toofasttim

Glenn, that was the 348T which, as you said, had a bigger tank and seat as well as different gearing and the footrests were differently positioned. This appears to be pure 348 but the tank is different. I think (can't quite make it out) it may even be a plastic tank.

That's what I thought. Can anybody enlighten us about this variant?

The bike looks clean enough but I think there's something funny about the tank. What do you think? Italian 348

You and half of TC. It's like a masonic handshake in these parts.

Hmm, seems familiar. Can't quite put my finger on it though

Hmm, the original: Whole lotta love or, a bit more recent: to keep the hamster happy: Perhaps the finest into of all time (pity about the rest of the song)? Shaft

No, you said "all terrorists have been muslims". This is incorrect. Had you have said "all the 911 terrorists were muslims" the statement would have been correct.

Que? What about Baader-Meinhoff, Red Brigade, ETA, Vietcong, IRA, MK/PAC etc? Or were they just misguided boy scouts?

It was mentioned earlier in this thread that it was the larger bikes that sank Scorpa. Whether that's true I don't know but it does follow the old adage of "what wins on Sunday sells on Monday". Scorpa weren't getting results in the WTC so their sales suffered. Gasser on the other hand are getting results (apart from the pesky Bou fellow), so buy a Gasser 125/175 4T and hook your wagon to the star that is Gas Gas? Still as ugly as sin though, if it were better looking I would consider one. Some here have already said they wouldn't hesitate.

Who wrote the spec? Look no further.

Production Copey. Design is still firmly in the "wests" hands. We also tend to see consumer goods as the be-all and end-all of produced items. In fact they're a relatively small portion of production. Maybe not numercally but in value. If you look at the big ticket items like, for example, alternators used in power stations, the "west" still dominates here. Look at high tech items like lab equipment, it's dominated by "western" companies. Yeah, all the kids leaving school today want to be managers, but haven't the foresight to figure who'll they'll be managing. Engineering is just too hard and they'll be content to farm it out to India and China (incidently my experience of Indian engineers isn't good, they're really short in the lateral thought department)

I would suspect that Akiyama san has supplied Gas Gas with a solid business case for the bike in JAPAN (although Gasser have made some monumental cock-ups in their marketing in the past). One thing is for sure, Takumi Narita did the little 4Ts (and full face helmets) a big favour in the Japanese championship.

It can get WORSE?

Copey, we could get into a long discourse about this subject, but in a nutshell: the UK was sucessful because of what we now call "value add". Bare of most resources itself (actually the demand outstripped internal supply soon after the industrial revolution or the early 1800's) the UK processed many raw materials into their finished product such as stainless steel, cotton fabrics etc. In order to secure the supply of these raw materials the UK need a strong navy, merchant navy and an empire. The combination of the technical skills acquired by industrialisation, the navies and the empire built the UK into the most formidible trading society the world has ever known. At it's peak it eclipsed even the US at it's peak. If you look at the history of Japan and compare their history with the UK's you'll find that there are many similarities.

Ah, thanks Tony. Good idea but it's (IMO) as ugly as sin.

More Kiwi baiting:

Kiwi baiting: HOW TO SPEAK NEW ZEALANDER, FOR BIST EFICT, RID THESE OUT ALOUD! Milburn - capital of Victoria Peck - to fill a suitcase p****d aside - chemical which kills insects Pigs - for hanging out washing with Pump - to act as agent for prostitute Pug - large animal with a curly tail Nin tin dough - computer game Munner stroney - soup Min - male of the species Mess Kara - eye makeup McKennock - person who fixes cars Mere - Mayor Leather - foam produced from soap Lift - departed Kiri Pecker - famous Australian businessman Little crusps - potato chips Ken's - Cairns Jumbo - pet name for someone called Jim Jungle Bills - Christmas carol Inner me - enemy Guess - vapour Fush - marine creatures Fitter cheney - type of pasta Ever cardeau - avocado Fear hear - blonde Ear - mix of nitrogen and oxygen Ear roebucks - exercise at the gym Duffy cult - not easy Amejen - visualise Day old chuck - very young poultry Bug hut - popular recording Bun button - been bitten by insect Beard - a place to sleep Chully Bun - Esky Sucks Peck - Half a dozen beers Ear New Zulland - an extinct airline Beers - large savage animals found in U.S. forests Veerjun - mythical New Zealand maiden One Doze - well known computer program Brudge - structure spanning a stream Sex - one less than sivven Tin - one more than nine Iggs Ecktly - Precisely Earplane - large flying machine Beggage Chucken - place to leave your suitcase at the earport Sivven Sucks Sivven - large Boeing aircraft Sivven Four Sivven - larger Boeing aircraft Cuds - children Pits - domestic animals

Have you tried Horatio San Martin over at TodoTrial? It's also possible that one of the Spanish collectors may have a copy. Big John can assist with contact details.

Yes

I don't doubt the need for managers but I have seen organisations that have become one, huge, inflated HR department.

Oh I'm not criticising the NHS Dabster. I'm hardly in a position to do so. My point was that left wing or liberal govts are inclined to insert a layer of "management consultants" in state bureaucracies who add no value but cost the taxpayer an absolute fortune. It's not unique to the UK by any stretch of the imagination. Now where's Atomant? Now doubt he'll wade in with "Now when Mrs Thatcher was PM..".

Return of the prodigal son? Hi Dabster There was (is?) a cartoon strip in Private Eye. It might be called the doctors. I forget. Anyway the hospital is falling down, cutbacks and redundancies loom but the "management" block is being redectorated. Sums it all up really.

@ B40RT & Baldilocks: Don't you think that you've BOTH got a point?

That's why youdon't have a problem. The bead never gets time to "glue" itself to the rim.