What's an RLET?

[the Ferret]

Come for the fun, stay for the education lol

[Novice_imp]

[url=http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/johnandkatie2/media/RLETS/IMG_2379_zps1qdj7d1w.jpg.html]

I drank the Kool Aid. PITA to put on.

[the Ferret]

Looking good brother Novice


And another angel gets her wings

[Cormanus]

Novice, I think Ferret missed a step. From being a Novice brother, you are now brother Novice. Well done and welcome.

As to the broader question posed by the Windy City's pre-eminent CB philosopher, brother EmptySea, let's perhaps start with some definitions. The 'farkle' has been defined by brother MetallyGuitarded with help from his urban dictionary. Simply put, it's bling. An 'accessory' is best defined as something adding appearance or function not present on the original bike—a top box or engine guards. A 'modification' is similar to an accessory, although it is generally designed to enhance the performance of the bike in some way—an aftermarket exhaust or PCV or some such.

An RLET is not a farkle. There's nothing resembling bling in this critical feature of the bike. It could be an accessory as it adds appearance. So, too, could it be a modification as all owners who have fitted them report a sublime improvement in performance—and not just in the performance of their bike!

The truth, though, is that it's neither accessory nor modification. It's an essential feature, an integral component if you will. Consider two curious things. The leading historian of the RLET, Brother Ferret, has correctly pointed out that no restored CB750 would be complete without its RLETs. Similarly a CB1100, which takes its design cues from that superb machine cannot be complete without its RLETs. And yet they are not fitted. That is the first curious thing.

The second curious thing is that you can still buy them.

Actually, there's a third curious thing: in all the elegant propaganda about the design and construction of the CB1100, there is no mention, no hint, of the RLET.

A critical design feature, not mentioned in the official bulletins, not fitted to the bike, yet still able to be purchased can mean only one possible thing. They're meant to be on the bike, but the owner is obliged to fit them him or herself as a rite of passage. Hence brother Ferret refers to angels getting their wings and brother Popgun brings on the secret handshake he learned from the ghost of Mr Honda in a seance.

In conclusion, brothers, novitiates, lurkers and tedious search engines, the RLET is not farkle nor accessory nor modification. Rather, like the fuel tank or the seat or the superior plastic bag that holds the manual, it is an integral component of the bike designed to make and sustain its spiritual connection to its venerable ancestors: the Honda CBs of the 1960s.

[Elipten_imp]

Obvious failure to install the RLET at the factory is a grievous oversight by the younger generation of Honda engineers. A letter writing campaign is required to Honda corporate to correct the situation.


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[emptysea]

Are we saying that, while a Stock CB is perfectly fine, it takes the RLEts for the bike to attain full CBness?

[Ghis_imp]

So, since Honda put them on its bikes, what was the thinking behind it. No manufacturer builds/equips bikes with unnecessary parts, as a penny saved on each bike turns into huge saving. Did Honda put them on for pure esthetic, or did they have a more functional purpose, such as protection, or such?
Wow, I just looked at some CB750 pictures I took from 2 different bikes at bikes shows, and sure enough the RLETS are there. How did I ever not noticed that ever?? I need me some RLETs. I still don't know what they do, but I'm converted.

[Cormanus]

Obvious failure to install the RLET at the factory is a grievous oversight by the younger generation of Honda engineers. A letter writing campaign is required to Honda corporate to correct the situation.


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Brother Elipten, this is not the right interpretation. Soichiro Honda recognized that RLETs completed the bike; helped achieve CBness as brother EmptySea eloquently puts it.

What has subsequently come to light in Honda's spiritual department is that recognizing the need for RLETs, acquiring and then installing them brings about a higher state of CBness that was previously thought to exist.

Novitiates must recognize and fulfill this requirement if an angel is to score wings and the secret handshake is to be shared.

Are we saying that, while a Stock CB is perfectly fine, it takes the RLEts for the bike to attain full CBness?

Correct, brother EmptySea. See my further elucidation above.

