Rich Rohrich
- Thread starter 2fun
- Start date
I've never touched a quad and have no interest in changing that, and to be honest I have no interest in telling my life's story either (it's too dull). If you have a specific question I'll try to answer it though.
Hey, 2fun...
Rich used to assemble lawn furniture for the original Mr. Know It All...
what more do you want?
:think ...
Rich used to assemble lawn furniture for the original Mr. Know It All...
what more do you want?
:think ...
LWilson250
Member
- Jan 1, 2001
- 683
- 0
He isn’t even human! Rich is actually a computer database run by a superior version of Linux with a custom designed AI program. When a fuel question (or one of anyther nature) comes up RICH (Really Intelligent Computer Hardware) scans the post and then looks through the database for the best answer.
Okiewan implemented the RICH system so he would have an easy way of answering the many questions that will no doubt be asked over and over and over again. No human alive could be so tolerant.
Now you know...I better put my tin foil hat back on so RICH can't read my thoughts....
I want to believe!
Lee W.
Okiewan implemented the RICH system so he would have an easy way of answering the many questions that will no doubt be asked over and over and over again. No human alive could be so tolerant.
Now you know...I better put my tin foil hat back on so RICH can't read my thoughts....
I want to believe!
Lee W.
LWilson250
Member
- Jan 1, 2001
- 683
- 0
How else would he/it get all the knowledge he/it has acquired throughout the years?!
Lee W. (AKA- the tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist)
Try the SEARCH function at the top. I think you'll find the answers to a lot of different questions.
Chris Orndorff
Member
- Oct 14, 1999
- 75
- 0
2fun,
The problem with resumes (pretend there's an accent over that last 'e'), is that they often don't mean that much. Plus, on the 'net, I can create any sort of "background" I want to.
Personal questions (and your question was personal), are best handled by private email. Not that Rich would have answered you there either, but it's still a better way to address the issue.;)
Hang around; I think you'll learn a thing or two. I have.
The problem with resumes (pretend there's an accent over that last 'e'), is that they often don't mean that much. Plus, on the 'net, I can create any sort of "background" I want to.
Personal questions (and your question was personal), are best handled by private email. Not that Rich would have answered you there either, but it's still a better way to address the issue.;)
Hang around; I think you'll learn a thing or two. I have.
if Rich is really a computer then who's on page 85?
Come on Rich, give up some info.............. you might get a date from 2fun, maybe he is a she & she's a hottie.
PS. 2fun, I think Rich is just another one of us that likes to take stuff apart and fiddle with it and has also taken the time to research his findings before posting them to the world.
Come on Rich, give up some info.............. you might get a date from 2fun, maybe he is a she & she's a hottie.
PS. 2fun, I think Rich is just another one of us that likes to take stuff apart and fiddle with it and has also taken the time to research his findings before posting them to the world.
EricGorr
Super Power AssClown
- Aug 24, 2000
- 708
- 1
Hi 2Fun,
Welcome to DRN. I can give you some background on Rich. He's a maniacal truth seeker with an educational background that started in perocial grade school and a Chicago technical high school named Lane Tech. Back then you had to pass a difficult entry exam in order to get into Lane. His best teacher was a guy named Saul who taught machine shop and all the rest of the stuff that most teachers shrug-off. Like technical examination, how to ask questions, where to find correct answers, and how to reason things out for yourself.
Rich became an auto mechanic after high school because it paid way better than the motorcycle industry which is where he would've rather worked. Along the way he met some curious characters including Vic Krause of Krause Racing, the Midwest Mecca for motocross in the 1970s. Rich asked if he could work for free to learn about dirt bikes and Krause qualified his mechanical skills by making him put together lawn furniture which Vic couldn't do because even though he had a master's degree in electrical engineering and was the self proclaimed "Mr. Know-it-All" of dirt biking, he really had no mechanical aptitude whatsoever. So Rich won a job as Vic's lackey and all those super trick Maico motorcycles that were paraded through the magazines in the 70s were actually engineered and built by Rich, and taken credit for by Krause of course.
In 1980 he met me and we started a journey of questioning authority. Being associated with Krause gained us access to the burgeoning off-road motorcycle industry. It was like a sequel to "On Any Sunday", we met everybody and went everywhere. We worked on tons of bikes and experimented with wild abandon. Although the Japanese manufacturers won't give us a lick of credit, we changed the way they engineered motorcycles. In 1981 we modified a Suzuki RM125 with a lower center of gravity, very narrow, and a seat that extended to the steering head. Until that point in time, dirt bikes had radiators mounted to the handlebars and the gas tanks were so wide it felt like you were trying to mount a hippo! That bike became the modern dirt bike as we have today. There were so many innovations on that bike that have evolved into modern day, and back then everybody thought we were dropping acid. Suzuki communicated with us on a weekly basis and in 1983 they copped the design and put Mark Barnett on it for the Supercross series. Having a low center of gravity himself, Barney loved that motorcycle but Suzuki caved into the scrutinization of foolish naysayers and switched back to conventional motorcycles.
