Chuck,
I believe you confused the Miata with the Toyota MR2. The Miata is only called by that name here in the North America, in Japan and Europe it is sold as the MX5. The MR2 does not create problems in Spanish, but in French. Toyota went so far as to call is simply MR in France and Belgium (they didn't worry about Québec).
To get over the worry of riding a bike in the rain, I believe it is fundemental that you not call them fenders, but mudguards. This will remove the worries that you might have, because of the 'guard' part of the word. Hey, it works for me!
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
> the consultants Mazda hired to "name" the miata were probably from
Madison
> Avenue, not Japan. I recall an an NPR story on the subject of such
> consultants and some of their failures (most famous being the Chevy Nova -
> means "doesn't go" in spanish), in which it was mentioned that Miata means
> "urinated upon" in some Hispanic dialect or another. That's the blunder
to
> which Mazda attributes poor Miata sales in Hispanic markets.
>
> classic content: Dale did a beautiful job in restoring my 1978 raleigh
pro,
> and brazed on some fender eyelets while he was at it. I've reassembled
and
> installed some beautiful Honjo narrow hammered fenders, but now can't bear
> to ride it in the wet. Anybody else got a beautiful fendered bike that
they
> DO ride in the rain? Please help me to overcom my fear!
>
> Chuck Taylor
> Scituate, MA
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