Cycling And Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2727, 20 June 1906, Page 55

Cycling And Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

Mr J. L. Passmore, who, as I stated last week, is going m for a Clement-Talbot car, has, he informs me, decided to have sin tyres fitted on the back wheels and 4- in on the front: The car will be of 10 12 horse-power, with dual ignition.

It is reported that a eteam motor omnibus and waggon service is to be instituted between Feilding and Ngar.iawahia, a distance of tome 40 miles.

■ W. J. Pett, the English rider, won the 2f kilos r«ee at the recent, Olympian Games. J. Matthews and A. Rusher, two other British riders, annexed the tandem Bicycle Race.

The English Motor Union now has -a membership of 10,800. These figures convey a fair idea of the spread of automobtlism in England. — — Every motorist should respect the feelings ana safety of others, and also have

a complete knowledge of his own powers and the capabilities and mechanism of his •vehicle. Trouble will inevitably arise, but knowledge and confidence rob it of more than half its terrors; human intelligence will most assuredly triumph, over difficulties i and obstacles, and perseverance will have j its own reward. j Ellegaard, the great cycling sprinter, ' who visited Australia a couple of years ago on a racing tour, has lately got back his old form, and hopes are entertained that the flying Dane will annex the world's sprint championship for the fourth time. Re--cently in matches against the piok of the European cracks Ellegaard has shown him«>elf to be the master. He was to have mot Frank Kramer in London towards the end of last month in a series of special races. Hall, of England, the world's hour record-breaker, met Walthour and Bedell, the American champion, a month ago in a 25-miles paced race at Boston. Walthour secured first place. Hall being second and Bedell third. Guippone. on a 4J rxor=e-power motor cycle. beat R. Thomas, Pernette, and Moreau, three other famous riders, in a special four-cornered match recently at Pans. The winner won by a quarter of a imlo, Thomas being second, in the fast time ' of smin 52 4-ssec for the six miles 376jiis ' contested. • Which is the bettor position for fit- • ting an up to-date rim brake, the back forks . or chain 3tays? The Bowden Brake Comj.any. London, who, as manufacturers of by far the most popular type of rim brake «ver marketed, may bo conceded 6oma authority on the point eive their vote for the back fork posiiioa. They haj-e no par- k

ticular axe to grind, as they make and cell their brakes to be fitted to either forks or stays, and state they are simply accepting the public demand as the best verdict. Rim brakes fitted to chain stays may be more (scientifically disposed as regards stresses, but there are no braking stresses in this regard co severe as to outweigh in importance euch points as accessibility, cleanliness, and non-interference with other fitments. In these matters the back fork fitted brake is to be preferred.

Proper lubrication of the motor is most important. The best system for oiling the working parts yet devised needs constant and intelligent attention ; it requires something more than that the reservoirs should be filled regularly, and the feed t»rned on whenever the engine is started. The oil may not be reaching the bearings at all, and th© fact that it appears to be feeding, so far as an inspection of the sight feed-glasses is concerned, will do little to save the bearing from being fired or scored. Attention to the lubricating system means seeing that the oil is actually reaching the spot where it is required, and this usually implies considerable more than the perfunctory attention too frequently accorded to it by many motorists.

M. Paul Rosseau (Paris) has- beon aprointod to represent the Australian Federal Council on the Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body of the World's Cycling Championships, etc. It has been definitely decided by the promoters fro bar single-tube tyres in the Warrnambool Road Race this roar, patronage for which ha 9 been granted for September 22. Tn lieu of the certificate which has hitherto been given to those competitors who covered the distance within the specified time-limit, the oromofcera have decided to present a neat bronze medal, of a novel deeign, which may be worn as a pendant. Fow people outside motor circles realise the extraordinary state of the motor industry at the nresent moment (says "Phaeton." in Public Opinion). Many of the best makers are co full up with orders that they will not accent any further contracts stipulating for delivery within tia

