MOTOR-CYCLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19418, 28 August 1926, Page 12 (Supplement)

MOTOR-CYCLING.

THE SPORTS CLUB. The Sports Motor-cycle club will hold a run to Muriwai to-morrow. Riders will leave Grafton Bridge at 9 a.m., and wil travel via Mt. Albert. The only dirty piece of road is down through the bush drive and this will not cause trouble to motor-cycles. 200-MILE SIDE-OAR RAOE. Out of 44 starters only six machines finished in tho 200-mile side-car race at Brooklands. Of those five were in the 350 c.c. class, and one in the 600 c.c. division. The 350 c.c. race presented good competition, and the winner, E. S. Prestwich tode with great consistency. Nineteen riders faced the starter in the 600 c.c. race, but so great were the misfortunes, that only Victor Horsman's Triumph finished. Tho 1000 c.c. event was a complete fiasco, not one of the nine starters finishing within the time limit. "No race" was declared. The following are the detailed results: —3so c.c. Class.—E. S. Prestwich (Coventry Eagle), 63.5 m.p.h., 1; J. Worters (Excelsior), 59.5 m.p.h., 2; C. Johnston (Zenith), 56.3 m.p.h., 3. 600 c.c. Class. —V. Horsman (Triumph), 74.02 rn.p.h.", 1. 1000 c.c. Class.—" No Race." N ono finished within time limit. BRITISH MOTOR-CYCLES. Progressive research and consistently sound construction have earned for British motor-cycles a reputation which is of the highest order. It is due to sheer merit and hard work, without any element of chance, that the home industry has gained and held a definite and substantial lead throughout the world markets. A point which is too often overlooked—not only with motor-cycle but also with car and commercial vehicle manufacture—is that the larger a maker's output the better the value he can offer; and it is clear that factory turnover must depend upon the support of the public. The i types of British motor-cycles produced are numerous enough to suit all taste 3 and pockets, and their economical operation, reliability and durability are beyond question. Motor-cycle design has been through the mill so thoroughly that a certain amount of standardisation has been achieved, which accounts for the absence of radical changes since new designs were brought out a few years ago. Better value for money rather than startling cuts in prices has been the chief consideration. Makers have been content —and not unreasonably so—to improve production methods, to equip machines more adequately, to reduce noise in running, and to give more strength where it is wanted without increasing total weight. NOTES. The Scottish Six Days' trials has proved a victory for Douglas riders. Fivo machines entered, winning five silver cups and gaining the Manufacturers' Team Prize tor 100 per cent, efficiency. During the first three months of 1926 only 704 motor cycles were imported into Germany, as against 921 in the corresponding quarter of 1925. Britain's share of this year's total is 372, and America has sent over 206. In order to study explosion phenomena when tetra-ethyl lead i 3 introduced into the fuel, the Massachusetts (U.S.A.) Institute of Technology is using an engine with h cylinder having a quartz .window, through which the flame is photographed. In 1910 the start of the T.T. races was delayed by a local The road was not then closed by special Act, and the indignant native turned up with a cart and announced his intention of driving slowly round th© course. With splendid tact ftn official made him steward and adorned him with a gaudy official armlet, while the competitors quietly removed the horse and cart. Italy's challenge to Britain in the record field is none the less important because it is periodic. Though for a space of many months, perhaps of years, British machines may continue to figure almost exclusively iin tho list o* world s records, it is significant that on more than one occasion a single foreign make has at" one fell swoop lowered our prestifo in this connection Very considerably. On the present occasion a famous Italian machine of 350' c.c. has succeeded. in obtaining at least 46 world s records (lv>B were claimed), almost all of which previously held'by Britain. . .. Running right round the roof of- the Indian motor-cycle factory is a concrete racing track. Tho company, uses it for trying* out new designs and improvements and for experimenting with speed jobs, A big lift carries new machines, 20 at a time, up from the preliminary' testingroom in the body of tha factory. They are sent round at a careful spoed until such a time as the testers riding them are satisfied every part is functioning perfectly. A staff of 12 testers is maintained for this work. The track is nearly half-a-mile round, and is rounded and banked at the corners so that high speeds can be put up and maintained. Weeks before Johnnie Seymour made his recent 132 m.p.h. record, his machine was sent round and round this track. Seymour practised on it a week before he went down to Daytona Beach to attempt the record.