NEWS AND NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 296, 6 March 1928, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES

FRENCH MILITARY MACHINES The motor-cycle tests at Satory, France, to ascertain to what extent they can replace cavalry, do not appear to have led to very conclusive results up to the moment. One authority declares that the moral value of the horse is considerable, and that it is more useful for crossing streams, rocky eminences and for reconnoitring ! woods. On the other hand, the motor- | cycle scores heavily in the carriage of ! equipment, and has special scope where portable power is required. * * * MOTOR-CYCLES IN NEW ZEALAND | There were over 35,000 motor-cycles in New Zealand at the end of DecernI ber, distributed as follows: Christchurch 6,242 Auckland Wellington 3,717 Dunedin 2,744 New Plymouth 2,607 Hamilton 2,102 Palmerston North 2,107 Invercargill 1.936 Napier 1,835 Wanganui 1,678 Timaru 1,495 Nelson 933 Thames 766 Blenheim 599 Oamaru 490 Gisborne 48 L Greymouth .. 458 Westport 112 C. WALKER’S PERFORMANCES In the article published in yesterday’s Sun, giving the results of the Takapuna races, the name of W. White is given as the rider who broke the 22 h.p. mile grass track record. Tills should have read Cyril D. Walker. Walker is an Auckland rider who put in some brilliant riding lately. Elis records during the past week or two make interesting reading. Mangere Hill Climb, February 25 Fastest time of the day—9 3-ssec. First, 350 c.c. O.V. championship. First, Auckland open championship. Second, 500 c.c. open championship. Takapuna Racecourse, March 2 World’s 22 h.p. mile grass track record, 50 4-ssec. Second, 600 c.c. Takapuna Racecourse, March 3 First, 10-mile open championship. Second, 3i h.p. open. A CROSS-COUNTRY MACHINE The British military transport engineers have produced an experimental . machine for cross-country work, inspired obviously by the successful results obtained with the rigid sixwheeler. The machine is a P type Triumph, in which the rear wheel is replaced by two smaller tandem wheels shod with large-section low-pressure tyres. The leading wheel is driven and the drFve passed on by belt, although on very bad ground an endless band or track can be fitted round the tw’o tyres. The results are said to be so satisfactory as to justify the building of a special machine of this type. Both machine and rider are protected, of course, from most of the shocks and jolts produced by rough ground, while the wheels will secure a grip where a single wheel, however tyred, could not do so. Such a machine should have a fair turn of speed on the road, of course, but it might be thought that the front end of the machine would need some attention. The drive may be satisfactory on a variety of surfaces, but whether it can be steered with ease and safety would seem to be another matter. The trouble in loose ground or sand is not so much the drive as the steering with the ordinary mount.