NorVin . Norton Vincent .

Indeed, & dont forget, those well known 'American' rocket scientists Dornberger & Von Braun who did the Apollo moon shot [amongst other things....].

Didn't we see extensive footage of V1 Doodlebugs (now called cruise missiles ?) doing sterling service in some recent blitzkreigs ??

What we never saw was the end game of fascism. It was a really strange mindset of science, perfection and killing, but its opposite authoritarian number - communism seemed worse. I still don't trust the Chinese with that ideology of control and the command economy. The North Koreans appear to be complete ratbags. I believe the world is now a better place than it was in the thirties, but there is still the same old struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. It looks like the Chinese are winning. However, I still haven't seen a decent motorcycle which has been designed and built by them. Their metallurgy is crap.
I had to laugh. My brother has lived in Dortmund for the last forty years. He was appalled to find out that there are Nazis living in his street. I wondered if he thought that they had all just gone away at the end of the war. The German industrial high quality ethos is where Australia, and probably the US, must go t o compete successfully with China. We cannot possibly compete with the Chinese on their own terms at the low end of the free market.

Perhaps you have not read George Orwells 1984, to show where the 'free' part of the world was/has headed - certainly constitutes another form of authoritarianism, perhaps not as blatant as the ones you mention ?
Someone pointed out there are over 200,000 laws, in most western countries, under which you can be fined $$ or jailed - that is quite a remarkable number, no ?? Wonder how many citizens know ALL those laws, to obey them to the letter....

Yeah, in Europe they seem to have an iron[y] deficit, since wearing Nazi paraphenalia [Sid Vicious/royal prince] style -even now-will get you locked up by the hate police.
On the credit side, the "Interstate"[Commando model as titled] - trans-continental U.S. road network was ordered by Eisenhower due to his being impressed by Adolf`s Autobahn network, & how many have 'suffered' from contact with 'Hitler`s revenge' - the original Porsche design VWs?

Thats pretty much how it went .

" out there are over 200,000 laws, in most western countries "

REGULATIONS are for the GUIDANCE of Wise Men , and the blind obedance of fuels .

Shows what the legal profesions come to .

It is easy to become unnecessarily despondent about legislation. In recent years there has been a subtle change towards risk and performance based legislation,rather than prescriptive 'one size fits all' stuff. These days I am only optimistic that common sense will prevail and our quality of life will continue to improve.

acotrel said:

It is easy to become unnecessarily despondent about legislation. In recent years there has been a subtle change towards risk and performance based legislation,rather than prescriptive 'one size fits all' stuff. These days I am only optimistic that common sense will prevail and our quality of life will continue to improve.

Click to expand...

Over here in Europe, we have to put up with an ever-increasing body of legislation of the 'one size fits all' type, issued as directives and regulations by Brussels, and also by individual member states. If we narrow things down to just motorcycles, for example, we have plenty of enemies who are a real and present threat to our liberty and quality of life and would love to legislate us into the ground, if they get the chance.

Have a look at this:

http://ukfrancebikers.com/2012/09/30/th ... torcycles/

And this:

http://www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk/news ... -proposals

In Australia, our police use the slogan 'speed kills'. My feeling is that it s hould be 'speed plus incompetence kills'. It would be easy to cut our road toll by requiring advanced training for convicted offenders, but our police never go down that path. They now have 'hoon laws' which enable them to seize the kid's vehicles and crush them. The trouble is that our judges have decreed that to be illegal, it takes away their discretion in the courts. We don't have much anti-motorcycle lobby because we don't have many motorcycles. Our traffic is deadly, and there is one public hospital with a ward full of injured motorcyclists. A lot of drivers are incompetent, and drive too fast, and they don't see motorcyclists as a threat to themselves, so they usually 'don't see' them. I stopped riding motorcycles on our public roads thirty years ago and went racing - it is much safer. We still have idiots who object to our racing on the basis of noise and pollution, but they are simply the same old 'kill-joy' types you will always find in any community. Realistically you would have to race for for 100 years to achieve the same environmental effect of all the cars in our peak hour city traffic, driving for five minutes. One of the things that really irks me is the requirement for mufflers on historic racing bikes. What a bloody stupid way to kill a nostalgia experience ? But there are always 'kill -joy' morons out there waiting to strike. However there is one good thing - they never complain about the noise of church bells !

