This is a very simple rocket, designed to test the rocket functionality:
FL-T200 Tank
LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine
This was almost a complete failure! When launched, the pilot had forgotten to set the throttle to full on launch, so the ship just sat on the pad. Then, while he was trying to figure out what had happened, he deployed the parachute that was supposed to float him down to safety. He would have been fine at this point, except he then decided to actually apply the throttles…with the chute deployed. The spins that were caused by this were quite amazing, and we at mission control are quite surprised that he survived at all without crashing into the ground!
Eventually the engines ran out of fuel and the vehicle floated down to earth, where the engine and tank were crushed beneath the capsule.
We were able to get some data from this flight, however:
There is news that a 250 cc single-cylinder sportsbike is being tested in Spain, made by Triumph! Apparently there will be two different versions of this bike, a fully faired version modeled after the Daytona, and a naked version.
The sportbike version will have features such as twin headlights, a single front disc brake, and 5-spoke wheels.
The bikes are expected to be manufactured in Triumph’s new factory, located in Narsapur, central India.
It is not known at this time if the bikes will ever make their way to the United States, however. It would be quite nice if this were the case, since it would put in some nice entry-level riding that would compete with Kawasaki and Honda.
OK, so a couple of weeks ago at the Milan motorcycle show Harley-Davidson announced that they were coming out with a pair of smaller engined bikes. No doubt this is in response to the fact that they no longer have any small(er) displacement bikes in their lineup (the smallest at the moment is the Sportster 883, I believe) combined with the new licensing requirements of the EU that are going into effect for new riders (the A1, A2, and A licenses).
With these two bikes, we will now see a 500cc and 750cc model, both of which are finally water-cooled. Harley-Davidson has finally stepped out of the 1940’s and has reached 1985! (Why did I pick this number? Because this is when Suzuki introduced the Suzuki VS750 Intruder, which quite frankly looks EXACTLY like the Harley-Davidson street)
To be frank, I am not really impressed. There is certainly no way that I am going to be buying one of these bikes. They are going to be priced at $6,700 and $7,500 for the 500 and 750 respectively, and I think that people are still going to be paying the Harley tax on them. Rumours are that they are being manufactured in India, then put together in the US.
From what I am seeing on other blogs and message boards, the Harley Snobs (I like that term… it describes them so well) aren’t very fond of the bike, with postings in the vein of “Get that Honda out of our parking lot!” It will be interesting to see how HD promotes and supports this bike over the next couple of years. I really hope that they back it properly and create a spot in their showrooms for it, along with ensuring that it is accepted in the community as a whole… but I’m not going to hold my breath.
So this past weekend the Indian guys came by relatively locally (only a forty mile ride south) with the demonstration truck. They had three different bikes available for testing out… the Indian Chief Classic, the Chief Vintage, and the Chieftain. They range in price from $18,999 to $22,999.
The Specs
This is the new Indian motorcycle, which was bought out by Polaris. The dealerships are mostly going into spaces appropriated by Polaris and Victory dealers.
They have 111 cubic inch V-Twin engines, delivering 119 ft/lbs of torque at 3000 RPM. They have a wet clutch system with six gears.
The Ride
This is a big heavy American built cruiser. That is its only purpose. Getting on the bike I felt that the seating position felt very odd. I am coming from a sport-touring bike where the seating position is very erect, and this was forcing me into a much more laid-back position. The backrest on the bike was needed, or else I was going to be holding onto the grips in order to not have to maintain my position via my back and stomach muscles.
Starting it was interesting. It is a keyless ignition handled by your typical FOB. Harley riders who have recent bikes won’t have a problem with this. The clutch was very smooth and I felt like I could start the bike out without actually applying any throttle. Idle speed is around 900RPM. Puling out of the lot, I found my foot position to be very far forward, and actually a bit uncomfortable. Again, I come from a sport-touring world where your foot position is just slightly forward of your hips, and this bike has your feet out a good 18-24 inches forward of your hips.
