MOTOR-CYCLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18457, 21 July 1923, Page 10 (Supplement)

MOTOR-CYCLING.

Two motorists, named Shilling and Mark, recently collided in London.

The Feilding Motor-Cycle Club will hold its annual race meeting on April 50.

A 9oz. aluminium piston was used in J.A.P. engines designed for tho T.T. races.

The length of the T.T. course was 225 miles for all solo, and 112 miles for sidecar events.

Mr. C. E. Merson has been elected chairman of the Cycle and Motor-cycle branch of tho Auckland Motor Traders' Association.

Bear lights should be inspected frequently, as bulbs easily break in this fitting, and burners have a habit of becoming choked.

The winning Douglases in the T.T. races had their gear-boxes fitted above the rear cylinder, and were supplied with aluminium" rims to the wheels.

F. W. Dixon, on a 9 h.p. Barley-David-son, recorded 86.46 m.p.h. over the mile course at Brooklands in May last. A.? this was the mean time of both ways of the course tho record has been referred to the F.I.CM. for confirmation as a world s record.

The traffic department are taking a ■firm hand with regard to speeding. As the prosecutions increase,' so excessive speeding decreases. Another matter to which particular notice is being paid is the use of the open cut-out. Offenders may in future expect little mercy if caught redhanded.

The New Plymouth Motor-cycle Club has taken exception to tho ruling of the executive of the New Zealand Auto-Cycle Union that spring frames be barred 'from track competition. A remit to this effect was defeated at the last annual meeting of the union, but in spite of this the executive enforced the rule last season. Notice of motion has been given to delete this prohibition.

Beach racing has been the only form of speed events held in Christchurch for the past few years, a suitable racing track •not being obtainable. The Pioneer MotorCvcle Club now notifies that it has obI tained permission to race on Sojourn racecourse on Labour Day. The last motor, cvcle meeting on this course was hold in 1919, when 10.000 spectators were present It was at this meeting that K. j Crawley raced an aeroplane, winning by a narrow margin.

During the recent wet spell trade has been quiet, as so many risers have not been using their machines. The used vehicles for sale" list has steadily _ Increased, with a resultant drop in prices, and manv bargains have been obtained. In some cases motor-cycles have been sold and cheap second-hand cars have been bought. The great difference in the general running expenses, depreciation, etc., however, has made many a satisfied motor-cyclist a gloomy car owner, and in quite a number of instances they have lost little time in getting back to two Or three wheels and a minimum of 50 miles per gallon of petrol. Sales are now beginning to pick up, and inquiries are numerous regarding new models for the summer. The various motor-cycling clubs are beginning to awaken, and already one short run has been held. Month by month more and more motor-cycles are being used commercially, Auckland being only in its infancy in this respect. Prospects for a good summer .season were never brighter, and the pessimist who a little while back foretold the doom of the motor-cycle and side-car must bow to the ever-increasing demand for the key to the great out-of-doors and _ the healthy exhilaration of motor-cycle riding.

The following comment by a well-known rider, who took part in the recent Scottish Six Days Trials, savours of our ordinary road conditions handy to the city, without bothering to tronble the clay-bound country roads: — after day the snow, rain, wind, and road surface combined to make motor-cycling as near an impossibility as the brain can conceive. I do not think that either manufacturers or general public will ever understand the greatness of the tribute to the. reliability of the modern machine which the trials afforded. I know many absolutely standard machines without any extra protection against wet which came through with- no tronble, and one . rider rode four days with ah exposed contact breaker on his magneto, the cover being lost just after the start on Wednesday morning. < s The chief trouble seemed to be that where carburetters were exposed thev tended to freeze up. Flat twins suffered much in this respect. _ Outside this the chief defect showed itself in weather protection for the riders, the vulnerable points being face, hands, and arms. Gauntlet gloves are . mere water traps, and no one seems to have solved the problem bf adequate head and face protection .in long-continued driving rain or snow, handle-bar windscreens do not allow a sufficiently good view bf the road when the surface is really bad."