Kickstart

There are good and bad for both chains and belts. Belts are quieter, and don't stretch so cam timing is more precise and doesn't change with wear. Chains are longer lasting and less likely to fail catastrophically without warning. But I don't see how a belt in oil in the engine is any better than one in air for efficiency or emissions. There seems to be a claim of a 30% reduction in friction compared to a dry belt, but came belt friction is almost certainly a tiny amount of total friction. OK, tensioner bearing might prefer an oil supply but thats about it. All the best Katy

I still have my original Warhammer boxed set from the early 1980s. Never really played 40k, but a friend has tried to convince me to try Kill Team (40K skirmish game), so I have painted a few figures for that. 95% painted, but still need to do the banner. Their paints are pretty good. The contrast paints are very good for figures (it is designed to flow into the low areas, to give you a highlight / lowlight easily). Not sure where the nearest Warhammer store is but my local games shop does stock Warhammer and paints, along with board games and some other miniatures. As to their business model, not so sure. They have had some fairly dodgy tactics at times (they have a reputation for setting up a shop in a town where an independent is doing well with Warhammer, killing off the independent shop), and they seem to often rely on enthusiastic youngsters to run the shops on a shoe string. But Warhammer World is good. Their prices can be eye watering for what you get. Quick look on their web site and a box of 10 Genesteelers (a best seller) is £32, while in comparison Great Escape Games have a box of 10 western gunfighters (same scale, also plastic multipart figures) are £15, or from Warlord Games you can buy 20 plastic Napoleonic multipart figures with 4 metal command figures again in the same scale for £26. Or if you want to frighten yourself check the prices of their Forgeworld range. As a game they have a habit of changing things very often, so what works as an army 1 year will likely be useless a year later. This appears to be deliberate to try and get more sales, both of the figures and also of the rules books / army lists. Games Workshop is noticeably absent from most wargames shows (can't remember the last show I went to which they were at - possibly about 8~9 years ago at Salute in London when they were clearing out the Warhammer Historical range of games). While I can see the advantage of their sales regime, I am not sure how this could be extended to something with a far lower ability to churn over new customers, and without the ability to minimise people buying 2nd hand instead (imagine if Hornby every few years changed their entire range to make it incompatible with what they had already sold). All the best Katy

Honestly, I use all the revs quite often, when appropriate. Certainly if overtaking I want to do it quickly, so down a few gears and use the revs. On the other hand I have a car with a 6 speed gearbox, and a specific buying point for it was the fun changing gear. Plus many years of riding 2 strokes, I am used to revving engines to access the power, and for the bikes I have had 6000rpm is pretty low revs. Yep, that seems to happen slightly later in the belt losing bits of rubber debris, and is a major contributor to them blocking the strainer. Personally, putting a rubber belt in oil when it is easily avoidable is a bad idea. Unnecessary debris, and changing the belt becomes far more difficult. Sometimes known as Ecoboom engines. Pretty easy to do on a V8 really, and something that makers have tried since the 1980s (Alfa had an engine that shut down 2 cylinders to save fuel at times in the early 1980s). With an electronic throttle setup you could possibly set the throttles on the unused cylinders to be wide open to reduce pumping losses, but that would require a throttle able to act on those cylinders being shut off independent of those still in use. Even with a basic electronic throttle system you will have a wider open throttle for the same accelerator pedal position to compensate for less cylinders contributing, giving at least some reduction in pumping losses. Down side might be extra wear from no fuel, and a manifold cat cooling down. Although you can probably minimise that by regularly switching which cylinders are deactivated. All the best Katy

Hence why the official figures often make automatics appear better on fuel. It is just gaming the system, as automatics control their gear change points, where a manual is controlled by the test. And the 180hp 2 strokes were detuned - they had made more power but the power delivery had become uncontrollable. Down side of the 1L 3 cylinder Ford engine is engine life. Cam belt is inside the engine so covered in oil, and while it rarely snaps that is more because as the belt ages and starts to lose bits of rubber they block the oil pump strainer, and hence no oil pressure kills the engine first. Seems they can be OK as long as the belt is changed regularly (far more often than they service schedule - and a bit of a pain to do as the belt is internal) and the correct oil religiously used. All the best Katy

Suspect the biggest issue with the VXR was road tax changes, which pushed the years road tax to silly levels Also the Rolls Royce All the best Katy

In some ways possibly a good way to treat antidepressants. I am on Sertraline, but a fairly low dose which has pretty much no effect day to day, just helps prevent things from spiralling out of control at times. I don't want a dose that impacts me day to day. All the best Katy