So, since Honda put them on its bikes, what was the thinking behind it. No manufacturer builds/equips bikes with unnecessary parts, as a penny saved on each bike turns into huge saving. Did Honda put them on for pure esthetic, or did they have a more functional purpose, such as protection, or such?
Wow, I just looked at some CB750 pictures I took from 2 different bikes at bikes shows, and sure enough the RLETS are there. How did I ever not noticed that ever?? I need me some RLETs. I still don't know what they do, but I'm converted.

Brother Ghis, it is not within my competence to answer important but pragmatic questions. Perhaps brother Ferret, keeper of RLET history could respond.

I just came across one of the original batch of K0 CB750s to come to Australia. It was keeping company with a 1970 CB350 and both were sporting RLETs.

[cb4kenco_imp]

I for one am thankful for this thread as I'd seen the term used liberally and was too afraid to ask what it meant. The real question is what's the point of them and isn't that they do nothing (I'm aware this is almost heresy here) the real reason they're not fitted anymore?

(I should say I'm also ashamed to admit that I did ask the dealer to fit them for me to my 14' EX as my path to enlightenment was not complete at the time!)

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Obvious failure to install the RLET at the factory is a grievous oversight by the younger generation of Honda engineers. A letter writing campaign is required to Honda corporate to correct the situation.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Brother Elipten, this is not the right interpretation. Soichiro Honda recognized that RLETs completed the bike; helped achieve CBness as brother EmptySea eloquently puts it.

What has subsequently come to light in Honda's spiritual department is that recognizing the need for RLETs, acquiring and then installing them brings about a higher state of CBness that was previously thought to exist.

Novitiates must recognize and fulfill this requirement if an angel is to score wings and the secret handshake is to be shared.

Are we saying that, while a Stock CB is perfectly fine, it takes the RLEts for the bike to attain full CBness?

Correct, brother EmptySea. See my further elucidation above.

So, since Honda put them on its bikes, what was the thinking behind it. No manufacturer builds/equips bikes with unnecessary parts, as a penny saved on each bike turns into huge saving. Did Honda put them on for pure esthetic, or did they have a more functional purpose, such as protection, or such?
Wow, I just looked at some CB750 pictures I took from 2 different bikes at bikes shows, and sure enough the RLETS are there. How did I ever not noticed that ever?? I need me some RLETs. I still don't know what they do, but I'm converted.

Brother Ghis, it is not within my competence to answer important but pragmatic questions. Perhaps brother Ferret, keeper of RLET history could respond.

I just came across one of the original batch of K0 CB750s to come to Australia. It was keeping company with a 1970 CB350 and both were sporting RLETs.

Brother Elipten, this is not the right interpretation. Soichiro Honda recognized that RLETs completed the bike; helped achieve CBness as brother EmptySea eloquently puts it.

What has subsequently come to light in Honda's spiritual department is that recognizing the need for RLETs, acquiring and then installing them brings about a higher state of CBness that was previously thought to exist.

Novitiates must recognize and fulfill this requirement if an angel is to score wings and the secret handshake is to be shared.

Are we saying that, while a Stock CB is perfectly fine, it takes the RLEts for the bike to attain full CBness?

Correct, brother EmptySea. See my further elucidation above.

So, since Honda put them on its bikes, what was the thinking behind it. No manufacturer builds/equips bikes with unnecessary parts, as a penny saved on each bike turns into huge saving. Did Honda put them on for pure esthetic, or did they have a more functional purpose, such as protection, or such?
Wow, I just looked at some CB750 pictures I took from 2 different bikes at bikes shows, and sure enough the RLETS are there. How did I ever not noticed that ever?? I need me some RLETs. I still don't know what they do, but I'm converted.

Brother Ghis, it is not within my competence to answer important but pragmatic questions. Perhaps brother Ferret, keeper of RLET history could respond.

I just came across one of the original batch of K0 CB750s to come to Australia. It was keeping company with a 1970 CB350 and both were sporting RLETs.
I just spit coffee all over my screen.