Once up to speed, this bike is beautifully smooth. Almost no vibration, though I did find the ride to actually be rougher than on my Trophy when it came to handling bumps. The bumps were absorbed, but you still felt them.
Power response was not a big thing on this bike. While it did have a nice throaty sound to it, I did not find the acceleration to be all that great. Talking to others, it seems like I never really hit the proper portion of the torque curve to really feel this bike leap out. I was typically burbling along at 2000RPM no matter what speed I was going, and only at the end of the ride when we got onto a 4-lane highway was I even able to get into sixth gear.
Handling of the bike is…well…horrid. I felt like I was driving a boat. Part of that is probably due to the long wheel base (68 inches) and the rake (29 degrees), part due to the colossal weight of the bike (801 lbs dry!)
The bike I rode had a windshield that reached high enough that I was looking through it, and I did not notice any problems with buffeting. Others I spoke to that had different height windshields were less happy about it, but that could just be because of their personal preferences.
Conclusion
This is a big, heavy American cruiser that looks really pretty, will give you a great ride so long as you don’t have to turn, and will be a talking point wherever you go. I consider it to be a perfect bike for the kind of person that like to either bar-hop or cruise from one hot-spot to another.
Looking at the configuration pages for the bike on the Indian Motorcycle website (http://www.indianmotorcycle.com) it looks like if you want to add any accessories (and you will) you are going to be paying out the ear for them. Here is the thing I am finding with this motorcycle: You are going to pay for the name just like you do with a Harley. There are metric bikes out there that have all of the nice things that this bike has for significantly less, but if you want American iron, I would say go with this over going with a Harley… at least this will be different!
A handy technique I found was that whenever a programmer balked at giving an estimate, I’d ask, “What questions can I answer that would make you more confident about giving an estimate?” By getting him to be specific, I gave him the opportunity to confront the fear or frustration he might feel, which allowed me to help solve his problem.
— Making Things Happen, Scott Berkun
Found this passage to be quite enlightening, and I have got to remember to use it if the case presents itself!
On Veteran’s day, I decided I wanted to do a bit of a ride along the coast. Living in the middle of Florida, I have a number of different coasts to choose from and get to within a short amount of time, so this time I picked on an area that is sometimes called the Forgotten Coast. It is in the panhandle of Florida, and extends from around Panacea out to Port St. Joe, and the road is US Route 98.
I now ride a 2013 Triumph Trophy SE, a large sport-touring bike that is aimed by Triumph directly at the BMW R1200. This would be my first relatively long ride with the bike, so I was somewhat excited with the prospects of the ride.
From Gainesville the route to get to the beginning of 98 is a quick jaunt on US 441 out to High Springs, then US 27 out to Perry. From Perry you can join 98 Westbound and just stay on it.
The road is in good condition for the most part, though I did run into a small amount of construction work. You are within smelling range of the water a good portion of the time, and can see out over the Gulf of Mexico on a very regular basis.
There are numerous places to pull over and take a bit of a rest, take in the sights, and smell the ocean breezes. It turned out to be a beautiful day for the ride for me, so I enjoyed it as much as I could.
On the Forgotten Coast
In Eastpoint I was starting to get a bit hungry, so I took the St. George Island bridge over and had a bit of lunch at a place called “The Beach Pit”, which serves barbecue and fried seafood. The barbecue was alright, but not really anything to write home about. A year ago, this place was called Fire House No. 9 Bar and Grill, so obviously there has been a change in ownership (and apparently a loss of their upper deck.)
Finished with lunch, I continued down the road, crossed the bridge to Apilachicola (a cute town… nice little downtown area) and then decided to take CR30A out to Cape San Blas. This turned out to be a mistake, because the north-south portion of CR30A turned out to have been under construction, and while it was pretty much complete, was still under a 30mph speed limit that slowed everyone down.
