WORLD MOTOR CYCLE TOUR.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 177, 12 July 1927, Page 7

WORLD MOTOR CYCLE TOUR.

TO TEST BRITISH MACHINES. AND STIMULATE HGME TRADE. Just over eleven months ago two .British riders set out on what has proved to be the greatest adventure in the annals of motor cycle history. Their aim was to encircle the world with the aid of two British side-car outfits, in order to prove that British motor cycles are worthy of their reputation of being tho ‘finest in the world. This British trade mission has been backed by all the resources of the great Birmingham Small Arms Company and the importance of the expedition to the whole British motor cycle industry has been realised by the Government Departments concerned with our overseas i Ip and considerable support has I -.»n afforded the 'cheme by the Foreign Office and the Department nf Overseas Trade.

The machines chosen to represent the British motor cycle industry in this great project and test of reliability are colonial models of the 9.86 h.p. 8.8. A. In the selection of the two riders to undertake this great trade mission it was necessary to choose two men of considerable experience, and Mr. J. F. Castley, of the staff of the “Motor Cycle,” and Mr. B. H. Cathrick, of the B.S.A. Company, were ultimately chosen.

The expedition left the Royal Automobile Club, London, on August 30th, 1926, and embarked at Newhaven for Dieppe. Paris was reached on September Ist. The route crossed France diagonally from north-east to south-west and Spain was entered at San Sebasian. The riders travelled the length of Portugal, passing through Oporto and Lisbon; then Spain was re-entered, and at Seville the route turned north to Madrid. From the capital the route crossed the Sierras and then dropped down to Barcelona and re-entered France.

The Riviera was reached in early October, and from Marseilles the B.S.A.’s followed the coast to Genoa. Next Milan, then historic Trieste, and Italy was left behind for the 550mile pilgrimage to Bohemian Prague. Five days after entering Prague the little British expedition was due at Vienna, and Budapest on October 31st; from the twin capitals of Hungary the Danube route was followed through Belgrade and Sofia to Constantinople. Here, on November 23th, finished the European—the least important—section of the world tour. After crossing into Asia Minor the riders were faced with 650 miles of evtraordinary difficulty, terminating at Alexandretta, A further distance of 350 miles had then to be covered before the expedition entered the Holy City of Jerusalem. After this, the towns on the route became more and more widely spaced. Owing to political differences between the French and roaming tribes a precarious journey was made across the vast sands of the Syrian desert to Baghdad.

Teheran, Persia’s capital, was eight days distant from Baghdad. The route after Baghdad was cut by a mountain range “peaking” 15,000 feet, but fortunately the intrepid riders found it was not necessary to climb much more than 6000 feet to cross this range. From Teheran, under the shadow of the Elburz mountains the route went south through Yezd, in the foothills. Quetta ,in Northern Balchistan, was the first point reached in India, .and the expedition then made for the coast, passing through Karachi, the port of the fertile Punjab, on January 26th, 1927. Bombay, another 1200 miles was made on February 16th. The next section of the route consisted of crossing India to Calcutta, a distanpe of 1140 miles. Here it was necessary to make a sea voyage to Penang, as the seaboard of the Bay of Bengal and the coast of Burma are almost impenetrable. From Penang a pleasant run was made oyer the splendidly engineered roads or the Malay Peninsula to Singapore.

Another sea voyage was broken at Batavia (Java) on April 26th, and from Sourabaya, 540 miles away at the other end of the island, another steamer was taken to Freemantle, Wesern Australia, The riders then crossed the Commonwealth by was. of Perth, Adelaide. Ballarat,' Me* bourne and Sydney, and at the time of writing propose leaving the lastnamed city for New Zealand on July 29th. New Zealand is to be given thorough attention. Visits will be paid to Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, and just a year after leaving Paris the riders hope to embark at Auckland for Valparaiso, South America. From this port they will begin the 820-mile tpp across the continent to Buenos Aires.

There, as the programme is at present laid out, the riders’ responsibility finishes and they will catch a steamship home to England. Never has a more ambitious project been launched by the British motor cycle industry, or. indeed, by the motor industry of any counry. Its importance has been fully apSreciated by those who have the ritish important trade of this country at heart, and it can be confidently said that the spirit of co-opera-tion shown between the trade and the Government augurs well for the success of tho venture.