ON TWO WHEELS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1042, 5 August 1930, Page 6

ON TWO WHEELS

MOTOR CYCLING FIXTURES Tonight.—Monthly meeting of Sports Club. August 12. —Monthly meeting of North Shore Club in new rooms. August 16 and* 17.—Sports Club’s annual 250-mile reliability trial for Pascoe Cup. August 24. —Petrol economy test of North Shore Club, leaving Burns , statue at 9.30 a.m. September 8. —Social run to Sharpe s Bush, Henderson, by North Shore Club, leaving Old Dock Site at 9 a.m. September 22. —Annual pillion trial of North Shore Club. PETROL ECONOMY TUNE ENGINE FOR MORE M.P.G. CLUB TO STAGE TESTS With soaring petrol prices, it will soon become more fashionable to boast , of extra m.p.g. than, as at present.: of superior speed. There are few | riders at present who could state off- 1 hand what mileage they can coax from ! a gallon of benzine. A petrol economy trial is to be run by the North Shore Club on August 24. It would obviously be unfair to range one machine against another, irrespective of weight and enginepower, and the club has secured a formula in use in England in such tests, setting out the scientific proportions of benzine which should give equal mileages in different machines. The distance a big twin or fourcylinder machine can cover with one gallon can be travelled by a small twostroke on five pints. This formula sets out the amount of petrol required by a machine in the best of mechanical order, and the real test will be one of tuning. Carburetter adjustments, compression ratio changes and even alterations in gear ratio may be made by competitors before the actual test, which will probably be along the Great South Road and will cover from 40 to 80 miles. The test will begin from the Domain, where tanks will be filled by officials according to the capacity of the engine used. Caps will then be sealed and competitors will proceed as far as possible along a given route. The , distance travelled will be noted by officials in a side-car, who will bring supplies of benzine for the machines ‘ to travel back to the City. Apart from the actual competition, riders could well spend an hour or two working on their machines. The new tax on benzine could be balanced if riders could increase their mileage by a little under 10 per cent., representing about eight miles a gallon in the case of 500 c.c. machines. This can be achieved by paying more, attention to valve grinding, high tension leads and spark plugs, and to all parts which are likely to leak compression. Such refinements as polished ports would , j be an improvement, but are not essen- \ tial. __ SPEED IN T.T. RAIN SPOILS SENIOR ' COLEMAN COVERS ONE LAP Full reports just to hand from England show that the pace in. the Senior T.T. must indeed have been hot. and it is not surprising that newcomers from overseas did not carry off any of the major honours. The South Afri- j can. J- G. Bind, was the most sue- , cessful outsider, carrying off a third replica. Little mention is made of our own representative, Percy Coleman, except that he made the best start of anyone. He completed the first lap in 32m 575, filling 20th place out of 39 starters, with his time of 3m 10s behind that of the winner. W. L. Handley. Coleman, who was riding a Rudge, struck valve trouble during the next lap and toured back to the pits. The final laps of the Senior were run in blinding rain. but Handley managed to keep the pace sufficiently high to give him an easy victory. Had weather conditions remained dry thpe record would have taken a much bigger leap. One remarkable fact in the whole of the T.T. events was that tyre trouble was almost entirely absent, which, considering the tremendous strains imposed, is a remarkable testimony to recent advances. An examination of , the engines revealed definite progress, valves and valve seats being in an excellent condition. All victories went to single-cylinder machines, although there were several twins competing, and this point will be advanced by opponents of the T.T. as a proof that tne race does not bring into prominence the touring machine. There was little variety in the type of mount competing and the weights were little reduced. RUN TO HELENSVILLE COMBINED CLUB OUTING The two clubs combined on Sunday in a run to Helensville. Thirty-four riders turned out, 15 being' from the North Shore. The trip North was made at a good speed, considering the state of the roads, and Helensville was reached in time for a dip in the hot baths before dinner. Members made the return journey in scattered showers, the riders from across the harbour branching off at Ivumeu and returning to Devonpoit and Takapuna through Riverhead. No run is set down for next weekend, as it is considered that riders will be busy tuning their mounts for the coming reliability trial. PASCOE CUP TRIAL RUN TO COVER 225 MILES The annual reliability trial of the Sports Motor-cyle Club for the Pascoe Cup is set down for decision on the week-end of August 16 and 17. The course will lead from Auckland through Pokeno to Thames on the Saturday. Here riders will check in for the night. On the Sunday competitors will travel through Paeroa. Te Aroha. Morrinsville, and Tauhei to Rangiriri. j where lunch will be served. The run home will he through Glen Murray. Tuakau, Pukekohe and Drury. This last section includes about 10 miles of clay road, but this is reported to be passable in most weathers. The total distance of the trial will be 223 miles. 11l dismantling and cleaning a carburettor it sometimes happens that the small spring off the tapered needle valve is lost. The size of this spring makes it difficult to manufacture another one. A good substitute will be found in the ordinary household electric light socket. It is not difficult to extract one of the plunger springs from an old socket. These fit and function very well.