G. David Felt

Mobile 1

Makes one rethink about getting rid of an old auto you are happy with and refreshing it with modern tech be it ICE or EV, just refreshing it is way cheaper than buying a new one. Crazy never thought I would see this happen this way. Pandemic is really hitting hard, I wonder if the 1918/1919 Influenza did the same thing? I bet so. ?

WOW ? Due to supply chain shortages, Honda has shutdown pretty much all Canada and US auto production for the next week and could be extended depending on when parts become available. Exclusive: Honda temporarily cutting production at all U.S., Canada plants | Reuters I would be very cautious about buying an auto built over the last couple weeks and the next few weeks.

Getting built out better and better every day. Locate a public EV charger | Electrify America We have the Top 5 current Charging networks currently and I think this will change dramatically this decade in the US. Much like the West coast has their electric highway covering Washington, Oregon, and California and now building out secondary highways / roads. West Coast Green Highway: West Coast Electric Highway Seems the South electrical providers have decided on building their own coalition for building a South / South East coast highway system. New Electric Highway Coalition plans to connect US Gulf Coast, Midwest and Atlantic State destinations via fast chargers - POWERGRID International (power-grid.com) Per this write up, 18 million EVs are expected to be on US roads by 2030 per the Edison Institute. With ICE having 150,000 gas stations with an average of 10 pumps per station, that is over 1 million pumps. EVs will finally be on par once the charging infrastructure for high speed recharging equal to ICE. 6 US Utility Companies Plan EV Charging Network In Southern States (cleantechnica.com)

We all know that those that adopt new tech will experience the latest issues that have not been ironed out yet. Sadly, the UK unlike the US choose to disperse the Money from the VW settlement to local gov's to deal with building local charging stations. The US made sure VW was on the hook for a proper network, so the build out is very different there compared to here. I expect the US to leap frog the UK in supporting higher charging standards of working stations.

Valvoline

The Ultimate double Standard org out of Italy!

Breaking News Back in November 2020 BMW released a detailed info about their first main stream EV the BMW iX CUV. The first ever BMW iX – Design World Premiere. (bmwgroup.com) Green Car reports has stated that while BMW North America was not willing to release actual pricing, they did say that this EV will compete head to head with Tesla X and Audi E-Tron as well as the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. BMW North America said to expect this EV to start in the mid 80K. Pre-ordering is expected to start in June 2021 with first deliveries scheduled for early 2022. This EV will start then at around $85,000 and go up from there with 500 HP, awd, 0-62mph in 5 seconds and top speed of 124 mph 2022 BMW iX: 300-mile electric SUV will rival Model X and E-Tron, start around $85,000 (greencarreports.com)

Sadly I have very limited motorcycle knowledge so even using google and bing, I have not found any thing except about the merlin motorcycle company that is dead. Merlin Motorcycles (cybermotorcycle.com) Found this on Wiki and yes I am admitting defeat and seeing what sticks to the wall! France[edit] Midual Peugeot Scooters Scorpa Sherco Solex Voxan Germany[edit] BMW Motorrad Sachs (parts and accessories only) Italy[edit] Aprilia Beta Motor Benelli Bimota Cagiva (innactive under MV Agusta) Ducati Energica Fantic Motor Ghezzi & Brian Magni Malaguti Minarelli (engines only) FB Mondial Moto Guzzi Moto Morini MV Agusta Paton Piaggio SWM Terra Modena Vespa Vyrus Poland[edit] Junak SFM Junak Zipp Portugal[edit] AJP Casal Russia[edit] IMZ-Ural IZh Velomotors ZiD as the Voskhod Slovenia[edit] Tomos Spain[edit] Bultaco Derbi Gas Gas Montesa Ossa Rieju Sanglas Ukraine[edit] KMZ United Kingdom[edit] AJS Ariel Motor Company Cheney Racing Clews Competition Motorcycles Hesketh Métisse Norton Scomadi Info from the following wiki page. List of motorcycle manufacturers - Wikipedia

According to this story, the Honda will be built by GM at the Mexico plant and the Acura version will be built at Spring Hills. Future Honda, Acura EVs To Utilize GM Ultium Batteries, Ultium Motors (gmauthority.com) Seems to be more proof that GM will build the first EVs for Honda and Acura. Honda Reveals Plans for Two New EVs in U.S. for MY2024 - The Detroit Bureau

Moto2 is an unconventional motor for a bike. Moto2™ Engine | For the Ride (triumphmotorcycles.com) OLD,

So if Drew got a 2019 Hayabusa I wonder if he might start to glow from the Iridium spark plugs? ?? Suzuki Cycles - 2019 Hayabusa - GSX1300R Course Merlin Bike Gear would imply Triumph Motorcycle. Merlin Motorcycle Clothing - Online Shop (merlinbikegear.shop)

Meh for me to Merlin and Packard, but your right! The Most Powerful Cruisers In 2019 | Motorcycle Cruiser Triumph and Yamaha are number 2, 1 in 2019 for cruisers.

