THE MOTOR WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19295, 6 October 1924, Page 5

THE MOTOR WORLD.

uv ACCELERATOR. (Continued from page 4.) MOTOR CYCLE NOTES. At an English club’s Rodeo a Humber rider “long jumped’’ 31ft on his machine. It is definitely announced that A. Orchard will be riding a British Anzani engined machine on the trial tracks this year. It is common talk in motor cycling circles that one big American manufacturing firm is bringing out quite shortly a 350 c.c. model for colonial use. Engine overhauls are proceeding apace in preparation for the coming season. Newmotor cycles arc selling readily, while there is a steady demand for cheap second-hand mounts. It is an interesting fact that the motor cycle is by far the safest vehicle on the road. The London Metropolitan Police statements for the first three months of the year show that out of 14.000 accidents only 640 motor cyclists were involved. When removing a detachable cylinder head, do not prise the joint between the cylinder barrel and he-ad with a screwdriver or other implement to loosen the head, but. having unscrewed the holdingclown bolts a few turns and disconnected all pipes, etc., force the engine over compression via the fcick-sta.rter until the head frees itself. Many a leak has been started by the screwdriver method. According to the Motor-cycle, the 1924 International Tourist Trophy Motor cycle Races held in the Isle of Man, were a great success and provided many lessons for designers of motor cycles. The following table shows how each of the different races was supported and the number of survivors :—■ Percent- Avge. Kngine No. of Snr- ago to Speed. Limits. Strts. vivors Finish. Wnr. 173 c.c 17 II 65 61.2 260 c.c. 21 12 57 55.4 360 c.c 58 15 26 55.6 500 c.c. 35 15 43 61.6 600 c.c. (side-cars) 9 5 55 51.3 One of the features of this year’s T.T. races was the almost universal adoption of chain drive, and that the policy was a success was shown by the general absence of transmission trouble. At various points on the course both wheels of the machine actually leave the ground for a fraction of a second. As they strike the ground again the strain on the transmission is enormous. Engines were also shown to have reached a high standard of efficiency, some working at the amazing speed of 5009 revolutions to the minute, which means that in the course of one race such a small and delicate part as a valve spring actually functioned 1,000,009 times. It seems almost incredible that ajiy metal can be found to withstand such treatment. SPARKS. Since March 1, 509 motor vehicles have been registered in Marlborough County. The English Automobile Association has spent £250,009 on the roads during the past year. The membership is over 200,000. “For breaches of the Christchurch City bV-lawg informations were laid against 319 persons last year,’’ states the inspector’s 'annual report. All the past presidents of the New Zealand Motor Trade Association -wore present at the seventh convention held in Christchurch. About 30 direction signs are being prepared for the Wellington Automobile Club and will be .erected shortly on roads in and around the Hutt Valley. Austin “seven” cars took first and second places in the 750 c.c. class in the Junior Car Club 200 miles race in Brooklands on September 20.- Gordon (England), who was first, made a non-stop run for the second year in succession.” The membership card of the Canterbury Automobile Association carries hotel concessions at 82 hotels. This (says a report issued by the association) is only one of the numerous advantages of joining up. The association has spent this year aver £6OO in road improvements in Canterbury and Westland. . For the first time in the history of the motor-truck industry, the Knight sleevevalve motor is incorporated in a truck chassis, and a shipment of the new truck chassis is now on the valor and due to arrive in New Zealand : >rtiy. Two instructive motor-car demonstrations were carried out last week. An Oktemabilo Six, under supervision, covered 650 7-10 miles on Victorian roads in 24 hours, under non-stop engine conditions, whilst a baby Peugeot was driven from Melbourne to Sydney (586 miles) with two people aboard at an estimated cost of only 30s for fuel, oil, and tvre wear. The petrol consumption worked out at 73i in.p.g. A discussion on car insurance took place at the last meeting of the Hamilton Automobile Association. Mr Tombs stated that generally cars were over-insured, which made the business unprofitable for the insurance companies, and members thought that if the cars were insured for smaller amounts the losses would he lower and that the premiums would consequently be lower. Beware the thief ! Some crank has been specialising in extracting clocks from motorcars in Christchurch. Three cars in St. Albans have been deprived of their timepieces in the past month. In one case a garage was entered, apparently by skeleton key, as the garage was locked after the car had been tampered with. Tli following cablegrams have been received in Dunedin, the first from Sydney and the second from Wolverhampton: “A.J.S. scoop all three road races at Lithgow. Watson wins all powers scratch race; Davis all power handicap and under five hundred handicap; fastest time every race. “Speed championship of Europe three hundred kilometers at Monza, Milan, Italy, September 6. Three-fifth class won by Simpson, A.J.S. ; average speed seventy-two miles per hour; Gnesa, A.J.S., fourth.’