Take a 2019 Tea Break with Delta

[Willmaz223]

Going along with TV I've just finished watching a documentary on Ancient Sparta.Fascinating watch,crazy how much humans have changed and evolved since and in some cases how little.

Also watching some old Le Mans footage from the 60s and 70s.Love it.😁👍.

[Gerard C]

Fascinating watch,crazy how much humans have changed and evolved since and in some cases how little. Thats why forums have been invented. Some forums hosting historic sections dont really show clearly about evolution… Lets say celebration and cheers to that!

[Willmaz223]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Fascinating watch,crazy how much humans have changed and evolved since and in some cases how little. Thats why forums have been invented. Some forums hosting historic sections dont really show clearly about evolution… Lets say celebration and cheers to that!

[Mike Bell]

The most important ‘transportation device’ in the fleet sailed through it’s MOT this afternoon. 18yr old Zip 125 good to go for another year...

[Gerard C]

Velcro and Zip now… Are you preparing a kind of fashion week Mike?

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Velcro and Zip now… Are you preparing a kind of fashion week Mike?

PIAGGIO..... Zip, but I’m not sure how to spell it!

[Gerard C]

Do you remember the Zip & Zip? Probably the first bimodale scooter, two stroke and electric. Worked fine even if we had some issues in Firenze the pedestrians couldn't hear us coming… Very hard to maintain properly on the road if your ride the Italian way, yelling at people with both hands!

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Do you remember the Zip & Zip? Probably the first bimodale scooter, two stroke and electric. Worked fine even if we had some issues in Firenze the pedestrians couldn't hear us coming… Very hard to maintain properly on the road if your ride the Italian way, yelling at people with both hands!

Not sure if it was ever sold here, Gerard, but have heard of it.

[Gerard C]

I guess it was sold in Italy only. They had to have it on the price list to get the money from a contest organized but the city of Firenze. Dont think a Bajaj could have win the first price tho!
Anyway its probably the best choice in the Piaggio small displacement range, very good power to weight ratio. Aint you a bit too tall to ride it?

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

I guess it was sold in Italy only. They had to have it on the price list to get the money from a contest organized but the city of Firenze. Dont think a Bajaj could have win the first price tho!
Anyway its probably the best choice in the Piaggio small displacement range, very good power to weight ratio. Aint you a bit too tall to ride it?

Too tall for 125 ? Yes and no, but when transporting to race meets, size (or too much) matters...😏

In Autosport. For sale on behalf of administrators- ex JDC rigid Merc truck, and a load of very special ‘cherished’ registration numbers. The value of them alone would keep me racing for many years!

[Gerard C]

If they have a registration like " F U BOSS " or " ME FREE " available may be I got a client for it! Remember my mate with a Semi Lightweight I presume? He just quit today after fourteen years being responsible of a subsidiary of a well known bank. I guess the bean counter is considering a seppuku atm!

[midgetman]

Now I need to preface this list with the fact that I am a massive electric vehicle fan but...

I've just been reading about companies sticking electric motive power into classic cars.

Why? Just why? A classic car has a throbbing, petrol guzzling engine not a motor. It's the heart of the machine.

If you want an electric car, buy one - I'd love to. But please, leave the great classics alone, they are what they are. Why not make the Mona Lisa frown because climate change is so worrying, or turn the Pyramids into tetrahedrons? Put arms on the Venus Di Milo or cover up David? It's tantamount to vandalism.

Given that it costs £55k for some of the conversions you're not saving money with these monstrosities. There's even someone building a new electric MGB using a Heritage body shell for £110k plus!

Madness. The whole world's gone raving mad.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[morninggents]

I agree, Max, but blame the people who buy them. If folks didn't buy the companies making them would go bust and good riddance.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Given that it costs £55k for some of the conversions you're not saving money with these monstrosities. There's even someone building a new electric MGB using a Heritage body shell for £110k plus!

Madness. The whole world's gone raving mad.

You are right Max.

Most worrying is that the people prepared to pay a lot of money for ridiculous projects, electric or simply stupidly powered and specified ICE vehicles, are likely to be some sort of high wealth and probably high earning 'leaders' in their fields, fields which, presumably, 'society' considers to be valuable.

Either that or drugs dealers?

Either way one starts to wonder whether the mass of 'humanity' is getting very close to hitting the self destruct button through misapplication of creative abilities. Or perhaps not the 'mass' but its 'influencers'.

[Mike Bell]

I’m a bit more open-minded, but the price being quoted for some electric-powered classics is ridiculous. If I had the know-how, an electric Rover Mini would be my project. Doesn’t have to be based on a valuable classic, so that gets over that argument. Perfect size for a city car, and ride quality would probably be improved! I know there is one firm offering the conversion, but refer to my first sentence. BMW converted one to promote the upcoming EV BMW Mini, but showed it once then hid it away. Shame, as I’d love to see how they converted it, and be able to compare it with the ‘after market’ cars....

Grant, I hope that doesn’t make me a drug dealer......

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

I’m a bit more open-minded, but the price being quoted for some electric-powered classics is ridiculous. If I had the know-how, an electric Rover Mini would be my project. Doesn’t have to be based on a valuable classic, so that gets over that argument. Perfect size for a city car, and ride quality would probably be improved! I know there is one firm offering the conversion, but refer to my first sentence. BMW converted one to promote the upcoming EV BMW Mini, but showed it once then hid it away. Shame, as I’d love to see how they converted it, and be able to compare it with the ‘after market’ cars....