Triumph surly has a very interesting air intake compared to the Yamaha, but I would still take a Yamaha over the Triumph IMHO. Interesting comparison though from 2010 of their engines. Triumph Rocket III Roadster vs. Yamaha Star VMax Comparision Test Review | Cycle World

Good comparison of the two for 2020 Spec Showdown: Triumph Rocket 3 Vs. Yamaha VMax (rideapart.com)

Drew always wanted a bike to carry on the Avalanche when he road trips, so either a Triumph bike or a Japanese bike. I would take the Yamaha bike over a Triumph IMHO.

With Honda using GM Ultium batteries and Power Train, the base platform is very generalized. Be interesting to see how Honda makes their EV's very different from GM.

True, but then I already have my GMC Suburban for hauling 4x8 sheets or up to 10ft long stuff inside safely. So the Rivian and Hummer still more than meet our needs for a truck for the wife with passenger hauling capabilities. Course another benefits with the EV trucks is the Frunk, that allows such a nice way to store smaller stuff while maximizing the bed for other bigger stuff.

I know the top brands did not, but I thought this was something special to the police edition. Thank you @ccap41 for that additional info, that helps clarify the info in the story. Thanks

Yes look at the state license, more taxation than mine!

Are ya sure there were the Michelin? This year is the first for them from Costco as all years past they have been the crappy Goodyear windshield wipers. I tried the Goodyears back in 2019 and they were so bad out of the box that I returned them only days later and left a comment about how crappy Goodyears wipers were. Seems many agree based on comments online. Looked online for reviews and the Michelin seem to be a decent basic wiper. Top 10 Best Windshield Wipers, 2021 (autoguide.com) Other than tires and Mobil 1 oil when on rebate, I have not bothered to buy any auto stuff there. Use Bosch myself with RainX and they just last for years.

Puking

Some very cool news, Police now have a new Police edition Pickup Truck from Ford. Police F-150 has been beefed up to handle continued use at 120MPH. It also has the following new features: QUOTE The pickup also features a new "police engine idle," which allows officers to remove keys from the ignition and securely exit the truck with the engine running with the touch of a button. The new police pickup, like the consumer truck, features remote, or over-the-air, connectivity as well as data and telematics analysis to assist in vehicle uptime, running costs and driving behavior. Customers also can opt to order a vehicle without the front console between the driver and front passenger, which allows agencies to more easily install their own department-specific consoles. Meet Ford's new pursuit-rated F-150 pickup for police (msn.com) VW has announced that they will get Close to Tesla within the next couple years and then where people say Tesla is the Apple of the Auto World, VW will be happy to be the Samsung of the Phone world for EV's Globally. If Tesla Is the Apple of Electric Vehicles, Volkswagen Is Betting it Can Be Samsung (msn.com)

I am sure the heavy truck hauling members here will bitch about this mini-truck only having a 5'4" bed since it is 4" longer than the Hummer. ? Course it also does not match up to the Chevrolet Luv truck's bed lengths they had in the 70's. For all the bitching about bed length, I see a ton of empty beds on the road as they have become the new Station wagon of the 21st century. I remember before the pandemic hit, one of the sales guys came into the office and he was talking about how awesome his Raptor is and how much he has enjoyed driving it the last year plus. We went down to check it out and I commented that his bed was so clean and shinny and I remember he said he would never haul anything, but drove it for how high it sat and how it drove and the look. Another truck not being used as a truck. Like you posted and a few others, lots of people are buying trucks but not using them anywhere for what they were originally designed for.

The Costco's here in Washington seem to have flipped to self check out right after the pandemic hit last year. My Aurora and Lynnwood costco only have a few lanes for large scale purchases of stuff, otherwise everyone is self checkout. Crazy to see the tech challenged that are having a hard time checking themselves out. Business costco is the only place that has not installed self check out stations, wished they did but then I am not their normal shopper when you see so many flatbeds of product being bought. Ka-Ching Ching, the money flows there.