"The Pipes of Silence"

Shuey

Shuey

Site Supporter
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
1,564
Location
Niceville, FL
Bike
FJR1300 ES, 2018
SPOT
LINK
Posted with the permission of its author. For most of us, the tune will come to mind immediately; it did for me.
Shuey


The Pipes of Silence
by Bill Watt

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to ride in you again
Because a rider softly creeping
Brings the quiet while I'm sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams, I ride alone
Silenced pipes not megaphones
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my ears were stabbed by the sound of a bitchin' bike
That split the night
And killed the sound of silence
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People sleeping without waking
People talking without yelling
People singing songs that everyone can hear
Before no one cared
To love the sound of silence
"Fools" said I, "You did not know
Loud Pipes, they like a cancer grow . . .
 
jonjonboo said:
“Sounds” like you in the market for an electric motorad :D
I am loving my ST1300 but still love my old noise
Click to expand...

When the bike can go 400+ miles averaging 70+ mph on a charge and recharge in 15 minutes or less . . . I'll be on it.
Until then, go ahead and crank it up and enjoy the ride.
Shuey
 
TourNut said:
Aptera is getting close .... : Aptera Motors
( got my reservation in - January '21 )
Click to expand...
Erdoc48 said:
I did as well (reserved a few weeks ago)…the only issue is how fast they can produce them at scale. It might be several years before they get delivered.
Click to expand...
We will see. Most of the EV startups seem to take a LOT longer to deliver than their promises would have you believe. I'm thinking of Rivian and the E Pickup plant in Lordstown, OH. Too, Sondors promised an electric motorcycle early in '22 if you put a refundable $100 deposit down before Sept 30 (I think that was the date, correct me if I'm wrong). One of the guys in our club sent in his deposit and was notified two weeks ago that production is now delayed to 'sometime in 2022'. He decided he did not want to fund their research. Sondors is an existing company that sells E bikes (pedal power, w/ motor assist). Aptera is a startup.
 
Erdoc48 said:
I did as well (reserved a few weeks ago)…the only issue is how fast they can produce them at scale. It might be several years before they get delivered.
Click to expand...
They have over 13000 pre-orders . They are now getting their new production factory in Carlsbad Calif . set up to ramp up to production of about 80 per working day . ( 400 / week )
( they started the current pre-order number @ 10,000 , so whatever your reservation number is , ignore the first 10,000 , i.e. , doesn't count ) - ( They had pre-orders going back in 2007 so that might be the reason , I was # 33 back then ! but they automatically refunded me a month later as their situation was changing )
 
Last edited:
I love the idea of the ‘solar car’ and getting up to 40 miles via solar alone per day. That’s why I’m more of an Aptera fan. I want to see them succeed (also want to see Sondors succeed as that 3 wheeler looks very nice). Elio is a flash in the pan that only produced a few prototypes, so I am doubtful they will ever have a 3 wheeler offering.
 
I think what you will see in the 'electric' vehicle segment is the same that you saw when ICE vehicles first started -
Lots of small companies making entries into the segment that eventually 'merged' into larger conglomerates.
Those that didn't 'merge' ended up fading away though may have been way ahead technology wise of the 'survivors'.
 
Shuey said:
Different and well crafted, but makes me wonder what model Harley he owns and if any of the baffles remain.

Shuey
Click to expand...
Had a shiny dressed HD pass us on the highway yesterday. We were keeping up with 80 mph traffic. Didn't hear anything until he was even with the side of our car...just a very low rumble that that left with him. There are a few of that type of HD rider out there.
Got two HD neighbors now. One I can hear start up mornings...he lives two streets directly over. Another neighbor at the end of the street (about 100 yards down) brought one a few weeks back.....had aftermarket pipes installed over the weekend. Now I can hear two of them head off to work.
 
Erdoc48 said:
I love the idea of the ‘solar car’ and getting up to 40 miles via solar alone per day. That’s why I’m more of an Aptera fan. I want to see them succeed (also want to see Sondors succeed as that 3 wheeler looks very nice). Elio is a flash in the pan that only produced a few prototypes, so I am doubtful they will ever have a 3 wheeler offering.
Click to expand...

I know this is an older thread...
I also like the Aptera. Been following that one since late 2005 when the concept was initially put out there. I think initially I liked it just because of how unique it is. But also what you mention here... UP TO 40 miles after a day in the sun as well as the initial production model having a 400 mile range with a full charge. At CES 2025 they demonstrated that the Aptera will charge the batteries even while driving it on a sunny day. Through all the demo rides they gave in the test vehicle they ended up with more charge on the batteries than they started with just driving on city streets. And that was without the aerodynamic front wheel skirts installed (wheel covers = a LOT more drag). Aptera is getting closer to production but not there yet. We'll see if they succeed getting it in the hands of any customers by the end of 2025 as they are now saying. I do hope they get the funding they need to take it all the way to full production. That's one big reason why I haven't put in a reservation for one... yet.

Charging infrastructure has been a problem for most who would like to own an EV but don't. My son has a Tesla and last summer drove it about 400 miles to our family gathering. His Tesla does not have a 400 mile range... more like around 250 miles (300 miles range is the ideal spec but not during practical actual usage). He did stop one time (I think) at a Tesla Supercharger for about 20-30 minutes to top off the charge to finish the trip. So a lunch stop is all that is needed to complete the trip. The charging infrastructure is growing and there are enough charging stations around to make a trip in an EV viable. I even looked up where I could possibly stop along the way from my home to FerrySTOC or ArkanSTOC (about 620 miles or less one way) and there are plenty of places to recharge during a lunch stop. The Aptera uses the Tesla NACS (J3400) connector but can also use a J1772 adapter for most charge stations. Tesla cars come with this adapter. Fear of range is the only real reason more people don't own an EV today... even though very few people ever need even half as much range daily as current EV models can give. And it's only a scare tactic that the current power grid would have any issues with more EVs on the road... at least in most areas of the country. CA would be one place where it might be a problem but that's actually due to other issues unique to California power grids.

ps- I also liked the Elio but didn't think that one would go to production. Too many gas and oil barons want to kill the platform just like they did back in early 1900's. If not for greed and business mis-management we'd all be driving electric vehicles since back then since just after 1900 there were more electric cars on the road than gas. And they could have been way more developed than what we see today.
 
Last edited:
Mellow said:
I think they did a better job than the original... the only song Disturbed has that I care for.
Click to expand...
I read you...
(GF has their CD in ze car stereo... and every time I'm using her Skoda they're blaring at me when flicking the key... :cautious: )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom