Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 60

Cycling and Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

• The Dunlop Company of Melbourne has written to the New Zealand League of Wheelmen stating that it will do all in its power to assist them with the TimaruOhristchurch Road Race, to be held about August, and also in arranging that the dates for the New Zealand event and the Melbourne-Warrnambool Road Race do not clash. Dranoel Trawets, the young American who is engaged on a cycling tour round the world, and who passed through Dunedin some few weeks back, left Auckland last Monday night for Sydney with his New Zealand companion, Ray Astley, who has thrown in his lot. with Trawets. Francis Birtles, who is cycling round Australia, rode right through the recent rain storm on the North Coast (Q.). Ho reached Kempsey on Saturday, March 12, and was due at Brisbane last week. Birtles, it is interesting to know, is riding the same machine that carried him from Fremantle to Sydney last year. The weather was dull but fine on Good Friday for the Easter Wheel Race meeting promoted by the Christchureh Cycling and Motor Club, and a gathering assembled at Lancaster Park. The racing throughout the day was particularly interesting, and there were some remarkably fine exhibitions of bicycie riding. Great interest was centred in the meeting of B. Campion, A. Birch, and A. B. L. Smith, but Birch was obviously not at ihis best, and Smith succeeded in defeating Campion each time they met, though w.nen Campion fell in the final of the Three-lap Handicap he looked like troubling the winner. The Easter Wheel Race was a very interesting event, and Smith just managed to beat Campion, who, however, lodged a protest, alleging that Smith bored him just before the finish. One of the features of the programme was a te-st between the trotting horse Sir Joe and A. Birch over two miles. The contest proved very one-sided, for although the horse trotted well the cyclist always held him safe, and won by over 30 yards. Birch's time was 4-min 47scc, and Sir Joe was timed to do 4min 50sec. The programme

was carried out, by a very energetic staff of officials, and the meeting was decidedly successful. There were no Dunedin riders competing at the meeting. For the mast part spare tyres are mounted on a car absolutely unprotected and rarely examined, possibly handled only when a change becomes necessary. This is a serious mistake, as the continuous exposure of an uncovered tyre is very injurious to the rubber, and in the course of a few months the "spare" is apt to show signs of deterioration. Henry Ford, the manufacturer of the "Ford" car, rose to his present great position from a farmer's boy. The new era of motor locomotion caught up his enthusiasm, and he determined to construct a car himself. This he did within a small shed, the walls of which had to be removed to get his car out. Later he became famous as a driver of high-speed automobiles, and in time turned his whole attention to the manufacture of motor cars. To-day his name as an organiser and motor builder is world-renowned. Over a hundred cars a day are now- turned out of the Ford works.

At Bloomsbury" County Court, before his Honor Judge Bacon, a lady sued Messrs Shoolbred and Co. for £SO damages for the loss of her clog through the negligent, driving of one of their motor vans. During the course of the. proceedings the judge rebuked the . plaintiff for bursting into tears while giving evidence. In giving judgment, his Honor said that dogs were supposed to look after themsel.ves, and Ihere was no negligence on the part of the defendants. A new footwarmer has been introduced which provides ample heat to the footboards of a car. It is called the Evans. The arrangement is simple, consisting of a shallow brass tank in the footboard, to which the water circulation of the engine is connected, by flexible tubes. We assume it is not applicable »to thermoeyphon circulation. The heat can be regulated by a tap. According to London police returns, the number of vehicle accidents during the last quarter of 1909 was 356. Of these 231 were caused by horse vehicles and 135 by motors, the la'cfer Being only 17 more than in 1908.

about popularising motoring by cheapening the production of cars no effort appears to have been made towards standardising the size of wheels and lyres. At the present time the Dunlop Rubber Company turn out, for instance, 23 different sizes of motor tyres and vims to meet existing demands, which all tends to increase cost for expensive moulds, etc. In this direction alone there appears no tangible reason why all car manufacturers could not adopt and standardise, say, three or four sizes of wheels and' rims and let tyres be madeand stocked in those sizes only. A move in this direction would suit the public, traders, and manufacturer,; alike, and the wonder is that something has not been arranged on the lines suggested. The small tyre craze still holds with many cyclists, despite the fact that there is more comfort, more wear, and less .risk of tyre troubles when reasonable-sized tyres are used. A small tyre has to be- pumped comparatively hard to prevent the danger of 'being nipped against the rim should a loose stone bo encountered. This is all right for a" smooth surfaco, but the tyre is t;6o hard for a rough surface, and the bumping causes a decided less of power, besides' wearying ' the" rider. About the best that can be ussd are the liin and If in tyres. " The larger ai:- spaces need not be pumped so bard, and the extra cushioning obtained will enable a faster nace to b'n kept up en a rough surface, while lack of

distressing vibration will tell advantagesaaEy in a long day's- run. Those who hetm nipping and other tyre troubles should! as» i a slightly larger tyre. t It is estimated that there are seen? two million cyclists in Great Bri&Mr, annually absorbing over half a miSlioßt machines, and four times that numbfii oS tyres. The value of cycles annually saoaE* in England totals ovor £3,500,000, excfcaaw» of accessories and parts. .. ! rain, particular attention. should be gK'sa to the bonnet. After a long run the topnet becomes fairly hot, -and if .the lain drops be left to dry upon it they will i&tln far more than they will upon the body car wings. If circumstances do not permk ef the car being -washed down at onee, *&<» precautions should always be taken sponging off the bonnet and then leatheringit lightly to take jp the 'moisture; otSarwise it will spot so badly that it will jvseetf look smart again until it is repainted sucfc varnished. . 1,

