I'm just wondering why my R1150GS is placed in the sport touring class as opposed to the standard class? I had, upon reflection, a good time riding my first MN1K. Thank you all who made the rally work.
It was a random, arbitrary decision made by me. So there.
What exactly is a modern GS? The genuises at Cycle World used to frequently name it their "Best Sport Tourer". Ever try to keep up with a well-ridden GS on your sport bike? Is it a standard? Not by some of Team Strange's rules...in my opinion, the GS is impossible to classify, which is why it's such a great bike. One rider asked me why the BMW R1100RT was in the touring class rather than sport touring. We each made good points but in the end, it's pretty arbitrary.
Some of the arrangement of bikes and classes was done simply to balance out the numbers between classes, to help justify the number of awards given out. Speaking for myself here and NOT Team Strange, I think a novice class for first time 24 hour rally entrants and a top ten for everyone else would be the preferable way to arrange things. But that's just me.
According to at least one web site, the carbon footprint for the 91,635 miles ridden in the MN100 results is in the area of 26 tons of CO2. That about the same as five and a half round-trip flights around the earth.
In 2006 Coal fired power plants in the US produced about 2 billion tons of CO2*, so the carbon footprint of 14 years of the MN1K was equivalent to keeping half of America's lights on** for a little less than half a second***. I think it was worth it, don't y'all?
So stick that in your plug-in hybrid and smoke it. I do my best not to waste resources (my neighbors labeled me a tree hugger years ago), but those with the lowest carbon footrpint in the US**** use twice as much as the world average. So "environmental responsibility" in the developed world is pretty much about making us feel better about ourselves. If you want to drive a Prius or ride your motorcycle to work to save gas then go ahead, but don't kid yourself into thinking you being "responsible" in a globally meaningful way.
Now exuse me while I go nibble on some organic lettuce... Someone correct my calcs or facts if I'm wrong, I didn't spend a lot of time on this reply.
* Coal plants release on an average 1 ton fossil CO2 per MWh generated.
Coal accounts for roughly 50% of US power generation.
*** 26/2.00E+09 == 1.30E-08 yrs == 4.75E-06 days == 1.14E-04 hrs == 6.84E-03 min == 410 milliseconds.
**** The homeless! Their footprint due mainly consuming the services of shelters.