Cycling And Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 59

Cycling And Motor Notes

BY DEMON. -A comical incident happened in one of Wellington's main thoroughfares last week. A motor-cyclist riding a rather ancient machine of nondescript design camo to a stop, something going wrong with his mount. An important part had dropped off. A benevolent boy riding an ordinary push-bike, courteously jumped off and picked it up. He dropped it with a yell. It was the hot exhaust pipe! As showing the growth of the motor business in C-brictohurch in the last year or so, it may be interesting, if not surprising, to note that there are no fewer tlian 1223 motor cycles, 820 motor care, and 85 motor hae-knoy carriages registered at the Town Clerk's office. These figures are for mo-tor vehicles running in Christchurch city, exclusive of tine vast amount of sales that have been completed and exported to various parts of the Dominion. Vibration and its effects on the human frame hold common cause with the automobile as well as the motor cycle. There are people so highly susceptible to vibration that they cannot endure motoring of any kind. Other people, again, are apparently quite impervious to it. The effort of the sensitive rider to conserve his nervous system is a big one, notwithstanding that everything known in springs, cushions, and poise of seat is provided ; and, with all those modern perfections-, it is not every person who would enjoy a drive of, say, 150 to 200 miles in a day over average roadways. one only slightly larger in diameter" and width tkon the other, there is a vast difference in the wearing capacity. The smallersized tyro will drop in holes and cavities in the roadway much more deeply than the larger size will, thus adding" greatly to wear and also to the discomfort of the occupants of the car. ■ When we hear of brakes failing down steep hills (cays an English ex-change) we know that it means, provided the oar was a decent one, that the person responsible for keeping the car in order had not troubled to adjust his brakes. On anything but an absolute precipice any good car is quite safe with its throttle closed and one brake on. These reports of brakes which fail do not mean that the brake tackle broke, but simply that the brake surfaces had worn and the brakes bad not been adjusted to make up for the wear. Cam which get out of control and charge walls on dry roads are reported to have side-slipped. As a matter of fact, the trouble is usually due to the steering being in such a deplorable condition that the steering red jumps off or the wheel and the ca.r come adrift. As to the cars shedding their wheels, this again its due to carelessness on the part of the man who looks after the car. 1 recently witnessed four men trying to start a particularly sulky 40 h.p. engine of racing eles-ign (says a writer in an English exchange). The theoretic plan is, of course, to discover why the engine does not start at, the first pull, and remedy the defect. In practice these four experts failed as a. single-handed amateur prohably oftcn fails. At hist the quartet bodily pushed the car some distance to the summit of a hill, and started the car, and thus the engine, by gravity. Climbing the next ascent, the driver muddled a g<ar change, and contrived to stop his engine once more. A little later the party wore attempting to make a bargain with the owner of a horse and cart when the quiet amateur stole up and suggested placing sixpenny-bits between each valve and its tappet, thus attaching an emergencv half-compression valve. No sooner said than done. The handle, which had just previously caused foin- strong men to stand aloof, could now be revolved by a girl, and the engine started up at, once. W. Bcarpark, aged 30 vears. the well-known motor-cycliet, was killed on March 16 _ at the Sydney Sports Ground. He was riding Ids motor round on a trial prior to a race, and had made several circuits of lhe track, when the machine appeared t--> wobble. It rushed towards the fence of the enclosure, and although Bearj park made a great effort to right it, the cycle crashed into a port, and the rirler | was thrown on to his head on the track. The civil .-jmbulan'-o took th> unfortunate j rna-n to Svclnev Hospital, but he expired -from terrible injuries to his head immediately on admission. Rearpark's wife was a I horrified witness of the accident. I So satisfied is the Italian Government j with the performances of the motor vehicle : at the seat of war that an order of 134 lorries of 15-ton tvpe hes been placed with the F.I.A.T. Company. The same firm has constructed a large number of motor I cars and lorries for special work at the war, j including those for photo-electric service, j each one of which is fitted with a dynamo ooeratod by the engine, and with a powerful reflector of 900 m.m. Other? have been fitted up for thi? radio-telegraphio department, whilst- a host of 5-ton lorries a-re used for the transport of artillery. cases that if a tread of a tyre is -w-oil looked after the fabric, will look after itself, but the motorist must not forget the face that bursts primarily occur through the rottincr of the fabric, and once the latter has crone the t.vre. to nil intents and purposes. has finished it« active life. Steel -studded tyres should bo inflated to alxvut 10 rK>r 'cenl. greater pressure than the ordinary tyres, owing to the fact that they grip the - road mow firtmly, Svith a, c-nnser|n^rit; j greater strain on the walls of the covers i when the car is running. All tyres can

