Obscure Facts You Have Used in Your Stories

[TadOverdon]

Yes it was and it's still being produced and sold today as the Ural.
They are the only motorcycle/sidecar combo in production today that has two-wheel drive. There is a drive shaft that runs from the rear wheel of the bike to the sidecar wheel.

https://crocomoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Ural-Tourist-1997-photo.jpg

As cool as it looks I wouldn't advise buying one. The mechanical reliability is right up there with the Yugo car.

Comshaw

My protagonist's son likes to tinker with old machines.

I understand that the old ones can keep up pretty well with the rev limiter removed. Is that so?

 

[Comshaw]

My protagonist's son likes to tinker with old machines.

I understand that the old ones can keep up pretty well with the rev limiter removed. Is that so?

Keep up yes. Stay together, not so much. Unfortunately, when the Russians copied the German design, the reliability of the BMW didn't transfer. During WWII their manufacturing wasn't state of the art for the day. While the T-34 tank was one of the best at combat in the war, right up there with the German Tiger, it suffered from the same problem, unreliability caused by subpar manufacturing practices. That was during WWII. Why the same issues are still popping up with the Ural is anybody's guess.

Owning a Ural is much akin to owning an old Harley or Indian, you need tools, lots of tools and you should be prepared to work on it constantly.

That said, I do love the idea of a two-wheel drive sidecar rig. The sidecar I have now is attached to a Triumph Legend. On acceleration I need to do a lot of counter-steering to compensate for the sideways pull of the sidecar. A two-wheel drive would eliminate that.

Comshaw

 

[electric1]

There used to be an Earth Day contest, and some of my entered stories may have mentioned that the meat industry is responsible for more climate change than all cars, truck, and airplanes put together.

 

[oggbashan]

My third motorcycle was an Ariel Red Hunter with a single-seat sports sidecar. It was fast (for its day) and economical using one Imperial Gallon for 75 miles.

Later I had a BSA 650cc Golden Flash with a double-adult sidecar. It wasn't as fast, nor as economical (about 45 mpg).

For both, I had to carry an extensive tool kit.

Some WW2 UK motorcycle combinations were equipped with sidecar drive but the vendors usually disabled it because experienced combination riders would crash with two-wheel drive.

1950s and 60s combinations usually had a maximum usable speed of 55 to 60 mph and could peak for a short time at 70. But they were slower than other road users.

There were very few motorcycles before the mid-70s that could keep up with a modern superbike. The Vincent V-twin was an exception. The Black Shadow could reach 125 mph on the then crap fuel. The racing version, the Black Lightning, could do 150.

 

[XerXesXu]

I had a BSA 650cc Golden Flash

I had to carry an extensive tool kit.

#metoo My first motorbike. Quite reliable, but I treated it gently.

 

[desecration]

Have you ever used an obscure fact or piece of trivia as a plot point in one of your stories, and if so what was it and how did you do it?

Or the Cambridge Five references in this story:

https://www.literotica.com/s/sister-in-law-surveillance

I'm still reading to see if the fifth man is named.

 

[TadOverdon]

Keep up yes. Stay together, not so much. Unfortunately, when the Russians copied the German design, the reliability of the BMW didn't transfer. During WWII their manufacturing wasn't state of the art for the day. While the T-34 tank was one of the best at combat in the war, right up there with the German Tiger, it suffered from the same problem, unreliability caused by subpar manufacturing practices. That was during WWII. Why the same issues are still popping up with the Ural is anybody's guess.

Owning a Ural is much akin to owning an old Harley or Indian, you need tools, lots of tools and you should be prepared to work on it constantly.

That said, I do love the idea of a two-wheel drive sidecar rig. The sidecar I have now is attached to a Triumph Legend. On acceleration I need to do a lot of counter-steering to compensate for the sideways pull of the sidecar. A two-wheel drive would eliminate that.

Comshaw

Thanks. It's helpful to know this. The carb limiter is the only thing that I mention specifically about the contraption and, as I know little about cars and bikes and such, it's good to have a confirmation from someone who does know.

He looked around at the collection of vehicles in his hangar, all in various states of disassembly, repair, or restoration. What was running? He'd just pulled the carb limiter off of the Dnepr he'd had shipped over from Yugoslavia. This afternoon might be the time to find out if the thing could merge onto the interstate without killing him.

