HELP Jock,
from an out-of-UK point of view, all three or four previous posts means nothing ! I'm absolutely sure it's savourous so please explain us foreigners ...
BRs, Bernie
I'll try Bernie.
First off and the one that interests me the most. The Ariel Leader was a small capacity (250cc) twin cylinder two stroke motor cycle, made by Ariel Motorcycles in Birmingham, which I always thought made a lovely noise - even to this day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsSIjO60y40
In my youth I always wanted the stripped down sporty version which was called the Arrow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRKEoGjt068
A lot of purists didn't recon them because they had a pressed steel frame, not tubing like a "real" bike - but then along came Honda with the 250 Dream and the rest is history - or so they say:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4U50L5bgSo
After all the British bikes with their 360 degree crankshafts (both pistons going up and down together like No 1 and 4 on an in line 4 cyl car engine so the exhaust beat is really even, the Honda, with it's 180 degree crank (with pistons behaving like No 1 and 2 on an in line 4 so one up and one down), so it fires 1,2, pause - 1,2, pause just sounded "wrong" - soon got used to it though. At least the British bikes had their gear selector in the "right place" - I've still never really got used to changing gear with my left foot and braking with my right. Of course the 180 degree crank reduced vibration enormously when compared to the old British bikes which were famous for literally shaking themselves to pieces. you needed a pocket full of spanners to tighten things up with if you were doing any more than just a local trip! - Oil leaks were also a standard feature and you had to be careful where you parked it if you wanted to avoid someone getting cross with you over the mess..
The Beano and Dandy were illustrated cartoon style boy's magazines. There were tales or daring do and young lads doing slightly naughty things! They were compulsory reading if you wanted to be "one of the boys". There's lots of stuff on Google about them, even got their own Wikipedia pages.
The Eagle was for slightly older boys. I seen to remember my sister getting the "Girl"? - but would never have admitted to looking at it! The main character was Dan Dare:
http://www.dandare.com/eagle-comic.htm who was always in conflict with a nasty wee alien called the Mekon, a super brain who ruled the Treens who lived on venus. They always had pictures of wonderful very elegant space ships. The whole thing allowed me to escape mentally from the daily drudge of the boarding schools my parents packed me off to "for my own good".
I'm not sure why but I don't remember Warlord?
This all brings back memories of being in the dormitory at school, hiding under the bedclothes, after lights out when we were all supposed to be asleep, with a torch, reading about the adventures of Dan Dare and later reading stuff like Heinlein's "Starship Troopers", EE Smith's "Lensman" series and William Dietz "War World" - Halcyon days indeed!
