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August 10, 2008

Comments

A couple of titles for you:
"Motorcyclist"
"Motorbike Driver"

Using myself as an example, I grew up on motorcycles. My stepfather raced flat-track and hillclimbs in WA, OR & Idaho.
I raced cross country and Hillclimbs beginning in the 7th grade.
By the time I was old enough to get my drivers lic, I was in the expert class.
Motorcycles have been my primary transportation for much of my life.
My GS-1000 is my 24th bike if you count up all of the dirt bikes.
I am a Motorcyclist.

Then there are the Motorbike Drivers.
I'm guessing over 90% of the folks that you see riding on the street fit this title.
They purchace their first motorcycle and "drive" it.
Zero skill level. Human projectiles.
Even though their insurance offers discounts if they take training, they aren't going to do it. Heck, they can ride a bicycle!!!!
First little bit of gravel in a corner or a patch of ice and its all over.
Heres one that Ive heard a number of times over the years from folks when I show up on a motorcycle:
"Yeah,,,my brother inlaw bought one of those things; broke his arm the first day. Sold it & never rode one again!"

"Now, a Japanese scooter isn't a Harley. You can tell, because a Suzuki Burgman 650 is (1) a lot quieter, (2) less expensive, (3) more reliable, (4) safer, and (5) more practical."

Why no concern about air pollution and global warming? Motorcycles and scooters may be worse than cars in this regard:

"Turns out the average motorcycle is 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV."
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/motorcycles-pol.html

AAAAHH-HA!!!!
First it was your brush clearing.
Now it is your motorcycling.
Someone please dial up Al Gore for me so I can announce the primarary cause of Global warming: Brian Hines.
Don't you just feel guilty?
GUILTY!!!!!!

Hey, take a look at this. I think this fits your lifestyle better than the Burgman:

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/DR650SEK9

Way more fun and you can tootle around on the logging roads and in the woods.
Handles much better also.

I like reading Brian's blog, but I do have to question folks like him who try to pass themselves off as progressive when they live way out in a big house in SoKu (south of Kuebler) and appear to have a thing for internal combustion engines which are so obviously screwing up the planet. Sorry to have to be a turd in the punchbowl, but folks like Brian should think a little harder about how their professed values align with their behavior.

Amecameca, what are you talking about? Let's see, my wife and I are environmentalists. We believe in protecting Oregon farm and forest land from over-development. We donate a lot of time and money to "green" causes.

We own two hybrid cars: a Toyota Prius and a Toyota Highlander. Each is super-clean. The Prius gets better mileage than any other car; the Highlander has the second best mileage (after the Ford Explorer) of any SUV.

So where's the evidence for our "thing for internal combustion engines which are so obviously screwing up the planet"?

The Suzuki Burgman 650 that I've been perusing has a four stroke engine with several features that are billed as reducing emissions:
http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/AN650K8/PrintBrochure/Default.aspx

I don't see a scooter of that sort as being a big planet destroyer. Plus, I don't own one. Good try on indicting us as green hypocrites, but the charge doesn't stick.

Brian, you know that in the bible, just lusting after another woman is a big of a sin as the actual act.
So today, I'm looking around at all of the haze in the sky and at first thought it was field burning.
But now I know; its that guy over on Liberty Rd THINKING about a new bike.
Now just sit idley in your chair with your hands folded in your lap and you might make the grade.
WHA....What was that sound? You ate chili for lunch?
Face it, you are a hopeless gobal warmer.

Harry, you got me. I'm responsible for all of the earth's ills. Sorry for the sound. Just imagine how loud it was on my end.

Oooh. I think I hit a nerve. Why do you need 2 cars? Have you considered how much CO2 emissions result from the manufacture of a Prius? How many square feet is your house? Do you have central A/C and do you run it all summer? Do you have a lawn that you water all summer? How many car trips do you and your wife make in a typical day? Do you have a vegetable garden? Answer these questions and we will see if the charge sticks.

If you want to pursue a course of therapy to straighten out your thinking read THE LONG EMERGENCY by James Howard Kunstler or if you don't read books, listen to his podcast (KunstlerCast) which is available for free from the iTunes music store. Especially #7 which addresses Prius' specifically.

And there is the conclusion to this self deprecating, pointless superstition; you must feel guilty JUST FOR EXISTING.

>>>If you want to pursue a course of therapy to straighten out your thinking read THE LONG EMERGENCY by James Howard Kunstler or if you don't read books, listen to his podcast (KunstlerCast) which is available for free from the iTunes music store. Especially #7 which addresses Prius' specifically.<<<

Or, if you are lost with absolutly no direction, you could subscribe to the Watchtower magazine, and hang from every word.

Harry, excellent response to Amecameca. Obviously he/she is using energy, unless this Internet user has solar panels hooked up to a computer.

But even then, where did those solar panels come from?! How much energy did it take to make them?! Amecameca, why aren't you sitting motionless in a dark closet, not having any impact on our fragile environment?!

Some people are into fretting about life rather than living life. I'd rather live it.

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