Google groups in Beta mode again

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look. One new feature is
"About this group", and it gives some interesting info:

Last month's top posters
42 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
12 [email hidden]
9 [email hidden]
6 jon_at_restlesslemon_dotco_dot...
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
3 [email hidden]

All time top posters
4813 [email hidden]
3992 [email hidden]
2545 cardo...@!mindspring.com
2505 [email hidden]
1876 [email hidden]
1675 [email hidden]
1627 [email hidden]
1619 [email hidden]
1515 [email hidden]
1501 [email hidden]

Mark

Good Grief! I had no idea I was such a prolific poster. But all of my posts
are full of content, even if mostly off topic - except for those posts of
course where I am merely telling someone to go [censored] himself (like
DiscoDuck). I see I still have a ways to go to catch up with my nemesis
Mr.Tom Sherman, but he posts on topic as well as off topic, so we are not
quite comparable. Besides, many if not most of his posts consist of only a
sentence or two, whereas my posts always go on ... and on ... and on.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 09:01:34 -0600, "Edward Dolan" <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

Good Grief! I had no idea I was such a prolific poster.

A lot of people don't realise how much you post. But for different
reasons...

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look. One new feature is
"About this group", and it gives some interesting info:

Last month's top posters
42 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
12 [email hidden]
9 [email hidden]
6 jon_at_restlesslemon_dotco_dot...
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
3 [email hidden]

All time top posters
4813 [email hidden]
3992 [email hidden]
2545 cardo...@!mindspring.com
2505 [email hidden]
1876 [email hidden]
1675 [email hidden]
1627 [email hidden]
1619 [email hidden]
1515 [email hidden]
1501 [email hidden]

Mark

Yep - I thought something was wrong with my computer, nongeek that I
am. I kept getting error messages from 10 to 11 AM EST today.

Looking over the list, I see some old familiar names I'd almost
forgotten. Bluebiker dropped out, changed his tint to aqua and now
also rides a motorcycle. Tom Sherman, you bad boy, you've given me
good bent advice but I had no idea you were such a chatterbox.
And guess who's going to be furious at being called a top poster?

C.C.

On 1 Dec 2004 22:03:03 -0800 "[email hidden]"
used 29 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look. One new feature is
"About this group", and it gives some interesting info:

Microsoft has a beta newsgroup analysis too:

Data through September 2004:

TIME LINE
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
Year of 2004, aggregated on a weekly basis.

666 | O
| >
| O
| > O
|O
| > O O O
|>O > > > O O
| > O $ O > >O
| > O > OO OO O > $
| >O >> O >O > O O
| > $ >O OO O> > > >
| O > >> $ > O OO
| > O > >>$
| >
|
24 | $
=====================================================
|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''''|''
12/28 2/1 3/7 4/11 5/16 6/20 7/25 8/29 10/3 11/712/12

O - Posts Min:35, Max:666, Avg:319

Quoted message said:

- Replies Min:24, Max:624, Avg:280

$ - Intersection of two or more lines

==================================================

REPORT CARD
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
Year of 2004

| CHANGE FROM PRIOR | THIS PERIOD | DAILY AVERAGE |
______________________|___________________|__________________|_______________|
Messages | [-61] % | 12195 | 33 |
Avg Msg Length | 36 % | 34 | |
People | [-28] % | 1446 | 3 |
Returnees | [-30] % | 465 | 1 |
Repliers | [-38] % | 1022 | 2 |
1x Posters | [-6] % | 734 | 2 |
Interactivity | | | |
Replies | [-62] % | 10724 | 29 |
Unreplied Messages | [-39] % | 600 | 1 |

| NEIGHBOR NEWSGROUPS | SHARED | % SHARED |
| | MESSAGES | |
__________|____________________________________________|__________|__________|
Total | 384 | 944 | 7.7 % |
#1 |rec.bicycles.misc | 388 | 3.2 % |
#2 |rec.bicycles.racing | 342 | 2.8 % |
#3 |rec.bicycles.tech | 332 | 2.7 % |
#4 |alt.mountain-bike | 266 | 2.2 % |
#5 |uk.rec.cycling | 189 | 1.5 % |

==================================================

THREAD TRACKER
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
1/1/2004-12/31/2004

