150 MILES PER GALLON

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 190, 24 July 1940, Page 2

150 MILES PER GALLON

BRITISH WAR-TIME ROADSTERS LIGHT MOTORIST BICYCLES Bicycles in Britain have recently taken unto themselves tiny air-cool-ed engines of one horse power. More than 10,000 of them were made last year and when war broke out a io/.en British manufacturers producing these motorised bicycles were flooded with orders from overseas . These economical infants of tkj? war-time roads arc improved pedal cycles rather than inferior motor cycles, and are officially known as "autocycles," although they arc of ten nicknamed "Wilfreds."' Their extreme economy does not make so strong an appeal abroad asl in Britain, but people overseas have been quick to realise their other good points such as ease in hand' ling. They can be propped against kerbs, parked in potting-sheds, push cd through narrow doorways and lifted up steps. Yet they are certainly not toys, for they will carry to 170-pound rider ii]) a gradient of 1 in 15 without pedal assistance, travel up to 30 miles an hour, and achieve up to 150 miles to one gallon of petrol and lubricating oil mixture. The power unit used in most makes is produced in an imposing model factory which has made more than 500,000 two-stroke engines now giving good service to men and women in all five continents. Some of the best overseas markets for British autoeycles are India. Borneo, Australia, New Zealand and Kenya, while before the , war one maker alone sold large quantities to Poland, and Norway. Machines have also been sent to Canada, South America, Gold Coast, Cey'H'jn, Palestine, Malaya, South Africa and Nigeria .