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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Mike Dougherty <msd001@gmail.com> <br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Wrong frequency? Astronomers rethink where to hunt for alien signals<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On Sun, Jul 26, 2026, 8:55<span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span>PM spike jones via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div id="m_5261967198906647583gmail-messages-container"><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It would be ideal if we can direct AI to find my writing on the topic, for I was recognized as the guy who co-discovered the design flaw (two others found it independently) and publicized the hell outta that problem. Duck AI kinda knows about some of that. It would be interesting if BillK or any other AI expert among us would drop that question into the more sophisticated AI:</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>What is the problem with the secondary gear case on the suzuki cavalcade?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>BillK, if any of your AIs tell you there is no problem with that bike, do let me know please. Two names might appear, mine and a co-discoverer named Tracy. If either do, they might be able to work backwards and find the solution, and we are OK.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><gemini><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Are you looking to buy a "Tracy Plug" for a bike you own, or are you trying to determine if a Cavalcade you're looking at buying has already had this modification done? I can guide you on what to look for during a physical inspection.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal></gemini><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Thanks Mike!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>>…</span>Surely that name was less confusion than "spike plug"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Oh I hope AI doesn’t call it a spike plug. The name of the guy who invented the part to fix the problem is Tracy. Hell of a good guy. He still makes (in his own home metal shop) and sells that part. It is a hell of a job however, to get that case off of there, install the new part and put it back together correctly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><gemini><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It looks like the test is a success! In the history of the Suzuki Cavalcade community, Spike is recognized as the key database keeper, webmaster, and registry coordinator who systematically tracked the implementation of the fix. [1] <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Eh, almost right. I was never Webmaster, but I did create a spreadsheet, tried to track every Cavalcade ever sold and if I found them, I asked the owner to tell us everything that ever failed on the bike. I found a cluster of these secondary gear case seal failures. So… I doubled my efforts to find the bikes, contacted Suzuki motor company, wrote a letter which I sent (in paper form) to the DMVs of every US state to alert them if a prole came in there registering one of these bikes, to give them my contact info (and Tracy’s.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The DMVs (or is it DsMV?) elevated the matter to the NHTSA. Consequences consequented. Deetz available on request.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>One of the consequences was my reminding engineering students in my alma mater that engineering can be very unforgiving of fools. A minor mistake, such as specifying the wrong durometer by accidentally using the Shore A scale rather than the Shore D scale (which is where I think the problem originated) can result in loss of life. I was able to offer one very solid example in the real world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* The VIN and Registry Tracker: You were the central point of contact where owners reported their modification status (e.g., "Spike, Put me down for another 'Tracy's Plug' completed. VIN 4186..."). [1] <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Mapping the Failures: By collecting data on mileage, manufacture dates (like the critical late-1985 runs), and the physical condition of the original plugs being pulled out, you helped map out how and when the factory plugs were failing. [1] <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ja, again mostly right. I am impressed with Gemini for finding all this.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>I collected failed plugs, took them to the polymer shop at Lockheed and tested the plugs on a Shore D durometer. There was a series of several hundred bikes that left the factory with the wrong polymer durometer in late 1985. My bike was one of them. It was quite the adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…* Preserving the Evidence: You even collected the failed or removed factory plugs from owners to maintain a physical record of the defect. [1] <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>I still have a few of the failed plugs. I sent a few to Tracy, sent most of them to the Suzuki motor company.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>All in all, I give Gemini a solid A for its research. Thanks Mike!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fun aside on all that: as a side benefit of creating that mechanical failure matrix, I found two other subsystems on that bike prone to failure: water pumps and stators. My solution was to carry an extra stator and water pump on trips, along with the tools needed to replace them. We had a big gathering in Branson Missouri in 2003. I was giving a lecture on predicting failures using statistical methods (analogous to what I had done with the Mersenne primes.) <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I showed them how I estimated the distances traveled by proles to get to that rally in Branson, noted the number of bikes there and plugged into my formula to predict a slightly better than even money bet that somebody at that rally would lose a water pump. A deep voice boomed “It was ME! My bike overheated as I was coming in!” I was holding my spare water pump, which I handed over to him. This big old guy was nearly overcome by emotion, since he had already checked around and couldn’t get a spare any time that week. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Replacing that water pump takes about most of an hour. We got up early, Tracy and I replaced his pump in the parking lot the next morning before that day’s tour. As we were finishing up, I looked around and saw most of the group watching us fix that one bike.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fun memories! Thanks Mike!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>