Pretty things from Honda
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I have long been a fan of Honda’s motorcycles and their scooters, in fact when I first began blogging I chose the Screen name of Niceperson because I used to ride a small capacity Honda motorcycle and they used to say in their advertising “You meet the nicest people on a Honda”. Anyway I like the new machines from Honda and think that when it comes to urban commuting a small scooter is a better option than a bus pass and the way that the fares climb ever higher….
Cheers Comrades
This could be a very sweet ride
One of my personal passions is automotive design and long time readers will remember that I have been rather critical of the current design paradigm of heavy machines made of iron and steel because two things are the enemy of efficiency, one is mass and the other is aerodynamic drag. Find below a couple pictures and a quote form an article from Gizmag about a new design that is both light weight and has a really low drag coefficient number.
The new VLC also sports improved driver visibility, a roomier interior with easier entry and egress, a chassis made from aluminium sheet metal (as opposed to tubular steel) and larger wheels that result in more travel for the in-wheel suspension set-up.This in-wheel suspension, which is clearly visible in the VLC rolling chassis now on display at The Henry Ford, is one of the key components of the design. As well as improving aerodynamics, it improves handling, reduces mass and the complexity of the vehicle as a whole.
“We believe we can replace the twist beam suspension, even in existing cars … but it will take time,” says Edison2’s Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Kuttner.
No specific time frame has been given for the roll-out of the VLC consumer model, but the company believes its architecture “has a promising future in domestic and international markets” that includes “applications in suspension and vehicle segments far beyond Edison2’s current designs.”
“This car opens up the possibility for a whole new type of car…in a much more responsible, sustainable way to the future,” adds Kuttner.
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OK this prototype is electric 🙄 but imagine this car with a good performance engine from motorcycle, something like the Hayabusa power plant. It would be the perfect combination of light weight and good power, now that would be an eco-car that I could love, so too could other people who don’t see cars in an utterly utilitarian light.
Cheers Comrades
Just a bit of fun nonsese
I do like changes in some things
Cheers comrades
Dreaming of our inner Stig while watching the tele
To be entirely Francis I am no great fan of advertising per se, although I can appreciate the cleverness of some advertising campaigns I just zone out when the ads come on the TV but I am also no fan of Nanny state thinking either so I would like to know why the powers that be want to suck all of the fun and fantasy out of what is perhaps the second biggest purchasing decision of our lives by banning any add that suggest that a car can be driven fast or that it handles well:
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At present this ad is on high rotation and as clever as it is just how is it not just promoting the idea that when it comes to using the roads then safety does not matter as much as getting laid?
I don’t know about anyone else but as a driver who enjoys the way a car meets its design parameters I don’t care so much about leather seats, stereos and other such frippery I want to know about what the car or Bike can do when asked the question and even if you never ask that question its nice to know the answer. The dour and Eco-obsessed want everything to be about energy efficiency which is important to an extent but in an increasingly accountant mentality shaped world do they have to ruin our right to occasionally imaging ourselves as the Stig even if its just for that moment between getting into the drivers seat and pressing the “start” button?
Cheers Comrades
Related articles
The big pissing contest in Dayboro
I had a lovely visit from my brother and his mate Curley yesterday and after some chin wagging over a cuppa we decided to head on down to the big smoke, Dayboro, for a pie at the bakery where we found that the usually sleepy town experiencing a huge police presence.
We counted nine police bikes, six marked cars and a similar number of unmarked cars
No crime possible in Dayboro yesterday 🙂
The reason for this sideshow?
A group of aging bikies were having a club run and they had decided to try the tucker at the Dayboro pub for lunch!
where we were sitting at the Bakery we had ringside seats to the fun and games as scouts from the club did circuits up and down the roads to check out on the coppers and members of rival gangs checked them out as well.
Forgive me for thinking that the whole thing was just a little too much like a very big pissing contest.
Anyway that was our excitement yesterday
Cheers Comrades
Crash bandicoot culpability, or stickers for safety
I have a certain amount of respect for anyone who cycles for fitness and health but by the same token I am rather unflinching in my belief that as a class of road users cyclist are very often a bunch of unmitigated whiners who want the whole world to bend over backwards to indulge them. Take the issue of some rather stupid stickers that are being promoted as something to save cyclists from their own stupidity:
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I was a motorcyclist for nearly thirty years and during that time I did my share of “traffic filtering” but I always did it at a most modest pace well aware of the risks that a motorist may at any time do something unexpected. Yet cyclists seem to think that the whole of the motoring public is obliged to bend-over backwards to allow them to behave irresponsibly by riding fast between lanes of traffic on busy city streets. Frankly if cyclists are at risk of running into opening doors and that want the Nanny state to protect them then the solution is to make them stick to the same traffic lanes as cars and to criminalise their mad traffic filtering behaviour.
I seems to me that a better way to save cyclists lives with stickers would be to provide “kill stickers” like those added to fighter planes to remind the Loonies in Lycra that they disrespect the dangers of the roads at their own peril and that ultimately the person responsible for their safety on the road is themselves rather than the innocent motorist who just happens to open the door of their car while some lycra clad loonie is treating the space between traffic lanes as their own private race track.
Cheers Comrades.
Good steam punk design
I just love good steam punk stuff like this effort from Russia
You don’t need Russian to appreciate this stuff or the craftsmanship of these creations. Big hat tip to Bike EXIF for their newsletter as well.
Another day in the shed for me today as I plan fit the Corolla diff under the Morris and weld up the new Master cylinder mount in the engine bay then the car will be back on its wheels for the next stage of the build process. an update coming soon to the Morris blog once I get a new card reader for the camera.
Cheers Comrades
Morgan 3 wheeler
I just love this car and think that it is just sweet as 🙂
Cheers Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 