Yep I'm sure he had a lot of tries at mounting that obstacle....Slap some vinyl company decals on it and it's a work vehicle! Awesome/congrats on surmounting the biggest obstacle to riding a motorcycle.
Toshi's thread
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One of the things on my bucket list is to build a kit car.
Caterham range, of which the Roadsport probably would be the proper option. Substitute a nice direct-injected 4-banger for the Duratec specced and I'd be happy. Something like the mill from the Nissan Juke would be ideal.
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Did you just make a dirty comment about his love life?Yep I'm sure he had a lot of tries at mounting that obstacle....
stevew tipped me off to the existence of Unimog campers in another thread. I think they are awesome--the perfect bugout vehicle! heh
http://globalxvehicles.com/vehicles/ is one such vendor. Here's their $150k+ Safari Extreme, based off of a current model M-B Unimog chassis:
The specs on their Freightliner-based model are interesting for jimmydean's purposes, as they run a 6 kW generator off of a twin cylinder Kubota diesel. Such a little powertrain would be perfect for a range extended lightweight electric motorcycle!
Their UXV-550 looks a lot like a pickup version of the Sportsmobile lineup, only with more redneck flair.
Remind me to look at the tax implications of one of these as a "second residence" in 20 years.
Do they come with free reflective tape? 
Ok, I'm still shopping for a buyer, er, journal for my iPad in radiology article. I wrote a new version in "layman's terms" with more quotes and less jargon today. I'd appreciate any extra eyes on it, evaluating for flow, readability, and especially whether the stuff that I thought up this morning ("piecemeal locum tenens") makes any sense at all. heh
Anyway, the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b1hJ-U9Zrq7aOH16doo6edGWxNllbrLAVmTp6-I3F5s/edit?hl=en
Anyway, the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b1hJ-U9Zrq7aOH16doo6edGWxNllbrLAVmTp6-I3F5s/edit?hl=en
No one bit on craigslist so they're now on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110611841616
Buy my skis! 1 cent starting bid, no reserve.
Yes, this basically means that I've given up on skiing until after residency. Not enough time, money (especially), or nearby worthwhile ski places.
Ouch, eh? This fracture pattern has a special name, Malgaigne, as it implies a vertical shearing force. Since this unfortunate lady has fractures of her inferior pubic rami bilaterally as well as both her acetabuli I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that she was a front row passenger or driver in an MVC who had her kneecaps driven backwards with a large force.
Looks pretty similar to the xray of me from 15 years ago.... front passenger in a car Vs tree.
lol which pedal was the blond brake again?
New junk thrown up on my website:
dec04: rsna 2010
dec04: lincoln park zoo
dec04: millenium park
dec04: chicago friends and museum of science and industry
A few highlights:
Big cats like boxes, too
dec04: rsna 2010
dec04: lincoln park zoo
dec04: millenium park
dec04: chicago friends and museum of science and industry
A few highlights:
Big cats like boxes, too
I rode today! To and from work, so about 12 miles total, on the powered two-wheeler, not the bicycle. Although it was above 40 it still felt cold due to the moisture in the air. Bleh.
Looking at the week's forecast, however, I think I'll be taking the car going forward…
Looking at the week's forecast, however, I think I'll be taking the car going forward…
I'm a pussy. Just ordered a full-on snowblower. The one we tried first, a $100 Toro electric "snow shovel" through amazon, sucked a mean yambag. Turns out it was rated 15/100 on Consumer Reports, and I can attest to the accuracy of this.
This is the one I just ordered, a Craftsman 88780: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07188780000P
Rated 63/100 and a CR Best Buy. Hopefully much less suckage and much more blowing…
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No shear pins used on the wee little plastic auger. I think it's about right sized for our driveway and (low) expected amount of snow.
That first electric Toro "Power Shovel" that we tried was absolutely useless, and unwieldy to boot with no wheels. It was good for clearing the stairs of snow... but so is a shovel.
I tried out the single-stage Craftsman today and was pleased enough. It's very loud, way louder than most lawnmowers I've used. It chews through the 6-10" fresh stuff without a thought but needed several stabs at the plowed-in areas. It'll work. It'd be fun to have a tractor and implements in the future if we live out west...
For now I'll settle for 170 cc of low-tuned single-cylinder goodness.
Relevant/holy crap: http://gizmodo.com/5721335/this-is-how-they-deal-with-snowpocalypse-in-japan
That's awesome. Got a moar pixels version?
Dakar. Awesome.
Some footage from our November 2010 concert:
Not perfect but not bad for a community band, imo. Notice how little I (sitting second for this concert) and the trumpet player playing third move our heads and faces compared to the lady playing first. Stoic.
