CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 3495, 1 March 1921, Page 42

CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Bt

DEMON.

Motorists should form the habit of keeping their feet off the clutch and brake pedals as much as possible. Resting the feet on the pedals wears out the clutch collar, making it noisy, and may cause the brake to drag, wearing it out also. It. is best to keep the feet near the pedals ready for instant use. The 25,C0Q membership mark has been passed by the Californian State Automobile Association, which is now the second largest motoring organisation in the world. A new set of lone-distance motor cycle side-car track records have been established at Brooklands, England, _ by H. le Vack on a seven horse-pqjvered, eightvalve Indian outfit. The new figures are: — 1 hour, 66 miles 471 yards; 2 hours, 125 miles 1669 yards; 3 hours, 185 miles 146 yards; 4 hours 247 miles 928 yards; 5 hours, 308 miles 1433 yards ; 6 hours, 363 miles 668 yards. The merit of the ride will be realised when it is mentioned that a pace of slightly over a mile a minute was maintained by the outfit for the full six hours. Some extraordinary mileages have been achieved in consumption tests carried out with two-stroke engined Levis motor cycles in England. Over a 54 miles give-and-take course one machine, weighing 1291 b and geared to 5j- to 1, did 245 mile 3 to the gallon. On another machine weighing 1311 b, geared 5 7-8 to 1, and with a heavier rider, the, remarkable result of 320 miles per gallon, was obtained. Standard machines and carburettors were used. The figures have not yet been confirmed by the English authorities. A rural owner was much troubled by a knock in his engine, which baffled bis own powers of diagnosis and those of the village repairer. He tried benzole.' He decarbonised the engine. He cheeked the valve and ignition timing. Finally, the car was painfully driven to a big service depot. The whiffle-tree of the rear brake compensator was dismantled and greased, and, hey, presto! the knock disappeared. One side brake was permanently “on.” The matter of taxi-car licences was brought up at the Dst meeting of the Wellington C-ity Council, when the By-laws Committee recommended that in future no additional licences should be granted for taxicabs “unless the vehicle is equipped with a taxi-meter of a type to be approved by the chief traffic inspector: and that owners of taxi-cabs at present, licensed be required to provide approved taxi-meters within a neriod of two years from date. This regulation is not to apply to cars hired from garages and which, do not ply for hire on stands in the city.” The recommendation was adopted. RELIABILITY TRIAL. The results of the side-car reliability trial held by the Pioneer Sports Club to Governors Bay on Saturday, February 19, have been determined as follows: — Condi. Relition. ability. Ttl. 75 925 1000 Ij. F. Williams (Ind.) .. 74 925 999 C. Bell (Ind.) 73J 925 998 J W. H. Jones .. 72£ 925 9971 E. F. C. Hinds (Ind.) .. 72 925 997 R. 1.. Kennett (H.D.) .. 6G 925 991 Ik Crook (H.D.) .. .. 701 920 9UU£ G. Henderson (H.D.) .. 61 925 986 R. Small (1-cyl. H.D.) ..69 895 964 O. C. C. Moffat (Ace) .. 561 895 9513 W. Thiele (H.D.) .. .. 72J 865 93 <1 In Iris remarks the judge (Mr W. G. Tonks) said that, though the trial course was not severe, it was sufficiently stiff to bring out any defects in side-car outfits, despite which six non-stop runs out. of 10 starters showed great credit to riders anc( machines. Nino machines, tested up Scarborough Hill after the trial, for engine, gears, and brake tests, without exception proved perfectly reliable for touring purposes. The penalties were as follows: L- F. Williams, 1 mark oil, 1 mark small bolt loose at base of carburettor; remarkable for absence of oil on engine; altogether a splendid performance. O. Bell, 1 mark oil. J,- mark front mudguard support unsoldered ; absence of oil on engine very creditable,, not quite so good as the first machine ; a very good performance. W. 11. Jones, 2 2 marks oil; full marks mechanically, non-stop run ; slight excess of oil on engine; altogether a good performance. AN ANGLO-FRENCH OIL COMPANY. That France is looking to its motor fuel supplies, so far as they may be met by petroleum, products, is evidenced by the announcement that an Anglo-French amalgamation with a capital of 100,000,000 francs (about £4,000,000) is in course of formation for the importation into France of crude and refined oils and for the refining and

distribution of petroleum spirit, kerosene, and fuel oil. Sir Basil Zaharoff represents the French group of financiers, and the oil company interested is the Anglo-Persian, which is controlled by British interests. It is stated that suitable sites have been acquired in the principal ports of France and the French colonies, where large storage tanks are being erected. —. HORSE V. MOTOR CAR, An interesting race was recently run neai Paris between a racehorse and a 30-h.p. motor car over a course of 550 metres, or approximately 600 yards. The car started from rest; the horse was conceded a flying start. The horse won the race with something in hand, not being overtaken by the car until he had run 588 yards. Of course, the flying start gave the horse a tremendous advantage, but one would have thought that a 30 h.p. car could get into its stride quickly enough to overtake the swiftest horse in less than 600 yards. The fastest pace ever recorded for a horse is 38 miles; the fastest pace ever claimed for a motor car is 150 miles an hour. WIRE WHEELS. Motorists the world over recognise and appreciate the worth and dependability of the wire wheel, but few know that the weight of the wire spokes with which the wheel is constructed is only about 51b — even in a large 880 x 120 millimetre wheel. ffjie wire employed is of a tensile strength of 65 tons per square inch, every coil used in manufacture being tested to these standards, and also by being made to withstand eight right-angle bends in opposite directions without showing a fracture. In the case of the old type of artillery wheel made from wood, the presence of a single doubtful member was a source of great danger, and,

moreover, there was no means of testing it other than by superficial examination. The , advantage of the more modern metal type becomes, therefore, all the more obvious. BELGIAN COACH WORK. In coachwork, Belgium has always occupied a leading place, and the many examples on view at the recent Brussels Motor Show call for great praise, if one overlooks slight blemishes here anil there ascribable io hasty production (says a writer in an exchange). In covered coachwork, square tops are favoured in contradistinction to the British tendency to round all edges. On one Belgian car the body is insulated from chassis strains by mounting it on three supports. the front portion of the body being entirely separate from the dashboard of the chassis in order to prevent any possibility of t lie twisting action setting up squeaks. Rearwavdly sloping windscreens appear as standard on a goodly proportion of cars, a ; practice which should extend. Attention, i too, is being paid to convertible bodies; that is, touring cars with light detachable i tops, having serviceable side curtains in | combination with disappearing windows, I which enable an open car to be closed for ] winter use. The concealed hood is reprei sented, but shows no signs of becoming i general, the simple cover being preferred. CARRYING SPARE BULBS. “Bast winter,” says a writer in tho “Autocar,” “I was afflicted by a lighting set which burnt out bulbs galore. I used to start out with five lamps; presently the near i side bulb went into the tail lamp, and so ; on until I would reach home with one head : lamp and a tail lamp in action—or, ns hap- ! pencil on one very long drive,_ with just a | solitary head lamp. After this experience | I began to carry spare bulbs, and the probI lem of storage arose. They are quite costly i

—too costly to put in the door pockets; and fragile—too fragile to put in the tail box among jacks and such-like bony objects. Their manufacturers usually pack them in a cardboard roll surrounded with tissue paper. After one or two spares had been smashed by careless storing, I used a golden syrup tin. This is bump-proof, and has a press lid. I wonder the accessory trade has not realised the opportunity.” BANCYNC DOORS. A great deal of trouble is caused, and an unsightly appearance results through the banging of doors on both touring and enclosed motor b-odies. The framing of some ear bodies, especially the lighter and cheaper American type, is none too robust, and the angle irons which support the door stanchions are apt to get distorted. This results in difficulty in getting the door latch to engage properly, and even greater violence is then applied. The. appearance is spoilt, and internal draughts are set up. which are annoying and inconvenient. It is a good plan to fit a rubber buffer stop which will take the jar of the closing door, and prevent this derangement. Those stops will also save broken windows in the case of enclosed cars. These rubber stops in brass case can he obtained from any coach-fitting establishment, and some ironmongers sell a type of window rattle-preventor for household windows which can be conveniently utilised for this purpose. The fitting of these little appliances also ensures absence from annoying rattles when doors do not fit well, since the rubrier buffer keeps a constant pressure on the door, and tends to hold it firmly.