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The Magazine |
An extract from a past issue.....
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A THOUSAND MILES FOR TEN
SHILLINGS (A
report on an economy and reliability test of a production Francis
Barnett motorcycle carried out by the wife of our club Founder
Mrs Meeten in the year in which our club was formed) "Never
before has the economy of the modern
motorcycle been so convincingly
demonstrated as in this 1,000 mile test of a Francis Barnett
machine under observation of the Auto Cycle Union".So was written
in the Francis Barnett publicity following a
test trial carried
out in 1929 (the year of the formation of the BTSC) of a standard
172cc Villiers engined "built like a bridge" machine. Petrol consumption can be faked to extraordinary figures by robbing
the machine of all its useful performance. Here, however, is a
test which not only extended over several days on the road, but
concluded in tests for speed and hill climbing on Brooklands track
without any adjustment whatever to the machine. The machine was a Francis Barnett with a 172cc two
stroke Villiers engine, perfectly standard in all respects, including the
carburetter. The rider
throughout the trial was
Mrs T.G.Meeten of
Meeten Motors,
Dorking. The wife of our Club founder. The first
days run from London to Wetherby, in
Yorkshire, was over the
easy slopes and curves of the Great North Road. This section
of the journey was noteworthy only for the smoothness of running of the engine, which purred away hour
after hour, never missing a
beat. The tanks had been
supplied with carefully measured
petrol and oil at the A.C.U. headquarters, in Pall Mall, London, and
replenishments during the
test were made
with scrupulous
accuracy by the observer. The second day saw Mrs Meeten leaving Wetherby
to face the 200 odd miles
to Edinburgh. the
weather conditions remained favourable
and a speed of about 25 miles an hour was
maintained. the
schedule of the run was based on an average of 20 mph. But as time
was necessarily lost in passing through numerous towns, the speed
in the country had to be higher than the schedule in order to
keep up the average. The
third day dawned with leaden skies and a gale from the south- west.
This meant long stretches of full throttle on the mountain sections
between Edinburgh and Carlise. The strength of the wind increased
towards afternoon, to such an extent that the throttle had to be opened wide on the long downhill
slopes of Shap Fell. Rain
began to fall and the conditions became decidedly unpleasant On the
fourth day a start was made from Warrington in pouring rain. this continued hour after hour. In several
places flooded roads were
encountered and taken in
the day's work. It was realised by Mrs Meeten that these extremely adverse
conditions must increase consumption; but she endured the
discomforts with courage
and spirit, and drove through everything that came with a determination
to get the best out of her machine. On the fifth day the weather conditions were
good and the long run from
Bridgwater to Dorking, via Exeter and
Salisbury, was made in
comfort. So ended the road
section of the test. By achieving
the remarkable fuel consumption of
196.48 miles to the gallon
we had demonstrated that 1,000 miles could be covered at a running
cost of ten shillings. It now remained to test for speed and
hill climbing capabilities. No adjustments of any description had
been made during the thousand miles run. The tool bag was not opened for
any purpose whatsoever. Without the slightest alteration
the machine was driven to Brooklands for the speed and hill
climbing tests. It should be borne in mind that the machine was standard
in every respect, including a
perfectly standard carburettor
setting.
Francis Barnett at the Brooklands track After the run in 1929 On the
same carburettor setting which
had given 196 miles
a gallon for 1,000 miles on the road, Mrs Meeten
did two circuits of the track at 45 mph. 45 was chosen as a
fast touring speed - the
machine was not on full throttle. Then came twenty climbs of the test hill, without stopping the engine.
Finally the machine was
examined by the A.C.U. and a brief extract from the official certificate
is quoted below. "At
the conclusion of the test the cylinder head and barrel were removed.
No noticeable wear was found in the bearings. The piston rings were free in the grooves. The carbon
deposit was black in colour, rather
hard, and not thicker than one-hundredth of an inch, except
round the exhaust ports,
where the deposit was thicker." Looking
back from these times it is easy to think of
such a trip as
quite a fair run, but nothing
particularly outstanding for a marathon type
of test. The
fuel consumption was, of
course, outstanding, but
then the whole object of the test was to prove the
suitability of small two-strokes for journeys other than just the
normal ride-to-work trips, to
encourage existing users
to more
ambitious use of their machines and,
of course, encourage any
who were thinking of becoming owners to take the plunge. Even without
the atrocious weather experienced on
some days, you may care
to ponder on making such a trip yourself on
something such as a Honda 50 "stepthrough", but
with the rear suspension locked up solid, fitted with lights not much
brighter than a good pedal cycle
and brakes about half as efficient as the Honda’s. Then you will
begin to get some idea of her accomplishment. Remember there were
no motorways to make time up on then,
if you fell behind on your
schedule, or didn’t fancy the town traffic.
Colin Atkinson |
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