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I enjoyed your piece on motorcycling, and would like to make a few comments or observations.
Back in the late '40s and early '50s, I, too, was one of the cult of the 2-wheelers. Only I didn't ride "Milwaukee Iron," I proudly rode "an imported machine!" First a Belgian Sarolea,and then a British BSA.
Our machines were more functional,smaller, lighter, and simpler than the Americans, with very little emphasis on ostentation.
I made the annual pilgrimage to Laconia at least twice, once with the "gang" and once with my new wife. I believe it was called "The Gypsy Tour" in those days, a term which, in retrospect, was probably well chosen.
Even in those days it was a noisy, confusing, and gaudy affair, with all sorts of add-on chromed accessories or doodads.
But the fraternity of the cyclists was amazing and inspiring. It seemed not to matter how they might appear, if you were a cyclist and had pulled over to the side of the road for no apparent reason, the next cyclist to come by would invariably offer help.
Coming back from some such affair with my girlfriend riding behind me, my clutch cable broke. The next cyclist to come by, after ascertaining that I could handle the clutching without the additional load of my girlfriend, graciously offered to drive her home on the back of his machine, all the while remaining with me to be certain I, too, reached my destination.
I also have to admit that everyone I knew that had been riding a motorcycle for a year or more had experienced a painful accident at one time of another. Thankfully, most of them were not life threatening nor lifestyle changing.
I had my introduction to the school of hard knocks when my girlfriend and I hit a car trying to make it through a yellow light. She suffered a concussion and a broken finger, while I just got badly bruised. But I never forgot the sight of the streetlight seen between my legs as I flew through the air.
I do not agree, however, that a motorcycle is hard to ride. Indeed, my experience suggests that it is even easier to operate than is a bicycle. Granted, however, that to learn to ride well does take more time, given the motorcycle's greater mass, potential for speed, and probable wider use.
When we rode (in the greater Boston area) we looked for the "open road" which was more often found in middle Massachusetts than near Boston. Riding a motorcycle on a road full of cars is not fun. What was fun was riding on the occasional byway or dirt road that provided exploration, rather than exhilaration.
Looking back, I enjoyed those days. I learned that motorcycling
is a sport: not transportation. But it was FUN!
-- John Juechter
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
CUTTING COST CORNERS
Re: Eric Peters'
Obama Nails the Coffin Shut:
Could you please ask Mr. Peters to write on what cost avoidance schemes this will generate among consumers?
For example, Germany imposes large duties on American-made motorcycles. Every few years, the U.S. Armed Forces in Germany uncover a group of military personnel/civilian employees buying (through AAFES) Harley-Davidson motorcycles which they illegally resell to German nationals. Before this recent announcement, I anticipated a similar problem would occur in California because that state raised its emission standards unilaterally. Nevadans and Oregonists would purchase cars, smuggle them across state lines, and resell them as used vehicles to Californians.
Pingback| 5.22.09 @ 7:32AM
1 dead, 1 injured in California military jet crash - Boston Globe | California news links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Crisis in the world today| 5.22.09 @ 10:33AM
Government is to govern countries, not the private lives of people, who are not breaking the law.
If 3 Million teenagers got Pregnant every year and the state had to pay for housing and give them money to live on, it would not be long before most government see it as a problem, an economic problem.
If rats were breeding out of control in your area, you would see it as a health issue. And many studies find people behave like rats, think like rats. As long as rats gets food and warmth they do nothing but breed and produce more rats, till supplies dry up.
One cannot egnore a growing problem, it has to be addressed, if the government has to pay for the problem it becomes a public issue. If the entire GDP goes to wards paying for none productive people in society, it becomes a drain on the economy. You can't egnore the problem forever.
Most teenagers don't want children, they want to have fun, but sex is a fun but it has consiquences.
As for the unborn grandchildren, most responsible mothers want their children to get an education. !Not a baby!
California is a Bankrupt State, huge numbers of homeless people. It's got to the stage of either letting people out of prisons, close down schools.
