ON TWO WHEELS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1054, 19 August 1930, Page 6

ON TWO WHEELS

MOTOR-CYCLING FIXTURES

August 24.——Petrol economy test of North Shore Club, leaving Burns statue at 9:30 117.)“. . .

August 31. —Secret destination run by Sports Club from Harp of Erin at 10 a.m. . . September 2. —Monthly meeting of Sports Club. September 8. —Social run to Sharpe s Bush, Henderson, by North Shore Club, leaving Old Dock Site at 9 a.m. September 9.—Monthly meeting of North Shore Club. September 22. —Annual pillion trial of North Shore Club. PETROL ECONOMY TEST NEXT SPORTING FIXTURE Tile next event set down for decision in the motor-cycling sport in Auckland is the petrol economy test, which will be conducted by the North Shore Club next Sunday. Riders will assemble at the Burns Statue in the Domain at 9.30 a.m., when their tanks will be drained and filled with a stated quantity of petrol. Competitors will then be sent off along a given stretch of road, and their mileages taken to the spot which they reach before the tank is empty. Much depends on the correct tunirg of a machine, since an engine which leaks compression anj which runs unevenly will not be able to cover as much ground as one with true-seating valves and even bearings Transmission losses, too. must be reduced to a minimum and the carburetter tuned to a nicety. The actual riding is by no means the least important point, as ail machines have economic speeds, which must be maintained for peak efficiency. MOTOR TRUCK IN INDUSTRY There is an increasing tendency toward raising the speed limits on trucks equipped with pneumatic tyres in all parts of England and America. This at first might seem like discrimination against solid tyres, but it is not, for pneumatics are fast becoming universal on even the heaviest duty j trucks. Recently published statistics (“Fac*s j and Figures of the Automobile In- ■ dustry”) by the National Automobile ! Chamber of Commerce, reveal that in , 1929, nearly 3.400,000 trucks were j being used in U.S.A. In other words, j there is an average of one truck for j every 36 persons in that countrj'. What must be one of the largest' truck fleets in the world is run by the Railway Express Agency, which ; operates 9,759. This concern is owned jointly by all the railway companies, who are also big truck and bus users. Nearly 6,000 trucks are owned by 55 railway companies. American farmers have not been slow' to appreciate the j value of motor transport to their business, and over 767,000 trucks are owned by them. A paragraph in “The Motor” refers j to an English competitions driver who was troubled with tli£ overheating of his Amilcar, but who hit upon a simple expedient to overcome the difficult}*. He fitted an arrangement of aluminium slats in the undershield of his engine, which exercised an ejection effect on the air under the bonnet, with splendid results. The idea might be useful to Amilcar users troubled in this respect, though in ordinary use this machine is not prone j to overheating.