Hiya Just posting this for the miniatures I have been painting. These are for a game called Blitzkrieg Commander, and are 10mm (which is pretty much N gauge). 5 Cromwells, 2 close support Cromwells, 2 Challengers, 2 AA Crusaders and a command base. The apple trees on the command base are N gauge ones bought from a model railway show. All the best Katy

Just remembered this thread. I went through the diagnosis, and was diagnosed both with ASD and ADHD (sometimes combined as AuDHD). Explains a few things. For the ADHD part, first try was Concerta. This helped a little, but I maxed the dose out before it did that much. It is also meant to kick in after ~30 minutes and then last about 7~8 hours. For me it took 3~4 hours to kick in and then lasted 12~14 hours. I have a pretty slow digestive system. Then tried Elvanse, which on initial dose worked a bit better, but increasing the dose (on what turned out to be a stressful day) resulted in a very major meltdown. When I filled in the AQ50 questionaire I made notes on the questions. As some of the questions to me seem like they could be truthfully answered with opposite answers. Notes are as follows. Notes on questions / answers 1) In general yes I prefer to do things on my own. Waiting for others is annoying 2) Once I find a way I am happy with doing something, yes I prefer to do it that way over and over again, trying to do it better in that way. 3) Depends on the thing. If a logical design or getting somewhere with a map then pretty good, but an artistic environment pretty poor 4) Definitely true, if it is something that interests me 5) Yes I notice minor sounds that are outside the expected. 6) Notice car number plates and tend to remember them 7) When young yes, but learned to keep my mouth shut 8) Tend not to try most of the time. 9) Fascinated a bit strong a word, but certainly notice them and patterns in them. 10) Need a single conversation to keep track of. Finding it harder as I get older; possibly as my hearing deteriorates and it is harder to concentrate on a single sound source. 11) Depends on the social situation, but generally not easy unless with people I know and who I get on with. 12) I very much notice some things that others don't. Possibly best described as spotting things that disrupt what I expect (eg, in patterns). 13) This is odd as it would depend on the party. There is the 'like' of the concept of a party, but also the reality where if I go I will feel awkward. While with the library it will depend if that particular one has books on areas of interest to me. 14) Making up stories is difficult, as difficult to imagine new situations especially while keeping track of all the details so they do not contradict each other. 15) A lot of people I can take or leave. I get attached to objects. 16) I have some strong interests, and it can get me down if I am forced to ignore those interests. 17) Don't enjoy, or really understand social chit chat. Seems just something that has to be gone through. 18) Yes it can be difficult for others to get a word in, partly as by the time I can get a word in I am close to exploding. 19) Numbers, or more patterns in numbers. Addicted to Sudoku! 20) Intentions in books are hard to understand. Always assumed this is often deliberate in books. 21) I do enjoy fiction 22) I can find it hard to make new friends, although a lot easier to make acquaintances. Find it hard trust people enough to be friends. 23) Very much notice patterns, or try to create them (eg, moving my position to get things in the background to line up - maybe with the head of the person I am talking to. 24) Find a live theatre lacking in any real appeal. Would prefer most museums to a theatre, although a museum of something that interests me would obviously be far ahead. 25) Yes it is upsetting when my routine is disturbed. Not just daily routines. 26) Run out of things to say which would engage the other person quite often 27) Very rarely can read between the lines of a conversation 28) Small details all the time. Very poor at the big picture. 29) Find it easy to remember phone numbers, especially if there is a pattern to them. Can still remember phone numbers from houses I lived in other 40 years ago. 30) Depends on the change. Might notice a change in hair colour, but possibly mainly things that upset the pattern. 31) Don't easily notice when someone is getting bored, and not sure how to react if I do notice. 32) I find multi tasking very difficult. 33) Difficult to know, and often my mind will have wandered by that stage. 34) I don't see the point of choosing to do something spontaneously, but on the other hand I will react to a situation and do something with little or no planning. 35) Depends on the joke, but yes I can often take a while to get them (and often what I find amusing others don't). 36) Nope, no change most of the time of working out what someone is thinking unless blindingly obvious (eg, anger). 37) Very poor at returning to what I was doing before being interrupted. 38) Poor at it, although I have learned to emulate it. 39) Yes people have told me that, although with age I have learned to keep my mouth shut. 40) No, not pretending with others. On my own more so. 41) Yes, I collect info. Most books I buy are non fiction. 42) Not sure how I could accurately imagine what it would be like to be someone else, although maybe a good guess at how someone might react in a specific situation. 43) I do like to plan things, but I can also easily over plan to the extent that nothing gets done. 44) Depends on the social occasions. Parts I can enjoy but more when they are with people I have things in common. The pure social part with people I think I have little in common with I find awkward. 45) People need to be forthright with their intentions for me to work them out. 46) Yes I am anxious of new situations, and how people will react to me / make things difficult for me. 47) Depends on the people, but generally not keen on meeting new people unless they are someone I am likely to have interests in common with. 48) Very poor diplomat, and likely to put my foot in my mouth! 49) I can remember them if they match up to something, or are repeated enough. 50) I find it difficult and awkward to pretend, as it feels like telling lies. All the best Katy

