Craig.

Can you use this simple formula to explain why some XR6Ts which make 300KW only make 700NM of torque while others with 300KW make over 900NM? If power and torque are related I cant see how.

My tastes in cars are wide and varied. I would probably be just as happy in a Golf GTI as I would my T. Very different cars though. My list: 1) Fun to drive 2) Fun to drive 3) Fun to drive 4) Running costs ( insurance, servicing) have to be reasonable. 5) Practical. I couldn't own a Porche or Ferrari for the lack of practicality ( or the running costs come to think of it).

I can say the same thing regarding valuing my driving and never puting any other peoples lives at risk, yet I have lost mine for three months. I got caught doing 115 in an 80 zone on the Old Pacific Hwy just south of Brooklyn on my 1000cc road bike. For those that dont know it, the Old Pacific Hwy used to be the main road north of Sydney before a the F3 was built. Its a great road for a bike at 100kph as there are lots of fairly tight corners ( 45kph ones according to the advisory speed posted before the corners) and riding is all about corners after all. It is in the middle of nowhere, not in a built up area at all. Just another country road now, with some beautiful scenery of the lower Hawksbury River. A great place to ride except for the revenue collection agency that concentrates heavily on this area. If only I knew that then! In the 70s the speed limit was 100kph along there, but they have dropped it down to 80 and in some cases 60 now. Why? Good question as it is in the middle of nowhere and as I said, it was 100 when your dad/grandfather could drive it in an old car with cross plies and crap suspension before the freeway was built. Look at how far car/bike and tyre technology has come since then and then explain to me why a speed limit on a road that used to be a major hwy needs to be dropped! I was just out for a quiet afternoon ride, not doing anything stupid, just enjoying the curves and corners riding well within both my and the bikes abilities. The only mistake I made was riding to conditions, looking up and concerntrating on the road surface rather than fixing all of my concerntration on the gauge cluster to see what my speed was. I find watching the road is a much better plan if you want to live by the way! All of a sudden around the next corner comes a mobile radar with a disliking for bikes. The rest you can figure out but as I was more than 30 over means means 3 months walking in NSW. My driving record before and since has been great. Havent had a speeding ticket in a car for 10 years. I do get done on the bike occasionally but as I said, I would rather concentrate on the road and live than spend all my time staring at the speedo and potentially miss something that could kill me. You don't have to be a hoon to loose it mate. With the laws as they stand, you just have to be doing something mildly silly at the time that an unsympathetic cop is coming the other way. Or like in your case, setting your cruising speed at slightly over the speed limit and get caught enough times, or just being plain unlucky when there is double demerit points like poor old Senna. Not trying to justify all of this or glorify it. I'm just saying that the way that the laws are, it isnt too hard to loose you licence! Case in point.

two and a half times the speed limit and the police weren't happy? I wonder why? Just as a matter of interest, was the road in a built up area or out in the middle of nowhere?

This should be an interesting poll. TTT Is this just taking into account loss of licence through speeding offences, or does DUI count. I ask because up here I know of many more people who have been done for DUI than speed related loss of licence. The pole came about because of a speeding thread though, so do the DUI guys and girl get a vote?

Morally justify it? Rape, assault would be classed as a morally deprived type of offence. I didn't realise that speeding fell into the same category!

that's done to protect you from yourself! You thought I was going to say something about revenue raising but that is obviously not what the 'Speed Kills' propaganda, oopps I mean campaign, is all about.

I realise this, but I also believe that if you were to perform a passing manouvre and break the speed limit by 20kph to do so safely, many coppers ( not all as there are morons and f*cktards in all walks of life) do see that this is a much better outcome than doing the speed limit and meeting your maker in the grille of an oncoming truck. Common sense has to prevail.

