Cycling & Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3313, 12 September 1917, Page 44

Cycling & Motor Notes

BY OEWiON. !

The Main South road between Waipahi and Pukerau has always been in a deplorable state, especially in the winter months, being practically impossible for all kindo of wheeled traffic. Mr Donald Macdonald, of Edcndale, informdo tho Otago Motor Club on Tuesday that the Southland League was agreeable to donate half the amount (£250) required for the purpose of putting this portion of tho road in good order, provided that the Motor Club would contribute a similar amount. Tho Motor Club has £IOO in hand for this purpose, and agreed at a meeting on Tuesday evening to increase its contribution to £125 on condition that the road is metalled, rolled, and put in thorough repair. This, in all probability, will put an end to a state of affairs which has caused a vast amount of inconvenience to motorists and others for many years past. lt has been found that while men who have had motor workshop experience make good aviation mechanics, men who have had yachting experience make the best aviators. Youth is a necessary factor. Men above 25 years have not the same reckless spirit as youths of 20. Recklessness is most necessary. The Shell Benzine Corporation showed an available profit of £1,979,400 on last year's operations, and paid a dividend of 35 per cent, free of income tax, —■—-The daily expenses of tho Ford factory in Detroit is about £IBO.OOO. The factory works three shifts of eight hours a day. Three-quarters of a million cars were built in 1916, on which there was a net profit of six million sterling. —— I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this paragraph, which is taken from a northern exchange:—"The pay for despatchriders in the British army, originally 5s per day, has now been reduced to 3s per day. Soldiers' transferred from overseas forces to bo despatch-riders have their pay reduced accordingly." Master Harry Hughan, son of Mr Gordon Hughan, of Carterton, is the youngest licensed taxi-driver in New Zealand. Ho was only 12 years of age when ho was granted a license, and is an adept at handling a car. He was practically" born in the motor business, and few older men can handle a oar with skill equal to that of tho Carterton lad. Tho _ Grey mouth Star states that a local electrician has designed a carburettor to operate motor car engines on common kerosene in place of petrol. He has been at work on the idea for four years, and the tests have been so satisfactory that ho has decided to givo a demonstration. The great advantage claimed is that it is always ready to start, no primary heating apparatus being required. The idea is being protected by letters patent. —— Ferro-coneroto roads are being built in England. Where a soft formation existed a firm foundation is made of ferroconcrete, on top of which tho road-surface is laid. New Zealand has used a concrete base for roads for years, but lias not gone so far as to strengthen tho concrete with iron. Wood-blocked and asphalt roads in New Zealand are usually laid upon a concrete bed. and, though the surface, which is springy, wears a little in time! the bed is permanent, and the maintenance costs little.

What is termor! a "breaker strip." in some form or other, {3 a component part of most motor tyres; but the average user appears to have an incorrect impression of its function, believing it Is put in to arid strength to the casing. This is not the ease, for it is intended as a sort of armour to protect the fabrio of the tyre f-n.r, irmnv 'Rem"- madp of tough, closewoven fabrio, and lying between the tread and the structural fabric of the tyre, the breaker strip protects the latter from the

traction strains resulting from the pull of tho tread on the road, and also to a largo extent stops tho penetration of sharp stones and glass before tho tyro fabric is reached, thus preventing the entrance of water and dirt, which do *o much injury to the fabric.

Few people realise how many different cars are still in use whose makers have gone out of the business, and how many models turned out years ago have become go far obsolete 'that spare parts are no longer carried at tho factories of their origin. Tho Horseless Ago recently published a list of 206 "orphan" cars, and is not entirely sure that the list includes all the members of tho tribe.

A recent American invention is intended to prevent blow-outs as a result of the air in tyres becoming heated. It is proposed to provide an air reservoir in or on the wheel, with connections between tho reservoir and the air in the tyre. It is expected that the action of the tyre, when the car is running', will circulate the air in tho tyro around through tho reservoir, which will act as a radiator, and thus keep tho air cool and prevent its undue expansion. It Is also expected that this air reservoir, by increasing the volume of air, will act as a shock-absorber. As remarked above, tho invention-to-be hails from America.

Discussing the fire clanger, an American writer remarks that back-firing is the principal caues of motor fires, and this most frequently is caused by too lean a mixture of gas. Most often the trouble occurs in a cold engine. " In view of the danger of a 'lean' mixture," he adds, "it is the part

of wisdom for the motorist to enrich it, in winter especially. This will prevent the danger of back fire, and when the engine is wanned up the mixture can easily be readjusted.' In view of the possibility of back-fires, drip-pans, he remarks, should bo so constructed that they will at any time contain very little petrol. Occasionally fires are started by opening the muffler cut-out in starting-. If the car is in a garage this is particularly dangerous, for the presence of spilled gasolene and oil adds to the chance of the fire spreading." —— According to many soldiers' letters received, the "tanks" at the front have had their day, and the enemy has found means to cope with them, as the British found means to cope with the poison gas. Tanks were sprung as a big surprise upon the Germans, and did splendid work; but German experts were set to work to find means to circumvent them, and very little is henrrl of the achievements of the tanks nowadays. . ARTERIAL ROA~=3. EXPERIENCE OF ASHBURTON. The Traffic Inspector reported to the Ashburton County Council on Friday that the motor traffic passing through Ashburton during Grand National Week this year had been greater than in former years, and on one day 412 cars going north passed over the Ashburton bridge. The Chairman stated that the cars travelling backwards and forwards had done £4OO worth of damage to the road between Ashburton and Rakaia. The council had had two teams constantly employed for the past three months on the road between Ashburton and Chertsey. and these teams would probably be employed on the road for "a further three months. The rate of speed at which motorists travelled was very detrimental to the roads, and the swerving to cross bridges resulted in metal being thrown out in all directions. He had been informed by men in charge of the teams that they could hardly work on some days during National Week owing to the number of motor cars on the road. Cr Cairns said the council would have to get the American invention put on the cars to play " Nearer, my God to Thee," when the speed reached a certain limit. Cr Lill said that if the maintenance ol this road was going to cost so much it would be better for the council to build a K'ght railway to carry cars as far as Cherisey. At the present t ; me the council had to pay for damage done by the outside public, and it was time the Government subsidised the bodies to maintain the main roads. PLAYING WITH THE CARBURETTOR. " When the engine shows signs of irregular working," says the Scientific American, "the carburettor is usually the first thing blamed, but in reality it is the last thing at fault. There is a fascination about its mysteries that urges on the average driver to experiment with it. without having any definite conception of its principles of operation, or the details of its too often intricate structural details, and consequently ho is continually making what ho calls adjust ments. that are expensive in increased consumption of gasoline and decreased efficiency of the motor. Of course, there are occasionally real troubles in the carburettor, but these are mostly the result of foreign matter that get in from not straining the fuel as it goes into the tank; and the indications of such _ troubles should bo learned by every driver so they will bo rendilv rccocrnised. and lead to a correct remedy, without disorganising the entire apparatus in a blind search for the failure. Before the maker delivers a car. for its own reputation, he gets th(> best adjustment of the enrbnrettor possible, and the less it ia altered thereafter the better. Another rmt la the manipulation on starting. It the common custom, when the engina has been standing, to first flood the carburettor] but In many oases this docs not appear to facilitate matters. The trouble Is that the manifold already contains a quantity of condensed" gasoline, left ove? from tljo previous run, very frequently afi

ample sufficiency to start tho engine; and if the carburettor i 3 flooded in addition the mixture is made too rich to explode. It is good policy to study the carburettor, but to avoid interfering with it." •i ■'■= =a