Cycling And Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 71

Cycling And Motor Notes

BY BEMON.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. JLmxi. —As soon as ever the canvas fabric lining begins to show through the rubber covering is the time to have the tyre retreaded. Messrs Cook©, Howlison have a vulcanising plant, and will be able to attend to your wants in this direction.

■will be" pleased to learn that the Wartaki County Council is shortly to put a bridge over the famous sandy creek at Kartigi, and also put in a culvert at the dip near the creek. The council have also let a contract for spreading maintenance gravel on the Main road from Sha<j Point up to Waianakarua. This will make abori 10 miles over which reduced wiil bo

necessary for ears this coming summer." There is a big movement ahead in the Sydney motor trade, particularly 'n the commercial motor, and no less than four new garages are to be built within the next six months. Three of the buildings are situated around Hunter street. Indeed, the lower end of this city promises to be the centre of the motor car trade. ' The Waimate West County (Taranaki) collected £lO6 last year at its main South road toll gates from the 810 motor cars which passed through. Sometimes an. engine refuses to start a few hours after it has been deliberately switched off in apparently perfect condition. Such a mishap (says a writer in an English journal) befel me last .veek. I suspected that a speck of dirt had been, sucked up into the carburetter jet by the last pull of the pistons ere the engine sank to rest. This suspicion was verified, and the obstruction removed, but still the engine proved obdurate. I could not help noticing that the starting handle revolved very easily, no appreciable compression being perceptible. Consequently it was easy to guess that the piston rings had stuck in their grooves with congealed oil. Paraffin injections were tried, but without effect; the rings refused to expand, and the engine would not draw in a volume of explosive mixture from the' jet. Obviously the sole remedy was to make the pistons a tighter fit, pending the expansion of the giim;;:cd ilngs. I utilised the force pump to inj3ct tkvo3 charges of thick lubricant;

and testing the starting handle felt a much improved "compression," though the oil was not thick enough to make the handle really hard to revolve. On went the switch, and with the nex"t tug the engine fired. In a few revolutions the rings regained their spring, and all ws.s well. Mr E. H. James, manager of the New Zealand branch of the Dunlop Rubber Company, in. conversation with a Christchurch reporter, stated that this year's business would eclipse that done in any orevious year. price-cutting in the bicycle trade is still going on furiously in Christchurch, but is confined to a few firms (says a Chri, hurch writer). Bicycles are being sold at prices 50 per cent, below their usual prices, while most of the principal lines of sundries are cut accordingly. Three towns in New Zealand—Dunedin, Invercargill, and Christchurch —are at present experiencing *a rough time from a trader's point of view, but the publi care benefiting considerably over the foolhardin&ss of business men in the cycle trade. Taking advantage of the deserted character of Trafalgar square on Easter Monday, an intrepid cyclist took a bicycle on to the plinth of Nelson's column and calmly circled round it several times. He then dismounted and came down, claiming to have "broken the record." There was a case heard at Grimsby (England) last month which it is to be hoped will not completely stifle any -remnants of chivalrous sentiment that may survive in the breast of cycling men. A lady cyclist, apparently not able to go the pace, fell behind her companions, when a knightly stranger, also cycling, who overtook her, offered to assist her by pushing her up the hill. ""The lady seems to have accepted this generous offer in the spirit

in which it was made; but, as iM-luck would have it, they had riden only a short distance before the machines collided, and there was a general smash up. It is scarcely credible, but, alas! it is only to true, that the lady sued her gallant helper, aad, moreover, a sympathetic jury awarded damages to the tune of £l4- iss for injuries to her bicycle and apparel and for the pain and suffering caused by the accident. One ventures to say that, unless the gentbman concerned is more than usually enthusiastic in his devotion to the fair wit, he will be slow in future to offer to help distressed lady cyclists- uiphil!. It is a courteous thing to do, but it may cost too much.

