Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you read this blog, you know I don’t care much for moto-hogs – motorcycles the size of a small house that will do everything short of brushing your teeth.
Therefore, I was all tooth and grin last week as I scoped out the 2012 Triumph Tiger 800 with WRS’ Susan Flory, at the local Geneva Triumph dealership, a fine balance of athletic muscle and off-road machine.
Check out Motoring On and listen to what I found not only about the Triumph bike but also on the Honda VFR750.
Jared Bloch
Honda Jazz hybrid-smart just got smarter
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The 82nd Geneva Auto Show closed this past weekend with the usual fanfare and plenty of eye candy on hand, but the standouts for me were the omnipresent exhibits of zero emission concept cars, hybrids and e-vehicles.
The “green theme” this year seemed to dominate, not only in the Green Pavillion, where eco-friendly vehicles were available for testing, but throughout the show.
Renault "plug n' go"
In addition to a range of market-ready plug-in vehicles from Chevy, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, and others, the plethora of hybrids and smart diesel machines boasting +/- 4 liters/100km was impressive.
As a stalwart BMW fan, I was pleased to see a Five series hybrid sedan, in spite of the drab two-dimensional traditional exhibit. While Volkswagen featured club music and flashy multi-media presentations to show off their full line of eco-friendly “Blue Motion” vehicles.
Jared Bloch
Chevy Volt-Go ahead, make my zero emissions day
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – No, this is not an infomercial and yes, for the first time in several years I found myself checking out Chevy’s new lineup, as I perused the wares at the 82nd Geneva Auto Show.
Chevy’s Volt, which premiered in 2009, was awarded European Car of the year for 2012 based (partly at least) on its ability to travel nearly 60 km propelled solely by an electric engine, after which it can continue another 500+ km (numbers vary by usage and between US and EU ratings).
Plug 'n go Volt
Sixty kilometers may not get you to grandma’s and back but consider that people in Switzerland “travel” an average 33 km per day. That translates into a lot of zero emission milk runs.
With a CHF50,000 base sticker price however, it may not fly off the shelves as Detroit is finding out, production has been temporarily suspended due to an overstock.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -Since the massive introduction of electric or e-bike culture into Geneva traffic culture, I have been skeptically watching this trend as I dodge errant commuters on their SUV bikes weaving carelessly between vehicle and bicycle lanes.
And therein lies the problem.
Know your lane - beware e-bikers
As the Swiss daily 20 Minutes documented last month, e-bikers are accounting for an increasingly growing number of two-wheeled run ins with traffic on the road.
Imagine, the motor vehicle department handing out motorcycle licenses to anyone willing to pay 1,500 francs, or the cost of a modest e-bike – this is after all a motorized vehicle. Only many riders have never been on two-wheels before, let alone with a motor attached.
In the first two months of this year, I have been cut off in the bike lane at least a dozen times by e-bikers who neither follow bike etiquette nor the rules of motor traffic – they are neither nor, and therefore answer to no one.
As an avid bicyclist, I have little tolerance for the cigarette puffing e-biker veering from the car into the bike lane at 25 km per hour – last week – or the reverse, the commuter who jumped from the sidewalk into traffic tonight on my way home.
As a pedal-power cyclist, you know the limits of your maneuverability and adapt accordingly, not to mention looking for other vehicles that can decimate you in an instant.
E-bikes? Great idea if in fact they cut down on four-wheeled congestion, but as with any other vehicle, LEARN HOW TO DRIVE!!!
Jared Bloch
New Versys 1000, back to basics
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Riding home tonight on my bicycle I was caught up short at the sight of the new Kawasaki Versys 1000 sitting out front of my neighborhood motorcycle shop.
Versys face-to-face
Versys profile
Most of the recent Japanese bikes leave me completely nonplussed aesthetically, but Kawasaki’s new Adventure-Tourer strikes just the right balance of technological innovation and no-nonsense styling.
The big in-line four cylinder engine (1043 cc) reminds me of my old KZ and Gpz, 700 and 1000 bikes and indeed the motor is borrowed from Kawasaki’s z1000 naked sport bike (which was apparently designed by a Manga artist).
Jared Bloch
Bi-annual inspection at Cantonal Office for Automobiles and Navigation
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, Cantonal Office of Automobiles and Navigation (OCAN) – I have never owned a new motor vehicle. In fact most bikes and cars I have owned have been several years old.
In Canton Geneva, vehicles more than 10 years old must be inspected every two years, and I feel the belt tightening every time my motors are due for a visit because the Geneva office actually measures tread depth and runs a white glove around the fork seals looking for telltale leakage.
I have grown grudgingly to appreciate this Genevois rigour but I went through my first few visits with clenched teeth as I waited to hear the damage to my wallet.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Is it just me or have the weather gods smiled on Geneva this Fall?
All the better to get back in the saddle after what seems like an extended hiatus limited to commuting on two-wheels.
Window to another world near Satigny, canton Geneva
Sharing the road with a group on horseback makes me forget momentarily about gas stations, traffic lights and vehicle inspections.
And something about the empty vineyards early morning and late afternoon is calming to a mind overrun with extraneous garbage.
Like a dream more vivid than my waking moments.
End of the road - Chouilly-Thoiry border
Sunday afternoon "ballade "in the vineyards
Jared Bloch
Click on pictures to enlarge
1961 Jaguar E type - deja vu
MORGES, SWITZERLAND – How many museums let you to run your hand over a piece of art valued at one million francs?
That is the estimated worth of the original Jaguar E type from the 1961 Geneva Autoshow, on show 1 October at the Swiss Classic British Car Meet.
Moveable art
The showing, which was the centerpiece of the Meet, marked the first time British car buffs could look at their reflection in the cars signature side view mirrors close up – without the security perimeter of the original debut.
Jared Bloch
Wheels waiting to be mounted
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ever had a pair of jeans that just never fit right, or a car that ran lousily but refused to die? Lately I have been plagued by bicycles that just won’t be fixed – what I think of as demon bikes.
Last week someone brought me a 21-speed mountain bike with the gears slipping.
An initial assessment determined that a new chain should have solved the problem, but not quite.
Next I changed the derailleur thinking the old unit was not holding enough tension, still no dice.
Increasingly agitated at the ability of this simple machine to best me, not to mention rob me of some prime biking time, I switched out the rear wheel noting the teeth on the cogs were a bit worn down and… nothing, same problem.
Jared Bloch
Bertha - a fine piece of Swedish motor engineering on the Greek coast preparing to embark for Italy
Geneva – Ever wonder what happens to solid running cars that fail the feared controle technique, or inspection in Switzerland?
According to one mechanic I talked to, Volvos in particular often get a second life in places like Iran and Afghanistan.
While an automotive afterlife sounds quaint, I was less than happy when stringent Swiss inspection laws recently forced an early retirement for “Bertha,” our much loved 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon.
Finding them a second life makes sense actually, as many cars deemed either not up to Swiss safety or ecological standards are still in strong running condition, and a workhorse like ours, with only 285,000 km, can be expected to give many more years of life.
Never the less, it hurt, driving Bertha for the last time, to hand her over to a car transporter, who would shortly load her onto a trailer to be trucked out of the country.