spikey

Gosh, this is all good stuff 🙂 Pardon my ignorance of such matters, but when you say "outboard" coupling, does that mean it gets wet? And if so, why isn't the last part of the shaft (i.e. that part outside the hull) in one piece?

Now the RN are saying a propos this broken aircraft carrier that "Our initial assessment has shown that the coupling that joins the final two sections of the shaft has failed". They also admit to "significant damage" to the propshaft and "superficial damage" to the rudder, but no mention of the prop. So I'm more than usually puzzled. Anybody up to speed enough with this stuff to make any sense of it? ETA - would "superficial damage to the rudder" alone be reason for drydocking?

Anybody know what exactly are the short sticky-uppy bits at the back end of a B-1, as clearly seen at 5'00" in this video?

It's yonks since I was up to speed with Egri Vins and whatnot but is that a Munch front brake? A mate of mine had an Egli framed C Shadow which IMO looked a lot better when he took it apart, got the frame stoved black and got somebody to make him a really nice 5 gallon Manx-style tank (which was nothing like 5 gallons really) that he got stoved black. Looked right and proper to my eyes. It certainly went well and rode well, but I think folk forget just how good the original forks were. OK they took a while to shim up properly, but strong as hell and anti-dive ... I do like that yellow one, but it ought to be a twin 🙂

Why did "Big Bertha" have those handrails on the front end?

FWIW I'm a big fan of a simple arrangement of a hook, thin wire, pulley or crank, half an hour's metal bashing, a few 12 bore blanks and one of these or similar https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265149062590?hash=item3dbc1d9dbe:g:vpYAAOSwvoJgkkoz&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoJ2zx3eY7YFbD0hFFSbBRWVXIOdjsvwZqvWUE5iLJLIKam6%2BWO8%2BeZesOU2lBBonWIBYcItkHCls%2BoQO7pcNx6M6SPMgB6ss4Msn79eNTtbYS9oi6ay5teyNyY4j%2BgQiKN3DqCwjOBP0OGsQyS7gMbyAQUR5Wq%2BDaKoLs52vr8MM4rpE6MdTbn4S476JzOKNQyhxyQ4JTmxT70mHS45885c%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR66IufTbYA Worked a treat the only time it was ever tested for real. Matey abandoned his plans and buggered off PDQ, half the neighbourhood woke up, and one of them hit 999 to report gunshots (plural, although there was only the one) 🙂

Ye gods. I trust that whoever was responsible for that abomination on the back suffered the wrath of the Vincent Owners Club and is still walking round with his head hung down in shame.

Always liked the Matchbox singles but could never get enthusiastic about the twins. A pal of mine spent the best part of a year trying to reduce the vibration of his G12CSR but to no avail. Went alright and looked the part, but nigh shook the fillings out yer teef. It also destroyed speedometers and lightbulbs. Didn't the later twins have a centre main bearing?

Much obliged, Kevin. Would that my Google-fu was stronger than it is ...

Sorry if this has been answered before, but my searches have got me nowhere. What exactly is/was this "windcutter wagons/windcutter freights" thing about? What made a rake of 16T mineral wagons into a rake of "windcutter" wagons?

Post removed. Apologies for the intrusion.

In which case it must be spun in two parts, so the obvious question has to be how are they joined? Does the top part just overlap the bottom and be a good fit, or what?

Thanks chaps. So it's a sleeve. I wonder how thick it is. I assume it's a casting but could it be spun copper with a backing?

If you look down a GWR chimney from the top, is the bore iron all the way down, or is the top of it copper? I've always wondered whether the copper part is a solid copper "extension" so to speak, or whether it's a "sleeve" fitted over the top part of the iron casting ...

That's one thing I've never really got clear. What do you do with which hand, and in what order?

Ref the Cyclemotor-equipped velocipede with the bin liner saddle cover, that's totally wrong. Not authentic at all. Not even slightly. The ones I remember were invariably graced by the owner's ex-Army beret ... 🙃

One feature of the summer "trippers' specials" into Cleethorpes in my trainspotting days was the carrying of a "notice" on the smokebox door by means of which that specific excursion was identified. I think they were just white paper or card, and IIRC they usually bore a letter and a couple of numerals. This identification was usually repeated by a matching label pasted on the outside of a window in the middle of each carriage side. I was always led to believe that the purpose was to simply to ensure that come going-home time, each rake of coaches coming back from the carriage sidings ended up with the correct locomotive. But is that actually correct? Did these labels serve any other purpose? And what was the proper name for them? All I can remember railwaymen referring to them as is "the tickets".

A question for you guys ... why is a 270° parallel twin apparently considered to be superior to the traditional 180° parallel twin, apart from the fact that it should sound like a 90° vee twin (at least according to my maths it should ...)

So what are they made of nowadays?

Cheers mister. Well, there's always been more than one way to skin a cat ... Nice looking little bike, though 🙂

... what looks to me like a deliberate bend in the rear brake rod. Can it really be so? ETA - and what's that cable for, the inner of which seems to be connected to the same pedal? It surely doesn't go to the brake light switch does it ... ?

Oh! You bad person! Think of the planet! Stand by for a visit from the Thought Police ...

If you're a gardener and you too use Lidl's compost, it seems we must now live in fear of contracting Legionnaire's Disease from the stuff. It says on the bag ... Caution: Risk from Legionella. Elderly or infirm persons should take extra care when using this soil. Open carefully with scissors - do not tear bag. Wear a face mask when opening and work in a well ventilated area. Do not breathe in dust, water vapour or droplets from product. Do not ingest product. Moisten contents before use. Wash hands thoroughly after use. What next in the middle isle - hazmat suits?

Tell them you have multiple vertebral compression fractures. I believe that is or at least used to be the correct term 🙂