alastairq

There have been supercharged [with Shorrock vane blowers] bikes in drag racing too...although I'm not sure if the bra and tights were mandatory or not? I like blowers. I have three sitting in boxes in my downstairs loo. Blowers, especially vane blowers, are excellent for bottom end torque. which is what's needed for ordinary day-to-day riding / driving [the sub 3000 rpm stuff we all inhabit day after day] Downstream carbs are fine providing they can resist the pressure. [The SU carbs used on turbo metros simply had their throttle shaft seals turned the other way around....pressure didn't affect the float bowl one jot, as was feared] One advantage of a supercharger is, the carb, if upstream, can be sited almost anywhere. Within reason. {Next doors gazebo is out of the question]

I blame men! The present issues in Afghanistan are down pretty much to men! They must be a pretty insecure bunch to feel threatened by women actually learning something? In fact I think the biggest issue with any religion stems from being male dominated. As if males are actually afraid of females?

More likely an excuse for adding a bit of bling?

Breather filter....

Wishful thinking, praaaphs?

I wonder if it was the Peerless that was serialised in its rebuilding in Practical Carsicks?

Seems..they've all been to Specsavers too....

I have 2 axles, and a diff unit, from one of these, sitting in my 'spares' stash. 5:1 final drive ratio, track around 3 foot 10 or so..ideal for fitting a 'modern' axle to many really really old cars, which generally had much narrower tracks than today's panzer-behemoths.

Perhaps it is time to simply avoid [or , ignore?] those places where the couldn't-care-less's tend to congregate or inhabit?

My S Scale Sty membership has just lapsed [stony-broke pensioneeer] But I only have a couple of bits of stock to show for my efforts in S scale. Regarding Minories? Iain Rice drew up a Minories theme [based on a south London commuter idea] which had but one platform [two faces] and a small goods yard [ essential services, house coal, etc] for when trains of coaches coming & going got too boring. Not quite as many locos or stock required compared to the conventional Minories, perhaps? Steve Rabone modelled in S, and I admired how he looked for alternative methods of acquiring power.....using Hornby tender drives, re-gauged...It got ''something running'' after all. I reckon a simple bit of motive power ought to get juices flowing? So simple, maybe a Sentinel or something similar?

But it has a Lotus badge on the rear wing, I think? [Not a Lotus Cortina...or even, a daffodil Cortina, someone paid a lot for a wannabe.]

Indeed. But when it came to the media spotlighting the issues last year, no differentiation was made. WHilst some private care employers only have one or two employees, many such small employers[in terms of client number] can have a whole team of carers employed. [An example close to me, one person profoundly disabled, needs a team of 6 to 8 staff, employed by the family, to provide 24 hour car, plus other needs...Plus, someone employed to manage the team....plus someone to take over team management to cover holidays, sickness....the staff list soon grows way above the basic carer-by-the- bedside, or whatever.] Therefore, even with but one 'client', the PPE needs can be significant.

There are an awful lot of private care providers who have but one client. Round here, quite a few private care providers [IE, private individuals or families, who employ their own care provider staff, rather than contracting out their care needs] were actively in denial last year about covid!! However, these small , private, care units get counted in with the big conglomerate care providers..

Then it is time to stop concerning oneself over what society thinks [of you or I?}, and use the [financial] legal system to confound the system? If in a position whereby one's lifestyle is perforce to be as minimalistic as possible...in other words, with little or nothing to lose, I'd be very inclined to use the financial system to upset the system by working towards personal bankruptcy. The financial system builds in protections [via interest ] against even this, and they don't really want ordinary poor folk to understand BR or go down that route....for it actually is a kick in the face for the whole system..it protects the bankrupt individual, and is very freeing. Guaranteed to set a poor person free of that financial millstone [or the threat of it?] from around the neck. Bankruptcy is not limiting in a any serious way, to a hard up individual. But it is a legal tool to enable the likes of us poor individuals to literally, pee on the whole system.. From a great height. There being, literally, nothing that the financial world can do about it! Oh dear, what a shame! OK, so there are societal prejudices, more than Divorce could ever bring about. But if not particularly bothered about material lifestyles [because we are poor?] then bankruptcy is quite liberating. Quite why society places more store on financial wellbeing [faked or otherwise] rather than ensuring the minimum basic comforts for the poorer or less able members of that society, I will never know, or tolerate.

I'll wait until the electrics are down to the prices of a basic Dacia Sandero before I can even consider changing over.... \especially as there is nothing on wheels made these past few years which even remotely take my fancy!