Other than that, the most that's said is that it's "An olive-drab contraption with a sidecar. It looked to Lauren like something Steve McQueen would steal from a Nazi," because she doesn't know anything, either. But I need to know how little she knows. LOL

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks. It's helpful to know this. The rev limiter is the only thing that I mention specifically about the contraption and, as I know little about cars and bikes and such, it's good to have a confirmation from someone who does know.

Other than that, the most that's said is that it's "An olive-drab contraption with a sidecar. It looked to Lauren like something Steve McQueen would steal from a Nazi," because she doesn't know anything, either. But I need to know how little she knows. LOL

Rev limiters were not used on 1960s motorcycles. They could be tuned to go faster but not by much. The only rev limiter I encountered was on a Lotus sports car to stop one over-revving the engine.

Lauren was right. The Ural is copied from a WW2 German machine. The German BMW was a much better-made machine, even though it was made during wartime problems of supply of raw materials.

 

[TadOverdon]

Rev limiters were not used on 1960s motorcycles. They could be tuned to go faster but not by much. The only rev limiter I encountered was on a Lotus sports car to stop one over-revving the engine.

Lauren was right. The Ural is copied from a WW2 German machine. The German BMW was a much better-made machine, even though it was made during wartime problems of supply of raw materials.

The reference I found on an owners' forum was actually to "carb limiter." Don't know where I came up with "rev limiter."

I figured what Lauren would get from a cursory glance is what I would: real old motorcycle with a sidecar, looks military.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Have you ever used an obscure fact or piece of trivia as a plot point in one of your stories, and if so what was it and how did you do it?

My stories are about a couple becoming swingers. But, I wrote the beginning of the first chapter of them getting together in high school with a scene of him as a loner from a low income family spending his evenings as a Ham Radio operator. The Ham Radio hobby isn't relevant to the story line, except for a later reference of him describing "fine tuning" his girlfriend/wife's controls.

I also used a reference to the speed of light in my third chapter to show why the main character has a high income:
-------
I told him, "The speed of light isn't fast enough for your distributed [data] access plan."

"The speed of light is the fastest in the universe!" he said, his voice rising.

So, I walked away. I won't get into a shouting match and have no patience with ignorance. I've learned they can either pay me to fix it now or pay me even more to fix it later. But they will pay me.
-----

 

[oggbashan]

The reference I found on an owners' forum was actually to "carb limiter." Don't know where I came up with "rev limiter."

I figured what she'd get from a cursory glance is what I would: real old green motorcycle with a sidecar, looks military.

Carb Limiters were usually found on learner motorcycles to restrict the maximum speed. Once a test had been passed, a standard carburettor could be fitted but it still wouldn't be a fast motorcycle.

When I was learning, a learner could ride a 250 cc motorcycle, or if a combination, any size of motorcycle. But in both cases, the pillion passenger had to have a full motorcycle licence (but not if sitting in the sidecar), Later the engine size in the UK was dropped to 125cc, and even later, to 125 'learner" motorcycles that had a limited top speed.

When I first rode a motorcycle there was no restriction on motorcycle size for learners. One of my office colleagues had an inheritance from a grandfather. He bought a brand new Velocette 500cc even though he had never ridden a motorcycle. The dealer explained the controls, fitted L plates and my colleague rode off, only to drop the bike on the first corner. He was persuaded to have the Velocette delivered and he signed up for a training course. It was three months before he dared to ride the Velocette again.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

The case could be made that I got carried away with the research for The Muse.

Mythology, martial arts, hours using Google Maps & Street View to get the travel times right...

The really obscure stuff was some of the history for one character's back story. I got into stuff about a bunch of badass women from the past two thousand years. My favorite was Julie d'Aubigny, a bi opera singer who seduced women out from under men, then dueled and beat the men.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

In part 3 of my first story I slipped in the fact that the Spruce Goose was actually made out of Birch.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I spent about 2 hours today trying to find out what the Wabanaki Indians call the Milky Way in their language.

 

[MelissaBaby]

In part 3 of my first story I slipped in the fact that the Spruce Goose was actually made out of Birch.

I had a character who was driving a stick shift put the car in Park.

