone who lives on Mackinac Island year-round. A sled is the only way to get around in the winter. The new Ski-Doo electric sled has a 50km claimed range. It may be suitable for this situation where you need to get a few miles from home to the grocery store, airport, or ferry dock.
Other than that, the thing is about useless. You couldn't reasonably get from one town to the next in the UP on that type of charge.
And imagine the disdain or outright abuse an electric sled owner would get if they got stuck in the middle of nowhere up there.
Not necessarily:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2152131/freezing-death?page=all
When battery-positive (pun intended) people start to complain and worry about range, grid capacity, and so on -- y'know all the deep, zero-world concerns of electric adherents -- I occasionally say, "if only we had a way to store energy in an amazingly dense way, available nearly everywhere, cheap at the price, with relatively no wait time for recharging, etc." If only, if only ...
The problem with E-transport is always the battery. Everything else is adequate.
Electro-crap can truly be fun, but it has to get around the dynamic (kek) of excessive battery weight. So the best e-vhicles are e-scooters and e-skateboards. This will forever be the case until a light battery is invented (I'm not aware of any existing or even on the horizon).
I have an e-skateboard that will do I think 26 or 30mph with different drive belts.
I have gotten in to 24 mph (on 5 inch off road tires) and the experience was joyous but frightening. Speed wobbles could potentially follow the most minor error or evasive maneuver.
Jack - interest in guest piece on an e-skateboard?
"Jack - interest in guest piece on an e-skateboard?"
Absolutely.
Can you kickflip those?
Some - but mine would be tough, because it is so heavy, and becayse it has a deck with flex for shock absorption.
I've got a variety of the Ego yard tools and several batteries. For a typical suburban sized yard their system strikes about the perfect balance of battery weight / performance and does away with all the maintenance for rarely used yard tools. Big fan for my use case. Go over an acre and that would change.
Hadn't heard about the Ego minibike. If it were more adult sized I'd probably be in the market. Much like the yard tools there is a definite use case for the off road capable ebike toys. Making the expensive batteries easily removable and usable in something other than the toy makes a great deal of sense.
POCs founder is also producing eMX bikes, and are just releasing Gen 2, under the Cake brand (POC originally meant Piece of Cake).
Gen 2 has a swappable battery, but you don't want to look at the cost.
I know some people who ordered Cakes and never got them.
And now they are dumping gently used demo bikes for a good discount. I went down the road of becoming a dealer for them, I have some extra space and it would dovetail with my ebike/mtb rentals, and hopefully help capture some MX fork service work. But mostly I want a couple and hate paying full price for things I could sell.
They seem to be caught in the some double trap of both being a Euro company that doesn't get the US market and distributions models, and also wanting to be a hybrid DTC with demo centers.
The margin just wasn't there to make it work.
The Cake is a lie?
2007 nostalgia hit me like a brick
I'm. Deleting your. Membership
0) That Clarkson tweet is fitting, as his fawning over the douche is the only reason I, along with all the anglophiles and people who like to LARP as gearheads/racing fans on the internet, know who he is.
1) "Like Honda at this current time, it is derivative, not particularly class-competitive, and almost certain to be either made in China or heavily sourced from there." I've been saying this for awhile, but obviously no professional review will ever admit this - hell, they won't even acknowledge how badly Honda lags at building a homegrown, USDM-sized EV to join the electric circle jerk.
2) "I hate it the same way midwit women love science." Earlier this morning, "I believe in science" was the deciding factor in me swiping left on such a woman. She was borderline datable, I'm borderline agnostic, but wasting limited profile characters on such insipid, unoriginal virtue signaling is a no from me.
Good call on point two. It would not have ended well.
Let's be real, she probably swiped left on me for even more trivial reasons. Assuming my profile ever even showed up among the 100+ likes she gets daily.
You read their profiles?
I mean, if I really scrutinized them, I'd end up swiping left on all of them.
But since all the dating apps now seem set on maximizing their cut of money that lonely dudes would otherwise blow on OnlyFans, liking more than a handful of women a day is a premium feature. So one must be choosy.
Back in the day: Swipe right on them all, let Tinder sort them out
That's the only strategy that makes sense for a man. Pure r-selection. The worst that happens is that you don't show up for the date.
Edited to note: which is why they make it expensive now.
My daily activity on Hinge far exceeds tinder, where I’m usually so bored by vapid nursing majors I swipe left on everyone. Usually a ridiculous comment I leave on the profile of Point Park U art majors (weird Pittsburgh dating phenomena: I get 10-15 matches and 2-3 dates a week from PPU and Chatham girls, maybe 1 from Pitt and none from Duquesne. The mortuary school girls also have taken a liking to me) gets me something, if not multiple things. Apparently, being a decent conversationalist and alright in other areas puts me above most guys after a brief convo--it certainly isn’t the picture of me in the Boxster; that’s girl repellent!
Costs and algorithm fuckery aside, was this ever really true though?
If you're just trying to get laid and you have absolutely zero standards and/or are too ugly/short/broke to filter anyone out, I suppose.
But for a respectable man who's looking for more than a hole, there's no way you can bring yourself to swipe on at least half the profiles...and it gets worse every time you go back to the well.
And don't even get me started on how all the apps refuse to filter out trans profiles from your results.
If you are respectable and looking for more than a hole, get off Tinder.
As a man, why pay attention to a womans profile at all when there is a 99% chance she'll go left on you? Swipe right on everyone, see who you match, THEN filter out the undesirables. That's how it worked pre algorithm fuckery. I'd also ask almost every single one of them out. Most still said no but it was great practice. Basically accelerated withdrawal from autistic tendencies.