If that is a growing trend, it's of great concern, amongst the growing poor and homeless population. Thanks to 10 years of George W Bush.
Roy Northam| 5.22.09 @ 11:10AM
The last comment states that "If that is a growing trend, it's of great concern, amongst the growing poor and homeless population. Thanks to 10 years of George W Bush."
It is almost a certainty that the writer is a left coaster. Neumayr responds aptly to this statement in his article. "The word "morons" flashes back into my mind."
logmak| 5.22.09 @ 12:27PM
Mr. Reynolds - And this makes the California electorate different from the rest of the country - how?
HotPat| 5.22.09 @ 3:11PM
Mr. Reynolds, I grew up in Chula Vista and have been a life long Californian since. The problem is not with the voters, but with a corrupt political class that has gerrymandered themselves into invincible re-election. Term limits was supposed to cure that, however these swine have become mere players in a game of musical chairs. The liberal control over this state's political system has engendered out of control spending. Add that to mendaciously worded Initiative measures and constitutional amendments bankrolled by out of state billionares, coupled with a gullible, and dumbded down , illerate electorate, utilizing massive support by government workers unions, and the SEIU which has given us a budget containing mandates that are a far greater portion of the state's spending than so called "discretionary spending." Therefore it is impossible to fund the fundamental mission of government: public safety and infrastructure that encourages growth.
I say enough for mountain lions, dolphins, webbed toed salamanders, nature preserves, child care programs, and educational spending that has had the net effect of paralyzing the ability of California to adapt. No need to mention the NIMBY enviornmentalists pushing solar and wind power. We need far less government in this state. But like you, I have little hope that this state can return to the relavite sanity marked by the Reagan and Wilson years. Too many liberal socialists with the attitude that "I've got mine, screw you" toward market based solutions and freedom are driving employers out of this state at an alarming rate.
Lord help us.
Larry| 5.23.09 @ 11:06AM
Well, having been born in Oregon and now living in Washington, I can tell you this. The northwest has been invaded by and taken over by Californians and it is not a pretty sight! The stupidities border on criminality. To0 many of them to list here.
DaveS| 5.23.09 @ 8:24PM
Hair-brained is supposed to be 'hare-brained.'
Richard Baker| 5.24.09 @ 7:39PM
The pioneers who founded the "Bear Republic", (look on the state flag) would be appalled to find that their efforts have been stymied by a narcissistic population who want everything handed to them but want someone else to pay for it. Let them go bankrupt. At least their self-esteem will be high.
Daphne Kenward| 5.25.09 @ 1:50AM
Mr. Reynolds, do you know that you're a California voter--or is your IQ so low you didn't realize it? What a fool you are; it's not the California voter who is the moron--it's the liberal voter who holds that dubious honor. Last time I checked, liberals populated all fifty states in our Union, not just California. Senile old dope.
Smitty in Cali| 5.25.09 @ 2:01AM
Larry, I know many people who live in Oregon and Washington; no Einsteins in the bunch sorry to say. Your state of Washington has a liberal euthanasia law in place now--not so smart of you folks, is it? Better watch yourself and don't get sick or next, one of your medical finest could be coming toward you with a hypodermic needle. At least we haven't been THAT stupid.
David Govett| 5.25.09 @ 12:40PM
Not too many people recall that the reason JFK ended up in the Pacific in PT109 was that, while stationed in D.C., he had an affair with a Nazi naval attache and was hurried out of town to cover it up. (Given the family's sordid history, "Kennedy" seems to be the Gaelic word for "cover-up.")
Richard Baker| 5.25.09 @ 2:26PM
Mr. Govett:
Her nickname was "Inga Binga" and she was a friend of Goering and Hitler. Since the Father, Joe Kennedy, had to be recalled as Ambassador to Great Britain for saying that the Brits were going to lose against the Nazis, Jack's "friendship" was a potential source of family embarassment (didn't know that a Kennedy could be so afflicted).
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