T.H. Schee

THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN evolution, introspection, and the general pursuit of life’s great mysteries to the activity of motorcycling may not be especially evident to every rider. But as we have found time and again, motorcycling is a way of bringing one closer to these things. Bill Huth, owner of Willow Springs Motorsports Park in Southern California, knows this as well as anyone… Huth, who has crammed enough adventure for a dozen lifetimes into his 70-plus years, started working at the age of six as a door to door salesman hawking Christmas trees and baked goods. By the ripe old age of eleven, he was trapping animals for the movie industry, and as a teenager, made a living as a welder and mechanic. After a brief acquaintance with the U.S. Air Force, Huth started a legitimate career as a whiskey bootlegger and nightclub operator. His expertise soon got him into the business of professional gambling and the confidence game. He later acquired Willow Springs International Raceway, and in the last ten years has transformed it from a single, narrow strip of rough asphalt into a world-class motorsports park comprised of five separate racetracks.

Huth certainly looks like a man who could convince Eskimos to buy ice cubes. He’s warm, engaging, and sincere, qualities no doubt acquired from living a life that, by all accounts, has been overflowing with rich experience. He’s tall, rugged, and wears a continual smile. If one could trace the lines on his weathered face, each and every one would likely lead to some sort of amazing adventure, the likes of which most of us will never see.

In “The Evolutionist" Huth embarks on a series of personal reflections not dissimilar to those penned by Mark Twain in “Letters from the Earth," or by the father of modern psychology, Carl Jung in his own autobiography. But while Jung’s ruminations are laden with a good deal of highly technical jargon, and Twain’s maunderings are sadly weighted with the dark cynicism of his twilight years, Huth’s observations are optimistic, full of wonder, and refreshingly founded in the largely intuitive process of lay reasoning. They sometimes seem almost childlike in their simplicity, until you come across a sentence or phrase that holds so much fundamental truth it captivates your attention and starts the reasoning process anew.

Huth’s book is a beautiful little volume, a pocket-sized handful of inspiration that provides a little light for those dark moments that are inevitable as we trace our way from here to eternity. But it’s more than that. It’s something he’s given us to contemplate for generations to come. The wisdom of experience is difficult to capture, and few of Huth’s generation have taken the time to write theirs down. Bill Huth has, and the world is a bit brighter place for it.

“The Evolutionist" is available from:

High Sierra Books
Box 607
Kernville, CA 93238
(760) 376-1079

Man can climb to the highest summits; but he cannot dwell there long.
– George Bernard Shaw –

ON A ROAD SUCH AS THIS, bone-weary settlers suffered in silence as they cautiously picked their way along the gnarled and treacherous trace, spun like a convoluted, recondite thread atop the arched and fearsome backbone of an indolent dragon. As prowling mites traversing the spine of a vicious, sleeping dog, they pressed on, the clatter of steel-shod, wood-spoked wheels and the clump of heavy hooves the only sounds to drift through the still and frigid air. On a road such as this, velocity on a motorcycle demands extreme concentration. Hundreds of razor-sharp turns are compressed into perhaps a dozen miles. Lines must be chosen with a precision measured in millimeters, not inches. Scores of minute control inputs—a slight touch of the front brake, a barely perceptible rotation of the throttle, a subtle shift of body weight—are required to quickly negotiate each unpredictable bend. These commands must be woven together in a seamless flow that dispatches the myriad hazards and challenges without abruptness, without hesitation.

On a road such as this, one can lose himself in the stark, unreal grandeur of nature. Stop for a moment along the narrow track and watch the vast shimmering expanse of pale blue sea, thousands of feet below and miles distant, its wind-whipped, glittering whorls shifting in an ever-changing interplay of cerulean fire. The rider is at once diminutive and omniscient; an intruder, yet anointed. Listen carefully to the tick and groan of contracting metal as the engine sighs its paean to the machine age—the technology that once, twice, and thrice removes us from the covered wagon and ox. Touch the slightly roughened surface of the tires, warm from their tryst with the road, and note with satisfaction their pliant resilience.

