(01-11-2018 03:19 PM)VLJ Wrote: Okay, now that I've learned what RLETs are, will someone here explain their purpose?
No problem. For most that choose to sport them, RLETs serve as a visual indicator of the particular era when they came of age as motorcyclists. To this group of riders, the appeal of RLETs is not all that different than the appeal of the CB1100 itself.
Side note: If you refer to Wikipedia to learn more about
Motorcycling you will find that the image chose to represent "A Motorcyclist" is in fact
a photo of a guy riding a Honda CB (a CB550 in this case). That CB, of course, features RLETs. So there you have it — an authentic motorcyclist is someone who rides a CB that features RLETs (according my interpretation of Wikipedia anyway, lol).
Of course, RLETs do serve a more down to earth purpose as well, such as when you accidentally rub the end of your clutch or brake lever up against something like the painted surface of another vehicle when moving the bike around in the garage for example.