MOTOR-CYCLE FACTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 192, 15 August 1931, Page 10

MOTOR-CYCLE FACTS

Few motor cyclists give more than a passing thought to the amazing service provided by the modern machine, accepting its complete dependability as a matter of course. It is difficult to convey to the ordinary mind what an amazing piece of engineering the motorcycle really is. For instance, if the average rider were asked how many times his piston travels up and down the cylinder in the course of a 100-mile run it is very doubtful whether he would be able to give even an approximate answer. But when it is remembered that with a top gear ratio of 5 J to 1 the piston makes nearly a million strokes . during a run of this length, that the dynamo rotates over half a million , times, and that the valves open and close something like a quarter of a mil- ; lion times, realisation comes of the wonderful manner in which a motor-cycle 1 performs, often it is to be feared, under conditions that amount almost to abuse. One thing is certain: those who study facts and figures will not only be inspired to a fresh appreciation of their machines, but realise to the full why manufacturers, in their instruction booklets, stress the need for the periodical draining of sumps and attention I to the lubrication of moving parts.