St Landrew

Ever read how Dyson tried to convince British backers that he had a great product in his revolutionary vacuum cleaner..? He took it to Hoover, Electrolux as well, in fact everyone turned him down. Then some Japanese backers, with the obvious necessary imagination, came along, and the rest is history. Tbh, I don't begrudge his overwhelming success one little bit. And it certainly woke up a few people in this country who invest to think outside of the box. And for several years, all of Dyson's assembly was in this country. The Dyson company has very good working practices, proper apprenticeships, and a very good reputation. And they are still essentially British. I wouldn't knock them that hard. After all, there are plenty of companies in the world that have thier production facilities in the far east. What about every time you put on a pair of trainers..?

What an excellent set of scale pictures. Copied and saved, ta.

I've been to the National Maritime Museum and it's an excellent venue. In the Nelson Room I stood in front of the glass cabinet where Nelson's tunic and stockings were on a headless dummy. I could clearly see the entry area of the shot which killed him. Nelson was obviously quite a small and slight figure, yet just standing in front of the tunic was quite a humbling experience. There was a real sense of the very material reaching back over the years to 1805.

That's an old one, but gets a chuckle every time. Some interesting trivia on Nelson. All his injuires [apart from the fatal shot] were sustained during land skimishes, led by Nelson. He was no land military commander. Nelson was a poor sailor, spending about half of his life on board with seasickness. The famous signal - England Expects... started out as England Confides but the signalman suggested Expects, as Confides would be slower because it would require spelling out. There's loads more too.

Anyone can improve. I wouldn't dismiss him just because the only standouts in his list as a director are Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, and neither of those are what I would consider an excellent film. But they are very good indeed.

I've got one of these little classics. A 1982 version in black and red. I'm looking for one of these: A Honda 650 NTV. I like V-Twin power delivery, unburstable motors, and shaft drive. Both these bikes are those things in spades.

I think you'll probably be safe with this one. If it has anything like the tension of the real interviews, it'll stroll away with several awards. I saw a review of it the other week and the pundits were going overboard. One to watch, as they say..!

Very nice, but I've got a Honda.

My support too. Southampton doesn't need the industry buggering off to all points apparently cheaper. Try working something out first.

Obviously, if someone is that fearful, then a compromise has to be reached. I have an elder sister who's a real white knuckle plane user. But she knows it's the only way to see the world in today's time allowances, so she overcomes her fear. Not everybody is at the mercy of their fears, real or imagined, and we don't all have the time or money to go by P&O ship.

Always a pleasure to read your blogspot Snopper, and good to see Beatts doing his bit once again. I do hope he has a bad game against us though. I did come on this thread to see if anyone had seen Lawrie's article in the Daily Echo Online: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/lawriemac/3772519.Basically__the_fans_don___t_like_you__Mr_Cole/

Bollix to the extra hour, I loathe the clocks going back. Why on earth we can't stay on BST nowadays is beyond me. Oh well, the depression starts from next sunday, and every time I look up at the sky it'll be night time.

I would go. And take the wife, kicking and screaming, with you. She'll enjoy it once you're over there. Have a two day stopover in Singapore, or somewhere else oriental. I can personally vouch for Singapore as a cracking city to spend a couple of days in, and Singapore Airlines as a cracking airline. You'll not be able to take your eyes off the stewardesses, and Chiangi Airport is amazing. Plus, Singapore is a mecca for electronic goods. Some of the wonder kit from Japan that never makes it to Europe, but is perfectly OK, is sold there, and you can practice haggling a price. And there's no problem plugging anything in, IIRC, as they use British 3 pin plugs and sockets. No brainer really.

This is what you get when you look to live in a freer society, tolerant of behaviour and views. There are plusses, but there are minuses too. The present government are trying to bring in legislation to curb freedoms, or at least, keep tabs on people. Someone was going on earlier about Human Rights. Can you see a conflict of interest..?

Thank you MB for that warm hearted gesture.

