Traverse 4 VS Vtwin

[crazy steve]

...When either an engineer or a trade person decide that their way is THE way, and refuse to see or use the others, the project can be doomed....

I'll agree with that. Like I said, those were the times I was glad I was paid by the hour.

The last ten years that I worked, I did pretty much either design/build projects, or projects on the local military bases. A lot more latitude than you'll find on most so-called 'fully engineered' projects. To be successful, you learn quickly that there isn't just 'one way', but every project has to be looked at separately. The base projects were usually the most challenging, as either they didn't really know what they wanted, or if they thought they did, they had some moron who insisted on 'his way' that usually wouldn't work (the Army Corps of Engineers are famous for this). Best way to handle those were to go limp on them, make sure everyone understood that I was doing exactly what was asked (and having it documented; critically important), then when it went to crap, the inevitable blame would attach to right person.

The thing that always bemused me the most about working on the bases was the basic job priorities were reversed from what you'd find in the non-federal sector. Anywhere but there, they were: 1. Code (until it passes it's not done)2. Functionality 3. Appearance. On base, it was just the opposite. There, appearance was king and the trick was giving them that without compromising the other two any more than needed. Code didn't matter much to them (but it did to me), as they'd pass almost anything if it looked the way they wanted. I mentioned this to one of the better inspectors one day, and he got a startled look on his face, but after thinking about it for a minute admitted that he'd never looked at it that way but I was right. Scary, eh?

'78E original owner

[DGXSER]

I just wrapped up a COE project. The folks they have looking it over on a daily basis have NO clue about code or how systems work or how a building goes together.

On the other hand, they brought in an inspector for life safety that knows every code inside and out and uses the parts and pieces to try and enforce his opinion of how code SHOULD be written. So we spent half our time showing him that his opinion is not code, but he STILL insisted it was to be done his way. We had to get the COE to over ride him.

[crazy steve]

I just wrapped up a COE project. The folks they have looking it over on a daily basis have NO clue about code or how systems work or how a building goes together.

On the other hand, they brought in an inspector for life safety that knows every code inside and out and uses the parts and pieces to try and enforce his opinion of how code SHOULD be written. So we spent half our time showing him that his opinion is not code, but he STILL insisted it was to be done his way. We had to get the COE to over ride him.

Yeah, unfortunately the COE has more that few of those guys (and gals). I was HATED by several of the local inspectors that had that attitude, and one got fired and the other (slightly smarter) one transferred out just ahead of being fired after dealing with me a few times. I got quite adept at giving them enough rope to hang themselves, then going over their heads and blowing them up with their own paperwork. Not to say I was vindictive, but I did get tired quickly of these idiots trying to turn MY job into a POS with their stupidity. It did make dealing with the remainder of them easier though.

I could tell horror stories for hours; like the COE-designed fire alarm system in a child daycare building that alarmed every time they mowed the lawn; the HVAC would suck the mower exhaust into the building and set off the duct smoke detectors. Then when we attempted repairs we found so many code/spec violations (all approved by the COE inspector) in the original job that it became a puzzle of just how to make it function and keep it semi-legal without tearing most of the building down. Or the fire training facility that burned up the gas ignitor wiring every time they used it. I never did get that one completely right either; the design just had too many flaws, but I did get it to pass a DOD inspection that it had failed for the five previous years, so they were thrilled. I was told that the one I reworked was the only one out of 50 built by the COE that passed this test.

You see people here get all excited about how much money the govt spends on welfare/immigrants/social programs, but most have absolutely no clue about how much money the DOD pisses down the drain. Dishonest and/or sub-standard contractors who get an 'inside track' and protection from their political friends (Cheney and John Warner seemed to be the two offenders I heard about the most) doing their best to rape the govt out of as much money as possible while doing the bare minimum for the job. As a sub-contractor, these jobs were always the most difficult for me as the general was only interested in cheap, not good. I learned to turn a mostly blind eye to keep from going crazy (saving 'us' money where I could), and concentrated on building paychecks that I didn't feel guilty about taking.

Not often it was smooth sailing, but I was rarely bored....

[Larrym]

Post Retirement Angst.

You guys are getin' me all dewy-eyed about my experiences with the Beavis's and Buttheads I encountered in my career.

Strangely enough....I kinda miss 'em.


That's so twisted but true!

[crazy steve]

Yeah, I know what you mean..... now when there's a screw-up there's nobody to blame but me.... LOLOLOL!!!

'78E original owner

[joceiphus]

[Guy_b_g]

That is a cool ride. I think I would put some air cleaners on those carbs though, it would be like having six vacuum cleaners picking up junk that every car around kicks up that way. No way do I think they drove that thing without them.

[joceiphus]

Man, I think it's a CAD drawing. It was on this guy's website, and he had a bunch of those and just tons of other cool stuff!
DBBP.com

[crazy steve]

That's three shovel-head Harley top ends on a custom crankcase.....

For something even more bizarre, go here...

http://www.bigbikeriders.com/48cyl.htm

Can you imagine the cloud of smoke from this? LOL!

'78E original owner

[DGXSER]

I'd like to see the video of him taking it through the twisties.