Over on the Brevet thread, our much-missed Senior Poster Danny 42C favoured the Bates cap for the 1958 season when he was posted to ATC Thorney Island, commuting on his Winged Wheel motorised pushbike. Told as only Danny could, his autobiography Danny and the Cold War recalls one sunny morning when all went well until the throttle stuck wide open:
Frantic waggling failed to clear it, so the Wheel now had the bit firmly between its teeth, and quickly got up to 25 mph, which was Vne (never exceed speed) … there was no ignition switch, and a downhill stretch lay ahead … eventually I managed to lean back and turn off the fuel, it took ages, my cap fell off (the least of my worries) but thankfully I managed it … I stripped the carb, put all back, test for Full and Free Movement, fuel 'on', fire-up and backtrack for my Cap, S.D. Against all expectation, Mr. Bates's finest was on the roadside half a mile astern, had not been pinched or run-over, and was generally in good nick.