I've decided to stop hijacking Ponty's thread and start a new one. I began to see interesting parallels in F1 engines and racing designs from the 1960s. Everyone has probably read somewhere how Honda came onto the British motorcycle scene and promptly took away the sales, aided by fellow manufacturers, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki. But many won't know how innovative they were, for example in their racing engines. Honda were almost exclusively 4-stroke in their approach, unlike the others. So their machines had to be like little jewels to reach similar power outputs of the 2-strokes. Here's a link from the other thread: http://www.vf750fd.com/Joep_Kortekaas/1964.html Take a look at some of the specifications. But do remember they're around 40 years old.

I would cite INS's ability to question the human rights of people as an example of his human rights. He's lucky he lives in a country which is tolerant of most views. Unfortunately, human rights aren't conveniently matched to an individual's requirements. What is right for one isn't necessarily right for another. They have to cover all circumstances and individuals.

I'm giving Ponty a right talking to..! On another thread.

Oh come on JFP, use a little grey matter. How about the above..?

Well I did a little digging and F1 engines are said to have a bore/stroke ratio of 2.5:1, which considering a size of 2.4 litres means that assumed stroke of 50mm [2+ inches] was way off. It's more like 11mm [0.43 in]. So 0-71.5 mph and back to dead stop in the space of 11mm. Phew..! That's it. No more hijacking.

Sorry Ponty, the original question got buried in a mass of specifications. Maximum Piston Speed. I read that most F1 engines have an absolute peak of around **32 metres per sec [105 feet per sec], but normally operate at about 28 m/s [92 f/s]. Obviously I'm not talking exclusively about revs here, but the maximum speed a piston achieves halfway between TDC and BDC due to the stroke of the engines. **Incidentally, I did a couple of very rough calculations and this speed equates to 71.5 mph. So that's a standing start at TDC to 71.5 mph and back to stop at BDC, all in the space, I guess, of about 50mm [assumed stroke]

Sorry to hijack this thread to racing engines, but I've just read this on the Honda Racing History website I linked to earlier. How about this..? 50 cc RC116 Difference between the RC115 and the RC116 is a new bore and stroke, now being 35.5 x 25.14 mm. Power output is 16 bhp at 21,500 rpm. This means 320 bhp per litre and a Pme of nearly 16 kg/cm2 ! As regards bhp per litre, this is a figure that has never been surpassed by any naturally aspirated four stroke engine, and even today's formula 1 cars with their special fuel brews cannot hold a candle to it. I know this is not a totally fair comparison, but it gives an idea of the level of four stroke technology nearly 40 years ago. This engine is the most advanced of all the Honda engines. Red line at 22,500 rpm. Carburettors have flat slides. The gearbox contains a nine speed cluster. Dry weight of the bike is 58 kg. The piston pin has a diameter of 9 mm and weighs 6 g. The inlet valve head is 13 mm, the exhaust valve head is 11.5 mm, and the stems are 3.5 mm diameter. Bloody hell..! If I find any more stuff I'll start a new thread instead. Promise.

Just an academic question Ponty, but what is the maximum piston speed allowed for today's racing materials..? I still remember, as a kid, reading my older brother's Motorcycle Mechanics magazine from about 1966, and they had an article about a 1964 Honda twin cylinder, 8 valve, 50cc racing engine. If I remember correctly**, it was able to rotate quite readily at 20,000+ rpm, but could go up higher for short bursts, which is astonishing for the early 60's and, I believe, got very close to what was known as the absolute maximum piston speed available at the time. **Did a little research. Some people might find this interesting. Look for RC113 and RC114 engines. Honda used to produce some amazing engines: http://www.vf750fd.com/Joep_Kortekaas/1964.html How about this for a crankshaft and pistons..?

Nah, I don't. He's a good mate. Come on, compared to Rupert..? How bad..?

Hmm, copied from a U.S. urban dictionary. Definitely tut-age.