No | Subject Line | Posts in | Total |Thread Age|
| |This Period| Posts | in Days |
___|________________________________________|___________|_________| _________|
1 |Boy, are you gonna hate this. | 426 | 426 | 37 |
2 |Has anyone tried the Bigha? | 352 | 352 | 29 |
3 |Biker Killed by Mountain Lion | 333 | 333 | 80 |
4 |Senior Olympics | 330 | 330 | 32 |
5 |Beth Got Married! | 325 | 325 | 27 |
6 |Cycling as Transportation - Why don... | 293 | 293 | 33 |
7 |The Bikesmith, Seattle, shutting do... | 271 | 349 | 62 |
8 |Recumbent Hill Climbing ?? | 216 | 216 | 14 |
9 |Robert Bass - where are you? | 189 | 189 | 27 |
10 |What happened to BentRiderOnline? | 180 | 180 | 25 |
11 |Ed Dolan on women | 113 | 113 | 17 |
12 |Expert advice- touring | 108 | 108 | 20 |
13 |Now I remember why I stopped checki... | 101 | 101 | 9 |
14 |John Schlitter WINS BAF in RECORD T... | 99 | 99 | 47 |
15 |3 in 1 oil...any good? | 95 | 95 | 10 |
16 |IRAQ IS NOT VIETNAM | 93 | 93 | 44 |
17 |Fabrizio Mazzoleni racing? | 92 | 92 | 61 |
18 |Memorial Weekend Ride | 83 | 83 | 21 |
19 |BROL Down? | 81 | 81 | 22 |
20 |Recumbents & Speed? | 79 | 104 | 21 |
21 |Under or over seat steering? | 79 | 94 | 4 |
22 |Oh no, not again! | 76 | 91 | 10 |
23 |RailBikes | 75 | 86 | 7 |
24 |Cycle Genius RDX Review | 74 | 74 | 12 |
25 |Testing | 72 | 72 | 14 |
26 |Bike deaths in FL ... | 70 | 70 | 14 |
27 |A suggestion to the NG... Don't fee... | 59 | 59 | 25 |
28 |What's up with RANS? | 56 | 56 | 21 |
29 |Eight speed hubs. | 55 | 55 | 11 |
30 |Newbie question: cleats on recumben... | 55 | 55 | 32 |
31 |So, I finally ordered Satellite TV | 55 | 55 | 14 |
32 |Enough with the OT politics! | 53 | 53 | 9 |
33 |Monotubes vs Triangulation | 53 | 53 | 63 |
34 |No more Vredestein recumbent tires? | 52 | 57 | 11 |
35 |Big wheels rule the un-faired class... | 49 | 49 | 5 |
36 |What Happened to This NG?, was Stra... | 47 | 47 | 8 |
37 |New ban on 'bents in USCF races! Wh... | 42 | 42 | 9 |
38 |[OT] Where is Mr. Tom Sherman? | 42 | 42 | 5 |
39 |CYCLING ERIE CANAL -- Info Please | 41 | 41 | 18 |
40 |Ed Dolan Picture, At last! | 40 | 40 | 8 |

==================================================

AUTHOR TRACKER
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
1/1/2004-12/31/2004

No |Posters |Posts|Replies| This | Last |Threads| Threads
|
| | |
|Period|Period|Touched|Initiated|

