THE RELIABILITY TRIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19720, 20 August 1927, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE RELIABILITY TRIAL.

BRITISH SUCCESSES. The reliability trial of the Sports Motor-cycle Club held last week-end, resulted in a win for R. Ran by riding a 7-9 h.p. Harley-Davidson. Rauby showed

excellent judgment throughout and secured a march over his fellow competitors on the clay conditions. Half-an-hour's spell was allowed for lunch at Ngatea, but the time taken was optional as the actual stop was recorded on each man's mark sheet, and his arrival home checked accordingly. Stopping only ten minutes, Ranby was first away and he crossed the treacherous clay strip without difficulty or delay. The remainder of the riders arrived almost together and in the mix up many lost points which Ranby's forethought saved. With the exception of the first and the fifth place, which was won by K. McLaren (2-f Harley-Davidson), all the prizes were won by British machines. Particularly pleasing were the results obtained by L. Millar's Norton side-car outfit which gained third position in the trial and was the only combination to he placed. The oldest; machine to secure honours was N. B. Hunt's Triumph, which is now a veteran in competition work in Auckland. The failure to give correct traffic signals cost' the majority of riders a number of points and this lesson in itself fully justifies the trial. The placed riders were: — R. Ranby. Harley-Davidson, S7 rr.' I O. Litherland, Norton, S3 ■..• i.. L. Millar, Norton S.C., 59 ..■ 1..1 3 ,T. H. Ratcliffe, New Hudson, 36 •..• 4 K. McLaren. Harley-Davidson, I'2 <..■ 5 S. Brooks. Francis Burnett, 10 ...• (> X. Hunt, Triumph, minus 19 , jr. < 7 SILENCER COMPETITION. NO NEW IDEAS. The silencer competition which was organised* by the " Motor-Cycle " and the Triumph Company, has as its object the discovery, by competition, of a new and effective motor-cycle -- silencer. The following extracts from the judges' progress report do not', however, hold forth much promise:—"ln spite of tho great variety of type and of design, it may be laid down that no really new idea has arisen. All the old proposals for reflection, baffling, interfei'ence, cooling, and propulsion were shown, often with a great deal of ingenuity of application. Out of the large number of silencers submitted, there were many of complicated construction and almost forbidding intricacy, but no silencer has been disqualified as yet on constructional grounds. Whether the conditions of the competition ■will be met at all it is impossible to say until the final award is made."

The competition attracted 173 entries, mostly from residents of the British Isles, although silencers were received from India, South Africa, and the Continent. Twelve silencers have now* been selected for final trial.

THE LIGHT-WEIGHT T.T. RACE.

Detailed results of the light-weight race are:—

First: W. L. Handley (Rex-Acme) , 4h. 10m. 225.—63.30 m.p.h. 1926 winner: C. W. Johnston (Cotton), 60.20 m.p.h. Second: L. Arcangeli (Guzzi). 4h. 18m. 525.—61.22 m.p.h. 1926 second: F. G. Morgan (Cotton), 55.18 m.p.h. Third: C. T. Ashbv (0.K.-Supreme). 4h. 19m. 245.—61.10 m.p.h. 1926 third: W. Colgan (Cotton), 53.53 m.p.h. Team prize: New Imperial (L. Horton, F. L. Hall, S. Jones.) Record lap by A.- Bennett (0.K.-Su-preme), 64.42 m.p.h. PILLION" RIDING IN ENGLAND. In reply to a question in the House of Commons recently, the Minister cf Transport stated that tho Road Traffic Bill proposed to interfere with pillion riding only in two respects. It would give the Minister power to limit the number of pillion passengers and it would determine the way in which they were to be seated. DUTCH T.T. Stanley Woods riding one of the new overhead camshaft Nortons, won the Dutch Tourist Trophy race at an average speed of 67.02 m.p.h, THE GREATEST T.T. RIDER. Alec Bennett, the famous British motorcyclist, is proclaimed as the greatest T.T. rider of all times. His record of wins in premier events is three Senior T.T. events, one Junior T.T., four French Grand Prix and three Belgian Grand Prix. NOTES. A 100-mile bicycle race recently held in England was won at an average speed of 25.9 m.p.h. A competitor in the Durban-Johannes-burg Race crashed, and, remounting, rode back to Durban in the belief that he was continuing the race. Tho new 498 c.c., (3i- h.p.) Raleigh was awarded the special prize for the most silent solo machine in the Edin-burgh-London reliability, trial.

Who will ever win a Junior and Senior T.T. in the same year ? Howard Davies came nearest in 1925 when he was second in the former and first in the latter.

Many people consider that the biggest surprise ever sprung in an Islo of Man Tourist Trophy race was when 11. 11. Davies won the 1921 Senior race on a Junior machine, a 348 c.c. A.J.S.