Pah! Luddite!

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........

due to your age (advanced years) you will probably forget from time to time to manually advance the ignition , or better still forget to retard it when starting
I did once see, many many years ago a proper Triumph , competition trials bike , with manual advance / retard and mixture control , truly amazing how slow the thing would tick over at

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

I had a Cub Trials bike with an early motor that had an external distributor type ignition. I used to keep the clamp loose enough to rotate by hand, so if there was a slow nadgery section, I could knock it back a few degrees.

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

I have a Vespa that was owned by Fred Flinstone

...& an X1 that was owned by a bloke who thought he was Craig Jones
which is why the engine had to be rebuilt

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Feros Ferio

Ok time to own up! Who remembers going to a bike meet in the late 70s or early 80s and on seeing a trick Norton with a custom front drum brake thought the owners name was John Tickle?

Got to know John in his latter years when he moved to Pembrokeshire. He very kindly gave me a cross sectional poster of a Manx Norton engine that he at one time had the rights on.
As for technology taking over as described by Att and others, we seem to be on a similar theme to the Boeing 737 Max

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Dusty 001

it is when accidents happen and the "technology" has failed that the umbrellas go up and the wolves come out ( lawyers ) it was not our fault , operator error , software error or hardware error.

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

I read a bit about the 737MAX and a commentator explained that the problems were subtle and compounded by pilots who were responsive to the trim characteristics of earlier models and not because the plane was inherently unstable. Who really knows? Due to the plane being stretched it needed larger engines which would have been too close to the ground. Observant people will have noticed that earlier 737 engine pods were already flattened underneath to improve ground clearance so that even larger engines had to be relocated. The new position altered the off axis thrust effects and trim required at low speed leading to Boeing designing in the computerised trim Adaptations. We’ll possibly never know the real truth from a pilot who isn’t worried about losing his pension is prepared to speak out and incur the wrath of The controlling bodies.

Love this stuff, but would only want to be involved on ground based vehicles where the repercussions are likely to be less severe!

Possibly ONLY know.

Sorry got distracted by my partner talking over my typing!

My understanding is that the repositioning of the engines altered the thrust line altering the flight characteristic of the aircraft to such an extent that then used an "automated featured known as the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) "
IIRCC they only had one system on board and no second or third back system as normal .
there was some talk of they were signing off their own certification .
https://www.aerospacetestinginternation ... 7-max.html



https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot ... -progress/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ntain-view

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

I was observing that I would just be happier dealing with trim problems of the car l was driving or bike l was riding rather than a questionable aeroplane l am a passenger in! At least we can still tweak our own vehicles to some extent. My big fear of driverless cars is how they interact with motorcycles. I think that driverless cars should have a clear orange beacon on the roof to warn other road users that the driver may be having a day off!

I’m not disputing any of the 737MAX stuff, just pointing out the industry argument to cover the crime. Maybe I didn’t make that clear.
I haven’t flown in a 737MAX, but like many of us in the 1980s I did use earlier versions like Britannia Airways 737 series 100 models with the original long pod Pratt and Whitney turbojets. These looked like ‘porky the pig’ with wings! Then prior to the MAX there were stretched 400/500 series 737s with then new CFM 56 turbofans we flew on to European holidays in the late 80s to 90s. I was never particularly happy flying in any of those airliners. Without boring you with details they felt to me like they flew in spite of themselves. Maybe Boeing had to tweak all of them to get them to fly well? In comparison the three engined Boeing 727 in went up like a jet fighter, and our own cute little BAC 111 flew like a thoroughbred bird like it was born to fly. At least that’s how it felt from my passenger seat. I have met a few retired pilots who concur with my observations.

"My big fear of driverless cars is how they interact with motorcycles "

What can one say other than, since covid the quality of driving in general has declined to such an extent that at times it would appear , the driverless cars are here , only problem there’s no computer in there taking control

will there ever be a driverless bike ?
driverless race bike , set your lap time and hang on

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

to an extent it as as the twats are all controlled by their phones

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Feros Ferio

Anyway, back to old bikes and drum brakes!

I used to like my old front drum on the Honda, bags of feel into and through corners along with bags of fade!

I remember seeing 4 leading shoe drums on TZ racing Yamahas in the early 70s when road bikes were already switching to discs! I liked the look as well. A chap round here had a Fastback Commando he used to proddy race with a big 4LS racing drum, lots of perforated vents, alloy rims with short spokes given that the drum seemed to fill most of the wheel. Super cool to my youthful eyes!

Looking coool but with ridiculous complexity and huge unsprung weight. There's very good reasons they went out of fashion as quickly as they did. Even when in the 70's Japanese disc brakes didn't work when it rained. Can anyone imagine that happening today? Our elf 'n' safety friends would have a heart attack. We just thought it was normal until we discovered drilling holes in the discs helped them to work in the rain.

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........