___|______________________________|_____|_______|______|______|_______|_________|
[email hidden] | 1930| 1925 | 239 | 189 | 151 | 4
|
[email hidden] | 954| 943 | 188 | 269 | 294 | 9
|
[email hidden] | 312| 312 | 138 | 104 | 132 | 0
|
[email hidden] | 151| 149 | 98 | 181 | 118 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 252| 247 | 93 | 16 | 94 | 5
|
[email hidden] | 164| 154 | 88 | 178 | 90 | 8
|
[email hidden] | 129| 111 | 72 | 117 | 93 | 12
|
[email hidden] | 185| 181 | 65 | 115 | 42 | 5
|
9|the_corporate_hose@hotmai.. | 107| 102 | 65 | 6 | 44 | 4
|
[email hidden] | 76| 69 | 57 | 181 | 60 | 5
|
[email hidden] | 79| 65 | 56 | 15 | 54 | 7
|
[email hidden] | 91| 90 | 56 | 3 | 36 | 1
|
13|email_at_bottomofpost@big.. | 194| 187 | 53 | 38 | 38 | 3
|
[email hidden] | 70| 31 | 53 | 125 | 57 | 26
|
[email hidden] | 122| 106 | 51 | 293 | 64 | 13
|
[email hidden] | 105| 103 | 50 | 10 | 52 | 1
|
[email hidden] | 112| 107 | 49 | 0 | 19 | 4
|
[email hidden] | 85| 84 | 48 | 185 | 49 | 1
|
[email hidden] | 76| 75 | 47 | 143 | 54 | 0
|
[email hidden] | 64| 49 | 44 | 40 | 43 | 13
|
[email hidden] | 91| 89 | 44 | 23 | 34 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 58| 55 | 43 | 32 | 36 | 3
|
[email hidden] | 57| 53 | 42 | 69 | 40 | 3
|
[email hidden] | 72| 72 | 42 | 0 | 37 | 0
|
25|"Sticker Jim" <[email hidden]> | 78| 73 | 42 | 24 | 51 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 60| 50 | 39 | 7 | 43 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 47| 46 | 37 | 0 | 38 | 1
|
[email hidden] | 49| 48 | 36 | 76 | 41 | 1
|
29|bentbiker@REMOVEaccesstol.. | 56| 47 | 33 | 22 | 36 | 4
|
30|harv*no_spam*@spininterne.. | 48| 46 | 33 | 149 | 37 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 45| 29 | 30 | 7 | 26 | 14
|
32|"Robert L. Bass" <robertl.. | 69| 67 | 30 | 6 | 23 | 0
|
33|Email Address Withheld | 40| 39 | 29 | 0 | 31 | 0
|
[email hidden] | 35| 33 | 29 | 5 | 29 | 2
|
[email hidden] | 55| 55 | 28 | 0 | 26 | 0
|
36|"EVSolutions" <evsolution.. | 59| 53 | 28 | 35 | 27 | 5
|
37|1199bitshiftleft1@yazhooz.. | 32| 31 | 27 | 0 | 23 | 1
|
[email hidden] | 32| 22 | 27 | 0 | 13 | 9
|
[email hidden] | 31| 27 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 3
|
[email hidden] | 31| 25 | 26 | 58 | 20 | 7
|

Report based on messages collected through 9/21/2004
http://netscan.research.microsoft.com/reportcard.asp?searchFor=alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent&searchDate=9/21/2004
© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

I'm sometimes dis-gruntled but I can't say I've ever felt "gruntled"

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look.

It is??? So far, more off-the wall nonsense about some guy who got
tired. Who in the Hell cares? We all get tired. That is revamping???

A very very small percentage (what - 5%?) of bike riders care at all
about this competitive garbage. Racing for the most part is
ridiculous, and is a total waste of my time.

Longevity, useful HPV and mechanical designs, traveling, real-life
traffic problems, the newest invention I can use, buy/sell ads, or
maintenance, how-tos, maybe even comedy; is MUCH more interesting to
me, anyway.

Chris Jordan
Santa Cuz, CA.

Christopher Jordan said:

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look.

It is??? So far, more off-the wall nonsense about some guy who got
tired. Who in the Hell cares? We all get tired. That is revamping???

A very very small percentage (what - 5%?) of bike riders care at all
about this competitive garbage. Racing for the most part is
ridiculous, and is a total waste of my time.

Longevity, useful HPV and mechanical designs, traveling, real-life
traffic problems, the newest invention I can use, buy/sell ads, or
maintenance, how-tos, maybe even comedy; is MUCH more interesting to
me, anyway....

It is not about racing; it is about Monkey Poo Slingin'!

BRING BACK MONKEY ISLAND!

--
Tom Sherman - Rock Island County Illinois
Tetrahedral carbon lattices are not forever.

Good Grief....I am not even on the list, how can that be?
I even had Fast Freddie Markham begging me to stop posting.
Maybe I'll return just to knock Tom Sherman off the top of the
heap....payback for his having
the Dragonflyer....a pic of which is still my Screensaver.

I have my own Yahoo Bent Group, kinda limited to folk who have crossed over
to slapping e-motors on their bents and if you thought ackerman steered
bents were complicated, ya ain't seen nuthin till you are doing 50 mph on a
Baron in the rain and being surrounded by enough voltage to kill and BBQ a
horse.