On a road such as this, one must intuitively understand the razor-thin margin for error that conditions impose upon the aggressive rider. To one side lurks a precipitous fall of hundreds of feet, with great jagged shards of stone jutting from the steep incline to rend man and machine. On the other waits the unknown: the sheer face of the mountain prevents precognition of errant travelers and wayward beasts. Between these bounds lies a slender strip of broken, potholed asphalt, its convolutions littered with gravel often camouflaged as pavement. Decisions must be made in milliseconds. A miscalculation leaves no room for error.

On a road such as this, conventional techniques of riding are discarded for unorthodox, advanced methods that would have a riding-school instructor cringing. The front and rear brakes are played against the throttle to maintain the composure of the chassis; both brakes are trailed deep into turns, the front released first to guard against the threat of unseen sand and stones. Countersteering is anathema here; one’s entire body must be brought into play to assure a swift and fluid transition of both man and machine. Some turns demand the widest of lines and latest of apexes, while others have bike and rider clinging to the side of the mountain lest a traveler who has chosen four wheels instead of two appears in the same time and space.

On a road such as this, one can find himself suddenly plunged into the most desperate of circumstances. Successful negotiation of this perilous track is the sum of tens of thousands of decisions, thousands of control inputs, and hundreds of directional changes. If done expertly, the result is pure rapture, resulting in the kind of delicious fatigue only achieved by concentrated effort coupled with superior skill.

Few riders attempt roads such as this. Even fewer return once they have had a sampling of such grueling and unforgiving fare. But for a select minority, the spoils are sublime and addicting, much like those realized by a beleaguered group of expert climbers when the summit of a particularly difficult mountain is reached: exhaustion, exhilaration, a profound feeling of accomplishment, and a sense of mastery over technology and terra firma. Whatever form they take, for a motorcyclist, these rewards can be found in abundance—on a road such as this.

在今年二月份的 Motorcycle Consumer News 期刊中，摩托車工業設計者 Glynn Kerr 對於他在去年一路騎車到 Intermot Muenchen(慕尼黑車展) 之所見所聞，提出了一些看法…

the new large-capacity touring scooters…. could be found riding amid groups of motorcycles, and sometimes carrying pillions and luggage, proving that they really are being used as an alternative to full-sized tourers, and not just as city transport for trendy executives. Though this category has yet to hit America on a serious scale, when it does, I predict that it will turn the motorcycle market upside-down.

在速克達朝大型化的今日(如Suzuki Burgman), scooter 和 motorcycle 的分際線也越加模糊。格友們，你們認為呢？

註：Glynn Kerr 為 TDM 850 的設計者

年初三，我坐在埔里某路邊吃攤子，閒來無事便觀察路口動態(一般流量)。五分鐘內，各種車輛違規與危險駕駛/騎乘型態，密度之高，真是令人開了眼界。三貼的、雙腳著地滑行的、路口停車、違規迴轉、闖紅燈、未打方向燈、超越停止線、逆向、沒牌的、小孩坐機車油箱的、沒戴安全帽的、曬衣竹竿橫放速克達置腳處… road sharks 到處出沒。

開始懷疑，我們一坐在方向盤/跨上坐墊後，是不是就變成了野獸。無論是販夫走卒還是王親貴族，思考都明顯地退化。這到底是『文化為成』，還是制度的問題？吼~

英國的機車(我寧願稱摩托車)考照頗為嚴謹，絕對有師法之價值。快寫一篇，提供本地讀者參考。

台灣已經可以報考公營或民營的大型重型機車之駕訓班，但這些課程與英國系統(紐澳) 相較之下，仍嫌粗淺，且課程品質低落。本地駕訓之理念仍多為(ㄨㄟˋ)『考試』，而非『訓練』；考照者也多抱此心態(which is probably not their fault)：題目背一背，先拿到照後，上路再說。在英國，若要直接考摩托車的 full license(without the L plates), 其中的一個步驟可分為如下…

