This comment is not getting enough love.

If it gets a brodozer off the road, that's the same as like eight cars though, right?

There are certainly some theological determinists around. It's a philosophy that requires a great deal of faith, should you suffer misfortune.

I thought that was what they said to someone else who has suffered misfortune.

The downside is in the opportunity cost, however small (they wasted time and energy doing this instead of making their motorcycles more compelling to a wider demographic), and maybe the paradoxical effect of the promotion, which makes them look completely out-of-touch, further alienating potential younger buyers.

They genuinely believe that if bad things happen to you (you’re poor, sick, disabled), it’s because you’re a bad person. If bad things happen to them it's someone else's fault.

The representative doth protest too much, methinks.

Exactly - the partnership makes perfect sense, because HD is also quickly becoming irrelevant.

And they’re going to earn tons of fast money with shitty Aerosmith hoodies? I agree that it’s basically a no-cost initiative to screen-print some sweatshop clothing with some pictures of a bunch of senior citizens, but it’s so *lazy*.

I’m sure you're right.

But only the passenger side.

The targa roof makes the 85 look ridiculous, but the 79 is cool.

They’re not hidden if you show everybody.

I just put it in the radiator - keeps it piping hot and ready to serve.

I feel like silence would be worse than death for these two blowhards.

So before there was ever a non-American bike in the series! Fair enough then. Interestingly Honda is back again in the smaller singles class too. I wonder whether they and KTM will eventually enter the twins too as factory teams - they’ve both got engines that would suit the class, so they might well if the rules…

I’m genuinely interested - when you say that you haven’t taken notice of it for years, do you mean like 10 years, or 40 years? I suspect it’s the former - there was a non-American bike that did quite well from 1984-1987 before it was hamstrung by a rule change...

Ah, no worries - I got the terminology confused. I was thinking that 1/2-ton was synonymous with mid-size rather than light-duty full-size.

Exactly - the Ranger is the ‘big’ ute here in Australia (also the only size that’s sold in any real numbers, but there you go). There are now limited imports of American ‘mid-size’ trucks (F150-size), but they’re still very rare and they look friggin’ enormous on the roads.

A higher beltline makes it easier to meet rollover requirements, inasmuch as a lower beltline requires longer pillars, and to resist buckling those pillars have to either be thicker or stronger (using different materials such as high-strength steels) to resist the same load.