Originally Posted by hotbike

My theory on the Etymology of "Fred" ...

When the Railroads quit using Cabooses, they were required to put something on the last car (coupler) of the train, with a flashing light... Officially, this is known as an "EOT", or "End-of-Train" device... But it has another name, that name is FRED, or Flashing Rear End Device...

Whether this is truly the origin of the term "Fred", it surely is a sign that a fellow might be a Fred, if he has a Strobe Light of some sort on the rear rack or seat-bag of his bike... Originally these devices were yellow and had a Xenon bulb... now they are almost all red LED's...