Author |
Message |
Nillaice
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 11:39 am: |
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it seems over kill to me to say 'front' when referring to the forks on a motorcycle but I still read/hear people saying it, including my self. I chuckle a little inside cuz it just seems silly now there are goin to be some rare exceptions when you look at the full spectrum of bikes ever made, but for the most part; these adjectives are unnecessary, especially when the bike in reference to is known. i'm just as guilty as I catch myself saying or typing it, now and again. I wonder how many others notice it too and what other examples they may have heard from new riders the left side clutch lever, right side throttle grip tube, rear cooling fan, rear shock, front forks, front steering stem, front triple trees, rear swingarm ... |
86129squids
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 12:13 pm: |
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... bored much? |
Kilroy
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 12:47 pm: |
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rear brake light |
Strokizator
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 02:11 pm: |
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Not motorcycle related but "hot water heater" really bugs me now that you mention it. Same with "rear windshield" on a car. |
Slaughter
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 03:59 pm: |
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Back in the 1970s when everybody was trying to get more travel, there was a MX racer who DID modify the rear suspension using FORKS. Harley (Aermacchi) may have built their early works 250cc with rear forks in the 70s. Article WITH pics of the works machine: Harley 250 MX (Message edited by slaughter on June 08, 2013) |
Aesquire
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 07:13 pm: |
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It's the germanic influence on the English language and mechanics. German is an agglutinative language, it just takes a root word and adds prefixes and suffixes to suit. At one time the German word for "electric pencil sharpener" was ( badly translated...) "electric-mechanical-point-making-machine" If you consider the evolution and history of, say, motorcycle forks, from it's bicycle roots, what you have on your bike is almost certainly a telescopic fork. The "telescopic" part has been dropped from general usage, since almost all of them are, today, and that feature is taken for granted. The BMW "telelever" brand name is meant to be descriptive, in that agglutination style of terms. In cases where there is a front and rear item, like brake calipers, it makes perfect sense to specify. I suspect the redundant use of positional words in part descriptions is from the Manuals written for generations in a desperate search for a way to describe mechanical objects to idiots. You know, us. Then again, I'm not a language expert. Could be wrong. |
Ratbuell
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 07:35 pm: |
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VIN number. |
Froggy
| Posted on Saturday, June 08, 2013 - 09:08 pm: |
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Do you ever type your personal PIN number into the automated ATM machine? |
Kilroy
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 04:07 am: |
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ATM machine |
Doz
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 07:01 am: |
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I keep wanting to type in an oxymoron, BUT...why isn't an elevator called a de-elevator when going down? |
Ourdee
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 07:06 am: |
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Because it is still elevating. |
Ourdee
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 07:16 am: |
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Oldog
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 01:53 pm: |
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A friend of mine did the forks as rear suspension experiment on his CZ IIRC it did not work too well. |
Cityxslicker
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 02:11 pm: |
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damn I wish they would come back with a light dirty mud slinger sumnabiatch |
Nik
| Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2013 - 03:15 pm: |
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I'd rather have a front swingarm and no forks... |
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