Joshua
******

"Edward Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Google is once again revamping how the Groups look. One new feature is
"About this group", and it gives some interesting info:

Last month's top posters
42 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
20 [email hidden]
12 [email hidden]
9 [email hidden]
6 jon_at_restlesslemon_dotco_dot...
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
4 [email hidden]
3 [email hidden]

All time top posters
4813 [email hidden]
3992 [email hidden]
2545 cardo...@!mindspring.com
2505 [email hidden]
1876 [email hidden]
1675 [email hidden]
1627 [email hidden]
1619 [email hidden]
1515 [email hidden]
1501 [email hidden]

Mark

Good Grief! I had no idea I was such a prolific poster. But all of my
posts are full of content, even if mostly off topic - except for those
posts of course where I am merely telling someone to go [censored] himself (like
DiscoDuck). I see I still have a ways to go to catch up with my nemesis
Mr.Tom Sherman, but he posts on topic as well as off topic, so we are not
quite comparable. Besides, many if not most of his posts consist of only a
sentence or two, whereas my posts always go on ... and on ... and on.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

Joshua Goldberg said:

I have my own Yahoo Bent Group, kinda limited to folk who have
crossed over to slapping e-motors on their bents and if you thought
ackerman steered bents were complicated, ya ain't seen nuthin till
you are doing 50 mph on a Baron in the rain and being surrounded by
enough voltage to kill and BBQ a horse.

If I wanted to do 50 mph in the rain on two wheels, I'd buy a Mighty
Kawasaki or similar...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Joshua Goldberg said:

I have my own Yahoo Bent Group, kinda limited to folk who have
crossed over to slapping e-motors on their bents and if you thought
ackerman steered bents were complicated, ya ain't seen nuthin till
you are doing 50 mph on a Baron in the rain and being surrounded by
enough voltage to kill and BBQ a horse.

If I wanted to do 50 mph in the rain on two wheels, I'd buy a Mighty
Kawasaki or similar...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

Yes, a rice rocket. You definately wouldn't want something with electrics by
Lucas if there's any moisture involved.
Harv, a fool who owned an MG 1100.

harv' harv*don't*send*spam*to said:

You definately wouldn't want something with electrics by
Lucas if there's any moisture involved.

I know this is a common theme among Leftpondians. Having owned a
Several of BRITONS' cars over the years, equipped with Lucas
electrics, I never experienced that problem. This is obviously
because it never rains in England[1].

Mind you, the Brits have their own unique take on "not invented here"
syndrome - we always assume that anything invented in Britain is good
as long as it's actually built somewhere else. Admittedly British car
manufacturers colluded in this (exhibit A: the Austin Allegro; exhibit
B: the Vauxhall Chevette, albeit a rebadged Opel Kadett).

Me, I like things made in England. Like Trices, Windcheetahs, Thorns
and classic Dawes and Claud Butler bikes. Although to be fair my
electrics are either Japanese (Nexus) or German (SON).

See, I dragged it on-topic in the end, more or less ;-)

[1] Like hell it doesn't! ;-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Just zis Guy said:

harv' harv*don't*send*spam*to said:

You definately wouldn't want something with electrics by
Lucas if there's any moisture involved.

I know this is a common theme among Leftpondians. Having owned a
Several of BRITONS' cars over the years, equipped with Lucas
electrics, I never experienced that problem. This is obviously
because it never rains in England[1].

Mind you, the Brits have their own unique take on "not invented here"
syndrome - we always assume that anything invented in Britain is good
as long as it's actually built somewhere else. Admittedly British car
manufacturers colluded in this (exhibit A: the Austin Allegro; exhibit
B: the Vauxhall Chevette, albeit a rebadged Opel Kadett).

Me, I like things made in England. Like Trices, Windcheetahs, Thorns
and classic Dawes and Claud Butler bikes. Although to be fair my
electrics are either Japanese (Nexus) or German (SON).

See, I dragged it on-topic in the end, more or less ;-)

[1] Like hell it doesn't! ;-)

One of my possible book titles is "The Reliable English Sports Car - A
Work of Fiction". My MG Midget had more problems in 6 months than my
Honda Civic has had in 11 years. The Civic has never broken down on the
road, while the Midget left me stranded in West Grain Elevator [1] on
several occasions.

Remember, it was the Japanese who invented the first properly designed
rear derailleur (Suntour), the cassette hub (Shimano), indexed shifting
(Shimano), the linear pull brake (Shimano) and the reasonably priced
component group that worked well (Shimano and Suntour).

[1] A G. Danielsism.

--
Tom Sherman - Rock Island County Illinois
Tetrahedral carbon lattices are not forever.

"Tom Sherman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
[...]

Quoted message said:

One of my possible book titles is "The Reliable English Sports Car - A
Work of Fiction". My MG Midget had more problems in 6 months than my Honda
Civic has had in 11 years. The Civic has never broken down on the road,
while the Midget left me stranded in West Grain Elevator [1] on several
occasions.

