SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 1981
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NO MORE +SQUEAL+ SOON FROM BUS BRAKES
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HONG KONG ROADS WILL SOON BE FREE OF BUSES WITH NOISY BRAKES, ACCORDING TO THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE TRANSPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE'S TRANSPORT COMPLAINTS UNIT, MR JAMES KWAN.
*THE NOISE PROBLEM CAME TO LIGHT WHEN, BETWEEN LAST NOVEMBER AND MID-JUNE THIS YEAR, 31 PEOPLE COMPLAINED TO OUR UNIT ABOUT THE SQUEALING BRAKES IN SOME OF THE NEW BUSES USED BY THE TWO BUS COMPANIES,+ MR KWAN SAID TODAY.
+OF THE 31 COMPLAINTS, 13 RELATED TO VEHICLES OPERATED BY THE KOWLOON MOTOR BUS CO. AND 18 BY THE CHINA MOTOR BUS CO.
+APPARENTLY, SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO COMPLAINED WERE WORR JED WHETHER THE NOISE INDICATED SOME FAULT IN THE BRAKE SYSTEM AND WHETHER IT WAS SAFE TO RIDE ON THE BUSES- OTHERS WERE SIMPLY DISTURBED BY THE BRAKE NOISES, ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE MORNING OR LATE AT NIGHT, HE SAID.
MR KWAN SAID THAT HIS UNIT LATER DISCOVERED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS +MORE WIDESPREAD AND INTRACTABLE THAN ORIGINALLY THOUGHT.
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THE BUS COMPANIES REPORTED THAT 348 BUSES 240 BELONGING TO KMB AND 108 TO CMB - PRODUCED THE SQUEALING+ SOUND, HE SAID.
LEYLAND VEHICLES LTD., MANUFACTURER OF THE VICTORY MARK LE BUSES WHICH HAVE THIS PROBLEM, HAS BEEN CONDUCTING MANY TESTS OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS TO FIND THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE.
+STRANGELY. THE BRAKE SQUEAL PROBLEM RELATING TO VICTORY MARK I BUSES APPEARS TO BE CONFINED TO HONG KONG. BECAUSE NO
IT SIMILAR TROUBLE HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THE VEHICLES IN USE IN BRITAIN.+
HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM WAS NOW UNDER CONTROL, MR KWAN SAID,
+BUS ENGINEERS HAVE FOUND THAT BY FITTING A SUBSTANTIAL DAMPING RING AROUND THE BRAKE DRUMS, 40 000 MILES OF SQUEAL-FREE TRAVEL ARE NOW POSSIBLE, HE SAID.
+SOME 76 BUSES HAVE ALREADY BEEN FITTED WITH DAMPING RINGS AND BOTH KMB AND CMB WILL MODIFY THE REMAINING NOISY BUSES OVER THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS.+
MR KWAN SAID LEYLAND HAD ASSURED HIM THAT, IN FUTURE, NEW BUSES ORDERED BY KMB AND CMB WOULD BE MODIFIED BEFORE BEING SHIPPED TO HONG KONG.
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