What would this achieve? Less death and injury? No! People die at and below posted speed limits all the time so it wouldn't prevent death,only speed itself, which is pretty much a victimless crime unless an accident happens. Why spend ANY money just to take my FREEDOM to do 110 in a 100 zone. Whats more how would this system go on a single lane highway. Guy in front wants to do 90. I want to do 100 but opportunites to pass would be very limited as I can only do 10kph more than him. This would cause more congestion and more accidents on the road, not less. Fatigue is the main reason for accidents on the road. Bad road design is also a major contributor. If someone coming at you in the opposite direction falls asleep, what stops them from veering into your path. Nothin on 99% of our roads! Let the goverment concertrate on ways to reduce that rather than just how fast a car is allowed to travel. Part of the solution to this may actually be looking at raising speed limits on highways. This has already been the case in other parts of the world.

If you need a test car let me know. My ute can be made available.

I believe that the cost of smoking or obesity would probably be a greater burden from a treasury point of view. Regarding the cost to us as humans (emotional and physcological), the rate of suicide takes a greater toll ( more people top them selves off than are killed on the road) but I dont see the goverment doing too much about this. What is also not widely understood is that a lot of accidents can be prevented or lessened by road design. Our roads are sh*t by western world standards and our government doesn't want to spend the money fixing them despite the road toll and despite the fact that motorists have been a cash cow for the treasury for many years. That being the case why not instigate a licencing system ( and road system) similiar to the Germans. It costs a lot ( out of each individuals pocket as well as the government) and takes a lot of hours to complete the training and not everyone passes, but the end result is a competent driver that can actually drive, takes their priveledge to drive very seriously and they are able to do so at high speed on worlds best standard of road.

If you lose your car licence your bike, truck licences are also suspended.

Didn't you say you were above posting in this thread in an earlier post? I never winged about the dollar amount. I just stated the obvious regarding the governments real adgenda regarding our roads. The government doesn't give a stuff about the road toll! Only about how much revenue it can raise out of motorists! Dont get me wrong. I feel for the poor old coppers and paramedics that have to attend serious accidents on the road, but statistically the majority of these actually are caused by fatigue, not speed. If the government was actually serious about road safety they could go about it a lot differently. Like making it a requirement that you can actually control a car at speed, rather than just be able to parrallel park one. Ratther than that they give anyone with a heartbeat a licence and then tax the hell out of us all for the priveledge through fuel excise, as well as for speeding of course. After all speed kills!

Because that is not an option for this particular offence. In NSW if you lose points 2 or 3 at a time until you go over 12 in under a three year period ( say by getting done for 15kph over the limit 5 times in 2.5 years) you have the option of doing this. This offence is classed as a high speed one and while it only attracts a 5 or 6 point loss of points, they suspend your licence because any one found guilty of doing over 30kph recieves an instant loss of licence for 3 months regardless of how many points are accumulated! I believe gulilt has been established as when you paid the fine ( under NSW law) so personally I think you are probably pushing sh*t up hill to get this reversed. Worth a phone call to a solicitor who specializes in traffic traffic infringements though. There is a guy who advertises in car and bike mags who is based in Hornsby. I think the firms name is Lawstop?! Give him a ring! If you hadn't paid it I would encourage you to fight this. Too much easy money out there for the government is being made out of us under the guise of road safety, which is total bullsh*t! Imagine how much they would relax the speeding laws and think twice about pulling you up for doing 67 in a 60 zone if everyone who got a ticket actually contesting it and had their day in court. The court system would be clogged up for decades! Police officers would spend more time in court than on the street, etc,etc.

Maybe you should. It really isnt that far. I'd have to travel 1000klm to get to a decent detailer.

