Oh, look.
It's an old pic of the Beastie Boys, just before they made their big (big?) breakthrough with that hella' good music they're known for.
The additional guys are their manager and traveling janitor to pick up after them. :)
Not only do I read and hear comical motorcycling-related stuff having to do with maintenance and what old bikes are worth, but another hot topic is what modifications are deemed as being OK and non-offensive by some turkeys.
Oops.
I mean riders. ;)
Here's an example of what you'll routinely read on a forum that has a bunch of dual-sport (AKA dual-purpose bike) riders chiming-in with their opinions:
Anybody that knows what they're talking about knows from experience that today's EPA regulations are so strict and downright silly, that the way a street-legal bike runs off the showroom floor is often not as well as it could be, to say the least.
Pathetic is often the correct word.
The bikes are strangled for intake air, the carburetor or fuel injection settings are so lean that it's amazing the bikes will start and run, and the exhaust mufflers are stuffed with catalytic converters and feature outlets holes the diameter of a No. 2 pencil.
I ain't kidding.
Because there are people who have a functioning brain in their heads as far as wanting something called performance with their motorcycle, it is common for a rider to make changes to the bike in order to get rid of these performance restrictions, and done correctly, the bike is still just as civilized, as easy to ride (actually, it is easier because it will now run correctly), and will bother nobody who isn't simply a grouchy jerk looking for a punch in the face.
I belong to this group of riders.
There is a 2nd point of view on this stuff, the one where some riders feel that doing modifications to the bike will only reward you with trouble.
Trouble because you're breaking the law by removing the EPA restrictions (and possibly killing the fragile environment), and no doubt you'll be making the bike really loud, which will annoy people 37 miles away from you merely starting the engine.
These guys will try to convince you that you should leave the stock parts in place, claiming that, "the bike already makes enough power", or , "I don't want to make a lot of noise and get noticed or offend anybody", or some other Oprah Winfrey-type of new-aged, wimpy, brain-dead geek reasoning.
These guys are serious geeks, and I really doubt the most vocal among them have even given it a go, themselves.
I really doubt they actually know what they're talking about, in other words.
Ridding the bike of the silly regulations does not turn the bike into an evil noise-maker.
I, myself, have always been against riding a loud bike out in public, be it on the street or on public land like out in the Pachaug rock pile.
Doing that has always been, in my view, very selfish, stubborn, and something that is just asking for trouble.
I'm talking LOUD.
Some guys do it, and I feel it's a reflection of their personality.
You know:
Jerks.
These geeks will basically come on to a thread where somebody who just bought their dual-purpose bike is asking about what mods should be done to the bike to make it run better, and the geek will basically try to convince the guy asking that he should leave the bike well enough alone.
The No. 1 reason they give is that noise is the enemy, and you'll be shooting yourself in the foot by making the bike one decibel louder in any way, for any reason.
I say those geeks should get a grip and realize that the way the bikes come are simply unacceptable, the EPA regulations are beyond ridiculous, and getting rid of them is, basically, a requirement.
Their case of making the bikes loud simply is not true when using an exhaust muffler with trail riding in mind.
The FMF Q4 muffler that I have on my WR-250XX (and I also used it on the WR-250RX last year) is louder than stock, but still not loud.
It is totally acceptable as far as noise output, yet the bike runs much better by using it.
Combine this with an FMF Power Programmer fuel injection doo-hickey, and the bike is mucho better in the way it responds to the throttle.
I've always felt that if a rider can't appreciate qualities like that in his motorcycle, he should look in the mirror and ask himself just what he's really made of.
Cheese, maybe, because he's a squeaky little mouse spouting-off about how we're all gonna' get in trouble by modifying our bikes, and how we're all going to lose riding areas by having loud bikes.
These guys can kiss my ass.
This is because I firmly believe that, with the way I have my WR-250XX (and WR-250FY firebreather, too) modified, I'm not bothering anybody due to the modifications.
If I happen to run across somebody who gives me a dirty look while I'm on my bike, it's just because I was there and on a motorcycle - period.
Not because my modified bike is loud.
It is not.
It's because I was there and on a motorcycle.
That's it.
I could have been there on the bike with it in showroom condition (all plugged-up), and still gotten the same non-friendly reaction.
This probably would be coming from a horseback rider, nature boy or nature girl hiker (who believes they have first pick of the trails because they're on foot, the way God and Al Gore intended it), posey-sniffing faggot, New Aged brainwashed retard, environmental mental case, or similar poor excuse for somebody to be out there on the trails.
Of course, I sometime wonder how many of these geeks writing-in on the forums are environmental wackos, themselves.
Off to jerk,
-John
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