Allied and Lafayette catalogs were dog eared & worn from my constant reference & wishes searches. Trying to compare apples to apples value and performance wise before spending each dime & yes I too miss the stores....but the catalogs more.
Rick C.
I remember the old-old-Radio Shack catalogs when I was in eight grade and a freshman in high school. The
catalogs were thick paper back booklets with tons of products from different company's and the only problem
was, I couldn't afford the products. I wish I would have kept the catalogs and at the time I thought they'd be
coming forever. How naive I was at the time! I remember ordering two CB walkie-talkies from the Kleins store
in Chicago. A friend and I got a kick out of using them to see how far we could communicate using them when
our only transportation was single-speed bicycles.

Then, in high school I ordered a Lafayette HE-50b CB
tube base radio and used it for awhile. I loaned it to a friend after I could afford a International Executive 50
CB tube base radio so we could communicate since our old telephone lines were not working (pole lines)
before buried phone lines were put in out in the country. Allied Radio also had good catalogs at the time but
all of that has changed now. I forgot to mention, the slide rules were called, "Post Versalogs" which came in
a real nice heavy leather carrying case. Two of my fellow students couldn't afford the Posts and bought the
aluminum ones. After they had taken tests they had to go to the restroom and wash off the aluminum stains
from using them. The Posts always needed talcum powder on them since they were bamboo and would stick
on you at the wrong time taking the tests. You didn't have to worry about batteries going down!
Changing the subject, I found a decent kickstand that works for supporting that bike on Ebay and so far
no problems with it. I can't use a double that is center mounted on this bike like the 49cc bike.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BV-Bike-Ki...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BV-Bike-Ki...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
The stock one would have worked if a fella would have heated it with a torch to bend it in to make the bike
sit closer to vertical. The weight of the engine was too much for the welded mount which didn't have any
adjustment and I don't know how it was built inside to repair it since it was welded to the frame.