next 12 months — in some cases 18 months.. Recently tho writer was requested by a t friend to procure for him a 20-24 car of any one of three specified high-class' makes, and in each instance the makers were unable to I romise delivery this year. — — Much interest has been excited in Home motor circles by an action "Pojice versus Little." Mr Little took it ivpon himself to warn a passing motorist of the presence of a "police trap" in the vicinity, and was prosecuted by the authorities for il'.egal interference. The Croydon bench came to -the conclusion that no offence had been committed, and dismissed the case. The matter, however, was not allowed to drop by the police, and will be thrashed out thoroughly in the Higher Courts. It is stated that the Motor Union will supply the funds for the defence. The officials of the union recognise the supreme importance of the case, and will fight it to a finish. Should the police secure a verdict on appeal, a good many people besides Mr Little will find themselves in an awkward position. Nearly all the motor papers have for many months made a regular feature of exposing "police traps" in their columns ; whilst the principal raison d'etre of the Automobile Association lies in its employment of cycling scouts for the express pur- i pose of warning motorists of the existence and locale of the trans and thereby depriving the police of what they consider I their legitimate prey. In the event of an j adveree decision against Mr Little all this warning business will" be peremptorily stopped, the association will find its occupation gone, and many editors and officials will probably have cause to regret their benevolent and disinterested efforts on behalf of the motorist.

LEAGUE OF WHEELMEN.

CHRISTCHTJRCH, .June 13,

The Council of the Leagfte of Wheelmen decided this evening to send Jhe secretary on a mission to reawaken the cycling authorities in Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, Taranaki, and elsewhere to a sense of -the desirability of remaining in touch with the league, and to arouse more interest in the 'sport generally The sum of f25 was voted for the purpose.

THE RELIABILITY OF THE MOTOR

As to the ca^'ses of motor failure, which, however, arc not many, a record kept for three yeare by an expert in charge of public service motor cars in London is informative. In that period, the vehicles in his care covered upwards of 800,000 miles, and, exclusive of tyre troubles, which seem almost to bo in a class by themselves, they are classified as follows: — Due to failure of fuel supply and carburation, 45 per cent. ; to q;ear and clutch troubles, 23 per cent. ; to ignition, 25 per cent. ; to th-i engine, from some other cause than ignition or carburation. 6 per cent. ; and 1 per cent, to the differential.

The jjrreatcr number of these failures were entirely trivial, being in many 'cases caused by tho mixture of water with the fuel ; occasional difficulties owing to faulty design of piping, undue vibration in unsupported lengths, and lack of provision for expansion, involving breaks and leaks. Tho majority of these were remedied within a few minutes, once the fault had been located. Of the ignition failures, the majority were due to badly-designed plugs, or to magneto troubles, which, however, involved no remagnefcisation.

It may be gathered from theso statistics as well as from the experience of the average driver, that by far the greater number of road stoppages were due to insignificant causes, and causes that may we'J be considered easily avoidable. Nearly all of them, perhaps, may be laid at the door of the caretaker of the vehicle, since they might have been anticipated had thorough inspection been maintained all over the car, and pains taken to remedy or eradicate faults or impending faults as they made themselves apparent.

PARIS-ROUBAIX ROAD RACE.

In the Paris-Roubaix Road Race pacing by single pacemakers was permitted. Again, the contestants were allowed to change their mounts as often as they pleased. In the Warrnamboo'-Melbourne race, the premier road contest of Australasia, neither is permitted, thus tending towards more equitable racing. An idea of how the big French event was won may be gathered from the following description of the race by Henri Cornet, the winner: — "At the start I got mixed up in the ruck, and so lost the leaderg for a time ; but passing through the Saint Germain forest I got with the front division, who were cutting out a pretty fas* pace. The pacemakers put in come splendid work, but single "bicycles don't wear out such human machines as Aucouturier, Pottier, Trousselier, Cadolle, etc., co there was nothing v-ery exceptional to relate in the first rArt of the journey, except a couple of puncture?, Trousselier and I being the victims. This caused a slight delay, so I put in come fast work and caught the leaders again at Amiens. Here I changed on to a light racing mount, ready for the stiff climb up the Doullens Hill, and with a view of breaking away from the bunch, j but etill stuck to my small gear. Starting up the terrible hill there were eight of tfe together, I without pacemakers, having ordered my men to wait for me at the top of the hill, in relays of one kilometre. I set to work, and gradually found my rivals beins dropped, but those two atickers, '

Cadolle and Afccoururier, were always there. At the top of the hill I hitched on to my pacer, and away we went, poor Aucouturier lasting but 500 yards; but Oadolle was always there. I could not get away from him. so trusted to my strength at the finish. Reaching the Velodrome at Roubaix Cadolle was slow to change mounts, so I got 25 yards ahead, but the crowd' commenced to shout, so I eased up. Then' down went my head, and when I lifted it up I was proclaimed winner by half a wheel."

An INTERESTING PETROL CONSUMP-c j TION TRIAL. '* The last quarterly petrol consumption • trials, over a distance of 100 miles (which, are conducted by the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland), proved of more than ordinary interest to motorists, and ' an examination of the details discloses some - curious facts in regard to cylinder cubio capacity. The cars submitted to the tests - were of from 9 horse-power to 40 horsepower, and ranged from ,two cylinders to six cylinders. Tho • lightest car weighed ' 12681b and the heaviest 42271b— from about, 12cwt to two .tons.. The number of eylin- ' ders and their cubic capacity in inches, ' • horse-power, and weight of each' car were ; all taken into consideration. _ I -It was sKown that the average mileage of ' | the two-cylinder cars was very much better , than with the four-cylinder e*rs— per gal- | lon of petrol — and this was accounted for by , | the fact that in the majority -of castete' the ',_ ' two-cylinder cars were very much • smaller , and lighter. A peculiar point was noticed . in connection with those of four-cylinders.' ' The best of these covered only 18.3 miles to tho gallon, with a cubic capacity of but 144 in," tfhereos from those with '280 cubic inches, only 16.6 miles were obtained to the> •" gallon of petrol. In other words, increased • capacity " required more petrol. Thus, if these two cars be estimated on cubic capacity of the cylinders, it is seen that -irhe horse-power of the four-cylinder car, with. 144 in, is nothing like so great as that with 280 in.

These figures, compared witb what were obtained with a six-cylinder 40 horse-power car, having a cubic capacity of 301 in, and a mileage of 18.78 per gallon of petrol, show a remarkable result. The larger oar, with great cubic capacity and horse-power-, gave more miles per gallon, and at rhe same time carried 10001b more weight. " »omarkablo, almost absurd, that a . '\ ' only 144 cubic inches of cylindc. ill =hould require more -petrol for v c« distance than a six-cylinder car with over 300 cubic inch cylinder capacity; yet thi« ■ ' was so according to the omcialtests. The net. result would seem to be. that in ■ the six-cylinder engine' there, is a , great, saving of petrol. The car was the largest anfi the heaviest taking part^ in Ihe iast.^ ' - r \

THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX RACE.

Entries are now completed for the Grand Prix, to be run next week (June 26 and 27), the race promoted by' the Automobile Club of France in lieu oV the classic, feature — the* Gordon Bennett Cup Race. Thirty-fottr cars will compete, and their names, ■ with, those of their respective drivers, arenas follows : — Darracq ' I (Hemery), Darracq ,U , ' l Wagner), Darracq II (Hanriot), PanhardLevassor I (Heath), J Panhard-LevasAiir H

