asyncmind - Nostr Hypermedia

Globally, the RX100 looks even more unusual. The original RX100 was about 103 kg kerb, 11 bhp, 10.4 Nm, 18-inch wheels and a 1,240 mm wheelbase. That gives it roughly 107 hp/tonne before the rider, but the more important part is where that performance comes from: very low mass, narrow tyres, a compact chassis and a 2-stroke engine that wakes up sharply. The closest modern bikes fall into three different camps: Bike Wet/kerb weight Power How close to RX100? Yamaha RX100 103 kg ~11 bhp Benchmark Honda Grom 125 ~102 kg ~10 hp class Extremely close mass, but tiny 12" wheels Kawasaki Z125 Pro ~102 kg 10 hp Probably closest in sheer tossability Honda Monkey 125 ~105 kg ~9–10 hp class Similar lightness, softer personality Honda CB125F 117 kg 10.7 bhp Closest full-size modern commuter philosophy Yamaha XSR125 140 kg 15 hp More power, far more mass Typical modern 125 sport/naked 130–155 kg 12–15 hp Faster chassis, much less “basketball” The 2026 Kawasaki Z125 Pro is fascinating: 224.8 lb / ~102 kg curb, 10 hp, 46.3-inch wheelbase. On paper it is almost absurdly close to the RX100's mass. And the 2026 Honda Grom is 224 lb, again about 102 kg, with a five-speed gearbox. So in the pure “pick it up, flick it, throw it around” sense: RX100 ≈ Grom ≈ Z125 Pro But there is a huge catch. The Grom and Z125 achieve that with 12-inch wheels and minibike dimensions. They feel like deliberately scaled-down motorcycles. The RX100 manages roughly the same mass while still being a proper full-size, 18-inch-wheel motorcycle. That is the extraordinary bit. The closest full-size modern equivalent: Honda CB125F The modern European-market CB125F is probably the closest philosophical descendant I've found. It has: 117 kg kerb weight 10.7 bhp 18-inch wheels telescopic forks twin rear shocks front disc 5-speed gearbox Honda even deliberately reduced mass in its newer generation, including combining starter and generator functions. That means you're only adding about 14 kg over the RX100 while retaining a proper motorcycle wheelbase and 18-inch wheels. But the motor is the complete opposite. RX100: BRAAAP → powerband → go CB125F: put-put-put-put → excellent fuel economy → arrive in another country 😂 So dynamically the chassis philosophy is similar, while emotionally they're nowhere near one another. Yamaha's own XSR125 shows what happened to modern bikes This is a useful comparison. The current XSR125 makes a healthy 11 kW / 15 PS, has a six-speed box, USD forks and disc brakes. But it weighs 140 kg wet. That's 37 kg heavier than an RX100. Imagine strapping nearly four 10 kg bags of rice to the RX before setting off. That's effectively what three decades of: emissions equipment, liquid cooling, large frames, wide wheels, large brakes, ABS hardware, starter systems, batteries, reinforcement, electronics have done to the lightweight motorcycle. The XSR is objectively the much more capable modern machine. But it cannot play basketball in the same way. Honda Monkey: same weight, different geometry The 2026 Monkey is about 231 lb / 105 kg wet, with 12-inch wheels, USD forks, twin shocks and ABS. It's actually remarkably close to the RX100 philosophy: simple engine low mass minimum machinery maximum fun But the Monkey achieves this by becoming physically tiny. The RX100 did it without becoming a minibike. That distinction matters. Kawasaki Z125 Pro might be the modern king of “basketball” The Z125 Pro is the one I'd try if the criterion is literally: > Can I change direction with this thing like I'm dribbling it? At approximately 102 kg wet, short wheelbase, tiny wheels and 10 hp, it is almost entirely designed around low-speed playfulness. But again: Z125 = basketball-sized motorcycle RX100 = motorcycle that handles like a basketball Those aren't quite the same achievement. And that's why a restomod RX100 becomes really interesting Take the RX100's approximately: 103 kg 11 bhp 18-inch wheels 1,240 mm wheelbase and add only: 220–240 mm front disc modern tyres fresh suspension modern bearings 12 V electrics CDI better lighting and you potentially end up with something the contemporary global market hardly makes at all: a ~105 kg full-size analogue road motorcycle with modern stopping ability. That's arguably a more distinctive specification in 2026 than another 150 kg, 15 hp ABS-equipped 125. The world still makes light minibikes. It still makes full-size 125s. What it largely stopped making is the strange middle ground the RX100 occupied: full-size proportions + minibike mass + genuinely lively engine. That's the basketball trick. 🏀 View quoted note →

asyncmind 2 weeks ago

The pundits of today are finally discovering that fiat is “backed by nothing.”

The old pundits understood something deeper: debt was never only financial. It was moral. A ledger did not merely record coins owed. It recorded obligation, dependence, promise, guilt and ultimately the limits of what one human being could demand from another. That is why the language overlaps so cleanly: Debt. Bondage. Debasement. Redemption. Scripture could speak of forgiving debts and forgiving sins almost interchangeably because the metaphor was already understood. To debase the coin was not merely to change its metal content. It was to corrupt the measure carrying yesterday’s labour into tomorrow. And when debt became impossible to discharge, the problem was no longer merely economic. A claim on money became a claim on future human time. The old theologians understood the endpoint. A debt that can never be repaid becomes bondage. A ledger that can never be cleared becomes judgment. An obligation that consumes the whole future begins to resemble hell. Modern economics gives us cleaner terms: inflation, leverage, debt overhang, financial repression. The older vocabulary was less polite because it understood the human consequence. The real question was never whether money was “backed by something.” It was whether the promise embedded in money still honoured the human being who surrendered part of his life to earn it. When that promise is continuously debased, the monetary problem eventually becomes a moral one. #Fiat #Debt #Money #Debasement #Economics #Theology #Redemption #SoundMoney #Bitcoin