I liked the interview, Nick. Podcast #33 with Lois Pryce was highly entertaining, too!
So, I went out and got all of her books and read them, as well as your latest.
Neither one of you is a real techno-geek in terms of motorcycle or cell phone technology
on a bike - quite the opposite, in fact. You play a lot with your cameras, but that's not
strictly motorcycle-related. I can understand your use of GPS, especially if you change your
mind on routes mid-ride WAAAY out in the boonies and don't have a map handy.
I tend to eschew a lot of modern technology on bikes. A lot of it just seems so unnecessary.
7 levels of traction control? Really?! Modulate the throttle...... The big Guzzi has both traction
control and cruise control. Never used either one. I can see cruise control while riding out west
- say across Utah or Nevada on the Interstate or Route 50, but it's pretty useless here in the
Northeast. My Trophy has an electrically-adjustable windscreen and electrically adjustable suspension.
Handy, but by no means necessary. I've turned
the radio on to see if it works, but that's it in the last 18K miles or so. (I loved your comment in your latest
tome that a radio has no place on a motorcycle! I'm inclined to agree.
) Heated grips are nice, especially
as I get older. My girlfriend likes the heated seat, but anything under 60F on a bike is arctic to her.
I have to admit to owning a cell phone for only the last 6 months or so, and have no intention of pairing
it with a bike. And I still haven't paired it with the truck, come to think of it.
GPS? That could be useful, but then again so are maps. And as Lois Pryce opines, asking for directions
does make for interesting and fun encounters with other people. Point-to-point by GPS and one misses
all of that.
I like electronic fuel injection, though! And on a carbureted bike, I DO like NOT having a manual mixture control,
and am a fan of automatic ignition advance on those machines with points. So I'm not a complete Luddite.
And touch screens on a bike are absurd - and dangerous. NOT a great human/machine interface on bikes or in
cars. Nor am I a fan of controlling things on the bike through a cell phone. I'll skip that, thanks.
-Stretch
