Copyright 2003, LRTMC

The Disclaimer

rolex first copy watches

As webmaster  this site gives me a forum to whinge, moan, grumble, vent my spleen, get it off my chest etc. However, please note that opinions expressed here are those of the webmaster and do not necessarily represent those of any other club member. In other words, don’t blame them for anything you find below that may cause offence.

Ride safe,

Mark

9/3/2004

Is it just me, or is this country totally losing the plot? We seem to have become a people obsessed with trivial crap so much so that we don’t bother giving serious attention to important issues. This of course is great for governments, it saves them the trouble of creating diversions to cover up their screw-ups. Why worry, nobody is interested in any of that, we’re all far more concerned with the fate of the Australian Idols, the outcome of the Survivor show, or perhaps we’re really into that show where a bunch of bloody maladjusted discontents are building a house together.

 I’m sorry, but frankly I don’t give a fuck about all that crap. I’d be far more interested to hear John Howard give an honest explanation about why we went to war in Iraq. And please, don’t tell me it was to free the oppressed Iraqi people, I mean the real reason. After all, it was only after we failed to find even one weapon of mass destruction that this started to be put around as our motivation. Don’t get me wrong here, I support our troops 100%, they did a great job. What I question is why they were put in harms way. You see, I believe that if you’re going to ask people to risk their lives for their country you really should have a damn good reason for it. John Howard must be very glad we didn’t lose any of our troops in Iraq. I think that had we had our soldiers coming home in flag draped coffins people would be far more interested in knowing why we were there. Thankfully this didn’t happen. Still, we did get a Free Trade Agreement out of it. Whoops, totally unconnected issues. Funny how New Zealand got dropped from the negotiations after it didn’t back the war………

It seems to me that the Howard government is not being honest with us. Shock! Horror! Politicians lying! I know, hard to believe isn’t it? Still its not a new thing, particularly where it involves the military and intelligence issues. Who can forget the “children overboard” fiasco? Well actually almost everyone, we were too busy watching Big Brother. Wake up people, after all its an election year, it’d be nice to know what the hell we’re voting for. Still, what the fuck, all politicians are pricks I reckon. As the great Billy Connolly said “Don’t vote it only encourages the bastards.” Gotta go now, the American Idol re-runs are about to start.

24/09/2003

I must thank Orville Smooms for alerting me in our guestbook that I hadn’t had a spit here for some time. Mr Smooms, rest assured its not because all is well in the world. Actually there are quite a few things giving me the shits at the moment. I’d like to know why the fuck Australian taxpayers are funding some toffy nosed rich little prince from the UK to come out here and swan about for a few months. Surely his parasite family could afford to pay for his trip, after all they’ve been bleeding the English people dry for generations! Roll on the Republic!

I’m shitty with Suzuki too, how is it that the company that produces the GSXR1000 is getting its arse whipped in MotoGP by everybody, even Proton! I’m not a Suzuki fan but it’d be nice to see ’em put up a fight. I recall the late Barry Sheene commenting that when he rode for them it took a massive kick up the arse to get the factory moving forward, and not much to have them slide back again. I guess nothing has changed there since Barry  was doing the kicking. When was the last time Suzuki won the championship anyway?

I’m also fed up listening to riders whinge and moan about how unfair it is that they’ve been caught speeding yet again! Get the fuck over it! We’ve all been fined, you’re not fuck’in Robinson Crusoe! It was your hand on the throttle wasn’t it? Hey, heres a wild idea, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! Besides, I hate it when I can’t keep up.

21/05/2003

Last nights TV news saw we motorcycle types getting a bad run again. Although in this case I really can’t blame the TV station/s concerned. I’d rather blame the complete fuckheads who were doing shit like riding down the road standing on the bikes seat without even a shirt on, let alone any proper protective gear. Naturally they videoed this stupidity. Unfortunately it appears that the police, and the media got the tape. Well done gentlemen, take a bow. The media is down on bikes enough already, without you providing them with such material to justify the popular view that all bike riders are maniacs. You clowns may think you’re real bike riders but you’re little more than an embarrassment to the vast majority of riders. Riders who see the future of their lifestyle being threatened with the possibility of heavy handed legislation and policing policies as a result of this kind of publicity. Why don’t you do us all a favour and find some new fad to attach yourselves too. Or if you really love bikes and riding fast, join a club, and go racing on the track.

