Motorcycle rumors

Solar powered framwhizzer promises low cost, high mileage, great reliability and it’s environmentally friendly! No details yet. Sound familiar? It should, there have been a lot of rumors floating around the internet about new vehicles and products with just as much source material for you to check out. Some writers have found the rumor niche and will put together a great article with eye catching but unrelated photos and presto, everyone wonders how long before they can buy the new tech marvel.

When you see an article gushing over this latest advance, turn on your BS filter and ask yourself where the info came from. Look for details. If a writer is disclosing through rumor what should be kept quiet because of non disclosure agreements then he’s broken the agreement. Sometimes, however, a company will test a new idea, (how else to know if it works?) with no plans to produce it. It may be too costly or impractical and they’re just gathering data. If someone hears about it and rushes to publish this scoop, what do you have? Nothing of substance. If this breathless report never materializes the writer or site can rightly claim it was only a rumor and if it does finally appear they claim predictive powers. Fortune tellers do this all the time. “I see amazing things…”

What’s the harm in this? Many people begin to “know” things that aren’t so. They repeat what they heard as though it’s a fact and the rumor spreads, taking on a life of its own. This happens in politics every day and unfortunately will never change but with technical topics we should require a bit more. I remember a math professor in college reminding us to look at our answer and think about whether it makes sense, if not, recheck your work. With these new reports, do they make sense? If there’s no way to tell, file it away as a “maybe” and check back later to see if any new information has appeared. Don’t get sucked into believing a neat story because it would be nice if true. Check it out.

There are companies working on advanced ideas that may not pan out but the effort is real and those stories are interesting. That’s the free market at work, pursue your dream. In those case, you can see what they’ve done and potential hurdles they still face. Don’t confuse those stories with vaporware and fiction. Think.

Now, where was I? Oh yes. Brand new V-max coming out next year! Details soon!