 

[Athalia]

I wrote a story (not found on this site) about how the taste of a boy's ejaculate changes as he matures. How's that for obscure?

 

[mynameisben]

In one of my stories I used the "fact" that one could use the direction of increasing signal strength of an A.M. radio station as a homing beacon and drive back to civilization after being lost in the wilderness in a blinding snowstorm. But upon further reflection, that just isn't possible. You would have to use radio triangulation techniques to home in on a stationary radio signal, and you just can't do that with one vehicle in a blinding snowstorm.

Nobody caught it, though. I have my teeny weenie reader base to thank for it.


Ben

 

[RWesson]

A few

The specific menu items of local restraints in Providence, Rhode Island. (Two stories)
The existence of a concrete cow statue at a specific Dairy Queen in Indiana.
Whether or not a Hardee's or a McDonald's is easier to get coffee at in a specific town (also Indiana) on the way to a specific boat landing at 5 AM on a Saturday morning (same story).
Anaphylactic shock and allergies, in this case to the titular "Butter Pecan" (ditto, and a major plot point).
The standard, most frequently used ammo round used in US law enforcement (upcoming story/stories. Chapter 1 is finished, but not the rest and the caliber round and it's implications are a major plot point for Chapter 2 and on, though it comes at the end of Chapter 1)

I have a story that is slow burning that has a historical based point (modern story, but builds on real history) that has a plot/trivia point needed for the story based on history. If i changed the setting, the point would become a history Maguffin, but it's real where I'm setting it. Not sure it will be good enough to post here, though, since the story doesn't have an erotic theme or requirement. It's asexual as a plot (or at best, a Romance), and friendship and justice could cover motivation as much as any sexuality driver.

 

[RetroFan]

I had a character who was driving a stick shift put the car in Park.

Ha, ha, I like that one as I often have scenes with people driving really badly in my stories.

There's some interesting pieces of trivia here, and I got a comment today on my story in my OP that reminded me of another interesting fact about earwax in the story - that cats absolutely love the taste of human earwax and go crazy for it.

Gross but true.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Ha, ha, I like that one as I often have scenes with people driving really badly in my stories.

There's some interesting pieces of trivia here, and I got a comment today on my story in my OP that reminded me of another interesting fact about earwax in the story - that cats absolutely love the taste of human earwax and go crazy for it.

Gross but true.

My niece’s pug loves eating snipped off toe nails. Strange dog

 

[RetroFan]

My niece’s pug loves eating snipped off toe nails. Strange dog

Animals like to eat some strange things.

In some of my stories set in Australia Australian White Ibises - known colloquially as 'Bin Chickens' make an appearance - diving into rubbish bins to eat food scraps and drink the bin juice, or scavenging from unsuspecting diners and people having picnics.

 

[8letters]

In one of my stories, I have a scene where the narrator's girlfriend Joanna braid's the narrator sister's hair. At the end of that scene, I have:

I said, "In Ohio, Joanna would have to attend beauty school for 450 hours before she could get a job braiding hair."

"450 hours?" Paul asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Becoming a cop requires 580 hours of training. Ohio is a lot more worried about bad hair-braiders than bad cops."

Those are the actual amounts of training required in Ohio for those two jobs. Other states have similar requirements for being able to work as a hair shampooer/washer. Just ridiculous stuff. I can't imagine how you'd spend 450 hours learning how to braid hair or wash and shampoo hair.

 

[oggbashan]

In one of my stories, I have a scene where the narrator's girlfriend Joanna braid's the narrator sister's hair. At the end of that scene, I have:

Those are the actual amounts of training required in Ohio for those two jobs. Other states have similar requirements for being able to work as a hair shampooer/washer. Just ridiculous stuff. I can't imagine how you'd spend 450 hours learning how to braid hair or wash and shampoo hair.

When my father was a resident in an old people's home, he used to inspect the kitchens daily because part of his career responsibilities had been catering for the Royal Navy. Although his short-term memory was erratic, he could remember the past.

If he saw anything being done wrong, he would call the person responsible out into the corridor and explain quietly what had been done wrong and what should be the correct procedure.

While he was there, he gave expert tuition to all the catering staff aiming to get qualifications. In the six years he was there, they all passed with distinction.