As a tall person of reduced flexibility, I find the conventional [as in, Interceptor] riding position to be tiring after a while. My knees end up knocking my elbows half the time. I find life uncomfortable if my knees are bent beyond the right angle position for any length of time. The Meteor [350] riding position would place my knees at a less stressed , less than 90 degrees angle, but not so far forward as the US -style easy rider stance. I also endure a lot of lower back pain with the 'leaning -forwards' riding stance as well, these days. I prefer to have a more upright seating position as a result...but with a higher seat height to suit my quite long legs....I end up with that forwards lean, to reach the bars. The problem I find with being tall [although I am shorter than I was 40 years ago!!]...I find is, in order to reach the ground to pick something up, I have to bend a lot further than my [much shorter[] daughter does. Which offsets her need to stand on a chair to reach the top shelves of her kitchen cupboards! I'd take the 350 over the 650 any day.....but then, I'd ride at the same speeds I'd drive my Dellow....not having any urges to top the ton at every opportunity. For me, speed is not the be-all-&-end-all..... Pace, on the other hand, is what I'm good at. Especially in the Dellow..or even my not-so-old Suzuki GV ....sadly made this century....just.

Now, how do they get that motorcycle to stand up all on its own, with no visible means of support, I wonder? Did they stand it up, run away quickly , and the camera person clicking the shutter very rapidly before the machine fell over? At around 6 and a half grand for the bike, it is hardly in the financially economical stakes compered to the 350 single.

I have to do that often, just to get the ruddy thing to open.....

Why not try it & see?

I should mention, the one thing I disliked when using a motorcycle was the inevitable clobber that had to go with it. Something I don't really have with the Dellow. Which only really requires me to don a pair of plimmies.[Otherwise pedal selection can become a bit of a lottery with size 11s]

I agree..it looks to be a decent bit of a bargain! I've just had a look on the website....was a bit surprised at first to see that a compass was standard fitment! The I read a bit further, and discovered that, if I went and bought one of these bikes, I[d also need to go and buy a half decent modern Smartphone to go with it. {Instead of a 10 year old Huawei basic phone that I have at present, battery permitting] Performance-wise, some might find the [lack of?] a decent top [cruising] speed a bit of a drawback, and be fritt of going near motorways or dual carriageways. The Enfield has roughly the same road performance of my Kawasaki Z250 single cheepy-on-an-offer bike of the very early 1980's! The one with the fat back tyre, but not the custom appearance....bought as a cheap commuter bike cross country [25 miles each way, mud permitting] I could tramp up & down the M1 and A38 to visit a lady-friend without compunction...even though traffic speeds were much the same as they are today. The only tiring bit was to my right wrist, having the throttle wound wide open mile after mile. But it started every time.... I replaced it with a 2nd hand Kwacker Z400, which was cheap, and suited my motorcycling philosophy of the time [don't need more than 2 cylinders, the more you have, the more to go wrong was my view!] That was doing the same commute at the time[with 10 months off while they screwed my leg back together]...summer & winter, sunshine & snow...even got a used Avon fairing with the correct fittings for the bike...amazingly. Slowed its speed down a bit, but proved its worth a time or two when coping with kamikaze pheasants. The 400 had plenty of oomph for my tastes, I couldn't afford to go getting speeding tickets, relying on my licence to work. In those days, as a bus driver, one was governed very much by the thoughts of the Area Traffic Commissioners, who in fact, also tested bus drivers..the DSA testing came later. Get a fine and one also got a snottogram from the Commissioners to the effect that, do it again and one's PSV licence might be revoked! {Pre-PCV and Cat D] Anyway, mods were, a single silencer, [Motad? I got sent two by mistake, only paid for one, offered to send the other one back, but the vendor didn't believe he'd sent 2!!!], and lordy only knows how many rear tyres? Oh, and some Hagon adjustable rear dampers..the ones with the big plastic washer/spacers....Obtained new in Scarborough at less than half the price of replacement rear units when my crashing bum shot the original one's. I was never ever a biker. Only ever a motorcyclist!

Upside down bucket of water, of course...

I've got both. The open face is a bit tight now, unless I have a No.2 all over....I think It fitted nicely [& was on an offer] but then my hair grew back again! The full face I came upon by accident, so to speak....more comfy on the ears...It's got all sorts of slidey things attached, none of which I have any idea what they achieve. My biking days are diminished somewhat these days, due to a certain lack of flexibility getting my leg over...unless I can find one of those things horse riders use by the roadside? nowadays I drive my Dellow for the fun of it [only when the journey actually has a purpose., though]... It's possibly the nearest thing on 4 wheels that gives the same feeling as riding a bike....bloody uncertainty, immediate responses, corners better than a Raleigh Grifter, too. Nowhere to put right elbow, either. Except outside [or, further outside than my upper body] Even has a hand grab for the passenger, most of which find they need it. Noisy exhaust, scorching heat in footwells...and water coming in at high speed via the floor. Just like a bike!

I realised the back door was ajar..... Not likely to keep, as it is one of next door's feral 'garage' cats.....that live inside half the time, and 'outside' the other half.. [Ferals as in, clipped ear, etc] I usually get 'visited' when next-door are out & gone away. I don't encourage any of them to come inside..... This one probably thinks her name is 'Hello?' Or, ''Getouttathebin?''

This is my living room window. That...is not my cat! I don't have a cat!