Trace your family tree here! http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

Quite clearly you are my intelectual superior. You think its good to blow people up because its fun and if someone calls you on it you come out with the killer 'you must be gay' line. Awesome. Ate any roadkill lately Billy Bob. Still sleeping with your mum? Or have you moved onto your sister now. For the record, the only bike I ride has a 1000cc engine. Motorcyclists also get targeted by car drivers with an IQ around the same as yours because we can get through traffic quicker and more efficiently than you and there is nothing you can do about it and that pisses dicks like you off doesn't it! I used to ride a bike as a kid though ( too young for a licence) so I suppose that means I am a gaylord. I just cant comprehend how any civilized human being can think that it is a good idea to blow someone off the planet because they ride a bike and may make you 30 seconds later to work or wherever a person as important as you has to go. Life must be pretty cheap in your eyes. Do you really think that the small inconvenience of being stuck behind a slower moving behicle for a few seconds gives you the right to f*ck them over? Are you REALLY that much more important than the rest of us? Being such a self centred, selfish bastard , I suppose this is making no sense to you, so skep that attitude up champ. Once you do use a cyclist, L plater or whoever else pisses you off on the road for traction, they will lock you up and you can be Bubbas bitch for 10 to 15!

You can garantee they are saying the same thing about you f*cktard!

Perhaps they are allowed on the M5 then. I know there is a big sign at Hornsby at the start of the F3 saying no livestock or bicyclists. I have also seen them on the Westgate Freeway ( I think) in Melb. I would have thought the M5 was the same. Maybe not?

WhileI am all about peoples freedom and being able to get around however they choose without others using them as target practice, motorways and freeways are definitely not a place for bikes. Aren't there even signs that say as much? I.e. No livestock or bicycles on freeway/motorways?

that's a very general, sweeping statement. I find most sheep are silly. Cows not much better. Dogs are pretty smart although I have seen a boxer wait until a car was coming before stepping out onto the road and headbutting that cars front door panel. With cyclists though I reckon they pretty much are on par with the rest of their species. Some are pretty stupid. Many are intelligent. A lot fall somewhere in between. Funny how your perception changes depending on your situation though. When I am out riding my motorbike, I am pretty sure that EVERY car driver is dumber than average and basically they think that life is cheap ( as long as it's not theirs I suspect). Car drivers abuse their privelidge to use the road and take it for granted as they cut me off and almost kill me (on an almost daily basis) while eating weetbix, shaving or applying lipstick and eyeshadow at 110kph! I suppose they think that not devoting 100% of their attention to the task at hand (driving) is OK though because they have almost 2 ton of metal around them to protect their lower than average IQ, as well as their limbs. Besides which, with my full face helmet, gloves and leathers on, I almost don't look human so its no big deal if they kill me to get to work 10 seconds earlier, right! I should know better anyway. The road is designed for cars, not bikes, motorised or otherwise. Go figure.

Actually Scotty I dont think that the tolls would be neccesary on a well built bike transport system. If a lot more people rode bikes, the drop in demand on our public health system from obesity related illnesses could probably pay for the bike paths 10 fold. To give you some idea, in 1996 it is estimated that it costs the aussie tax payer as much as $1239 million dollars a year to treat obesity related illness. Thtas a 12 year old figure which is sure to have doubled in 2008. And why disocurage people from doing what is a really healthy thing to do by taxing them with tolls and rego, especially when the only reason to do it is because car drivers have the attitude that the roads are only for vehicles with an engine.

I totally agree! Bikes have the same rights to be on the roads and in fact there should be more of them, considering what a fat lot of carnts we are and the fact that fuel is going to be worth more than gold in a couple of years. The reason that some car drives have an issue with cyclists is that the car drivers have it in their heads that the road is purely there for them to use and so have the attitude that THEY own the road. that's not the case! Bikes were using roads long before cars used them. I also find the condoning of targeting and maiming another human being just because they use a different form of transport to you which may cost you a couple of extra seconds in your daily commute to be apauling! Have a think about it guys. Just how important are those few seconds it takes you to slow down and get around a cyclist safely rather than pretending they aren't there and trying to kill them.

Why not just buy a 5SP manual. The T56 is a better box for copping abuse and big power but it might just be a waste of your hard earned in an N/A BA. Buying an Auto and then doing a manual conversion is going to cost a little bit unless you happen to already have the pats sitting around or you happen to be related to Mal Wood. Unless you are going to run big power in your N/A, or you are going to absolutely rape the poor thing, the T5 should hold up to the type of power that the N/A puts out.

What else can you tell us? Details please!