1. 首先必須拿到 provisional licence (強制)
2. 報名參加 CBT ( Compulsory Basic Training ) (強制)
3. 租借或自備學習駕照持有者合法的摩托車，安全帽… (當然了)
4. 保險 (強制)
5. 在道路上自行練習(with L plates)或是參加考照前的訓練課程 (建議)
6. 閱讀 The Highway Code 或其他參考書籍 (建議)
7. 報名、參加，並且通過理論測驗 (強制)
8. 報名、參加，並且通過上路測驗 (強制)
9. 拿到 full liscence, 撕掉 L plates
10. Ride safely, live long and prosper

入境 UK 之台灣遊客，是不能直接在英國考照的。其他詳細資訊，容後補上。

因某新聞研究所友人欲寫性別與科技小論題，選到摩托車與女性，但此領域在國內資源，比沙漠狀態還慘。他遂在口傳之下，找上了我。下面一篇文章是我 2000 年時所寫的，也是提供這位友人的參考方向之一。 2000.03.13

把標題改掉了，因為我對於摩托運動的發展比較有興趣。剛好有網友提到，那就來個借題發揮，野人獻曝一番。

小弟認為，

『人文要素﹝註一﹞』在台灣摩托運動中之『不佔有地位﹝註二﹞』的現象，將會很深刻地影響到未來機車運動『整體覺醒﹝註三﹞』的過程當中，所可能或無可避免必須要面對的一些問題：

1) 摩托運動發展的向度為何？
2) 台灣摩托運動因地域因素而將面臨之發展先天瓶頸為何？如何發展出地域『特色』，要如何因應先天瓶頸？任由市場機制決定嗎？還是大家另有期許？

3) 社會主流價值會如何來定位摩托？
4) 社會主流價值會以哪些管道來擷取資訊，據之而定位摩托？
5) 摩托界如何開發新的管道以讓社會能夠更了解摩托？

6) 摩托界如何定位自己？
7) 摩托界如何與社會互動？
8) 摩托界對社會應有的責任？

9) 社會要如何給摩托應有的地位？
10) 摩托界如何說服社會給它應有的地位？

11) 摩托是文化嗎？文化的摩托在哪？
12) 台灣摩托的歷史？

13) 摩托的終極期許？

臨時想到的，很籠統，我也沒有很好的能力和可用的工具資源去討論細節。上面的十三個問題都必須加入所謂的『人文要素』才可能有比較漂亮的解，至少我是這樣子想的。

註一：人文要素是一種價值，可以運用在發展或是進行某一個件事的過程當中，來『滲入』這個事情的發展，最後進而影響到後續的進程或結果。

註二：不佔有地位的意思是，人文要素在排氣尚未解禁之時(當時為2000年, 現已解禁)，摩托界似乎沒有好好地運用這個利器來推動摩托運動。大多數的切入點為機械的，如改裝上：技術的，如操駕技巧上；觀念的，僅限於安駕與道路觀念；運動競技的，如舉辦相關賽事；運動欣賞的，如收視相關國外賽事。這些都很好，但是卻一直推廣不開來。給所謂外界的觀感和印象也似乎一直停留在某個層次。如果能加入『人文要素』，那影響層面將可以更深更廣，連上了年紀或廣大的女性車友都可以是極為龐大的運動母群。

註三：整體覺醒，就是說開始了解到：

1) 啊，瓜皮不是帽
2) 啊，車子可以做通勤外的事
3) 啊，摩托可以是運動
4) 啊，速克達不是摩托車
5) 啊，碼表是快樂的
6) 等等，請自行填入

算是Sammy Miller Museum參訪後的小小觀感吧？

還是從摩托車的騎乘經驗談起。

分四個客體：人、車、路面、還有路面外的其他因素(權且總合為一)。

好的，電發引擎, vroomvrooom, 我們開始上路。 在道路上騎乘時，一般我們假設的『實相(reality)』是，我(人)、車，隨路動，路面與路面外的其他因素都是固定的，換言之，我與車，算是固定空間中(路面、路面外)挪移的那一個部分。這樣的認知，我們可以由下面的句子來了解….

