In article .com,
Andre Jute wrote:
Harley-Davidson by contrast, has lost its way; it has become a fashion
accessory rather than a motorcycle, a "luxury" item where the brand
name and the price is more important than the engineering. Yech!

I was filming in a rather posh penthouse flat last week - on the Thames
with views of Big Ben. And there was a brand new Harley in there. Never
been driven - or likely to be. Cost 3 grand to get it up there, I'm told.
Dunno if the owner had another for driving, though.

--
*Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
Andre Jute wrote:
Harley-Davidson by contrast, has lost its way; it has become a
fashion
accessory rather than a motorcycle, a "luxury" item where the brand
name and the price is more important than the engineering. Yech!


The bike became a 'luxury' item in the US the day a Model T Ford car was
available cheaper than a Harrlee....

Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD bikes and
expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people prefer 'old technology' done
well and with style to modern technology done bland....



I was filming in a rather posh penthouse flat last week - on the
Thames
with views of Big Ben. And there was a brand new Harley in there.
Never
been driven - or likely to be. Cost 3 grand to get it up there, I'm
told.
Dunno if the owner had another for driving, though.


A Harrlee in your flat is a lot safer bet than a Steinway - nobody's
going to put you on the spot and ask you to ride it, are they??

(Takes up less space and a lot cheaper too....)

Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD
bikes and expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people
prefer 'old technology' done well and with style to modern
technology done bland....

Style? You're kidding, of course.

Harley style has been entirely self-referenced since the 45
and the KR.

The 45:

http://www.dl45homepage.com/rl45contents.html

is not only a style icon but was the best machine over two
decades
for doing this:

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1198...25701430hcqZqg

but would be no good towing a trailer tent these days.

The drop-dead gorgeous KR:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/classics/bike.asp?id=63

was never a road bike and as a racer was thrashed by Triumph
and then Yamaha parallel twins.

In spite of this total loss of genuine function, the brand
is reported to be hugely valuable.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06.../source/45.htm

Is that what you call style? The modern Sportster is a
travesty and a laughing stock, IMO.

Now it's the kind of business that depends on stupid money,
which is presently under pressure from stupid mortgages and
a shake-out of stupid fat dull over-paid middle-ranking
executives.

And the American Dream has moved on from Route 66 to cheap
sex
tourism in Central America and the Far East.

Ian

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
.uk...
Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD bikes and
expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people prefer 'old technology'
done well and with style to modern technology done bland....

Style? You're kidding, of course.


No I'm not. But then, I wasn't referring only to motorcycles....


snip Harrrleee rant


Now it's the kind of business that depends on stupid money,
which is presently under pressure from stupid mortgages and
a shake-out of stupid fat dull over-paid middle-ranking
executives.


I think reports of HD's imminent demise are a little prematu

http://www.crossingwallstreet.com/ar..._in_china.html



And the American Dream has moved on from Route 66 to cheap sex
tourism in Central America and the Far East.


Let's keep Arny out of this....

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD bikes and
expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people prefer 'old technology' done
well and with style to modern technology done bland....

Hmm. As you've probably gathered I like old cars too. And bikes, although
I don't own one. But don't fool myself that the performance is in any way
comparable to modern ones.

--
*INDECISION is the key to FLEXIBILITY *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD bikes and
expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people prefer 'old technology'
done
well and with style to modern technology done bland....

Hmm. As you've probably gathered I like old cars too. And bikes,
although
I don't own one. But don't fool myself that the performance is in any
way
comparable to modern ones.


Depends on your performance requirements, doesn't it?

Modern, 'plastic fantastic' *anything* doesn't really do it for a lot of
people and many others (me included) are perfectly capable of mixing the
'old and the new' to best effect, according to the particular
requirements in a given situation....

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Personally, I think there's a perfect parallel between HD bikes and
expensive, glitzy valve amps - some people prefer 'old technology'
done
well and with style to modern technology done bland....

Hmm. As you've probably gathered I like old cars too. And bikes,
although
I don't own one. But don't fool myself that the performance is in any
way
comparable to modern ones.


Depends on your performance requirements, doesn't it?

Modern, 'plastic fantastic' *anything* doesn't really do it for a lot
of people and many others (me included) are perfectly capable of
mixing the 'old and the new' to best effect, according to the
particular requirements in a given situation....



Actually, as I'm still stuck waiting for deliveries (and it's ****ing
with rain anyway), I'll overcome my *reluctance to blog* and expand on
that a tad....