NOx can be fixed with a catalytic converter relatively easily (and other tricks), but vehicles have got ever cleaner. Even in the late 1990s there was a story that Saabs emitted cleaner air from the exhaust in London than they took into the engine! No space in the garage, but is there space for a shed? All the best Katy

Oxides of nitrogen are greatly caused by combustion temperature, and a lean mixture greatly increases that. Emissions is a wide range of things. CO, CO2, NOx and hydrocarbons. I know ~20 years ago I had a local MOT station test my standard (at the time) 1200 Bandit. It just about passed the limit for a non cat car for CO. CO2 is pretty much directly related to fuel consumption (a litre of diesel will produce ~15% more CO2 when burnt than a litre of petrol will, and if converted CO will become CO2). Hydrocarbons is largely unburnt fuel. NOx is a side effect of high temperature. These are all a balancing act. Can get CO quite low even without a catalytic converter, but NOx will go through the roof and the driveability will reduce. Hydrocarbons affected by wear, fueling, cam timing, etc, with a catalytic converter cleaning things up after they are produced. The ULEZ limit is just on NOx, which is fairly easy to reduce. You will get a 1980s sports 2 stroke through the NOx test, and I doubt many would claim that they are clean (even if the smoke smells nice) All the best Katy

On Youtube, there is a series of videos on restoring an Suzuki LJ80 by Yorkshire Car Restorations All the best Katy

Suspect for many younger people they don't have a clue where to start with mechanical tinkering, and likely have parents who have little idea either (so getting started is a major problem). We are several generations into the kind of cars that need little regular maintenance from the driver beyond topping a few fluid up. Add to which any pre war car is getting into requiring tools that are no longer readily available (Whitworth spanners, etc). Not even certain it is as long ago as 70s, let alone 60s. 1980s and even 1990s cars seem to be the ones in favour. Your age range starting at 50 includes people born in 1973, who would have started to drive in 1990 - when the Sierra Cosworth was the common dream car and only a couple of years before the Ford Mondeo was launched (I am suddenly feeling old......) All the best Katy

I have left the tax disk on most of the bikes that had them All the best Katy

Prices of 2nd hand bike carbs have rocketed over the last few years. Modern fuels are a nightmare for bike carbs (small jets blocking easily from the remnants of the fuel), so not sure if that is why (ie, people buying a 2nd set as an initial attempt at fixing the problem). Added to which a lot of bikes use seals made of nitrile rubber which is not suitable with ethanol (hence having to source seal kits in viton). Presume light weight and for the UK 3.5L was large, while for the USA it was small. All the best Katy

Sounds like the Spica fuel injection system. Pretty much unknown in Europe (think it was only used on the Alfa Montreal), but used on a lot of Alfas in the USA in the 1970s All the best Katy

Became pretty much a requirement when catlytic converters became required in 1992 or so. There were the odd car that used carbs and had a cat, but probably wasn't good for cat life. Did have a 1992 Alfa floating around with carbs, but it was an Irish import (1350 engine with power steering and a pair of downdraft carbs) All the best Katy

Honestly depends. It is useful to have but for me not an essential. Doesn't help that some bikes are hard to get onto the centre stand (the FZ is not easy, the Triumph Thunderbird 900 my better half had was lowered and generally took 2 people to get onto the centre stand). A friend bought a bike a few years ago and showed it to me. The spring for the centre stand went from the stand to the pivot bolt....... Some people admit to making mistakes like that. Others just don't admit it. When I was working on the FZR600 I had low compression on cylinder 1 - turned out when I did the shims I mixed up the shims on the 2 intake valves on cylinder 1 so one was 0.1mm tight and the other 0.1mm loose - muppet! Yes the seats are a pain. I have suggested they were rejected by the Spanish Inquisition as too cruel a form of torture! When I bought mine it had a very crudely cut down seat fitted. I picked up a cheap seat from a breakers. After a week or so I went back to the crudely cut down one. It is a pity that sports bikes have fallen out of favour mostly. They morphed to race replicas, which became too extreme for most people with sports tourers offered which lost out on the sportiness. All the best Katy

