Vanishing Point was remade, Viggo starred in it, and it's as good as the original, available through Netflix

 Of course, they didn't have two cars with the same working lights... sheesh.

  a huge explosion in an Arizona aircraft junkyard

 A hick small town sheriff with a 68 Charger R/T decides to use it to catch Kowalski

Bike Lock comparison by Men's Journal

In this month's Men's Journal (June 2012) on page 120, is a new comparison, but that isn't available online yet, so here is the results, and I followed that with the 2009 Men's Journal comparison by the same writer.

Knog Strongman $100 Hawleyusa.com
Best in Class
1 minute 45 seconds with angle grinder, hacksaw couldn't beat it, boltcutters were useless against it

next best
Blackburn San Quentin $90 blackburndesign.com
boltcutters useless, hacksaw in 3:32 grinder in 1:18

Kryptonite New York Legend 1590 $175 kryptonitelock.com
boltcutters and hacksaw useless, grinder in 2:30

Judged in 2009 by Men's Journal writer Stan Horaczek,  on security, usability, and theft insurance — the maximum amount a lock company will reimburse you if its lock fails.

By Stan Horaczek-

-Our Testing Methods:

We needed a lock-picker, so we called Dave LaBarge, former world-champion safecracker. When not competing, he runs LaBarge Lock & Safe Technicians, in Watervliet, New York. We also needed muscle. We tried a two-by-four (a favorite of thieves), but since that didn’t budge any of the shackles, we resorted to power tools. We even attacked one with the Jaws of Life.

Expert’s Pick: Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-Lock
Theft insurance: $4,500
New York is a playground for bike thieves, and Kryptonite invites them to try with their top-gun U-lock. Its 18mm steel shackle (2mm thicker than the Squire’s) lasted longer under the knife than all but the OnGuard, and the lock refused to be picked. Add in the second-best theft insurance and it earns our nod. [$100; kryptonitelock.com] Security: 9/10; Usability: 7/10

--

Abus Granit X Plus 54 U-Lock
Theft insurance: None
“Looks like you should be able to drill through the case,” said LaBarge. But even after punching through two layers of steel, the lock wouldn’t budge. Next we tried the power tool. It cut through the 13mm squared-off shackle more easily than it did the Squire or Kryptonite, but it took more time and made more noise than most thieves would tolerate. [$111;abus.com] Security: 8/10; Usability: 7/10

--

Masterlock 8200D Pro Street Cuff
Theft insurance: $3,500
The cuff’s short link kept us from getting leverage for a prying attack or a good angle for our power tool. LaBarge eventually opened them using a locksmithing secret we can’t reveal — “not something the average bike thief is capable of.” More problematic: The cuff’s small opening wouldn’t fit around our mountain bike’s wheel. [$68; masterlockbike.com] Security:7/10; Usability: 6/10

-

Squire Paramount Plus U-Lock
Theft insurance: None
“I bet that will pick,” said LaBarge, and five minutes later, he had it open. Our brute force attacks didn’t go so smoothly — the 16mm-diameter steel lasted 13 minutes against our power tool. And the Squire’s bike mount is the best of the bunch, so you won’t leave it behind to protect your garage floor. [$100; squireusacyclelocks.com]
Security: 5/10; Usability: 8/10

-

OnGuard Beast 5016L chain
Theft insurance: $5,001
LaBarge needed a power tool, a chisel, and 25 minutes to break one of the chain’s links. Hell, even the local firehouse’s Jaws of Life–esque cutters made only a small dent. And unlike U-locks, chains can wrap around nearly anything. The only catch: You’ll pay for great security with a hernia, as the Beast weighs 20 pounds. [$190; onguardlock.com]Security: 10/10; Usability: 5/10

http://www.mensjournal.com/tested-bike-locks

But for the most researched list of bike lock comparisons, http://www.consumersearch.com/bicycle-locks/reviews which has 20 different reviews from magazines and websites since 2006 to 2011

One of the first Kurtis Kraft built sprint cars, compared to a later one shows rivets vs cleco fasteners

close up and thorough gallery of the Smith Master Valve Special, designed and built by Harry Lewis

 I don't remember seeing friction shocks chromed before

 Army gauges, very cool.

previous post was brief and based on a Auto Enthusiast Magazine article about the Justice Brothers Museum http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/02/auto-enthusiast-march-2012-has-article.html

A different good use for Keith Black valve cover breathers

1935 licensing of Harley blueprints, tools, dies, and machinery brought motorcycling to Japan

found on http://www.squidoo.com/neopets_pics

Soichiro Honda started selling bikes in 1948  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soichiro_Honda

Things I wish people learned in drivers ed, and used on the roads

If you hear sirens, move over to the right side of the road and stop your vehicle. Could be an ambulance saving someones life. Could be a fire department convoy getting to a multi family dwelling and saving a lot of lives. Could be a cop that wants to catch a bad guy, and save you some grief in the future.

If you aren't passing someone slower, stay as far right as it you can and maintain your speed. No matter how fast you drive, someone is going to pass you in just a couple minutes.

Use your brakes to slow down, not your transmission, because it's easy and cheap to replace brake pads, but clutches are expensive.

anyone want to add to this list? Feel free and use the comments or email me direct and I'll add them here

Midget and sprint car number variety, before computers printed out fonts, on Kurtis Kraft race cars at the Justice Brothers

 could there be a cooler way of showing how many years you were the best?