Having just binned my Jap 'Superbike' at very low speed (my own fault
for *pushing* too hard and being to close, but not caused by me - that
was thanks to some arse in an artic cutting across the roundabout), I am
seriously less than impressed at the damage that has been sustained by
the bike. It's like it went down like a sack of **** (as did I) and got
banged up in areas that frankly astound me - there are bits that touched
down that should never have made contact with the road! (Trust me, I
have some experience of this!!) There are some pix on my Show N Tell
page, if anyone is interested:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/show.htm


The bike obviously suffered from its own weight and it's got me
thinking - how TF can you pop a fork seal at sod-all mph, for instance??

So...

Yesterday afternoon I toddled over to see Tone the Clone with a view to
possibly *downsizing* and putting my biking into a new perspective. I
had a little sit on this one:

http://www.stneotsmotorcycles.com/in...details&id=315


:-)

Laugh all yew like, but when you sit on one these you *want* one! (I
suspect some of the fittings on this bike are directly interchangeable
with those on a Boeing 707!) But they really are magnificent and if I
lived in Arizona (?) I'd have one, but hardly downsizing so I then had a
little pootle on this one:

http://www.stneotsmotorcycles.com/in...details&id=303


.....as it *appears* to represent the best of both the old and new
worlds - being a modern take on a traditional theme and *should* be an
ideal.

Phuq mi - what a shock! Compared to my Soozie, the Triumph was really a
nasty little bit of kit! At a quick glance it looked a lot more like an
'Indian Enfield' than any real 'Bonnie' I ever saw! For a clue, compare
this pic:

http://www.triumph.co.uk/uk/785.aspx


- with, say, this one:

http://www.olsenart.com/bonneville.html


No comparison! (But, I suppose, not ruled out yet - depends how I feel
when my own bike is back here...)

Anyways, be it bikes, watches, cameras, mics, audio kit, cars, clothes,
shoes, tools and a whole lot of other things, to say that *new beats
old* simply because it's (supposedly) more reliable and better specced
(on paper) is to miss the point on *much* in life which is about stuff
like true quality, satisfaction and a deep pride of ownership. It may
well be different in the pro world where reliability is perhaps an
overriding concern, but as a *hobbyist*, I like to *enjoy* my kit and
mix and match as required with no qualms about blending new/old,
digital/analogue, valve/SS...!!??

OK, rant over...

Now, as a reward for struggling through all that, here's an opportunity
for someone to make themselves look smart: What is the queer little blue
thing labelled '100HX-6bB' [sic] with what looks to be a blue 'pull out
bit' slap in the middle of this board from one of my mics:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/QueerThing.JPG


???

(Doesn't say 'not a resistor' or 'not a capacitor' so I'm stuffed!! :-)

"Keith G" wrote


Now, as a reward for struggling through all that, here's an
opportunity for someone to make themselves look smart: What is the
queer little blue thing labelled '100HX-6bB' [sic] with what looks to
be a blue 'pull out bit' slap in the middle of this board from one of
my mics:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/QueerThing.JPG



******** - make that '100HZ-6bB'.....

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:45:01 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

Now, as a reward for struggling through all that, here's an opportunity
for someone to make themselves look smart: What is the queer little blue
thing labelled '100HX-6bB' [sic] with what looks to be a blue 'pull out
bit' slap in the middle of this board from one of my mics:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/QueerThing.JPG


???

(Doesn't say 'not a resistor' or 'not a capacitor' so I'm stuffed!! :-)

I'm assuming that is a switch - doesn't it poke through the case? And
no doubt -6bB is a typo for -6dB. Could it be a low-cut filter? Try
pulling the blue bit out and see what happens. Or does it move
sideways? Doesn't look like it will, but you never know.

d




--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:45:01 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

Now, as a reward for struggling through all that, here's an
opportunity
for someone to make themselves look smart: What is the queer little
blue
thing labelled '100HX-6bB' [sic] with what looks to be a blue 'pull
out
bit' slap in the middle of this board from one of my mics:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/QueerThing.JPG


???

(Doesn't say 'not a resistor' or 'not a capacitor' so I'm stuffed!!
:-)

I'm assuming that is a switch - doesn't it poke through the case?


Nope.


And
no doubt -6bB is a typo for -6dB.


I would have thought so!


Could it be a low-cut filter?


At 100 Hz?


Try
pulling the blue bit out and see what happens.


Bugger that...


Or does it move
sideways?


Bugger that also...


Doesn't look like it will, but you never know.


Looks like it!

(If no-one here knows, I'll have to file it under 'Gubbins' and let it
pass! :-)