Not perfect but not bad for a community band, imo. Notice how little I (sitting second for this concert) and the trumpet player playing third move our heads and faces compared to the lady playing first. Stoic.
an older guy i used to ride mountain bikes raced last year, an also avid enduro rider who could ride 500km a day for a week like nothing... i´d get too tired to keep driving my car well before he was tired of riding his moto.
he rode like 5000km over 2 weeks in 2009 to watch the dakkar with some other guys.... was fascinated by the experience...
he raced in 2010 and he quit on day 2... he told me he just couldnt keep up the pace and was demolished after day 1. they average over 100km/h for hours in the desert and rocky flats..... cant imagine sustaing a downhill-mind like level of attention and physical effort for that long!
dakkar ****ers are tough.
I was considering running a car tire on my Versys for about 15 minutes today, and was reading up on this: http://lifeisaroad.com/stories/2004/10/27/theDarkSide.html . In both the pro- and anti-car tire camps there's an amazing amount of physics illiteracy, however. Take this for example:
In any case, I was disabused of this notion--it does seem like a good idea for the Gold Wing set and other long-haul truckers, but I spend much of my time on the bike leaned over so probably could benefit from the round profile and softer rubber (and more expensive price and shorter lifespan, gah) of a "real" motorcycle tire. I think I'll go with the Michelin Pilot Road 3, in case anyone's keeping track.
Uh, hello? If internal air pressure is the same in each tire and the weight distribution on the bike is the same the area of the contact patch will be the same. Period. The shape of the patch, length vs. width, will change, sure, but area will be the same. Last I checked it's the area that matters, too, so I really don't understand what either side is trying to "prove" with this game. Hmph.
In any case, I was disabused of this notion--it does seem like a good idea for the Gold Wing set and other long-haul truckers, but I spend much of my time on the bike leaned over so probably could benefit from the round profile and softer rubber (and more expensive price and shorter lifespan, gah) of a "real" motorcycle tire. I think I'll go with the Michelin Pilot Road 3, in case anyone's keeping track.
An ode to taillights:
Taillights don't get much love. In fact, they're usually ignored, unless they're "winking" on a VW or Audi, with one of them out. Besides, when one is driving one's own car the taillights are quite invisible barring out of body experiences.
I think this is a shame.
They're actually more interesting than one might suspect, or at least I think so. Due to schedule constraints my wife and I are driving and arriving separately at our weekly band rehearsal, and I tend to follow her back in order to have peace of mind that she made it home safely. Therefore I've been staring at the taillights of one of our cars, the Prius, pretty regularly and have come to appreciate their design. Here they are (not our car, not my photo, but same generation Prius nonetheless):
From top to bottom: brake light, amber turn signal, reverse light, running light.
The bottom third lights up constantly with the headlights on as a running light, and, significantly, doesn't share duties as a brake light. The top third acts as the brake lights. Having the running lights and brake lights visually distinct makes the latter more noticeable compared to vehicles where a single red light switches between low intensity and high intensity for those two functions, in my opinion.
The other bit is that the turn signals, above the reverse lights and below the brake lights in the above photo, are amber, not red. This alone is a big deal--although American law allows for turn signals to be either amber or red (not European law*, however!), I think that amber signals are more noticeable. Being amber they're distinct physically from the (red) brake lights by definition, again a good thing for visibility.
From left to right: Brake light/running light/turn signal all in one with reverse light within it.
Contrast this with, say, a Jetta's taillight as above. There the running light and brake light share the same, single red light (even assuming that a bulb's not out!). Furthermore, the turn signals also share that same red light. 3 distinct signals with 3 distinct physical locations and 2 colors on the Prius versus 3 distinct signals sharing 1 color, 2 intensities, and 2 patterns (constant vs. flashing) on the Jetta… I know which I'd pick.
(I suppose this means that I should add "amber turn signals" and "distinct running and brake lights" to my list of odd vehicular features that I crave, along with headlight washers and wipers, heated mirrors, heated/cooled seats with lumbar support, a low beltline/window line, thin A- and C-pillars, physical LSDs, and double wishbones up front.)
* With regard to European law mandating amber turn signals, see the below Corvette. On US-market Corvettes the taillights are entirely red but to satisfy the EU regulators Chevy sneaks in an amber turn signal. The Euros know what's up: styling should play second fiddle to functionality for things such as these.
Taillights don't get much love. In fact, they're usually ignored, unless they're "winking" on a VW or Audi, with one of them out. Besides, when one is driving one's own car the taillights are quite invisible barring out of body experiences.
