CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13886, 25 April 1907, Page 8

CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

ANSWERS TO COMESPONDBNTS. Roadster. Call on Mr W. Melville, George street. Novice.—At long as you get a fairly strong spark at the plug it seems that the magneto is not at fault. You had better-turn your attention to the carburotter, and see that it is perfectly clean, and that the petrol is reaching it properly. It may bp the feed pipe is stopped up. You wiil require to adjust tho air holes at the aide of the spray chamber, so that slightly less air is admitted during the colder weather. This viill enable ,vou to start the engine easier if everything olse ig in good order. You should also open the tap admitting warm air frcm the exhaust.

By Demos. — At Roxburgh, on Thuvsday, April 18, before Jfi\ Burgess, S.M., -a young man named Robert Cauldwell, hailing from Tiouru. was sued by Win. M'Clelland, a farmer of Miller's Flat, for the recovery of £91, value of a draught horse and damage done to a waggon.. Plaintiff in his evidence asserted that owing to the furious driving by Cauldwoll of a motor car past his six-horse team and waggon, and the fact that when defendant had gone some 60 or 80 yards past the waggon he blew his motor horn three times very loudly, his (the plaintiff's) horses bolted, and one was so' severely injured as to bo unfit for fur ther work, and tho waggon was also much knocked about. Defendant stated that ho passed the team on the main road at Miller's Flat at tho rate of from two to four miles an hour, and that ho pulled up fully 100 yards in front of the horses, and then blew his horn, ,as required by the by-laws. It was also urged by his counsel that defendant had not shown any negligence in driving his car, and that t'e had complied with the rules of tlic.voacl. This, however, tho magistrate overruled, and hold that defendant was entirely to blame. He a6sossed the damages at £63, giving judgment for that amount, with costs amounting to £13 10s—a total of £76 lCst

Tlio 10 horse-power Humber purchased by Mr A. M'George, of Dunedin, i > of four cylinders, and is a fine specimen of high-class British workmanship. Thja oar is fairly light and wonderfully powerful for its rated horse-power. It lias to he n. fairly steep grade to bring it down off its top gear.

A rather unique cause of n fire was experienced the other day in a local, cycle agent's workshop. A car was being overhauled, and during the operation the three electric' wires were detached and allowed to hang down from the vehicle. Two of the wires happened to fall on a spanner, while the high-tension wire was a couple of inches off the piece of iron. The wires ren-.ained like this during a greater part of the day, and no one suspected any danger from them—and then the mechanic started work on the carburetter, pouring the spare petrol from i L , on the floor. Leaving the car to procecd to his bench, h>; accidentally touched the switch lever, and immediately—the circuit of two wires heii'ff completed—the high-tension wire started to throw a. spark to tho spanner. (If the high tension had also rested on the spanner, no harm would hove been done,) The next moment the petrol, lying on the floor was ignited by the spark, and burst into flame—and then there was a rash for sacks, old coats, etc., which wore piled holus-bolus on the burning petrol, which was speedily subdued. The fire created a.bit of a stir in the shop while it lasted, and one of the _ most startled gentlemen there was a fire insurance agent who happened to be present, and who held a fira insurance on the building in !|iiestion. ; Dr Fulton's Rover car has just undergone a thorough overhaul, and after doing some 18,000 miles on the roads, it is pleasing to report that the engine shows Imt very little wear, (he Rear-box especially being in excellent condition, tho war on the cogs of the Cardan shaft being almost imperceptible.

Mr S. R. Stedman last week put up a good performance on one, of his latest, imported Triumphs, riding without pedal assistance up Rattray street to tho overload bridge across the lioslyh tram line,

and also up York place. The Triumph " r Stcdman bestrode horse-power with a gear of 1 in 4§. The engine dimensions of tlieec latest singlc-cyluukr triumphs arc 82mm. by 86mm., giving a full 3J horse-power.

During Easter Mr Wardell toured Pounawca in Jiis little Wolseley, and though he got caught in the rain, ho informs me ho experienced'a most enjoyable run.

—Dr Pjndlay's car, which the doctor brought down from Christehurch with him and left, in Duncdiu While ho went through the goldfields, is a 16-20 Argyll, with dark green body. Dr FLmllay wont, through ia his car to Christehurch on Wednesday. — On Friday last. Vy'. Stono drove Dr Young's (lilvercargill) new 15 horse-power Do Dion through, from Invercargilt to Dunedin, and mado a 'non-stop riui of th# journey, which wan easily done inside of seven hours. This car.is ono of the latest De Dion models in tho colony, and was only recently i imported by Messrs Stone Bros., of Invercargill, for'its present owner. Tho sweetness of running of thie Do Dion is wonderful. The engine is a four-cylinder one, and the flexibility is such that a range from four to sonie.where about SO miles per hour can be done on its high gear. Tho car is very long, with a roomy tonneau, is painted dark green with rod .upholstering, and is shod with Bin Michel 5u stool-studded tyres. Twenty-two milos can bo averaged to tho gallon of petrol. Dr Young, who was returning from the north, joined his car at Dunedin, and'.left on Sunday for Invcrcargill, accompanied by Mr Brent (Invercargill) and Master Gerald Ferguson (Dunedin), with Mr Stone at the wheel.

