Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
    RN>> Oh, the mentality is still there, but at the same time it is   
    RN>> cognizant of the body's condition, else I'd have been riding my   
    RN>> SIL's Harley long ago. A Trike is the fad here nowadays.   
      
    RW>> Backward trikes maybe. Certainly not HD trikes anymore.   
      
    RN> Right.  I still couldn't afford one.  (-:   
      
   I can't see the motorcycle rider's need for such a vehicle, unless one   
   doesn't have any sense of balance.   
      
    RN>> That's interesting.  My Mark VIII gets over 30MPG at 1400RPM on the   
    RN>> highway at 60 (usually the safest speed to go because the speed   
    RN>> limits change suddenly and sometimes without warning).   
      
    RW>> 60mph would be on the cusp between 5th and 6th gear in the   
    RW>> Z...1400rpm is too low in 6th and 60mph in 5th is over 1500rpm.   
      
    RN> I think one of the factors is the Mark VIII lowers itelf slightly at   
    RN> high speeds to reduce drag (the body is a sleek design) and the   
    RN> transmission is in overdrive, reducing the strain on the V-8.   
      
   Since that isn't a torque motor, I don't get the impression that it would   
   be anything but a strain on it. My mother used to drive a straight 8   
   Pontiac with 3spd on the column. She'd take off from a stop sign and shift   
   into 3rd gear before she got across the intersection. When I drove it, I   
   wasn't in 3rd gear until way past the intersection. She was lugging that   
   motor and I was letting it do its intended job. She told my dad about it   
   and he said that I was right...I was only 15yo at that time.   
      
    RN>>  The MPG will increase slightly if I'm going north to south, but   
    RN>> everyone laughs at me when I tell them that. (-:   
      
    RW>> Dunno why.  8^)   
      
    RN> Because anyone going north to south is going downhill.  (-:0   
      
   Not exactly. If your north starting place was on a plateau and you were   
   going south, that might be down hill. But just heading south from north   
   isn't going down hill.   
      
    RN> An example is when we visit relatives every other week in north   
    RN> Louisiana. The time to get there, since we're traveling south to   
    RN> north, is greater than the return home time.  Try it yourself.  I'll   
    RN> bet you notice the difference.   
      
   I've driven from here to Illinois and back. There is no difference...   
      
      
            R\%/itt   
      
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)