1) 我騎車到那裡
2) 他從那裡騎到那裡

So it’s ALWAYS me and the bike/scooter that is moving, NOT the road.

Reality 的部分，到此為止。我還在路上，還在等紅燈。現在，我們將意識轉個方向, 把 focal point refers 到我自己與車。

綠燈亮了，我開始入檔，迅轉油門，輕彈離合，人車，遂箭行前趨。

不，不，這不是我所感覺到的。腳下的路面開始斗動，街景、旁車、路燈、野狗，一一由前向後，快速切開而去。我如如不動。閃燃意識之焰，越燒越烈。突然，莫名大力將我拋回自己。拙火忽滅。正覺無邊寧靜, reality 竟在此時，開始似潮洪激流，澎湃而過。

我(動)與它(不動)和它(動)與我(不動)之間，被創造出一個時空間. You activated it. You initiated it. This is when/where reality gets virtual enough(or vice versa).

WARNING: DO NOT try this on public roads. You will get yourself into accidents.

AMA 日前針對一條由 Allen Hurt 在 New Mexico 提出的器官捐贈法案表達嚴重抗議。此法案授權州政府可逕行將未戴安全帽而身故者之器官捐贈。

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has expressed its outrage at a proposed law in New Mexico that could make some motorcyclists into forced organ donors. The proposal, introduced in the New Mexico Legislature by state
Sen. Allen Hurt (R-Waterflow), would allow the harvesting of organs from any motorcyclist who doesn’t wear a helmet and is declared brain dead as a result of an accident. Hurt’s bill, designated Senate Bill 239, specifically states that: “a person operating a motorcycle without a helmet and who, as the result of an accident, is pronounced brain dead pursuant to Section 12-2-4 NMSA 1978 by a licensed physician shall become an organ donor regardless of whether the person made an anatomical gift by completing the organ donor statements."

2002.09.22

看後方來車可概分為三種方式：mirror check, shoulder check and lifesaver.

這個轉頭去確認的動作叫做 “shoulder check," 主要的功能已如 Deimos 所述，是去 check blind spots. 另一種為 “lifesaver," 望文可生義，為更大幅度的轉頭向後方確認。英國政府規定交警轉向時必須採取的 standard procedure. Mirror check 是最基本的。

今午有閒，便約女友前往微風廣場內的紀伊國屋逛。女友她非常認真在找日本自助旅行之所需書誌。而我呢，則是書櫃間漫步亂竄，沒打個主意要挑什麼樣的書… 正疑不知有無日文摩托文學作品之時，運來氣至，逮到一本架上躺斜，封面伴有美女與 Harley Davidson(model 不知) 的著作。大標題日文一串，可惜僅單『旅 』漢字，與我相認。副題則為『湯、酒、鐵馬 – 三拍子紀行』，快意醒目，真是好樣。初步印象，我給滿彩。

快翻內文，版面編排頗為素淨。雖不識"aeiou"，但覺內文短簡意賅，頗有參考價值。毫不猶疑，直接出卡購買。

作者：國井律子，1975年生。看看人家女孩子一個，拿的是大型免許。我男人一隻，腳下跨的是 Vespa 125cc. 空有豪情而無兵器，文化與環境之束縛原罪，真是令人無奈。

參考網站為 Kuniritsu.com.
アタシはバイクで旅に出る。

閒來無事從yahoo上找了半天才找到的，不知道有沒有人有相關的經驗或資訊？蠻另類有趣的摩托資訊，大家參考一下。對了，義大利和德國都有一些很不錯的摩托相關高等的教育機構和研發單位，改天找到再貼上來。 1) American Motorcycle Institute
http://www.amiwrench.com/home.html