Yes Aco, we have an arrogant/born-to-rule mob in ''charge'' currently, intending to bring in ludicrous motorcycle ''safety'' stipulations such as front rego plates & day glo vests. Funny that 2 types of riders dont seem to have much in the way of visibility problems on the road, likely for the same reason,viz-that if bowled over, then a bunch of their mates will arrive forthwith & demand answers/retribution in a possibly savage manner, I refer of course, to cops & [1%er] bikies.
For myself I find a ''Rambo'' riding gear look tends to instill a sense of caution in most drivers. I work-commute through city grid lock, so riding is a must, `cause sitting in a cage blocked in traffic gives me the shits.

I'd never thought about looking like a Hell's Angel. That probably would help the situation a lot. I don't ride on public roads these days. Years ago I encountered a couple of homicidal idiots, and I decided it just wasn't worth getting killed for an activity which was full of frustrations anyway. So I went racing at age 27.

Dunno `bout that, Aco - I understand that there are serious penalties that apply to being caught impersonating both cops & H/A`s..
Whereas impersonating [immachinating?] a Fugli-Vincent is cool..

Matt, is it true.. Lance Armstrong...is Roger Ramjet`s basterd lovechild?

I've often looked at those VT250 Yamaha V twins, and thought one would look good done up as a full dresser harley. My problem is figuring out how the patch gang members would feel about it, when it went past them 10 mph quicker than their fastest speed.

Thats the thing I never got about "club rides" - all the bullshit regimented pecking order -"no overtaking the road captain" - type stuff, so much for " outlaws" - ludicrous..

Probly a old 250 XT Yam would worry half of them .

You get a crate of bear , a disc grinder , a gas torch & a Can of Bondo .
Appoaching Massey Feruson Melborn re a ' Costomiser ' position , I was told " youd sit in the little uniform
AND Fill IN the FORM , of the ' coustom ' :shock: options the customer required ! THEN , walk across to the WORKSHOP
and give it to the mechanic .
Then go back to your little desk in your little uniform . AND , when the Phone Rang ( a few days later ) go to the workshop , With YOUR COPY of the Coustom Accesory List . And CHECK that the mechanic had
put the right ones on . :lol:

What kind of bozzos . . . " Dosent require a disc grinder & a gas torch then ? " . . . ' Er No . ' . . . ". O.K. . . . I think Ayell pass , thanks "

SO yr little Yamawotsit thingo , maybe the silly 500 / 600 ? 81ish two barrell . . Er , wotsit . ! :shock:

COMES with " Extended Forks ( fit spacer spring top ) 21 In front wheel ( fit nice tyre ) THROW ALL THE BL :shock: DY plastic AWAY . get a spoon seat , alloy guards , assult the rear spring to lower the rear
about six foot ( needs say 4 in travle ) AND shes raked & wotsitederisedum .

Of course we need a can of black paint , Raceing Tyres , and pegs where they wont drag . And dont tell everyone . Theyll all want one . ( might need a bates lamp & tailamp to . . . )

Seems mufflers are passe on this type of thing , it should sound like a constipated tractor to 2.000 rpm then brawl monotonously , to Fit In . :wink:

Crikey Matt,- have you taken paid work?
Your post stat above is somewhat problematic coherence-wise, say - have you been grinding out a fugli-indigent replica to ride?

J.A.W.
, how much overlap do they use on the cams of a big Harley ? To me when they are running, it sounds like about ten degrees. We have old single cylinder diesel tractors at some of our historic meetings that sound better. If you've heard a Brough or a Vincent, the difference from a Harley is quite striking.

Matt
As you get older there is one very important lesson you must learn. It is that 'the system runs on bullshit', but you don't have to be part of it. The way to buck the system is to always conscientiously achieve in spite of it, but when you do that you must be ready to be perceived as a target. Learn to lead by example, from the rear ! At worst, it is a good way to keep yourself amused.

hey used to say " Revolves " . on B.S.

We could do with as much manure as we can get , Id think unless the nobs intend to replace 1/10th of the forests / species , that the settlers so kindly got rid of , the ' DRY ' may get to be a bit more than a problem . Useing the manure rather than putting 70 tons of it ( Dehydrated ) in the Neapean per month might revolve on doing something SENSABLE rather than burying their heads in it .