By late 1982 we totaly split from Krause and had a serious fall-out with the only off-road motorcycle publication at the time, suffering censorship and black-listing that prevails to this day. The motorcycle business was in a deep recession and personal computers were on the horizon, so Rich attended a 2-year school for programming while working as an auto mechanic. He started a career in the information technology business that has spanned many different job functions including new product development and product benchmarking and testing, most notably for Internet appliances, modems, and PC video products. Rich's interest in engineering and motorcycles was always his primary focus, but I.T. paid the rent. His motorcycling experience encompasses drag racing, roadracing, and motocross.
In 1998 Rich followed a thread on RMD by a father and son looking for a place to ride in nothern Illinois. Rich told Okie and Pokie about a secret riding area in Northern Illinois at our friend OT's house. Okie had experience with UBB code and talked about starting an information network resource for dirt bikers. So DRN was born. Rich and I have always given dirt bikers technical information about dirt bikes, through personal advice, a short-lived newsletter called MotoTECH circa 1992, and RMD before DRN was started. Okie provided the hardware and programming to allow a dedicated group of enthusiasts to create and maintain forums on many different aspects of dirt biking. As you can see Rich moderates many different forums besides this one. Rich and Okie founded a list of standards for posts on DRN and in policing the standards, Rich has developed a reputation that might make people think he's a bit surly and unfriendly but in real life he's the nicest guy you'd ever meet. And he's dam proud that the certain motorcycle magazine motojournalists and naysayers loathe his no-BS truth seeking writings.
Rich's third story Chicago apartment is crowded with motorcycles and a library's worth of SAE tech papers, vintage motorcycle books, and scientific journals, and tools. Rich's collaboration with Jeremy Wilkey of MX Tech on the project of reducing the travel of dirt bikes for people with not so long legs has opened up the world of dirt biking to a myriad of people who otherwise felt alienated by the motorcycle manufacturers. There's a picture of Rich with his modified YZF on page 85 of my book Motocross & Off-Road Performance Handbook. Saul the machine shop teacher would be proud of Rich's influence in the motorcycle industry.
So that's "The Brief History of Rich", a not so boring life afterall ;)
Welcome to DRN. I can give you some background on Rich. He's a maniacal truth seeker with an educational background that started in perocial grade school and a Chicago technical high school named Lane Tech. Back then you had to pass a difficult entry exam in order to get into Lane. His best teacher was a guy named Saul who taught machine shop and all the rest of the stuff that most teachers shrug-off. Like technical examination, how to ask questions, where to find correct answers, and how to reason things out for yourself.
Rich became an auto mechanic after high school because it paid way better than the motorcycle industry which is where he would've rather worked. Along the way he met some curious characters including Vic Krause of Krause Racing, the Midwest Mecca for motocross in the 1970s. Rich asked if he could work for free to learn about dirt bikes and Krause qualified his mechanical skills by making him put together lawn furniture which Vic couldn't do because even though he had a master's degree in electrical engineering and was the self proclaimed "Mr. Know-it-All" of dirt biking, he really had no mechanical aptitude whatsoever. So Rich won a job as Vic's lackey and all those super trick Maico motorcycles that were paraded through the magazines in the 70s were actually engineered and built by Rich, and taken credit for by Krause of course.
In 1980 he met me and we started a journey of questioning authority. Being associated with Krause gained us access to the burgeoning off-road motorcycle industry. It was like a sequel to "On Any Sunday", we met everybody and went everywhere. We worked on tons of bikes and experimented with wild abandon. Although the Japanese manufacturers won't give us a lick of credit, we changed the way they engineered motorcycles. In 1981 we modified a Suzuki RM125 with a lower center of gravity, very narrow, and a seat that extended to the steering head. Until that point in time, dirt bikes had radiators mounted to the handlebars and the gas tanks were so wide it felt like you were trying to mount a hippo! That bike became the modern dirt bike as we have today. There were so many innovations on that bike that have evolved into modern day, and back then everybody thought we were dropping acid. Suzuki communicated with us on a weekly basis and in 1983 they copped the design and put Mark Barnett on it for the Supercross series. Having a low center of gravity himself, Barney loved that motorcycle but Suzuki caved into the scrutinization of foolish naysayers and switched back to conventional motorcycles.