建立於1972年，簡稱AMI，其實是由下列數個子機構(學院?)組成：

American Motorcycle Institute
American Marine Institute (又是跟造船有關，難道…)
American Watercraft Institute
International Technical
Training Center

入學的admission 分為三種，分別為veterans、vocational rehabilitaion 和 international student(hoho!)。

既然是講摩托車，那其他的就先不管。AMI 針對 motorcycle 方面有下面的幾個course：

1) Course MDBMW 2) Course MDDUC 3) Course MH
4) Course MDHON 5) Course MDKAW 6) Course MDSUZ
7) Course MDTRI 8) Course MDYAM

共八個，望文可生義哉。每個 course 除了一般性和各車廠專門的 mechanics 之外，還包含了共同科目dealership management。沒有意外的話大部分的 classes meet Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Total 8 hours a day – 40
hours per week, 20 Weeks/800 Clock Hours Resident Training. 然後每五週都會有各車廠專業科目開班。

然後是，跟AMI有合作關係的企業：
http://www.amiwrench.com/moving.html

2) Motorcycle Mechanic Institute
http://64.82.5.217/techtraining/motorcycle.html

根據網站上的資訊，這家機構在美國是唯一受到：
Harley-DavidsonR Motor Co., American Honda, American Suzuki, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, and Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA. 等惡勢力完全認證和資助的機構，好像後台頗硬……

Course Information

MMI 把哈雷特地和其他車廠分開來，所以在course的選擇上，HD technician progroam和 motorcycle technician program 是不一樣的(搞啥？哈雷就不是摩托車嗎？)。

Motorcycle technician program，代號『program 301』，課程總共33週，包含825個教學鐘點和27.5個測驗鐘點。

program 301課程內容有：

Theory and hands-on training on products from a variety of manufacturers in Clinics 1-9 to include Engines and Transmission; Suspension and Chassis System; Machine Shop; Basic and Advanced Electrical; Vehicle Maintenance; Engine Troubleshooting and Noise Diagnosis; and Engin
Performance.

修完後才有資格enroll最少六個星期的Manufacturer Specific Training：

Program 510* – HonTechR Program**
(12 weeks – 300 Clock Hours, 10.0 Credit Hours)

Program 710* – YamaProR Program**
(6 Weeks – 150 Clock Hours, 5.0 Credit Hours)

Program 950* – Factory Authorized Suzuki Training (FAST) Program
(6 Weeks – 150 Clock Hours, 5.0 Credit Hours)

Program 810* – K-TECH Specialist Program

3) Warren Tech
http://204.98.1.2/high/wotc/warren.html

跟上述兩間機構的屬性似乎有所不同，Warren Tech 除了在 transportation program 下有著一支『SMALL ENGINE AND MOTORCYCLE TECHNOLOGY』之外，舉凡graphic、business 甚至到 construction 都有涉足(http://204.98.1.2/high/wotc/prog.html)。

沒辦法，我不是讀本科的，搞不清楚他們的體系……

並非所有駕駛者或騎士都必須在London(倫敦市)的擁擠區(congestion area)，繳交行車稅金(congestion charge).

