[Author Index] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: Dumb rules/laws



>What was wrong with the old way, i.e. if you put it in gear with the
>sidestand down, the engine quits?

My very first bike, a decidely low tech 1979 Kawasaki KZ400 had a rather
ingenious solution. On the countershaft sprocket there was a knob that
stuck out. If the sidestand was left down and you tried to ride away, the
knob would hit a lever on the sidestand and it would automatically. You
couldn't ride away with the stand down, but it also didn't do any of the
following:

1. Prevent you from warming up the bike on the side stand (BMW & Ducati)
2. Spring up unexpectedly, causing you to drop the bike (Previous Ducati
design)
3. Cutout switch failes and causes bike to stall on freeway (Had this
happen on my '83 Vision. After that I bypassed the cutoff switch
completely.)

I'm sure some lawyer must have told them that someone could kill themselves
during the first rotation of the sprocket, so they had to change the design.

Matt Knowles - mattknowles@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://home.earthlink.net/~mattknowles
Aesthetic Design & Photography - (408) 977-1804
http://www.aestheticdesign.com



     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      The ST/RS Mailing list is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

=-=-=-= Next Message =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=