I think this is a shame.
They're actually more interesting than one might suspect, or at least I think so. Due to schedule constraints my wife and I are driving and arriving separately at our weekly band rehearsal, and I tend to follow her back in order to have peace of mind that she made it home safely. Therefore I've been staring at the taillights of one of our cars, the Prius, pretty regularly and have come to appreciate their design. Here they are (not our car, not my photo, but same generation Prius nonetheless):
From top to bottom: brake light, amber turn signal, reverse light, running light.
The bottom third lights up constantly with the headlights on as a running light, and, significantly, doesn't share duties as a brake light. The top third acts as the brake lights. Having the running lights and brake lights visually distinct makes the latter more noticeable compared to vehicles where a single red light switches between low intensity and high intensity for those two functions, in my opinion.
The other bit is that the turn signals, above the reverse lights and below the brake lights in the above photo, are amber, not red. This alone is a big deal--although American law allows for turn signals to be either amber or red (not European law*, however!), I think that amber signals are more noticeable. Being amber they're distinct physically from the (red) brake lights by definition, again a good thing for visibility.
From left to right: Brake light/running light/turn signal all in one with reverse light within it.
Contrast this with, say, a Jetta's taillight as above. There the running light and brake light share the same, single red light (even assuming that a bulb's not out!). Furthermore, the turn signals also share that same red light. 3 distinct signals with 3 distinct physical locations and 2 colors on the Prius versus 3 distinct signals sharing 1 color, 2 intensities, and 2 patterns (constant vs. flashing) on the Jetta… I know which I'd pick.
(I suppose this means that I should add "amber turn signals" and "distinct running and brake lights" to my list of odd vehicular features that I crave, along with headlight washers and wipers, heated mirrors, heated/cooled seats with lumbar support, a low beltline/window line, thin A- and C-pillars, physical LSDs, and double wishbones up front.)
* With regard to European law mandating amber turn signals, see the below Corvette. On US-market Corvettes the taillights are entirely red but to satisfy the EU regulators Chevy sneaks in an amber turn signal. The Euros know what's up: styling should play second fiddle to functionality for things such as these.
A taillight post? I think you need to wash your hands seven times, count backwards from 19 a few for a while then really consider how you spend your time.An ode to taillights:
Taillights don't get much love. In fact, they're usually ignored, unless they're "winking" on a VW or Audi, with one of them out. Besides, when one is driving one's own car the taillights are quite invisible barring out of body experiences.
I think this is a shame.
They're actually more interesting than one might suspect, or at least I think so. Due to schedule constraints my wife and I are driving and arriving separately at our weekly band rehearsal, and I tend to follow her back in order to have peace of mind that she made it home safely. Therefore I've been staring at the taillights of one of our cars, the Prius, pretty regularly and have come to appreciate their design. Here they are (not our car, not my photo, but same generation Prius nonetheless):
From top to bottom: brake light, amber turn signal, reverse light, running light.
The bottom third lights up constantly with the headlights on as a running light, and, significantly, doesn't share duties as a brake light. The top third acts as the brake lights. Having the running lights and brake lights visually distinct makes the latter more noticeable compared to vehicles where a single red light switches between low intensity and high intensity for those two functions, in my opinion.
The other bit is that the turn signals, above the reverse lights and below the brake lights in the above photo, are amber, not red. This alone is a big deal--although American law allows for turn signals to be either amber or red (not European law*, however!), I think that amber signals are more noticeable. Being amber they're distinct physically from the (red) brake lights by definition, again a good thing for visibility.
From left to right: Brake light/running light/turn signal all in one with reverse light within it.
Contrast this with, say, a Jetta's taillight as above. There the running light and brake light share the same, single red light (even assuming that a bulb's not out!). Furthermore, the turn signals also share that same red light. 3 distinct signals with 3 distinct physical locations and 2 colors on the Prius versus 3 distinct signals sharing 1 color, 2 intensities, and 2 patterns (constant vs. flashing) on the Jetta… I know which I'd pick.
(I suppose this means that I should add "amber turn signals" and "distinct running and brake lights" to my list of odd vehicular features that I crave, along with headlight washers and wipers, heated mirrors, heated/cooled seats with lumbar support, a low beltline/window line, thin A- and C-pillars, physical LSDs, and double wishbones up front.)
* With regard to European law mandating amber turn signals, see the below Corvette. On US-market Corvettes the taillights are entirely red but to satisfy the EU regulators Chevy sneaks in an amber turn signal. The Euros know what's up: styling should play second fiddle to functionality for things such as these.