be inflated harder in the winter than in tht summer, owing to the lower temperature causing a smaller amount of expansion in the air. Arrangements for the Relay Despatch Race, between cyclists, motor cyclists, aaid motorists (cars), from Adelaide to Sydnej-, at Easter, arc now practically completed. Representatives of the Dunlop Rubber Company have just finished up a 2650-mile motor trip over the course, making the necessary appointments and arrangements | to ensure the success of this big undertaking. At 5 a.m. on Good Friday morning Lieutenant-colonel H. Le Messurier, commandant of the South Australian military forces, will hand to two cyclist couriers a despatch which has to lx> carried—by rO« lays of cyclists—over 1150 miles of coum try, embracing good and bad roads, sana I desert tracks, over plains and mountains, \ until it is delivered in Sydney to BrigaJ dier-general Gordon, C. 8., commandant of I tho New South Wales military forces. Day i and night, wet or fine, the despatch will .be carried by cyclist couriers, until it ; reaches its destination. There will be 65 ! relay warns of two cyclists each, stationed 1 at their respective changing; stations along ; tho route. Twenty-four hours later a ; second despatch will leave Adelaide in ! charge of two motor-cyclists. By tho aid. of 26 relays of motor cyclists they will en< dearour to reach Sydney before tht despatch carried by cyclists. At 11 a.m. on Easter Saturday-—six hours after tha motor cyclists have set out —a third despatch will leave for Sydney in charge of Messrs Harold Bowman and Murray Aunger, who will talce it through to Mount Gambier on a fast racing car. Hero the car despatch will bo handed o"ver to Messrs G. G. White, C. B. Kellow, and J. W, Moffat, and taken to Melbourne, where a representative of tho Tarrant Motor Company and Mr S. H. Day will relieve and take tho message on to Albury, whence Messrs 11. Knight-Eaton and O. Camphin . —in separate cars—will bake over tho despatch and carry it right into Sydney. Keen rivalry exists between tho three divisions of despatch-bearers,, each section being confident that they will win through with rhetr despatch first. Gi.von fine weather, if is anticipated that the cyclista will accomplish the trip in 69 hours, the motor cyclists in about 49 hours, and the carists somewhere about 43 hours, which means that all three despatches should reach Sydney learly on Easter ."Mondaj morning. At present most of the overland route is badly in need of rain, particularly between Seymour and Gundagat, most of which is under three or four inches of dust, which will make it bad travelling for all three divisions, unless rata comes in the meantime. Railway officials are much interested in the arrival of the M'Kcen petrol trains These vehicles, which have a speed lip to 70 miles per hour, driven by six-cylinder petrol engines, arrived in Sydney last week, and were taken charge of by two engineers from the Victorian Railways. They will bo sent by rail to Albury, and there assembled and run under their own power to Melbourne. As soon as the demonstration and testing runs are finished they will bo placed in regular service. TIMING MAGNETOS Every rider who keeps a machine long enough to run it a considerable distance will sooner or later bo exercised over the timing of his magneto. The points, earns, and roller wear, and the chain stretches. When ho essays tho operation of re-timing, and discovers the dead centre of the piston's compression stroke, he may easily lose tho timing again when tightening some portion of tho magneto drive on its shaft. He will then have to discover the piston position all over again. Therefore, when this dead centre, from which all magnetos are timed, has once been found, it. is useful to devise an external means of instantly setting the piston accurately on the dead centre. _ This is simplv dono by filing or punching marks on the circumference of the pulley, and at a corresponding point on tho crank case. It is then only necessary to pull at tha belt till the marks register, when the dead centre has been found in a second. (Note: Tho piston, of course, comes to the top dead centro position twice in each cyclefirst at the top of the exhaust stroko, secondly at the top of tho compression stroke. " The correct dead centre can bo verified by watching tho exhaust valve; that up-sti-olvo is the correct one during which the exhaust valve remains closed.) A further rote of value to novices is that th« chain should not be uncoupled. Tha chain sprocket, on the magneto should be loosened instead, which is quickly done by undoing the nut and gently pressing against a screwdriver held so as to lever the sprocket gently away from tho magneto and simultaneously tapping the end of tiie shaft lightly. A few of. tho very latest pattern magneto machines are provided with a device which automatically loosens tho sproket when the nut is uai done; this greatly simplifies matters.

MOTORING IN EGYPT. The Cairo correspondent of the Tall Mall Gazette describes a marvellous motoring feat hich has just been accomplished in Upper Egypt by Baron Waclawiczek. Recently bo announced his intention of ; driving from Cairo to Luxor, a. distance of gome 670 kilometres, and. true to his word, he started on hi? journey on Thursday, I January 18, in tho com]>any of three friends. ~, I Egypt is, however, not like order coun--1 tries, and roads do not oxist outside tho (owns so the enterprising motorist found t he bad his work cut out, for him. From time f-o time the car had to plough its way through opon fielrls. find very often the canal bank, along which the best going was to bo found would be suddenly out in two. On one occasion in trying to rush one of these apertures the car ran on to the top of a mud hut with disastrous re- • f.;ilts to the latter. As proof of the bad roads and heavy ! going in certain parts, only five kilometre! j worn covered in six hours, and just thi< side of Assiout one of the companiona h-axi to swim the canal in order to ascertain : whether there were any passable "roads'* : on the other side. At Schng the native* were most menacing, and inundated ths c«r with stones, so much so that th< , Baron had to apply to the Mudir (Cover* : nor) for police protection. ■ Very often tlio motorists had to camp I out, in the open, and altogether tho under* J taking was a very great test of the en- | durance of the car and its passengers. The ; last day was the worst of tho trip, fcha party having nothing to eat from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. At length, at sunset on tho ninth day, Luxor hove in sight, and the feat w&a at an end. To anyeno who kricw'3 the dis-

trict at all this is a. wonderful achievement, almost unique in the annals of motoring since the car used was an ordinary one. and the Bavon is to bo congratulated no only on his daring enterprise but also.on hte having demonstrated to the authorities what a beneficial result wodd and what au attraction would be afforded OJ a proper system of road communication. GRENDA DEFEATS M'NAMARA. SYDNEY, March 31. In the cycling match Grenda defeated M'Namara in the two-mile event,