escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
Last week I had the chance to visit with a fellow from Germany. For background, the facility I'm in, is made up largely of German equipment. This guy is a manufacturers rep. and had been in the US about 2 weeks, traveling to several plants. Since I generally entertain the foreign guests, I spent a couple days with him.
When I met him in my office, he saw my FJR screen saver and picture on my wall. He immediately recognized the bike, asked if I owned one, wanted to know specifics, etc. and off we went. Work was out the window at that point.
In the course of conversations, he remarked that he was in the market for tires, exhaust, and PC to "uncork" his bike (a ZX12R). He and his buddies like to run the autobahns and play with the cars which are limited to 155 mph. h34r:
I told him my tires are about toast and I was putting new ones on very soon, not what came as OEM. He then told me that in Germany the bikes must run the tires and exhaust that the manufacturer specifies or has tested. He then showed me his registration, which called out Dunlops or Stones plus a lot of other bike information (max speed 298kph). The bikes must be inspected yearly by the "certifying authority" (his words) and if any aftermarket parts are found, the plate is not renewed. He even said that if he were stopped on the road, and the police were sharp and spotted the wrong tires or pipe, they could impound the bike on the spot!
I guess when comparing the good ol' USA to this, things aren't too bad....
Sorry this is so long, thought it was worthwile to pass along.
--G
When I met him in my office, he saw my FJR screen saver and picture on my wall. He immediately recognized the bike, asked if I owned one, wanted to know specifics, etc. and off we went. Work was out the window at that point.
In the course of conversations, he remarked that he was in the market for tires, exhaust, and PC to "uncork" his bike (a ZX12R). He and his buddies like to run the autobahns and play with the cars which are limited to 155 mph. h34r:
I told him my tires are about toast and I was putting new ones on very soon, not what came as OEM. He then told me that in Germany the bikes must run the tires and exhaust that the manufacturer specifies or has tested. He then showed me his registration, which called out Dunlops or Stones plus a lot of other bike information (max speed 298kph). The bikes must be inspected yearly by the "certifying authority" (his words) and if any aftermarket parts are found, the plate is not renewed. He even said that if he were stopped on the road, and the police were sharp and spotted the wrong tires or pipe, they could impound the bike on the spot!
I guess when comparing the good ol' USA to this, things aren't too bad....
Sorry this is so long, thought it was worthwile to pass along.
--G