MOTOR-CYCLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19412, 21 August 1926, Page 12 (Supplement)

MOTOR-CYCLING.

THE SPORTS CLUB. The- Sports Motor-cycle Club will hold an outing to the Mangero Speedway on Sunday, ridor3 assembling at Newmarket at 9.30 a.m. In the afternoon a run will be held at Buckland's Beach leaving Grafton Bridge at 2 p.m. and calling at the speedway at 2.30 p.m. Next week the club will visit Muriwai. HEW 50-MILE KECOED. World's records for 500 c.c. and 750 c.c. machines were established by Herbert Le Vack on Brooklands track on August 13. Advice by cablegram is that the celebrated motor-cyclist covered 50 miles from a standing start in 31 minutes seconds. This is an average of 94.45 in.p.h., a remarkable achievement over a 50-milo course. Conditions were against the rider, but ho handled his speedy mount with a skill which to some extent nullified the continuous rain and wind. Riders who have had experience of wot tracks will appreciate the performance. Le Vock's machine was a 3£ h.p. New Hudson. T.T. FAILURES. It is impossible to locate every trouble which eliminates a T.T. machine, partly because tiie cause of failure is not always known at the time to tho rider himself, and partly because in their loyalty to their firms some riders are apt to give fictitious reasons for retiring. The three races provided the following comparisons:—Junior: Starters, 61; retirements, 34. Lightweight: 21 and 12. Senior: 57 and 35. In other words, more than half tho total number of competitors ia the races failed to complete the course.

. At first'sight this seems to constitute an appalling reflection on modern design and reliability, but it must be remembered that many of tho retirements are due to the personal factor and to crashes, and that, considering tho nature of the course an<j the high speeds, the strains imposed are equal to much more than those of a year's touring. Again, in some cases, quite a minor mishap may be the cause of such a loss of time that the rider will give up. The "crash figures," in so far as they aro available, are: Junior, 3; Lightweight, .2 j and Senior, 7 j so that the total is reduced by at least a dozen. Valve failures wero less common than in previous years, though in the three races seven retirements are known to have been due to broken valves, three to broken valve springs, and one to a bent valve. Those troubles were not confined to one make of engine, but were spread over five different, designs. Push rods wero a source of great trouble. Although only four machines actually fell out for this cause, that does not represent anything like the ntimber of broken or lost push rods; some riders carried two or more spares. Rather a largo number of failures were marked down to lubrication trouble, though it is not quite fair to blame the oiling system invariably, si.nce, in the case of one make particularly, it -was the oil pump drive and the - method of /attaching the oil pump that appeared to be at fault. If seized engines are to be included in the list of lubrication troubles, there were at least five retirements from this cause; in one caso tho failure of the oil pump led to a crash. , ► NOTES. Horse-power is not always as important as horse-senso belfftid the handlebars. It was noticeable that tho winning engines in this year's. Junior T.T. were in better condition than were those of the Lightweight and Senior winners.

According to figures furnished by the British Ministry of Transport, the number of motor-cycle licences current from December 1, 1925, until May 31, 1926, was 685,746. Dry sump lubrication showed up well in this year's T.T. races, and was cmployed on the winning Norton and Velocette and also on the Guzzi, which created such a sensation in the Junior race. Recent figures show that there were 49,233 motor-cycles in use in Belgium at ! the beginning of tho year. In 1925 172 machines were imported from America,. | 127 from France, and 91 from Great i Britain.' _____ "It should be possible to build them for £4OO each, and anybody who can ride a motor-cycle could fiy one," said Captain F.,T. Courtney recently in referring to the new Auto-Giro, the recently-invented flying machine which can ascend or descend ; almost vertically. j i The fastest time in the Durban-Johan-nesburg race (South Africa) was made by a Harley-Davidson rider on a 7-9 h.p. machine. This race, which is a handicap event, resulted in 2J h.p. motors securing the first throe places, the bigger machines being handicapped too severely. 0 Motor-cycles with sidecars attached, which are* used for commercial purposes, are to be allowed on the Auckland wharves. It is now some months since the Sports Motor-cycle Club, took up the matter on behalf of motor-cycle users, and it is to be congratulated on having obtained this concession. There seems to be no real objection why solo machines should bo barred provided noisy exhausts are improved.