Difficult to know. My guess would have been £500 as it was, but possibly more than that (the early 1FN model like this is worth more than the later shape bikes, partly due to eligibility for a race series, and partly as people prefer the half fairing). Restored £2k~£3k. I would probably make a loss if I sold it after rebuilding it! If I really went to town (including a good respray on good quality original fairings, etc) then it might push a bit more. But FZ750s don't seem to be worth that much compared to a GSXR750. Despite, to me, the FZ being the first of a new generation of bikes (liquid cooled, perimiter frame, engine and frame designed to compliment each other, down draft intakes, airbox above the engine, much of the fuel tank behind the engine, etc) while the GSXR was the last of the previous generation (glorified air cooled engine with a large oil pump / cooler, traditional frame, conventional carbs, somewhat bendy chassis, etc). The early and late FZs are quite different. Between the 1FN and 2MG at first glance only are different in the fairing lowers. But rear suspension is different, forks are different, rear bodywork is different, ignition system is different, petrol tank changed for a flush filler cap, exhaust changed from 4>2 to 4>1, pistons were changed quite substantially and they lost the centre stand. Even later they switched to a 17" front wheel with larger disks and 4 piston calipers (at least you can then get at the tyre valve more easily!). There are quite a few FZs around that have been tweaked with parts from newer bikes. Various forks / swinging arms. Better brakes (FZ stock brakes are fairly wooden). And other engines can easily be fitted (the basic engine was used in the FZR1000, FZR750R, Thunderace, GTS1000 and the YZF750, and bits can be mixed and matched or complete later engines fitted). A fairly common mod used to be to use FZR1000 pistons to get a 911cc bike while keeping the 6 speed gearbox from the 750. But I have owned this bike since 1990, and not too worried about resale value, nor really worried about it being quicker. I might use my spare petrol tank and some pattern / 2nd hand bodywork to paint it blue to match the YSR50, TZR250 and RD350F2 I have, but not decided yet. All the best Katy

Well, finally dragged my FZ750 out from the back of the shed. Tax disk expired in August 2006, and I had fitted an Ohlins shock but never ridden the bike since then. So time to get to work. Yesterday stripped it down a bit. R/H footrest hanger won't come off (one of the mounting bolts is very rounded, and a pig to get off - hoping that once the rest of the bike is in pieces I will be able to get at it from the inside and remove it or drill it out). Engine still in place and the front and rear suspension, so at least it can still be wheeled around. I have started making a list of the bits I need to buy. Engine is fairly solid, but I will strip the top end off it to refinish the barrels and head (the crankcases seem to have a better finish). One nasty pit on the forks, so they will need rechroming. All the best Katy

Extra down side of a stealth aircraft! All the best Katy

Went passed there last night and afraid no 6 wheel Volvos there.... Also, can't remember when I last saw an MX5 there All the best Katy

Looks like they were in front line service in Singapore until 1990, and this Swiss used them in the air defence role until the 1980s (and longer in the ground attack role) All the best Katy

Yes, JCL could be a pain. Partly as it was something that wasn't really our main area of knowledge. As I moved between companies and time went on it become more flexible and easier to use. I remember working at once place where the 3380 disk drives were fairly new that it could be faster to run jobs against tape as there was FAR less demand for the tape units at the time. I also remember a friend and colleague submitting an operational class job on a Thursday afternoon, and these had no time limit. It promptly looped. They weren't in on Friday and the job finally fell over on Sunday, having overflowed the system count of CPU time used. From memory it was around 16 hours CPU time (and vague memory that this was costed at £62000 per hour)! All the best Katy

My father told the story of being on a flight on one that was effectively the stopping service, including taking off from Cardiff and landing in Bristol. And for every leg of the journey drinks were served. And every take off the cabin crew went through the safety instructions to a progressively more drunk set of passengers! All the best Katy

I tend not to be a fan of civil aircraft, but that is a stunning phptograph. I love it. A bus with wings. Maybe they should have called it the Shorts Pacer! All the best Katy