Motorcycle Ban on public roads?

Probably lots of folks there are angry about all those obnoxiously load Vincent and Harley motorcycles.
 
The biking community in the UK is pretty strong - don’t see it. Not even by stealth. Ceratainly not whilst there are so many aged, sub-standard cars careering around the highways and byeway!
 
I see fewer old cars as time goes on. And I don't mean collector cars, I mean cars that are just beaters.
 
The trouble is a little moral panic goes a long way.. remember back inthe day when overflying Concord would shatter glasses on draining board in kitchen on flight path to Heathrow , the complaint made was not against Aircraft noise , but my Commando ...
 
oldmikew said:
The trouble is a little moral panic goes a long way.. remember back inthe day when overflying Concord would shatter glasses on draining board in kitchen on flight path to Heathrow , the complaint made was not against Aircraft noise , but my Commando ...
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I wasn't sure whether the story was BS or not, just curious.
Speaking of the Concorde...

Back in 2002 I was at a Honda dealership near JFK airport to picking up my RC51 after service.
The end of the JFK runway is about half a mile east of the shop.

I was in the dealership, when the whole place literally started vibrating like crazy, and that is no exaggeration.
That was followed by a deafening jet engine whine.
I ran out of the dealership to look up into the sky in time to see the Concorde turn south, and point its engine exhaust in my direction.
The sound was excruciating loud, and it felt like needles piercing my ear drum, and that was with my hands over my ears.
Incredible! I'll never forget it.
But Concorde was the most beautiful, and graceful thing I have ever seen in the air.
 
BritTwit said:
I wasn't sure whether the story was BS or not, just curious.
Speaking of the Concorde...

Back in 2002 I was at a Honda dealership near JFK airport to picking up my RC51 after service.
The end of the JFK runway is about half a mile east of the shop.

I was in the dealership, when the whole place literally started vibrating like crazy, and that is no exaggeration.
That was followed by a deafening jet engine whine.
I ran out of the dealership to look up into the sky in time to see the Concorde turn south, and point its engine exhaust in my direction.
The sound was excruciating loud, and it felt like needles piercing my ear drum, and that was with my hands over my ears.
Incredible! I'll never forget it.
But Concorde was the most beautiful, and graceful thing I have ever seen in the air.
Click to expand...
Shortly after the UK prototype flew it went over London for the Queen's birthday. I distinctly remember seeing it in 'nose down, wheels down' attitude with four EE Lightnings in formation, an awesome sight for an impressionable twelve year old...
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
The biking community in the UK is pretty strong - don’t see it. Not even by stealth. Ceratainly not whilst there are so many aged, sub-standard cars careering around the highways and byeway!
Click to expand...

You are right, the biking community is very solid. I don't know whether anyone else can remember, but back sometime around 1993 the UK government talked about introducing a top power limit of 100bhp for motorcycles . There were organised mass demonstrations around the country against it. I remember riding my new Hinckley Trident 900 (99bhp!) in a group of about 100 other bikers as part of our local protest. I think that proves that resistance can sometimes pay off.
 
BritTwit said:
I wasn't sure whether the story was BS or not, just curious.
Speaking of the Concorde...

Back in 2002 I was at a Honda dealership near JFK airport to picking up my RC51 after service.
The end of the JFK runway is about half a mile east of the shop.

I was in the dealership, when the whole place literally started vibrating like crazy, and that is no exaggeration.
That was followed by a deafening jet engine whine.
I ran out of the dealership to look up into the sky in time to see the Concorde turn south, and point its engine exhaust in my direction.
The sound was excruciating loud, and it felt like needles piercing my ear drum, and that was with my hands over my ears.
Incredible! I'll never forget it.
But Concorde was the most beautiful, and graceful thing I have ever seen in the air.
Click to expand...

No absolutely true story.. I concur Concorde was indeed beautiful and graceful . In retrospect one can question its commercial viability and it puzzles me how they expected the US to put upwith supersonic overflights
 
I was at the Farnborough air show in 1969 as a 9 year old kid amazing sight and sound
2 of them flying at the show
The thing that stayed in my mind was the black smoke on exelleration and the sheer amount of noise !
When it went into service people used to go mad if they saw it in flight
I had a look around the one at brooklands a couple of years ago it still doesn't look dated!
 
oldmikew said:
No absolutely true story.. I concur Concorde was indeed beautiful and graceful . In retrospect one can question its commercial viability and it puzzles me how they expected the US to put upwith supersonic overflights
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Wasn't it not allowed into America first of all, and then only allowed if it only flew supersonic over the sea?
 
oldmikew said:
No absolutely true story.. I concur Concorde was indeed beautiful and graceful . In retrospect one can question its commercial viability and it puzzles me how they expected the US to put upwith supersonic overflights
Click to expand...
I've seen the Concorde fly over many times as I grew up a few miles from JFK. The people in Howard Beach and Broad Channel Queens hated it, but I thought it was cool as ice.

The ban on bikes is a bitch. A bayside community not far from me is issuing a $700 fine for loud pipes. Not sure the Gen. II SBN opens would qualify, but my nasty little turnout open on my T140D might. Effem.
 
The US opposition to Concorde was, in the UK, perceived to be sour grapes if not self interested. There were of course, many detractors here who shouted white elephant etc . Dare I suggest ,that in some cases ,the same people who now knock the BBC . Concorde was very much a public sector encouraged project and that perception dealt it a blow in British opinion.

But all that apart it was a truly remarkable design and thing of beauty . It is said good design never dates and Concorde always looked as though it had just flown off the drawing board.
 
Britfan60 said:
The ban on bikes is a bitch. A bayside community not far from me is issuing a $700 fine for loud pipes. Not sure the Gen. II SBN opens would qualify, but my nasty little turnout open on my T140D might. Effem.
Click to expand...
Agree and so would almost any Commando on overrun... used to think that bikes were safe whilst the police (uk) are major users. Hopefully this will remain so.
 

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