Grant, I hope that doesn’t make me a drug dealer......

It may depend on how many Lamborghinis you own and whether you think it is logical to buy a 600bhp 'saloon' car (or, worse, SUV) for everyday use on roads that are crumbling and having ever more restrictive speed limits applied to them week by week.

That the manufacturers seem intent on pushing such products suggests there must be demand but it's difficult to see what that will offer the buyers who are, presumably, sucking their purchasing power for the extremely ridiculous out the pockets of the masses and to hell with the consequences.

That the manufacturers also make these wonders of technology less and less secure from theft perhaps suggests that they are encouraged to do so by the thought that it will help them sell more cars with insurance companies as big clients.

Moreover if enough of them are stolen it will hide the long term engineering deficiencies that would otherwise get them a bad reputation for reliability and quality.

From a short term business POV this may seem entirely rational to some business planners. Whether it makes any sense for anyone else is currently an unanswerable question.

Looks like complete madness to me.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by grantp

It may depend on how many Lamborghinis you own and whether you think it is logical to buy a 600bhp 'saloon' car (or, worse, SUV) for everyday use on roads that are crumbling and having ever more restrictive speed limits applied to them week by week.

That the manufacturers seem intent on pushing such products suggests there must be demand but it's difficult to see what that will offer the buyers who are, presumably, sucking their purchasing power for the extremely ridiculous out the pockets of the masses and to hell with the consequences.

That the manufacturers also make these wonders of technology less and less secure from theft perhaps suggests that they are encouraged to do so by the thought that it will help them sell more cars with insurance companies as big clients.

Moreover if enough of them are stolen it will hide the long term engineering deficiencies that would otherwise get them a bad reputation for reliability and quality.

From a short term business POV this may seem entirely rational to some business planners. Whether it makes any sense for anyone else is currently an unanswerable question.

Looks like complete madness to me.

Blimey grant, you appear to be even more cynical than I am! (I wouldn't have thought that possible).

[grantp]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Blimey grant, you appear to be even more cynical than I am! (I wouldn't have thought that possible).

Can we just think of it as Extreme Realism?

Consider this.

VAG gets hammered worldwide for the farce of its emissions testing program that is a creative take on how to 'fit' engine engine software to performance requirements.

It seems to have done no lasting harm to their vehicle sales, certainly in Europe and possibly worldwide.

General Motors, in one their regular failing down cycles, sees the financial meltdown as an opportunity to seek government aid in the US and finally dump the businesses they owned outside the US (painfully and over extended periods in some cases).


They are now back in some favour in the US.

Ford, on the other hand, are only in favour, marginally, with their pickup trucks in the US.

In Europe, and notably in the UK, their once dominant position has faded rapidly.

They did not take a tax funded bailout. They had no widespread adverse publicity from any emissions testing 'management'. Makes you think. The word 'fickle' comes to mind in connection with the buying public. (That said I suspect the problem in the UK is the decline of company car fleets and the rise of PCP rentals. Either way it seems to have screwed them.)

There seems to be a similar pattern with Banks.

At the top of the business some off-the-wall characters like Musk and Bezos are thought of as geniuses when in reality in past times they might have been considered to be dangerous nutters. Only time will tell which they really are. They are not alone - there are plenty more although they may not be so extreme and publicity seeking.

It's a relative thing and no doubt one could point to periods of any country's history and find parallels of apparent madness as they related to the 'normals' of the time.

But these days the influencers and influences tend to have global reach - and rapid global reach at that with instant communications and rapid, perhaps hardly considered, responses.

I suppose the public masses get what they expect and deserve.

Is that cynicism or reality?

But, as it's Tea Break time, lovely day up here in North Leicestershire. Plenty of buzz all day from Donington. There was a bit of a breeze earlier that felt quite chill compared to the glorious warmth from the sun so it will likely be a good idea for anyone visiting to keep fleece handy.

[grantp]

Something perhaps even more appropriate for a tea break.


https://youtu.be/6HSgDGLEswE

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Blimey grant, you appear to be even more cynical than I am! (I wouldn't have thought that possible).

He’s our official ‘Team Cynic’. It’s all about a balance of views.....

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

He’s our official ‘Team Cynic’. It’s all about a balance of views.....

OK,
Well, to add to all of this, what will be the point of new high powered high performance cars when they're all going to be GPS speed limited in a few years time?

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

OK,
Well, to add to all of this, what will be the point of new high powered high performance cars when they're all going to be GPS speed limited in a few years time?

Gear them down and just see how quick they can get to ???mph...….

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Gear them down and just see how quick they can get to ???mph...….

That's what I like to see Mike, the Ten Tenths competitive spirit. Nothing is a problem, it's just another challenge!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Gear them down and just see how quick they can get to ???mph...….

You would probably need very wide tyres fitted with tines of some sort.

Sure to be banned.

Presumably no need to gear them if electric. Might be easier and cheaper just to make some 6 wheelers with 3 motors ...

[Mike Bell]

Viva- Absolutely! 0-60 in less than two secs, I reckon!

Grant- You’re taking your ‘Team Cynic’ title too seriously....

Just watching a prog about a Norwegian ‘fish train’. (Better than watching the news.....) The carriages are skeletal, and designed to take an articulated truck trailer within the skeleton. Just lifted by a h/d hi-ab and dropped in. So simple! Wonder if that idea is used anywhere else in the world?