Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:

 RN>> Oh, the mentality is still there, but at the same time it is
 RN>> cognizant of the body's condition, else I'd have been riding my
 RN>> SIL's Harley long ago. A Trike is the fad here nowadays.

 RW>> Backward trikes maybe. Certainly not HD trikes anymore.

 RN> Right.  I still couldn't afford one.  (-:

I can't see the motorcycle rider's need for such a vehicle, unless one
doesn't have any sense of balance.

 RN>> That's interesting.  My Mark VIII gets over 30MPG at 1400RPM on the
 RN>> highway at 60 (usually the safest speed to go because the speed
 RN>> limits change suddenly and sometimes without warning).

 RW>> 60mph would be on the cusp between 5th and 6th gear in the
 RW>> Z...1400rpm is too low in 6th and 60mph in 5th is over 1500rpm.

 RN> I think one of the factors is the Mark VIII lowers itelf slightly at
 RN> high speeds to reduce drag (the body is a sleek design) and the
 RN> transmission is in overdrive, reducing the strain on the V-8.

Since that isn't a torque motor, I don't get the impression that it would
be anything but a strain on it. My mother used to drive a straight 8
Pontiac with 3spd on the column. She'd take off from a stop sign and shift
into 3rd gear before she got across the intersection. When I drove it, I
wasn't in 3rd gear until way past the intersection. She was lugging that
motor and I was letting it do its intended job. She told my dad about it
and he said that I was right...I was only 15yo at that time.

 RN>>  The MPG will increase slightly if I'm going north to south, but
 RN>> everyone laughs at me when I tell them that. (-:

 RW>> Dunno why.  8^)

 RN> Because anyone going north to south is going downhill.  (-:0

Not exactly. If your north starting place was on a plateau and you were
going south, that might be down hill. But just heading south from north
isn't going down hill.

 RN> An example is when we visit relatives every other week in north
 RN> Louisiana. The time to get there, since we're traveling south to
 RN> north, is greater than the return home time.  Try it yourself.  I'll
 RN> bet you notice the difference.

I've driven from here to Illinois and back. There is no difference...


         R\%/itt


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 * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)