Author Topic: Competition for the Bullet?  (Read 7072 times)

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geoffbaker

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Reply #15 on: May 14, 2008, 11:12:33 pm
Geoff baker I agree with you all the way. I commend all the bicycle commuters but without going into the details where I live, unless you have planned out where you live and work and shop with bicycle commuting in mind then you are going to get awfully frustrated trying to commute without your own vehicle. Seattle can be a nightmare to get around regardless of what the city officials would have you believe. I tried myself for a while and decided I liked having time to do more than one thing a day. SO, since it is rare that you will travel anywhere here faster than 40mph in the first place and most of the bridges are not bicycle friendly by most standards, There is an emerging two wheel motorized vehicle culture made up of an interesting array of options. The motorized bike would fit right in.

I forget how lucky I am down here to have year round bike commuting possible thanks to the weather. I couldn't do it in Maine, because you could only cycle half the year, and the other half the year, seems like cars had all forgotten that bikes exist, and would drive right over you every time you went out in spring. Still, I used to commute 35 miles a day by bike in the good weather.

In Seattle, I'd just have to kill myself. It rains almost as bad as in Ireland, where I lived for 20 years (and cycled most of those, because I couldn't afford a car. I had a BSA motorcycle briefly though). I cycled every day in Dublin traffic, which is about as bad as you can get anywhere in the world, and nearly got myself killed a dozen times,. I can remember how miserable I was cycling home in storms... but like I said, I was young and had no choice in those days. It's where I learned to appreciate Barbour waxed jackets, though. I think about everybody I knew who had a bike or a motorbike had one...

But when I see a college kid sitting on his gasoline powered bike, to cover the 1.2 miles he has to get to his classes on a beautiful sunny day in Tucson, I just want to slap him :)

Ah, the young, they know nothing!... I remember how hard we had it when I was a lad. We lived in a shoebox, middle of the road. We had it lucky :) :) [Monty Python Reference]

« Last Edit: May 14, 2008, 11:15:31 pm by geoffbaker »


Anon

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Reply #16 on: May 15, 2008, 04:48:12 am
In Seattle, I'd just have to kill myself. It rains almost as bad as in Ireland, where I lived for 20 years (and cycled most of those, because I couldn't afford a car. I had a BSA motorcycle briefly though).

I've been a regular (well about 1/3 of the time) bike commuter in Seattle for almost 20 years and really the rain isn't all that bad.  It does rain a lot, but it rarely rains hard.  You just gotta have some rain gear and/or moisture wicking clothes (usually good old wool for me).  It's the hills, not the rain that get me!

Lately though I've been on the Bullet almost every day and haven't been on my bicycle for over a month1   :)
Eamon


jonapplegate

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Reply #17 on: May 15, 2008, 06:27:38 am
Here in NW we do not complain about the rain since it usually is only a light rain. And then you have your mist or your drizzle, none of these is considered rain. we have sunbreaks too, many of them. So many in fact that if there are enough of them you can't even call it rain anymore. Come to think of it, it does not even rain here at all. Now if we could just get rid of those dang hills.....
   The Rain, sometimes not so bad, sometimes I want to leave. FILSON! Old School and just the thing for our weather.


geoffbaker

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Reply #18 on: May 15, 2008, 04:40:03 pm
Glad to hear about sunny Seattle! :)

My folks live on the San Juans. It's beautiful out there and they love it... but several months a year when I'm talking to them on the phone I can tell that the weather is getting to them... they start talking about moving to Tucson!


bob bezin

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Reply #19 on: May 16, 2008, 01:04:33 am
maybe those new whizzers run well but i remember doing more peddeling on a whizzer trying to get the thing started than riding pheww! and then the belts slipped etc etc.
2000 RE classic ,              56 matchless g80
2006 RE delux fireball       86 yamaha SRX 600                       
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71 750 norton.
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jonapplegate

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Reply #20 on: May 17, 2008, 07:02:01 am
I have heard that the belt setup is problematic. Whizzer is definitely light duty. They have been around for an impressively long time, though.