Remember, it was the Japanese who invented the first properly designed
rear derailleur (Suntour), the cassette hub (Shimano), indexed shifting
(Shimano), the linear pull brake (Shimano) and the reasonably priced
component group that worked well (Shimano and Suntour).

My father bought a used older Jaguar sports car before he died. The damn
thing was always in the garage getting fixed for one thing or another. As
far as I am concerned the Brits do not know how to make anything that works.
You have to go to the Japanese for that.

Suntour components were the greatest. They did not cost you an arm and a leg
and they worked well with other components. That made them infinitely better
than Shimano in my book.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

harv' harv*don't*send*spam*to said:

You definately wouldn't want something with electrics by
Lucas if there's any moisture involved.

I know this is a common theme among Leftpondians. Having owned a
Several of BRITONS' cars over the years, equipped with Lucas
electrics, I never experienced that problem. This is obviously
because it never rains in England[1].

Mind you, the Brits have their own unique take on "not invented here"
syndrome - we always assume that anything invented in Britain is good
as long as it's actually built somewhere else. Admittedly British car
manufacturers colluded in this (exhibit A: the Austin Allegro; exhibit
B: the Vauxhall Chevette, albeit a rebadged Opel Kadett).

Me, I like things made in England. Like Trices, Windcheetahs, Thorns
and classic Dawes and Claud Butler bikes. Although to be fair my
electrics are either Japanese (Nexus) or German (SON).

Me - I like things made in England during the fifties and sixties.

Growing up I worshiped British bicycles, motorcycles, and sports cars. As
a kid there were no heavy Schwinn paper boy bikes for me. My bikes all came
from Nottingham. They were made by companies with names like Hercules, Robin
Hood, and, of course, Raleigh. These bicycles set me free, gave me the
ability to go where ever I wished, and fostered a life long love of
bicycles.

I drooled over British motorcycles - Triumph, BSA, Matchless, Vellocette,
Norton, and the like. I considered the Isle of Man a holy place worthy of
a pilgrimage because of the motorcycle races there.

Naturally I loved the sports cars and had a brief affair with a well past
her prime clapped out Austin Healey 100 Le Mans. Sadly I was young and poor
and there was no way I could financially support such an expensive mistress.

For me this was this was the golden age of the British empire.

skip

"skip" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Me - I like things made in England during the fifties and sixties.

Growing up I worshiped British bicycles, motorcycles, and sports cars.

Quoted message said:

As
a kid there were no heavy Schwinn paper boy bikes for me. My bikes all

came

Quoted message said:

from Nottingham. They were made by companies with names like Hercules,

Robin

Quoted message said:

Hood, and, of course, Raleigh. These bicycles set me free, gave me the
ability to go where ever I wished, and fostered a life long love of
bicycles.

I drooled over British motorcycles - Triumph, BSA, Matchless,

Vellocette,

Quoted message said:

Norton, and the like. I considered the Isle of Man a holy place worthy of
a pilgrimage because of the motorcycle races there.

As a former owner of a Norton motorcycle and Triumph TR7 car they were
nothing to drool over quality-wise 🙂

Quoted message said:

Naturally I loved the sports cars and had a brief affair with a well past
her prime clapped out Austin Healey 100 Le Mans. Sadly I was young and

poor

Quoted message said:

and there was no way I could financially support such an expensive

mistress.

Neither could I which is why I got rid of them

Quoted message said:

For me this was this was the golden age of the British empire.

Agreed although it was the golden age in mind only, they looked good but
were [censored]

"Mark Leuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:B4lsd.714256$8_6.376693@attbi_s04...

Quoted message said:

"skip" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Me - I like things made in England during the fifties and sixties.

Growing up I worshiped British bicycles, motorcycles, and sports cars.

Quoted message said:

As
a kid there were no heavy Schwinn paper boy bikes for me. My bikes all

came

Quoted message said:

from Nottingham. They were made by companies with names like Hercules,

Robin

Quoted message said:

Hood, and, of course, Raleigh. These bicycles set me free, gave me the
ability to go where ever I wished, and fostered a life long love of
bicycles.

I drooled over British motorcycles - Triumph, BSA, Matchless,

Vellocette,

Quoted message said:

Norton, and the like. I considered the Isle of Man a holy place worthy
of
a pilgrimage because of the motorcycle races there.

As a former owner of a Norton motorcycle and Triumph TR7 car they were
nothing to drool over quality-wise 🙂

I consider the TR7 the worst of the worst.