Once back on US98, headed up to Tyndall AFB and across the bay into Panama City. While I was passing through the base, I was lamenting the fact that my father could have been stationed there, and we would probably have enjoyed it more than when we were stationed at Homestead AFB back before it gone blown away by Hurricane Andrew. At least I got to see a couple of F-4 Phantom II’s sitting on the flight line. Most likely they are being used as drones these days, as the air force no longer has any F-4’s operational.
Out of Panama City took US219 up to the Interstate and blasted my way home on the superslab. It was actually a very nice test for the Trophy, because I hadn’t really put it through any long Interstate riding up until this point. It performed admirably, with only one instance that had me concerned because the pillion seat on the bike had come loose. I ended the day with a stop at McDonald’s of all places, because they had an ad in the window that had one Big Mac at regular price, a second for just a penny. I hadn’t had a Big Mac in something like a decade, so I figured it would be something different. Now I don’t have to have one for another decade.
Total ride distance by map was about 530 miles, but with other things that I sort of investigated it was probably a bit longer than that. Google maps says it should have taken a bit over 9 hours. I did it in 12 with the stops for food and stuff.
OK, so I am now a contributer to yet another blog. This one is called The Rocker Box, and it is about motorcycles and motorcycling. It is just starting out, and really there is almost no content at all there at the moment, but once things get going I hope to push or at least duplicate a good portion of my motorcycling stuff over to there.
I work at the University of Florida. We have to pay to park here and do our jobs. Yes, a university that supports 55,000 students forces the employees (and faculty…they don’t get a free ride either) to pay for the privilege of working here.
Why am I bringing this up? Because of a news bulletin that just popped up in my email:
Effective Monday, November 4th, the Blue decal parking in the first level of Garage III (29 spaces in the Med Plaza Garage) will be replaced with Medical Resident parking. In addition, the Blue decal parking in the two lots north and south of the Shepard Broad Building (Building 462) will be substantially reduced. These changes are the result of the construction of a new building (the Harrell Medical Education Building) on the lot between the McKnight Brain Institute and the HPNP buildings. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause many of our customers. You will find available Blue parking in Garages IX (next to the helipad) and XIII (Transportation and Parking Services garage). We realize these changes may be uncomfortable and appreciate your understanding and flexibility. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions or concerns.
Notice that there is NO mention of additional parking being built in order to eventually alleviate this problem. Oh no, that would be insanity.
The above blog post by Maximilian is pretty spot on, from what I remember of the Government shutdown back in 1995-1996 when I was in the Navy. It is very true… when you are enlisted personnel in the armed forces, outside events that are not going to affect your combat readiness or the next meal you eat (or your paycheck) really take a back-seat to the every-day rigmarole that is the military life.
I am sure that personnel stateside may feel a bit more, but when you are deployed (I think I was at sea at least part of the time that this happened back in Clinton’s regime) it just doesn’t matter as much.
So, this morning as I was sitting in a staff meeting at work, I looked over at a bookshelf in the room and found a giant book called “The Blue Book” from 1976. Basically this was one of those “Who’s Who” books that they used to publish every year (and still are, I suppose, though why is beyond me.)
I opened it up to see just what kind of content it actually had in it, and the page that I happened to open it up to just happened to be the one with Sir Edward Chilton’s biography in it. This was kind of surprising to me, or at least serendipitous, because I have read an awful lot of history concerning the Battle of Britain. I remember Chilton’s name popping up in at least one or two books that I read as a kid (either it was in The Dam Busters or Reach for the Sky by Paul Brickhill.)
Just wanted to relate that little moment to the world.
Actually, there was another moment during the same meeting where someone spoke the word invalid, which got me thinking about a story my mom told me of when she went on vacation in Ireland. Apparently she had to to go the bathroom, and when she went inside, there was a stall with a sign on it stating “invalid”. She puzzled over this, wondering what was wrong with the stall, and used a different one. Only after she had left the bathroom did she realize the other meaning (and pronunciation) of the word “invalid“.