2/04/2003

I love a good war don’t you? However, I must say that I’m a little annoyed at the way the TV networks have turned on it. I mean they were all go at the start, non-stop coverage, it was rating well, raking in those advertising dollars. Everyone was happy. Well almost everyone, there were those tree-huggers moaning on about death and destruction etc, but those people are always whinging about something. But now that it looks like the war might take more than a week to finish (come on guys, its a WAR not a bloody Cricket game!) the networks are starting to go a bit cold on the whole thing. I realised this when “knowledgeable commentators” began saying that the war plan was looking a little shaky. How dare they! They are being paid by the networks who are making their money selling this thing. They need to be a little more upbeat about the whole thing. Maybe we should get rid of the retired military types and put some sports commentators on the war desk. These are people who can make Test Cricket and Lawn Bowls sound exciting! Imagine what they could do with a war!

Unfortunately showing a war is not like running a reality show. Or maybe it is…….heres an idea. Why not get Saddam, Tony Blair, John Howard, and George W and lock em up in the Big Brother house. Hell, even if its boring television at least it’ll keep them out of trouble for a while. I’m not sure I’ll be tuning in for the bedroom action though, I have a weak stomach.

18/03/2003

What the hell is going on with petrol prices? How is it that the price at a service station can rise ten cents during the course of a day? I go past this particular servo all day during the course of work, and they had not had a delivery. So the petrol had gone up whilst in the underground tanks! Why is it that last weekend I had to pay $1.05 for premium unleaded just out of Brisbane yet was able to get it for ten cents less later in the day out in the country? Shouldn’t it have cost more there due to the extra transport costs? We’re being fucking robbed! We hear the dire predictions that if (when) George W starts his war we’ll face even higher prices.  Alan Fells and the ACCC have been noticeably quiet on this lately, its high time the Government took some meaningful steps on this. Its not like people can just stop buying fuel, our whole way of going about our lives depends on it. Don’t hold your breath waiting for action though, after all the Governments are taking their (large) share of the proceeds. The only consolation is that we motorcyclists are, due to our choice of transport, spending less on petrol that most others.

20/02/2003

Maybe I’m getting a little paranoid, but I reckon the media in this country, particularly the Murdoch owned papers are conducting a campaign against motorcycle riders. The Sunday Mail (Brisbane) of February 16, 2003 had a story on page 9 about a particularly nasty bike accident. Sadly, two riders lost their lives. Without wishing to diminish the seriousness of the incident I can’t help but wonder about a few things. The article states that the speedometer on the Huyabusa was “stuck on 190km/h.” Maybe it was, but I cannot believe that was the impact speed, the bike didn’t look that badly damaged to me. I’d suggest that in an accident an instrument needle could bounce around and end up pretty much anywhere on the dial. Still, it gave the story a little more “punch”.

Would the paper have even bothered with this story had they not in the recent past been pushing a campaign to reintroduce front number plates on bikes? Probably not. If you believe these articles all riders are maniacs with no respect for the law or the safety of themselves or others. However the real reason for the concern appears not to be road safety but the fact that some riders have escaped paying the fine as the speed camera took the photo front on. That’s right folks, its all about the money.

I wrote a Letter to the Editor listing my concerns with the article and pointing out a few truths. Surprise, surprise,  it got published, well sort of. The Sunday Mail edited my letter from the three paragraphs it was down to merely publishing only the opening sentence! So much for freedom of speech.

Look out for the next salvo. I don’t think they’re finished with this one yet. And with the kind of “weak at the knees” politicians we get to choose from every few years, you can bet that if they think persecuting a minority group (us) will get them a few more votes, then we’re in real trouble.