THE SPORTS CLUB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19508, 11 December 1926, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE SPORTS CLUB.

FINAL OF HILL TESTS, Last Saturday the Sports Motor-cycle Club concluded the hill-climbing tests which had been postponed from the previous week on account of rain. Over 1200 spectators assembled at Mount Roskill and they were rewarded by a sparkling display of daring riding. An extra 2§ h.p. class was staged, and in this the previous week's winner, H Fletcher, was injured and was thus robbed of a chance of a double victory. C. Goodwin (A.J.S.), won the event in good style, but Staig, who performed so woil previously, was not up to his usual standard of riding. In the 3£ h.p. class the British makes showed up conspicuously and Moorcraft's A.J.S. not only won the event but made the fastest time of the day. An incident worthy of mention was N. B. Hunt's performance in securing two second places and in making second fastest time, being only 1-5 of a second slower than Moorcraft. The feat is all the more meritorious when it is remarked tliat Moorcraft's machine was new and " trade tuned " while Hunt's Triumph was a model three years old and one which had actually seen many thou sands of miles of hard service. The heavy weight competition was not keen and Shakespeare's win was not unexpected. The course did not suit the heavy machines. At the conclusion a special open event was run when it was found that foui riders had made equal time. A run-off was held in which P. Butler, riding a 2| h.p. A.J.S., sur prised everyone by finishing in 9 2-5 sec. equalling the second fastest time of the day. PILLION RIDING. Contrary to the popular belief of the opponents, of pillion riding, the presence of a pillion passenger on a motoErCyble tends to increase ■ stability and safety rather than otherwise. The addition of weight does not reduce the factor of safety. The accurate balance of the motor cycle is in no way diminished by the pillion passenger—rather the reverse. There is. no greater fallacy than that which seeks to suggest a motor-cycle is not under proper control when a pillion passenger is carried. A pillion passenger does not increase the anticipation of dangel 1 , provided he or she sits astride and the driver remembers the increased weight on the baijk wheel. Statistics show that pillion riding, has no greater percentage of injuries than any other form of sport. But pillion riding may claim to be more than a sport—it is a cheap and efficient •means' of transport. There is no call for the suppression of the pillion riding as a dangerous sport any more than in hunting, mountaineering or boxing. The motorcycle is cheaper than the" railway for cross-country journeys, and provides wonderful opportunities for increasing health, pleasure and knowledge.: It can safely be urged that there', are no avoidable pillion accidents due to causes for which pillion riding as such is responsible. Negligence, foolhardiness, bad road conditions are common to all forms 1 of road transport. NOTES. The importance of the motor-cycle trade in Great- Britain is shown- by the fact that in 1925 the British cycle and motor-cycle industry created a credit item in the national balance, sheet of £6,329,770, which represents; a balance of £5,886,033 in-ex-ports over £443,737 in imports.

It is worthy of note that during the first seven months of this year A.J.S. machines in Great Britain gained upwards of 400 awards,, including 132 first, 45 second, and 23 third places; 58 gold, 36 silver and 35 bronze medals; 36 trophies and. Clips; 21 fastest times of tho day.

There are many speedways in the world where. the crack motor-cyclists vie with one another in getting out of their engines the absolute limit of speed, but there is none so famous as the Brooklands track which has staged innumerable exciting contests. Here the world recordbreakers foregather, but probably one of the most famous among them is Victor Horsman, who, since he became associated with the Triumph Company, has at one time or other . annexed no fewer than 13j6 British and world records on his famous Triumph 2-valvo machine. i,

Although the petroil system provides the simplest means of lub"icatirig a twostroke engine, it often makes starting difficult. To ensure easy starting of an engine employing this type of lubrication the following method may be used; At the end of a ride the engine should be kept running, with the petroil turned off, until the supply in the float chamber is exhausted. To start, agitate the mixture in the tank by rocking the machine for about 20 seconds, then turn on the petroil and flood the carburetter. Rotate the crankshaft several times either by means of the kick-starter or by wheeling the machine iD gear with the throttle open, thus filling the crankcase and cylinder with fresn mixture. An easy start by normal methods is then almost a certainty.