More Three Wheelers - scooter engines

Hey how about that, I was right, that last blog wasn't the last one about motorcycles. How did that happen?

When I see a threewheeler around Taiwan I can usually recognize what motorcycle engine is being used. The engine is usually a well exposed Kawasaki.

but in Taipei, where it rains a lot compared to Tainan, the engine is usually covered.

But previously when I could see the engine, I had a problem identifying the engine..

http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-three-wheelers.html

there was a funny looking engine that didn't look like any mototcycle engine I had seen before.

I ran into the same problem recently, I couldn't figure out what was the motorcycle engine in this threewheeler.

pondering the situation for awhile, I finally figured it out. The engine is actually a scooter engine, and the scooter engine is upside down with the exhaust pipe now on top. I suppose it's not such a stretch, as there are plenty of scooter engines available and if your going to retro fit you can be flexible.

So the frames of the three wheelers have out lasted the old motorcycle engines and now incorporate the scooter engines. Ingenuity wins again.

More Three Wheelers - handicaps

This might be the last blog entry about motorcycles(but probably not.)

Here we have a 3 wheeler driven by someone not using crutches but actually packs her wheel chair on the back.

This three wheeler that accommodates a wheelchair is actually a scooter split side by side so that the wheelchair sits behind the motorcycle steering column and the scooter rearend is next to the wheelchair compartment. The engineering to split and length the controls seems daunting. Cables and wiring longer than they were intended.

 A car is expensive, mobility is a must, where there is a will there is a way.

Wind power

Using the wind to generate electricity is a tricky business. It may be windy one day but no wind the next. The city of Taipei has tried to fix this problem by putting up street lights that use both wind power and solar collectors.

In Southern Taiwan, where it is sunny a lot, they just use the collectors.

But I think as everyone gets more experience they move up to bigger units.

Accidents

Accidents will happen, but when you drive like a maniac they happen more often. In Taipei, we have those who have take the words "time is money" too much to heart and drive like they are making a million dollars a second.

For me, the constant pedestrian, it's easy to come upon the remnants of an accident.

Usually the motorcycle sits on the sidewalk for days as I assume the rider and his family are now occupied at the hospital(maniac driving seems to be a male characteristic).

Sometimes I come across an accident that hasn't been cleared yet. (In the motorcycle/othervehicle accident the motorcycle always takes the brunt.)

But there are also cases of car on car violence. Nobody seems to use the rear view mirror let alone turning your head to seen who is behind you.

From our apartment on the 13th floor we hear( an take pictures ) of accident at highway speeds.

Whatever this car hit, I think the car took the worst.

All of these pictures happened in the last 4 months, either I'm walking a-hell-of- a-lot or there are a-hell-of-a-lot of accidents in Taipei. I really don't care if someone wants to kill themselves driving like a maniac, but what gets me is parents using their kids as airbags.

Fake Bamboo

Bamboo is such an iconic image of Asia that there are sure to be uses that are not the real thing.

Metal can be pressed to look like bamboo.

Cement can be molded in to the shape of bamboo.

Of course it doesn;t fool anyone and the potential savings is lost when the concrete falls away from the reinforcing rebar.

Even another paint scheme isn't convincing.

But e101, the tallest building in Taiwan, and for a time the tallest building in the world was also designed with the bamboo motif.

Bamboo

Bamboo is such a flexible building material that I always get a kick out of seeing used in a new way. Of course, in this modern world, bamboo is not the consistent material of choice, so it's appearances are fewer and fewer. But here are a few.

Fencing

Gating

Plumbing

Furniture

Rafting

Gardening

And just plain decorative

I think it takes a special kind of craftsman who picks up a unique piece of material each time and makes it fit the craftsman's intent.

Birds

One of the best scores I made at the used books stores was a hardly used copy of this book:

It is a very professional book for serious birders more than I need. From the introduction we have:

1. There are 15 speicies and 69 supspeceies that live year round in Taiwan.
2. Because Taiwan is in the flight path of many migrating birds, there are 520 different bird seen in Taiwan.
3. That is 1/20th of the 9700 known birds in the world

That's pretty good for such a small island. But birding is popular in Taiwan, with lots of expensive equipment in use. Every once in awhile you see big knots of people looking up into a tree with their expensive cameras and binoculars.

If I get a good shot of a bird, there's a good chance that I can identify it, like these

spotted neck dove

light vented bulbul

Malay Night Heron

Getting a good picture is tough, I now have new respect for those with all the equipment to get a good shot of something so small, so shy, so quick to move, ...

I remember once we went to Yeliu and while walking on a path we were struck my the bird calls. There was a bird photographer there with all of his equipment. After a while I realized that he was using his cell phone to play recorded bird calls to get the bird near.

This is the only bird I recognized from US is the aerial rat

the pigeon.

German Food

I like German food especially the potatoes, cabbages and sausages. There are German restaurants in Taiwan so I had to try one. Going to Taiwan for German food is a lot like "Selling coals to Newcastle". Even though Taiwanese food is the best, I think everyone wants to try something new once in a while to make sure we're not missing something.

The food was ok but expensive. The beer was good but expensive. My recommendation is: "Don't go to Taiwan for German food." The resturant had the smallest BMW that I had ever seen right on the restaurant floor.

There is a famous store in Taiwan that sells German bread it is called Mr Mark.

This name goes back to the time when the German Mark was one of the most stable currencies in the world.