By late 1982 we totaly split from Krause and had a serious fall-out with the only off-road motorcycle publication at the time, suffering censorship and black-listing that prevails to this day. The motorcycle business was in a deep recession and personal computers were on the horizon, so Rich attended a 2-year school for programming while working as an auto mechanic. He started a career in the information technology business that has spanned many different job functions including new product development and product benchmarking and testing, most notably for Internet appliances, modems, and PC video products. Rich's interest in engineering and motorcycles was always his primary focus, but I.T. paid the rent. His motorcycling experience encompasses drag racing, roadracing, and motocross.
In 1998 Rich followed a thread on RMD by a father and son looking for a place to ride in nothern Illinois. Rich told Okie and Pokie about a secret riding area in Northern Illinois at our friend OT's house. Okie had experience with UBB code and talked about starting an information network resource for dirt bikers. So DRN was born. Rich and I have always given dirt bikers technical information about dirt bikes, through personal advice, a short-lived newsletter called MotoTECH circa 1992, and RMD before DRN was started. Okie provided the hardware and programming to allow a dedicated group of enthusiasts to create and maintain forums on many different aspects of dirt biking. As you can see Rich moderates many different forums besides this one. Rich and Okie founded a list of standards for posts on DRN and in policing the standards, Rich has developed a reputation that might make people think he's a bit surly and unfriendly but in real life he's the nicest guy you'd ever meet. And he's dam proud that the certain motorcycle magazine motojournalists and naysayers loathe his no-BS truth seeking writings.
Rich's third story Chicago apartment is crowded with motorcycles and a library's worth of SAE tech papers, vintage motorcycle books, and scientific journals, and tools. Rich's collaboration with Jeremy Wilkey of MX Tech on the project of reducing the travel of dirt bikes for people with not so long legs has opened up the world of dirt biking to a myriad of people who otherwise felt alienated by the motorcycle manufacturers. There's a picture of Rich with his modified YZF on page 85 of my book Motocross & Off-Road Performance Handbook. Saul the machine shop teacher would be proud of Rich's influence in the motorcycle industry.
So that's "The Brief History of Rich", a not so boring life afterall ;)
- Jan 1, 2001
- 3,043
- 9
Now that was worth reading.:)
I didn't get a chance to talk with Rich at DW'01 since he was busy trying to keep Billy riding.....but he is one of those guys who Always has a smile on his face whenever you see him.
Nice write up Eric. I have always been impressed with Rich's broad knowledge base and after reading where it came form I can appreciated it even more.
Of course his quick witted charm is just icing on the cake:aj:
Of course his quick witted charm is just icing on the cake:aj:
CanadianRidr
Sponsoring Member
- Oct 22, 2001
- 2,018
- 0
:eek: WOW is all I can say, that blew my mind (what's left of it)
I don't have anything to say, I am speechless, just wow!
I never knew the history on you guys but
WOW:eek:
I don't have anything to say, I am speechless, just wow!
I never knew the history on you guys but
WOW:eek:
My existance sure seems a whole lot less random when Eric describes it :)
For the record Eric deserves most of the credit for the low tank gas tank RM125. Eric was going through an incredible period of creativity at that point which netted him two U.S Patents and there could have been more if the funding was available. I was merely his wacky sidekick, metal butcher and the occasional voice of reason when his creativity went spiralling a little to far off center. I knew Eric was on an epic run when we would show up at the races with the bike and the protests would be filed before we had all our gear unloaded. ( See the picture below)
I feel extremely fortunate to have played some small part in that period of time and with any luck the things we have planned for the future will be as fun and compelling as those early years.
For the record Eric deserves most of the credit for the low tank gas tank RM125. Eric was going through an incredible period of creativity at that point which netted him two U.S Patents and there could have been more if the funding was available. I was merely his wacky sidekick, metal butcher and the occasional voice of reason when his creativity went spiralling a little to far off center. I knew Eric was on an epic run when we would show up at the races with the bike and the protests would be filed before we had all our gear unloaded. ( See the picture below)
I feel extremely fortunate to have played some small part in that period of time and with any luck the things we have planned for the future will be as fun and compelling as those early years.
Rich was also a stand-in for Ron Howard on Mayberry RFD.
Thanks for the history lesson -- you guys are BOTH amazing, dedicated and most of all, helpful!
Our autographed Motocross and Off-Road Handbook is a treasure to our family, and should be REQUIRED reading for all dirtbikers!
While were getting teary-eyed here, thanks too to this forum! I'll shut-up now, but on behalf of all the lurkers, we praise, and thank you all for the education!
Our autographed Motocross and Off-Road Handbook is a treasure to our family, and should be REQUIRED reading for all dirtbikers!
While were getting teary-eyed here, thanks too to this forum! I'll shut-up now, but on behalf of all the lurkers, we praise, and thank you all for the education!
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