At Tinder, they edited the algo many years ago to punish this behavior and to reward people who liked others less than they were liked by others.
This is allegedly the case on all the apps. Whether not this is actually true or purely a rumor that's propagated as cope for overwhelming rejection, I have no idea.
I was there before and after swipe limits ruined the tactic
I did see a guy who made a lego-blocks robotic spinning hot dog for swiping women right---I believe this then was fed to a VA who would attempt to set up dates
EDIT: fount it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJAv_1s8ENI
I am also a believer in the rule of large numbers, swipe right until your thumb cramps, your phone dies or you're out of matches and see what sticks. Must be tough now that they have realized they can monetize that strategy.
I bet that now you're looking for someone that doesn't believe in science.
Hooking up with a flat earther couldn't be really interesting 😄
To be fair, I also swipe left on anyone who explicitly talks about Jesus. Unpopular opinion in these parts, but I think they might be the worst virtue signalers of all.
And total wastes of time, because they're gonna sit and wait until Jesus swipes right, the rest of us sinners need not apply. Which, comically, isn't what Jesus would do.
On tinder? Right call. Yes, the ones who talk about it too much are typically wacko
Uh yeah?
all of honda's usdm attempts at EVs so far have been failures. and the darling e sold in europe and japan is too expensive (converted to USD it costs as much as a model 3) and gets 130 miles of range on a good day
What if she'd said "I believe in the scientific method"?
McLaren only ever temporarily down on their luck? Not sure I follow that.
They have ONE race victory in a decade and have observed the rise of Red Bull and Mercedes as “Big Three” rivals to Ferrari from afar. Where would McLaren be now if they hadn’t kicked out Honda (thus sending them to Toro Rosso and, eventually Red Bull)?
Is Williams temporarily down on their luck?
Williams the Team or Frank Williams? One is clearly down and out.
Sorry that was in bad taste but all I have for the day.
Like that Logan is getting a shot but wish he was doing a bit better.
No tears for Logan.
He’s a capable driver, but probably not at the level of earning one of twenty seats on merit - that’s fine. He had a shot, and many people don’t get that.
He has a good attitude; he doesn’t blame the team or euphemistically say “we had a bad day” like other embattled drivers.
True.
Even just getting the shot should set him up for success going forward. He has talent and is getting the chance to show it. Even getting one of the 20 slots at best there are only 4-6 seats that have a shot at really competing.
There's decent money to be made in prototypes and GTs for someone who understands how F1 works but just couldn't succeed at it.
I would suggest that McLaren fundamentally understand what is required to win world championships. They haven't been able to do it lately -- but they have the institutional memory and the practices built around it. The 1.80s pitstop is an example. Who works that hard at perfecting stops when you're running at the ass end, as they MUST HAVE BEEN back when they started refining the process?
The 1.8 second pit stop merits acclaim, no doubt. The question is … why is Mercedes so weak on pit stops? It’s the cheapest time you can find!
How much of that institutional muscle memory was tied up in Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh (and, whisper it, Mansour Ojjeh)? Andrea Stella seems to be a better leader than Andreas Seidl, which is a bit surprising, but is Zak the guy to take a team all the way and play politics against Christian or Toto?
Zak comes off as a fat buffoon but he DOES seem to be making it happen.
A Verstappen versus McLaren title battle next year would be refreshing, and we’d see which of Oscar and Lando has The Right Stuff.
If McLaren can fight for a title and Mercedes can’t, some heads will probably roll in Brackley and Brixworth.
You can argue that F1 should operate under modified Schneider Trophy rules: win three in a row and you have to either sit a year out or make some other major change.
I liked the Super GT/GT500 rules: weight and power penalties for winning cars.
I was ready to write him off. He looked like he was a car guy that was best at hustling up money at that level.
That is what he’s best at.
He was hired to fix the lack of sponsorship on the car, which transpired due to Ron Dennis’s stubborn nature.
I'm okay with Honda coming out with the Motocompacto because it meant I got paid to do a story on the history of the Motocompo.
"There’s nothing innovative or interesting about the Motocompacto."
At the very least they should have designed it to fit in the cute little Honda e EV, like the Motocompo fit in the City.
There is. And I know Formula One is the top dog, but I’ve always been more amazed by the 24 Hour of Le Mans and the endurance races. Making driver and machine mesh for a longer period of time seems to be a little bit more rewarding. Winning a marathon rather than a sprint.
I would definitely wear that watch over a dictators. But as you wrote if it was earned even better. Just saying you have a watch won by a racer would do nothing for me.
You play the guitars you like not because they’re part of your identity, but because you enjoy them. They’re a tool. Nothing more nothing less. They don’t define you. But used properly they do provide experiences.
I don’t mind small logos of companies that have products I enjoy. When the large Polo logos came out I could remember thinking “Great, the big douchbags are making it easy. Self selection”. But for the most part logos are invisible. The people all about showing them usually have no substance. Almost all remind me of the title character in The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber. Don’t be him, be the hunter.
Have the experiences and not things.
Esse quam videri -To be rather than to seem.
Note to Jack: If you find yourself late at night struggling for what to write next; maybe an expository on the Francis Macomber story. Might break 1000 comments.
I'll take that advice!
I think the issue is that, for a racer, the endurance races are boring to watch. The primary objective is not to break the car and to run at 96% of the available pace.
True. There is that