The great difficulty about cheapening the modern motor car is that while cheapness is required in the first cost, long life and economy in tyre and fuel eonsumption are also desired. Those requirements to a large extent work against each other, for if tyres have to wear the car must be light on them; that means that the car must be built of the very finest material and designed in the most scientific manner. The strongest steel for its particular purpose must be used in all parte, and this naturally means a great expense not only in the initial cost of the raw material, but also in the machining processes. Another factor which binds to prevent the cheapening of cars is that a considerable amount of luxury seems to be required. Body work which would have been considered quite the thing a few years ago is now looked on as scampy. We want high side doors, wide and roomy side entrances, and a seating accommodation for three people at the back. This cannot be got without weight, and weight cannot be pushed without wear and tear of tyres and a big engine. There seems to be only one direction in which wc may look for the coming of the £IOO car, and that is in some new design of transmission mechanism which will be simpler and cheaper to produce, and also the laying down of a special plant to turn out *he improved design in huge quantities. Th.it method of manufacture ie one which has been adopted very largely in America, where iseveral firms have turned their attention to manufacturing one. type of car only, which is made in huge quantities on the interchangeable - principle. Engl:;*n manufacturers have, to a large extent, pre vented themselves from entering the market with a really cheap car, because they have dievoted their attention to so many models. — r Mr Newcar (about to 6tart on his first trip in his recently-purchased motor car, to his new chauffeur): Now, William, I want it thoroughly understood I will not have fast driving. Always keep well under the legal. limit—not as close to it as you can. Twelve miles an hour is enough for me. What 1 want is comfort—not excitement. Do you understand?" Three days later: "Er —William, I must be back home at 7 o'clock. This road seems very straight and wide. Don't you think you might go just a little faster without danger?" Two days later: "William, this dust is very unpleasant. If you could pass that car ahead, now —it seems to be going rather slowly." Next day: "Put on a little more pace, William. There's no use being a crank. This road's too good to lose the chance." A week Jater: "Open her up, Bill! There are no police within five miles, I'll bet; and if there are, who cares? I'm out for fun! Let her rip, my boy—let her rip ! This isn't a steam-roller! Let's have 6ome Speed!'*

The dispute between the National Cyclists' Union and the Amateur Athletic Union is overshadowing all other cycling topics in England at the moment. That the trouble should have arisen does not seem to have given satisfaction to anyone on either side. It is generally agreed that the dispute is bound to have a most detrimental effect on the future of cycling and athletic sport. The National Cyclists' Union is a. very powerful body, with over 1200 clubs, and it is said that they will nearly all remain loyal, so that the attempt ot the A.A.A.—a much weaker body—to also control cycling looks like: being a. failure. The N.C.U. championships have* already been allotted, and the A.A. A. now announces its intention of also promoting "cycling championships." 'One of the most powerful athletic and cycling clubs has already left the A.A.A. and joined the N.C.U., and altogether it looks as though the A.A.A. is playing a losing game in fighting the'N.C.U. The Duke of "Westminster's Ursula, which last year carried off the speed honours at the Monaco Carnival (which annually attracts the fastest motor boats in the world), has repeated the performance this vear. Particulars to hand from Monaco "(Monte Carlo) show that -nothing could approach the English-built facer for speed. The Ursula travelled at the astounding rate of, 42 miles per hour over a circuit of four miles. This establishes a new speed record. In another event over 62£ miles, for the International Cup, the English flyer-won easily from the crack French boat, which was eight minutes behind. The Ursula covered the distance /around a 16-mile course) in the remarkable speed of lhr 26min 59 2-ssec, an average speed of oyer 43 miles an hour, and that without being pushed. The Duke of Westminster steered the boat himself.

TRADE IN FLYING MACHINES. At Olympia last April appeared for the first time the flying machine salesman, fully primed with data showing how really simple it has become to emulate the birds in flight, eager to sell a practical aeroplane “complete with engine, propeller, and chassis.” _ . K At last year’s aerial exhibition the machines to the value of several thousands of scarcely anticipated. Now, however, with a standardised monoplane selling for £4-50 and guaranteed to fly, real business may be looked for. At the end of the first day of the exhibition it was stated that machines to the value of several thousands of pounds had been sold. Some of the prices of the machines are as follows: £ . Santos-Dumont monoplane 800 Bleriot “Cross-Channel” monoplane.. 480 Antoinette monoplane .. 1000 Vodsin biplane (E.N.V. motor) » ;780 Wright biplane (Wright motor) .. . 1200 Parman biplane (Green motor) 910 Parman biplane (Gnome motor) .. .. 1120 “Compactness is really the thing,” explained one suave salesman to a prospective customer. “The wings of this monoplane collapse. Now, if your flying ground is a mile away from your house in the country, you can wheel the machine- ensilv up and dcwn unite narrow lanes. And

you can store it in j'our motor-house, too. That supplies a real want, you know And your engine will not pive you any more trouble than the one you probably have oa your lig-ht, run-about motor ear." Handling the controlling lever hesitatingly, the listener observed, "I rode one of the old high bicycles' without breaking my neck, and 1 drove a motor car in the early days. What risk actually does one need to run in learning to set up into the air in a machine like this?" "The risk," answered the salesman, with impressive slowness, "is already practically nil, always providing that you take certain reasonable precautions. "In three days you should learn the manipulation of your machine. On the fourth you should be able to do some long jumps into the air. In a week or 10 days —well, there is no reason why, if the route is fairly unobstructed, you should not fly to the station in the morning to catch your train to town. This type costs £SOO with our own water-cooled engine. We will give you a demonstration flight of five miles before delivery. And should you nave any—er —accident we have complete sets of all spare parts."