Sounds to me that the vast majority of complainants were people who unreasonably expected something other than what they bought ... negligently under-informed consumers who failed to perform due diligence in researching the cars before they bought them. Cheap luxury car “feels cheap” ... cheap SPORTS car has a “rough…

I dunno if they’ll ever truly be accepted by the self-anointed, but I’ve always liked the big 5-mph bumpers, especially on big American cars of the era. In addition to actually being functional, they added visual length and implied gravitas to any already impressive beast.

Does anybody have a link to the original sources for these vids? I’d like to find the original stepwise presentations so that I could actually read the friggin labels and click through the changes at my own pace.

you can almost walk up from behind and straddle it.

I find your description of the combat curious ...

I’d suggest one other variable to your selection calculus: how tall & flexible are you? The Duc and other scramblers being suggested are relatively tall bikes (not as tall as a full blown adventure bike, but hella taller than a cruiser). I’m short and old, so I’d choose the Indian for the low seat height to go with…

That Flying Fortress is sweet. What is Guzzi’s history for overall build quality and maintenance issues for their engines and transmissions? I’ve not heard any stories good or bad, and they are still a relatively rare bike around these parts so I’ve never personally known an owner/rider of one. There aren’t many…

Scion C-HR

no way this is an actual rail run.

How much are you willing to pay for that little white and blue circle?

Wha? “They” who? Who exactly doesn’t have a right to detain whom? Security guards can, in fact, make arrests — especially of trespassers on private property. If the store “detective” (i.e., a glorified security guard) at Nieman Marcus sees someone shoplifting, you’re saying they can’t stop the thief? You seem to have…

Think about this: what is it that makes a minivan a minivan as opposed to a ‘crossover’? I say that the key determinant is the shape. To be a minivan it has to be van-shaped. If it’s not van-shaped, it’s not a van, mini or otherwise. The sloped rear roof / hatch makes the Model X a crossover, not a minivan, regardless…

Failed? Are you talking about the current VW “dieselgate” issue? That’s not carmakers failing ... it’s one manufacturer cheating. They wanted to cut costs by not including the urea system in their small diesels, but by all accounts I’ve read the urea system works fine cleaning up diesel emissions when it is actually…

No, I don’t ride with my jacket open. Just saying the extra layer is not actually necessary if you buy a jacket with decent built-in armor. I’ve crashed a couple times, and blue jeans, full-face helmet and midrange riding jacket were sufficient to completely prevent any skin loss and head trauma. Though I broke a…

Sometimes yes, usually not ... I mean, usually there’s good science that supports the feasibility as well as the desirability of achieving the goals laid out in the regulations, but not always. CARB tried forcing electric cars on California something like 2 or 3 decades ago when there simply was not the battery tech…

Most gubmint regulations don’t specify the mechanisms or technology used to achieve the goal, just set a goal and require manufacturers (aka “the free market”) to figure out how to achieve said goals. So ... in your colorful turn of phrase, yes, standards are promulgated “ex cathedra”. That’s also why standards are…

Ah, that makes much more sense! I thought you were saying the Army was using a land-based version of the SeaRAM system for mortar defense. But as ridiculous as that would be on the face of it, I don’t put anything past our Dep of Def when it comes to wasteful systems. There have been plenty of articles on FA here…

Thanks for answering that (and thanks to Banshee for askin, coz I was gonna ax the same question) ... and now all I can do is wonder why on earth anyone would strap on a back protector under a moto jacket? The point of this article that gear manufacturers are in fact making moto gear for women now, so I wonder why the…

Oh holy hell ... the US Army? Yeah, I would believe it ... using a half-million (or more!) dollar missile to knock down a fifty dollar mortar round. Jeezus wept.

Regarding #2 ... where’s the scandal? The Tucker company failed due to both external pressures and internal failures, but how is any of that a scandal?