That pedestrians in the Ussfesel States give trouble by their indecision wfaoß crossing roads is shown by the follo«aigt witty advice given in an American «atr tcmporary to such delinquents:—"lf yHJt are-about to cress a road in front of a me you should (a) move away from the atrv (bl move towards the ear, (c) more to <sfta right of the car, (d) move to the left ef the car, or (e) stand perfectly still, 3aor then the driver will know what to ««u But do not do all these things at oKst 1 * And I do not think T should have to go fknin this country, either, before discovesihgi people to whom this advice ought tc laa given. g _ The floods in Paris • inundated taer works of the. Continental Caoutchouc »nf Guttapercha Company at Clichy; which w*ro : busy on tyre orders for the approaclcbj? European motor season. Since the sssSsk dence of the flood the staff has been wafting night and day. Orders will be tsHjp met. On-the Continent, where niotor-^v'ssacl bicycle racing is all the rage, ifc is rally considered that a- good pacemaker tat of far more importance than-a speedy fellower. However, recently one Seres, pswadt by a motor' cyclist named Gaudiillier, las beaten everybody he met. The result «»• that Dan-agon's pp.c<zi\, Naso, challeiajwt Caudrilliar to a match, .which was protrc?iiy arcanged. Both ttien . used their paling motors, but Naso ■ soon - showed thai a£ motor racing he was the better man, anct won easily. 100 Idioms, and 187 kiloms. for pedeffcrns and- cyclist? respectively,. held at Pffeifer, Germany, in January... the contestants -wsvff medically examined at the conclusion oi the performance, the. investigation being san* cerned with tho condition of the orgsnai of circulation, the kidneys, and kenvparaT ture. The wheelmen-. • it- seems, showed up> better than <the-walkers. The cye-ists? pulses were uniformly normal, but i&ssa of the pedestrians; although mostly tsavr lar in beating; - proved, nevertheless, Wic. In some cases, indeed, the pedestiwnspulses manifested marked irregularity. Ufie pressure of the, blood, was below the ncsaaalas regards both cyclists and walkers. —— The trophy • offered by Le JSbtin;. of Paris and the New York Times t<? BiM» winner of the- New -York to Paris Aitamobile Race was 1 presented at a given early in January by the Autoirwilile Club of America to E. R. Thomas, pnair dent of the firm which entered the victorious car in the contest. The New T«k to Paris trophy is the largest of its Vswi ever made. It stands 6ft 6in in and weighs slightly in excess' of 16$Uu The materials used in its construction -ur«. all native to the four nations represciiakl in (lie racj—-the United States, Fraxstfe

Germany, Italy. The p&destal is of green Italian marble., embedded in which aTe bronzo plates depicting interesting scenes and episodes of the famous contest. One of them shows the start from the New York Times building. Another is of the street. immediately in front of the office •In Paris of Le Matin, as the mudstained, travel-scarred victor pulled " up there. Still a third shows the cars" which took part in the race in the order in which they 'finished. On' the fourth plate is this inscription:—" Presented by Le Matin, of Paris, and the New York Times to the E. R. Thomias Manufacturing Company. Thomas Flyer car, winner of race from New York to Paris, February 12 to July 30. 1908."

Among the least accessible items on a modern cai are the shoes of the internal expanding rear wheel brakes. It is often impossible to get at these shoes without taking' the wheels off "the axle, or in the case of detachable wheels without withdrawing the permanent hubs. The mechanism of the hub and its attachment to the axle is a puzzle to many small repair shops and to the majority of owners, but any squeaking that may arise from ' those points should t receive immediate attention. This warning sound (writes "8.H.D." in the Autocar) annoyed an owner of-my acquaintance last week when he was many miles from a good repair shop. He worried round with an oilcan for e time, but the anechanism of the bub and brake motion ■was a sealed book to him, and no real access was possible. -«Finally he discovered that the noise vanished if the brakes were applied a trifle, and he ran. some eighty miles against the brakes to nis' destination, where skilled mechanics put the matter in order..■ But several renewals were -necessitated after this rough usage. This week I was out with him when the opposite brake developed similar symptoms. Mindful of his pi'evious experience, he wanted to leave the car at the first inn and send men to tow it into town . I suggested flooding the differential, case with oil in hopes that the latter would find it& way into the brake drum, as all attempts to insert a generous quantity of oil under .the brake shell failed. The expedient answered, perfectly, and would probably answer, in most cases of incipient brake trouble if.applied-promptly'. To avoid drowning the brake in oil, and so rendering it useless, we began by inserting moderate quantities, and then running the oar a few yards until the squeak had totally disappeared. .-.-. • "• *