Talk:Rice rocket

Additional text for consideration/inclusion

moved here from Rice (disambiguation)

Rice, or Rice rocket or Rice burner can be a derogatory adjective referring to modified family cars, sports cars, or any type of vehicle. Generally this term refers to those cars which look fast or 'overdone' but have little or no modifications to the drivetrain. Modifications include, but are not limited to: large spoilers, non-functional body kits that modify the look of the car, adding Nitrous Oxide Systems stickers (NoS), lowering springs to make the vehicle sit lower (like race cars), flashy chromed tail lights and special headlights, larger than stock wheels with low profile tires, and of course, an extremely oversized, loud muffler.

The origin of this use is most likely the popular association of souped-up cars with Asian American men (especially East Asian). There are some informal attempts to "reclaim" the term, in recognition that modifying cars is a legitimate form of self expression.

As a subcategory, in certain parts of the country, there is new usage of this term that refers to poorly modified cars, i.e. Spanish rice. Generally those of hispanic descent are found driving these cars and can be readily recognized by their last name stickered boldly on the back window, and tires that stick out a few inches from the sides of the vehicle. A common car to have "riced" is the Honda Civic.

See also: Import Scene

Rice rockets/rice burners = same thing

This article needs to be merged with Rice burners because the term has not been used to refer to Japanese sportbikes since at least the early 1990s. The term is now exclusively used to refer to souped-up compact cars, and means the exact same thing as rice burner. Edrigu 16:15, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

I disagree, and I'd like to see some kind of sourcing if you're going to claim that it hasn't been used as such since the "early 1990s."

Fox1 16:33, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

What kind of source are you thinking of? Generally one assumes something isn't true unless there is evidence that it is, not the other way around, and since everytime I hear the term rice rocket the person is refering to a car and not a sport bike, it is reasonable to assume that the term is now exclusively used to refer to cars. Go to any car forum on the net and ask if they know the difference between a rice rocket and a rice burner, I am 100% sure no one will think there is a difference and they will all think both terms refer to cars. Edrigu 23:36, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

It took approximately 4 seconds of googling to find more than 10,000 instances of use of the term "rice rocket" to refer to a motorcycle, which pretty much renders your anecdotal evidence moot.

Fox1 17:12, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

How did you look over 10,000 results in 4 seconds? I just typed "rice rocket" into Google and out of the first page of results, only one refered to a motorcycle. On the second page of results, none were about motorcycles. Edrigu 15:51, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Ok, too much nesting. Here's the deal: did you try searching on "'rice rocket' motorcycle?" That should yield more pertinent results. Note that I'm not arguing that the term is not used to refer to cars, or even that, at this point in time, it's not used more often to refer to cars. I'm simply against the idea of merging the two pages. The terms are historically dissimilar, and, at present, the term when referencing motorcycles does not carry the pejorative of the term 'rice burner.'

Fox1 12:47, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

If you type "rice rocket + motorcycle" obviously you are going to get lots of results about motorcycles. If you type "rice rocket + spaceship" you will get hundreds of results, that doesn't make a rice rocket a spaceship. Just pointing out a flaw in your googling technique. To get fair results you should just type "rice rocket" (in quotes) without adding motorcycle. I really don't care enough about this article to continue arguing about it, if most people want it to stay separate from rice burners then that's fine with me, but I am interested to see what other people will say. Edrigu 12:19, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

Sigh... man, I know it can be hazardous to your mental health to assume other wikipedia users have full command of a functioning cerebellum, but I was hoping you'd credit me with a bit more intelligence than that. I didn't just do the search and grab the number, I actually read some of the pages, even browsing the short descriptions on the google results indicated that, while some hits may have been coincidental pairings of search terms, a large number of them did in fact use the terms in the manner I claimed.

Fox1 13:43, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

I really don't need a source. I own a motorcycle, and I'm obsessed with cars, dirtbikes, etc. I'm 20 years old, I'm a college student.. It's obvious to anyone like me that a rice rocket and a rice burner are the same thing- in my area of the world (the midwest,) I hardly even hear people use the term rice burner, people say rice rocket or just ricer. 19 September 2005 (Mealy)

Yes, you really do need some kind of sourcing. As, um.... fascinating as the details about your personal situation are, they're wholly irrelevant, and there is a (rather substantial) english speaking world outside the midwest.

Fox1 12:47, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

Redirected to Rice burner

I've redirected this page to Rice burner. There isn't that much solid material to source an article on, and all of it I could find is at Rice burner. I suppose this page could duplicate the parts that cover "rice rocket", but why? If you know the answer, or you know of some reliable sources you can use to make Rice rocket into a solid, distinct article, then by all means, edit away.--Dbratland (talk) 02:17, 29 July 2009 (UTC)