Mr Wardell informs mo that he expects to land in Dunedin sTiortly a new car of considerably larger horse-power than his 6 horse-power Wolseley. At time of writing Mr Wardell had not quit© decided cn. tho typo of machine ho will 1 go -in for. —In France, -some timo ago, a child was run over by a motor car, and died from the .effects of the accident. The driver of tho car was sentenced to two months^" imprisonment, which, considering the eeriousnossjof was not .too severe. _ The mosfr'-extraordinary thing in connection with the occurrence was the decision 0 f the | judges against tho owner of the car. Besides paying heavy damages, he : had to-repay all expenses incurred by the- parents for the child's up-keep from the.day of its-birth to tho-.-day of the accident.

— Tito Daimler works in Long Island wore destroyed by five six weeks ago. Tho loss is estimated at £80,000. The criticisms of Mr C. S. Rolls, the well-known English motor expert, with regard to American-made cars, have had the effect of arousing tho ire of the trade in ■ tho States. The American press naturally takes tho part of its supporters. Ono indignant. manufacturer, Mr Thomas, has challenged Mr Rolls to take part in a race from 'New York to Chicago, offering to pit an American "Thomas Flyer" against a Rolls-Royce. The Motor Age 6tates that when this contest is over "tho English car will Iw made to look liko tho proverbial 30-cent picco."

-—"The first prize for tho Bathurst to Sydney Road Raco is set down this year at £50. In. addition ■there arc quite a number of other prizes* to be allocated. Guignard, who holds the world's hour paced record of 59'miics SOJ yard 6, is reported'to be preparing for an attack on his own record on tho new Munich' track. His ambition is to ride 100 kilometres (62.1 miles) inside the hour. "—Last year tho Dunlop Rubber Corn-' pany substituted bronze and. enamel timo medallions in placo of the usual certificate ■previously given to riders who covered tho Dunlop Road Race course from Warrnambool to Melbourne within the sot time limit, an innovation that-proved popular with the contestants,* but an expensivo ono for tho Dunlop Company, for out of the 206 starters, 149 medals wore-won and presented' to'tiie successful-riders. This year medallions will again be presented, the .same designs being used, with a different coloured ring of enamel. The big Australasian road race will bo held v on Saturday, September 28, tho League of Victorian. -.Wheelmen having granted that date. According to_ tho latest published report of tho long-distance trial which a 40 horse-power Siddelcv car is now undergoing in' England, the total of 2562 miles 'has been reached ljy daily runs, each of' wnich has been a non-stop. The mileage at tho end: of'the sccond week's running was 1549, and then followed journeys of 170 milos or so per day, the daily nonstop runs having then extended- to a period of three weeks.

The . horse-power of tlio cam to be used in the next Grand Prix of the French Automobile Club will bo in the neighbourhood of 120. The course willbo over whaij is known as the Scino-Infcrieure circuit, 52 miles in length, which will be covered several-times to make up the required distance. Almost all of the' changeable' cycle gears now on tho market (and there are dozens) aro incorporated in the rear huh, but during tho past year or bo the bottom bracket hag been utilised as a place in which to- embody it. SoveruL advantages for the bracket gear are claimed, among which is that the relative speed of movement is Jess, which moanß creator durahility. The chief point-in its favour is that the ( added weight (a hug-bear to eom© cyclists) is between tho wheels, giving the best distribution, and improving -the "life' 1 of the machine, as against tho hug gear, where all the added weight is in 0110 place, and the wrong place. —If an engine lias noticeably fallen off in power, and * every oliicr remedy has been tried, the silencer should' bo taken apart and thoroughly cleaned. After continued use silonccre bccome choked with burnt oil and cause a considerable amount of back pressure and' consequent loss of power in the enginc.i — A Paris piper took a vole recently as to who was the most popular paced rider in Europe, and tho American crack AValthour sccurcd tho place o! honour with voles. Darragon scoring next. The English rider "Tommy" Mall was Eeventh on the list with 955 voteo.

——Now that the road racing season is coming along road cracks will need to pay attention to their speed mounts. In road racing, after selecting n good, staunch machinc, not too light at that, the most important question is the matter of suitable gear, cranks, and tyres. Tho host all-round gear and crank combination, for fast roads ranges from 80in to 84in, with 6}in cranks. For hilly work a lower gear is advisable, and in tho days when 63in was considered ai big gear on tho road, some wonderful performances. which stand unbeaten to-day, were established on 62in gears. One of the chief topics in Australian motoring circles is the motor car contest which tho Dunlop Rubber Company intend holding from Brisbane to Adelaide. The fact that the automobile clubs of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland ha-ve decided to . support the promoters is in itself a sufficient guarantee that the big reliability test will bo carried out to a succcssful issue.