(Teste), Panhard-Levas&orlll (Tart), Brasier I (Baras), Br»sier II (Lebnan), Brasier* 111 ; (Barillidrj, Lorraine-Dietrich I (Gabriel), ; .Lorraine-Dietrich II (Rougier), LorrainO1 Dietrich 111 (Duray), Gobron (Rigolly), V«Jpes (Barriaux), Renault I (Sisz), Renault H (Edmond), Renault 111 (Richez), Hotchkiss J (Le Blon), Hotchkiss II (Salleron), Hotchkiss 111 (E F. Shepeard), Italia I (Oagno). Itala II (Ceirano), Italia 111 (Fabry), Fiat I (Lancia), Fiat II (Nazzari), Fiat 111 (Weill- } i schott), Bayard-Clement I (A. Clement), ; Bayard-Clement II (Villemain), BayardClement 111 (De la Touloubre), Gregoire I (Travenaux), Gregoire II (Renonce), Mercedes I (Jenatzy), Mercedes II (Burton), and ; Mercedes 111 (Florio). -^ j Twenty-five of the cars are French, sit | aie Italian, and three German. The/c is •' a possibility, of course, of further entries at double fees, but as these amount to £400 per car, the prospect of an extension of tho list may be regarded as somewhat remote. The race will take place over the circuit de la Sarthc, in which the best-known town is that- of Le -Mans.- The inhabitants of the — district arc very enthusiastic on the jubjecfc of the race, and have subscribed many thousand of francs towards the expenses. In. addition to other prizes, the winner will receive one ot £5000 offered by the Automobile Club of France. The course which has been mapped out is probably- the be** that has yet been discovered in ■ Franco - where circuits are concerned, and th»3 £fc»t times wi'l be accomplished may be regarded as a certainty. Tho absence of any competitors from the United Kingdom is signifi- " l cant as showing that the English makers whe had previously taken pert in international race= have now decided to confine their attention to touring-car competitions. These are rapidly increasing in number and importance. It will thus be seen that the result of tho race will not be of such k decisive nature as contests for the Gordon Bennett, in which, b-sides tho above countries. America and' England were also competitors.

THE ELECTRO BUS.

These are indeed days of revolution in mechanical tractipn. Horse-drawn vehicles are effete or are being tolerated only till the supply of the swift petrol-driven 'buses is ready to replace them. And now the question arises whether the petrol 'bus is , to have its day at all — whether the hoige- ' drawn vehicle is to be driven off the streets,' not by it, but by th© electro 'bus, and whether the eloctrio tramcar itself ie aot to bo superseded by this conveyance, which does not run on. rails and does not deriv© its vitality from overhead wires or conduit installations, but is in truth an automobile — at least, until its energy is exhausted. ,, From the Hotel Cecil yesterday the London Daily Telegraph of April 26) anelectric 'bus made a series of little tours; and as regards the ease, comfort, and speed of its progress proved as efficient as the petrol motor 'buses -which are now running in the streets. It was taken up Ludgato Hill just after a slight collision had caused! a temporary congestion of the traffic, and" it stopped and started, slackened and- regained speed in immediate response to the will of the driver. In these respects at least equal to the petrol 'bus, its supremo advantage is that it emits no smoke, give* off no smell, and is as free as any vehicle can be from vibration. It is absolutely silent when at rest, there is no jerk wheit it starts, and it« mechanism is so simple that a breakdown is almost out of tho question. Hitherto the il'moukj with elec- , tiically driv-en -i^biclei hai l»ocn to inves* '

them with the necessary power without increasing the deadweight to an extent which makes their working unprofitable. The omnibus which was tested yesterday ie fitted jfith a battery which is called the- X Electric Accumulator, manufactured by the Electric Accumulator Company, of Chelsea, • «id which, consisting of 44 celle, has a capacity of SWF ampere-hours at a pressure of 80 volts, giving a 30 to 40 horse-power. .The battery, which is of the lead-plate Ifcype, with nested grids, withstands sudden charges and discharges, the plates having fkeen so treated that they ore of such .porcsity that the electrolyte permeates their entire 'mass, and in place of a surface efficiency they are active all through. This aoeans, it is claimed, that the life of the ' laooomulators will be so prolonged that _ •tectrically-propclled omnibuses can be run

more cheaply than has hitherto been considered possible. The International Motor * Traffic .Syndicate are the proprietors of the " invention, which, in the metropolis. i& to be developed by the London Electro 'Bus Com«uiy, who contemplate having 300 omnioise9 on the streets — 30 within three months. The total working expenses arc expected to be under 9d per T>us-mile — which includes 2d for tyre maintenance and od for maintenance of batteries, which are

natters of contract — and each 'bus. exclu»ive of tyres and batteries, will cost a little under £700. Each 'bus will run about 50 miles without recharging. Five hours are required to recharge the batteries, but ♦here need be no delay in the working of the 'bus, as with duplicate batteries the accumulators can be changed at the termini or charging stations in a. couple of minutes.