NEWS AND NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 260, 24 January 1928, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES

THE MOTOR RACING CLUB The next motor-cycle race meeting f uckland Motor Racing Club wiU be held on the Takapuna Jockey Clubs course at Devonport on Saturday, March 3. A classified programme is being prepared in which riders will ride in classes embodying machines of equal power and riders of more or less equal ability. • • • To investigate the many charges made by overseas riders that British machines are disproportionately expensive in the Dominions, Mr. H. Crawshaw will shortly sail from England for Australia. * * * NEW PLYMOUTH RACES New Plymouth Motor-Cycle Club lias arranged a very attractive programme for its annual race meetmg to be held at New Plymouth on Saturday. February 18. Riders will be classified, and in no case will more than one lap’s handicap be allowed. * • * Statistics recently compiled give details of motor-cycles used for police work in the United States. A total of 3,570 machines are in use, the various makes being represented as follow: Indian 1,839 Harley-Davidson .. .. 1,213 Henderson 430 Ace • 88 New York City police has the largest motor-cycle corps, consisting of 055 Indians. Illinois State Highway employs 106 Hendersons. New York State police have 98 Har-ney-Davidsons. Philadelphia police have 88 Aces. Included in the New York Corps are a number of armoured motor-cycles fitted with bullet-proof shields. * * * THOUGHTLESS MOTOR-CYCLISTS Trials and road competitions generally are practically the only means at present available for demonstrating the worth of the motor-cycle, but they do not go far enough. As a rule they give no indication of how economical a motor-cycle is to run and maintain. There is still a big section of the public who would be willing to run motorcycles and would reap material benefit in health, business and pleasure from doing so, but for a lingering impression that the motor-bicycle is the noisy, messy and complicated vehicle it undoubtedly was a dozen or so years ago. With regard to the noise,' this is probably the biggest factor which deters other Aucklanders from mining up, and we have to thank a few careless, thoughtless, “showing off” riders for bringing the remainder into disfavour. Prejudice dies hard, and in spite of the progress made in simplifying design and controls, increasing comfort and reliability, and reducing operation costs, the motor-bicycle still suffers from the bad impression left by the crude contraptions of the early days. The experienced rider knows full well that these views nowadays are groundless, and that there is no more pleasure-giving or reliable vehicle on the road than the motor-cycle, nor is there one that provides transportation at so low a cost, but as long as the thoughtless element remains in our midst, it is difficult to convince others of the joys of the pastime.