Quick TR7 story. A friend, named Paul, had a father in the early stage of
Alzheimer's. Paul's father had owned and loved British sports cars during
his life. He had been good at working on them and restoring them. To give
his father something to do that would hopefully keep his mind active Paul
located a non-running TR 7 (how hard could that be? lol) and had it towed
to the family garage for his father to work on. The first thing his Dad
decided needed to be done was to convert the TR 7 from a hard top to a
convertible. He continued with the conversion until his death several years
later. I would stop by from time to time and I would always check on the
progress. The TR 7 was, of course, a complete mess and I would feel like
laughing and crying at the same time. I was really touched by the loving
thing Paul had done for his Dad.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Naturally I loved the sports cars and had a brief affair with a well past
her prime clapped out Austin Healey 100 Le Mans. Sadly I was young and

poor

Quoted message said:

and there was no way I could financially support such an expensive

mistress.

Neither could I which is why I got rid of them

Quoted message said:

For me this was this was the golden age of the British empire.

Agreed although it was the golden age in mind only, they looked good but
were [censored]

Sometime I daydream about could have been if there had been a marriage of
the British sport cars and motorcycles of the 50's with the Japanese
mechanical technology of the 60's. The Brits got the looks and the stiff
upper lip personality right, but the couldn't get the damn things to run.
The Japanese mechanical efforts were near perfect, but their body designs
would stop Godzilla in his tracks.

skip

"skip" <[email hidden]> wrote:

(snip)

Quoted message said:

Growing up I worshiped British bicycles, motorcycles, and sports cars. As
a kid there were no heavy Schwinn paper boy bikes for me. My bikes all came
from Nottingham. They were made by companies with names like Hercules, Robin
Hood, and, of course, Raleigh. These bicycles set me free, gave me the
ability to go where ever I wished, and fostered a life long love of
bicycles.

I really like my old Raleigh Superbe, bought last year from the
original owner for $40:

http://drumbent.com/superbe.html

I read somewhere that back in the '50s the US put an import tax on
bikes weighing more that 40 lbs. so they wouldn't compete with the
local heavy "paper boy" bikes. And so that's why one sees lots of old
Sports and Superbes but few true DL-1 roadsters with their full
chaincases and 28" wheels.

Mark

"skip" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I consider the TR7 the worst of the worst.

Agreed, I ended up paying more per month to fix it than the car payment was

Quoted message said:

Quick TR7 story. A friend, named Paul, had a father in the early stage of
Alzheimer's. Paul's father had owned and loved British sports cars during
his life. He had been good at working on them and restoring them. To

give

Quoted message said:

his father something to do that would hopefully keep his mind active Paul
located a non-running TR 7 (how hard could that be? lol) and had it

towed

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to the family garage for his father to work on. The first thing his Dad
decided needed to be done was to convert the TR 7 from a hard top to a
convertible. He continued with the conversion until his death several

years

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later. I would stop by from time to time and I would always check on the
progress. The TR 7 was, of course, a complete mess and I would feel like
laughing and crying at the same time. I was really touched by the loving
thing Paul had done for his Dad.

I sold that TR7 to a friend of mine who dumped the motor and installed a
Chevy small block 350, new rear end and replaced almost all of the
electrics. That thing flew

Quoted message said:

Sometime I daydream about could have been if there had been a marriage of
the British sport cars and motorcycles of the 50's with the Japanese
mechanical technology of the 60's.

You would still have a problem with the fact that as nice as they were
British cars and motorcycles were 30's and 40's technology and sadly
outdated. It wasn't the reliability issues that killed them it was the
design

Quoted message said:

The Brits got the looks and the stiff
upper lip personality right, but the couldn't get the damn things to run.
The Japanese mechanical efforts were near perfect, but their body designs
would stop Godzilla in his tracks.

Depending on the machine, if you mean the old Honda CB's and Cubs yes but
much of the other stuff looked incredible (IMO)

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 07:04:04 -0600, Tom Sherman
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

One of my possible book titles is "The Reliable English Sports Car - A
Work of Fiction". My MG Midget had more problems in 6 months than my
Honda Civic has had in 11 years. The Civic has never broken down on the
road, while the Midget left me stranded in West Grain Elevator [1] on
several occasions.

I had a 19-year-old Mini which never let me down once. Although to be
fair it had taken me a while to get it that way...

http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/web/public.nsf/Documents/harold_the_barrel

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 11:20:07 -0600, "skip" <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

I consider the TR7 the worst of the worst.

You never owned a TR8 then?

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound