Happy New Year, Welcome 2021

[T Legg]

I'm glad your efforts in Australia have been successful to this point but with a nation of 330 million instead of 25 million surrounded by porous borders instead of ocean, and with the head start the disease had due to the purposeful seeding of the world by China I don't think eradication was ever a possibility here . Despite the strictest attempts of our nation in California it has become the epicenter of the disease in our country.Thank God for the unprecedented rapid development of vaccines. With the vaccines and the level of natural immunity occurring there is light at the end of our tunnel. I only hope this virus isn't just the first of many. It's time to quit playing with the manipulation of viruses and the holding of those who do responsible. How many times can we afford to repeat this process. I work every day not because I don't believe in this disease but because my efforts are essential to maintain our infrastructure I ride because as Randy says the virus is to slow to catch an FJ ,I  wear a mask and limit personal contact because I don't want to infect any of my family or the vulnerable.

[Millietant]

If you do get to Australia Dean and travel to Queensland look me up, lots of spare room and 2 FJs that need riding 

The above offer goes also for anyone who travels to Aus (when we can again  )

Yeah, that's all good and well Ray.....UNTIL SOMEONE RETURNS IT DIRTY!!

Noel

No chance of that with us Noel, Liz always cleans the bikes after every ride, before they go back in the garage 

Dean, rumour has it Ray's wife shadows him to rallies with a spare bike in the van in case the one he's riding get's dirty.

Noel

I've heard rumours Noel, that some FJ owners don't even ride their bikes to rallies !!!!!!!!!! They take them in trucks and on trailers, just like Hardly Movingsons......... whatever next !!!     

[Motofun]

Happy 2021 to all my fellow FJ'ers.  2020 was one for the books, glad to close the cover on that one.

I believe that herd immunity is the only thing that in the short term will minimize the Covid...either that or it evolves into something less transmissible.  If you agree then you must also understand that lock downs only delay the inevitable.  Integrate under either curve (the peaky one or the flat one) and you will find the same number of cases, the difference being the time it takes to get to herd immunity where transmissibility is effectively interrupted.  Of course the vaccine is a form of artificial immunity so that affects the timing of herd immunity.  If my understanding is correct then 2021 is also going to be screwed.  
I'm OK with taking my chances out in the wild.  I'm also OK with others choosing to be hermits.  I'm not OK with liberty killing restrictions.

[Motofun]

OK, I just reread my post from earlier today.  It wasn't my intention to offend anyone.  As a motorcyclist I just assume we are more inclined to be risk takers as compared to our fellow travelers.  Liberty and freedom are the natural rights that allow us to decide for ourselves how the tilt the risk/reward chart.

[X-Ray]

[/quote]

Dean, rumour has it Ray's wife shadows him to rallies with a spare bike in the van in case the one he's riding get's dirty.

Noel
[/quote]

Unfounded rumours Noel, my support vehicle has cleaning products with buckets for emergency washes etc 

[krusty]

Happy New Year folks. I expect the next few months will be worse, until it gets better.

Dean, I realize it's tough set of lock down rules you have, understanding that they just trying to save lives.

I wish my area took the Covid infection more seriously. In my region of Arizona, 50% don't wear masks.
They are part of the "Live Free or Die" crowd who sneer at all the "sheepeople" who do wear masks.

A typical American misguided sense of entitlement. Quite incredible.

Hang in there Dean, with these drastic actions, your country will see daylight before mine.

We have just come out of an even tougher lockdown than Dean is experiencing and it went on for months, the end date was not fixed at the onset and was ultimately determined by results alone.

Curfew (9.00pm), 5 km radius from home including all shopping and exercise, only leave house for one of 4 reasons (employment if absolutely necessary, individual exercise for max 1 hour, medical treatment & care giving, essential shopping), gathering limits, border closures, mandatory quarantine for all travellers, masks, expanded powers of arrest, huge fines, all businesses except essential services shutdown (the entire CBD a ghost town) non essential court cases deferred, you couldn't even get your car serviced, fast food was delivery only etc. But, our State has just passed 60 days without a single case and the entire country currently has less than 20 cases, all of whom are in quarantine and the govt has an excellent contact tracing system at the ready should an outbreak occur within the community.

We paid a heavy price but are now starting to enjoy the benefits of the sacrifice and life is almost entirely back to normal.

The virus will no doubt re appear as travel is relaxed and loopholes (unbelievably) continue to pop up, but we are confident we are now geared up to handle it. We, like NZ have effectively eliminated it at this point, but at great economic cost. The entire nation grasped the need to do the unthinkable and shut the place down and now we are out the other side and rebuilding. It worked because everyone was on board. Some countries seem unable to come to terms with the scale of what needs to happen, all the while refusing to acknowledge the cost of doing nothing.

I can't see this working in the UK or in particular, the US.

Noel

Yep, we took a big hit economically and early in the year were in recession for the first time in 29 years. But, we also came (technically) out of recession  for the Sep 2020 quarter with a GDP growth of 3.3% but unemployment still remains high - as my school reports used to say "there's room for improvement". Will be interesting to see the December quarter.

[Millietant]

OK, I just reread my post from earlier today.  It wasn't my intention to offend anyone.  As a motorcyclist I just assume we are more inclined to be risk takers as compared to our fellow travelers.  Liberty and freedom are the natural rights that allow us to decide for ourselves how the tilt the risk/reward chart.

I don't think you offended anyone (certainly not me) although our experiences with Covid lead us to disagree completely on some basic Covid issues.

What we are finding (in our densely populated island, where such things develop faster) is that rather than the virus evolving into something less transmissible, it is doing exactly the opposite and evolving into something MUCH more transmissible. Even here, where we live closely packed together, the medical and virology experts are agreeing that it will take well over 12 months for herd immunity to develop  - in which time, tens of thousands of deaths (or more) will result - so I have serious concerns that it won't develop somewhere like the USA in anything like the time you are thinking. Our medical services across the UK are already approaching breaking point in many areas and there simply aren't enough hospitals and beds to cope with the numbers of ill/infected that we are seeing now.

The general understanding is that in less densely populated countries (such as the USA), without proper restrictions, this virus will spread more slowly, but last longer than in smaller, more densely populated countries (who will get the shorter, sharper hit).

What we see from the media coverage (which may not be true representation of the facts), is that there are vast swathes of "Covid non-believers" and people who believe the rules are a breach of their rights, liberties and freedoms - and while some may well feel this, the experiences we have had here (and from the number of family and friends who have been infected in my circle) have led me to believe that what we are giving up, is a very small sacrifice, compared to what those who have contracted the virus have faced and suffered.

Similarly to you, I have no wish to offend anyone, but I'm just trying to highlight how our different experiences of Covid can result in our huge differences of opinion in such matters - and in the hope that the experiences we have had, can in some way help to mitigate the pain in areas which have yet to feel the full force of the virus.

I do agree that we as motorcyclists are much more inclined to be risk takers than the majority of people, but my wife has an analogy about that which put it into perspective for me - "if you knew, for an absolute fact, that if you went out on a group ride today with 99 other riders, 5 of you would be killed by dangerous car drivers, would you still choose to ride with that group today"  - when not following the Covid rules about social contact and following the Hands, Face, Space principles, that is the kind of risk I'd be taking here.

There is much fun-poking globally at the "sheeple" who are following the rules, but I also have a couple of friends right now, in hospital, who were those poking fun and ignoring our rules a couple of weeks ago. They have both now changed their tune.

I also realise that where I live is not typical of the rest of the world and our population density means we are going to see much more rapid transmission of the virus and would not want to "tell others what to do" - all I would say is be thankful for what you have, and enjoy it while you can, just in case things change 

[Troyskie]

Happy new year gang.

Regardless of what 2021 brings, we have the forum (thanks Randy!).

Troyskie

[aviationfred]

Happy New Years to all the FJ owners here. 2020 has been a rough year for many. I was struck a severe blow very shortly into 2020. I lost my job.

With organized Rallys being canceled by the dozen. For many the cancelation of the WCR and RPM was a huge let down. I had planned to attend a few events. The MotoGP races in Austin, Texas (postponed, then canceled), The 5 State Poker Run in Guymon, Oklahoma, (canceled) and the MSTA Star Days Rally in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (postponed and then canceled). Instead of sucking on a Sour Lemon, I made Lemonade.

I decided to do my own thing and got 5 significant trips in. The 11 day camping trip to Utah, 3 day trip to Northwest Arkansas for a rider memorial ride, the 5 day group ride to Avon, Colorado, 3 day trip to Texarkana, Arkansas for a job interview, and the 2 week trip to North Carolina for the Vintage Yamaha Rally and VFR750 Fall Ride Rally.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in 2021



Fred

[Millietant]

Sorry to hear about your redundancy Fred, hopefully you're now sorted with a job going forward..........you have to find a way to finance a big bore engine for your 95 

Seriously though, I do hope you are sorted job wise and get the 95 back on the road quickly for more winter rides to keep us occupied with something to read 

[Millietant]

Oops, looks like some of our near neighbours in Leicester have had a less than positive start to 2021 by flouting the rules on NYE. This is an excerpt from the Leicestershire Police FB page detailing their activities last night......some pretty hefty fines handed out there !!!!!!

[Motofun]

Wowser....$13,700 for having a party.  Question, Are these fines a way of making a show and not really serious?  Did your legislators actually pass a law like this?   

[ribbert]

I've heard rumours Noel, that some FJ owners don't even ride their bikes to rallies !!!!!!!!!! They take them in trucks and on trailers, just like Hardly Movingsons......... whatever next !!!     

Haha, not in Australia. You wouldn't even want to try it on unless you had at least two limbs in plaster, even then they'd look at you and ask how come you didn't ride? Seriously, trailering to a bike rally here would result in an immediate cancellation of your Man Card - even at BMW rallies, although I'm not sure they know about Man Cards.

I'm perhaps more of a rider than many FJ owners, but as much as I love catching up with everyone, rally attendance is largely about the ride. A couple of years ago I rode 5000km in 6 days to an FJ rally, my bike was due for an oil and filter change within a week of the previous one. To not have ridden there and back would have been a crime, even now it makes me smile just thinking about that trip and if I start on the photos.......

Sitting in the climate controlled comfort of your vehicle, listening to music while sipping a latte does not make memories, in fact, the trip is most likely entirely forgotten within minutes of arriving. How sad to have been handed the excuse for an epic ride and then squander it by taking the car.

Some of my most memorable rides have been to rallies. I've heard excuses such as fatigue, comfort, boredom, pooling, packing, weather, age, arriving fresh and so on. I know, I know, each to their own but I just don't understand it.

Noel

[Millietant]

Wowser....$13,700 for having a party.  Question, Are these fines a way of making a show and not really serious?  Did your legislators actually pass a law like this?  

Definitely not for show - they're deadly serious. Yes, the law was passed into statute by Parliament. We have to somehow stop people from getting together in groups and spreading this around like wildfire. In our town, one person went to a pub, a cafe and a restaurant later in the day. That person was infected and was a carrier and the track and trace details collected at the venues identified over 90 people that subsequently developed symptoms and tested positive in the couple of weeks after being at those places at the appropriate times on that day.

This virus is killing about 1,000 people per day here, it's no joke, but many people are still not taking it seriously because they haven't yet experienced its consequences. Many younger people think it only affects the older and infirm, many more think it's all a ruse and a hoax and a "panic about nothing". Slowly, but surely, they're finding out the error of their ways.

Our friends who have just contracted it were the ones who ignored all of the advice and went to visit other friends for a birthday party, in Essex. They put their photo's up on Facebook and poked fun at us for refusing to take the risk of mingling in close proximity with a dozen or so friend who we hadn't seen for months. They're not poking fun at us any more and the husband is seriously struggling to breathe, even though he's only in his late 30's and was previously fit and healthy (ironically, his wife is a nurse at a local doctors practice and should have known better).

[Millietant]

I've heard rumours Noel, that some FJ owners don't even ride their bikes to rallies !!!!!!!!!! They take them in trucks and on trailers, just like Hardly Movingsons......... whatever next !!!     

Haha, not in Australia. You wouldn't even want to try it on unless you had at least two limbs in plaster, even then they'd look at you and ask how come you didn't ride? Seriously, trailering to a bike rally here would result in an immediate cancellation of your Man Card - even at BMW rallies, although I'm not sure they know about Man Cards.

I'm perhaps more of a rider than many FJ owners, but as much as I love catching up with everyone, rally attendance is largely about the ride. A couple of years ago I rode 5000km in 6 days to an FJ rally, my bike was due for an oil and filter change within a week of the previous one. To not have ridden there and back would have been a crime, even now it makes me smile just thinking about that trip and if I start on the photos.......

Sitting in the climate controlled comfort of your vehicle, listening to music while sipping a latte does not make memories, in fact, the trip is most likely entirely forgotten within minutes of arriving. How sad to have been handed the excuse for an epic ride and then squander it by taking the car.

Some of my most memorable rides have been to rallies. I've heard excuses such as fatigue, comfort, boredom, pooling, packing, weather, age, arriving fresh and so on. I know, I know, each to their own but I just don't understand it.

Noel

I did forgive Fred, because he couldn't possibly have attended the both the VFR and Yamaha rallies if he'd had to ride home to swap bikes and then get back to the rally sites (which were not too far apart) - and it would just be wrong to turn up on a FJ to a VFR rally