以下為免繳對象：

* 身心障礙人士或相關單位(持有藍色證，之前為橘色證)
* 居住在擁擠區的的住民
* 使用替代能源車輛的車主
* 駕駛九人座以上車輛的車主
* 路邊故障維修車輛的車主
* 相關急救單位之駕駛人

免繳證明需向 TfL 申請。

Deal all,

目前版面上的所有文章來源(皆為個人文章)，可粗分為下列：

(1) scumotor.twbbs.org (2) bbs.ntu.edu.tw (3) bbs.cs.nthu.edu.tw (4) dreamland.twbbs.org (5) http://blog.schee.info

未來 Motomosa.com 將以更專業的角度，來服務本地車友，傳播和 foster 不同面向的輿論，並與國外專業摩托權益促進團體(FEMA, MAG-UK, AMA, MRF…)和組織/個人作串連，提供第一手資訊。請與 Motomosa.com 一起成長，共同期許讓台灣走出畸形的道路和用車文化，過於技術偏向，還有人來政去的困境，謝謝。

If you would like to contribute articles and join Motomosa.com(or Motomosa Action Team), or offer a bit of help and shout a friendly hello, you could reach me at inf o@m oto mos a.c om

感念為誌,
Schee

還有一項可算是非常明顯，但卻又是極度遭『忽視』的第一：

1) scooter 在台灣合法掛牌上路數量；
2) 掛牌 scooter 總數除以台灣人口總數比

這兩點吧？ =D 我在想，義大利 scooter 是很多沒錯，但每次翻閱 Motociclismo 此誌，常發現歐盟各地區的 scooter 當月/當季/年度銷售量總是比台灣遜上好幾籌。台灣前幾年每年機車銷售總數曾經突破百萬台水準. Urhh…掐指一算，歐盟地區所有 scooter 年銷售量搞不好還會被台灣扳倒。這種單一市場的胃納，也算是世界第一吧？ =P

附錄資料：1999/2000 歐盟各國摩托車/速克達銷售量統計
來源：頁193, Motociclismo 2002/04

THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN evolution, introspection, and the general pursuit of life’s great mysteries to the activity of motorcycling may not be especially evident to every rider. But as we have found time and again, motorcycling is a way of bringing one closer to these things. Bill Huth, owner of Willow Springs Motorsports Park in Southern California, knows this as well as anyone… Huth, who has crammed enough adventure for a dozen lifetimes into his 70-plus years, started working at the age of six as a door to door salesman hawking Christmas trees and baked goods. By the ripe old age of eleven, he was trapping animals for the movie industry, and as a teenager, made a living as a welder and mechanic. After a brief acquaintance with the U.S. Air Force, Huth started a legitimate career as a whiskey bootlegger and nightclub operator. His expertise soon got him into the business of professional gambling and the confidence game. He later acquired Willow Springs International Raceway, and in the last ten years has transformed it from a single, narrow strip of rough asphalt into a world-class motorsports park comprised of five separate racetracks.

Huth certainly looks like a man who could convince Eskimos to buy ice cubes. He’s warm, engaging, and sincere, qualities no doubt acquired from living a life that, by all accounts, has been overflowing with rich experience. He’s tall, rugged, and wears a continual smile. If one could trace the lines on his weathered face, each and every one would likely lead to some sort of amazing adventure, the likes of which most of us will never see.

In “The Evolutionist" Huth embarks on a series of personal reflections not dissimilar to those penned by Mark Twain in “Letters from the Earth," or by the father of modern psychology, Carl Jung in his own autobiography. But while Jung’s ruminations are laden with a good deal of highly technical jargon, and Twain’s maunderings are sadly weighted with the dark cynicism of his twilight years, Huth’s observations are optimistic, full of wonder, and refreshingly founded in the largely intuitive process of lay reasoning. They sometimes seem almost childlike in their simplicity, until you come across a sentence or phrase that holds so much fundamental truth it captivates your attention and starts the reasoning process anew.

Huth’s book is a beautiful little volume, a pocket-sized handful of inspiration that provides a little light for those dark moments that are inevitable as we trace our way from here to eternity. But it’s more than that. It’s something he’s given us to contemplate for generations to come. The wisdom of experience is difficult to capture, and few of Huth’s generation have taken the time to write theirs down. Bill Huth has, and the world is a bit brighter place for it.

“The Evolutionist" is available from:

High Sierra Books
Box 607
Kernville, CA 93238
(760) 376-1079