CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 3596, 13 February 1923, Page 48

CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

BY

“DEMON.”

About a year ago America was tickled by the discovery of over 20 motor cars that had been drowned in a big disused quarry hole full of water outside Chicago. Since then several more cars have been hauled to the surface from the hole, and about 30 more await disinterment. It is surmised that a good many of the cars submerged in the quarry were sent there by persons who reported them as stolen, and collected the insurance upon their loss. , Sales methods vary in different countries. A go-ahead agent of the B.S.A. at Aomori, Japan, has recently added to his establishment a restaurant, which he names the_ “B.S.A. Restaurant,” a club house r,nd billiard saloon. All the waiters, waitresses and servants of the club wear a special B.S.A. livery, and the scheme of decorating throughout is the B.S.A. piled arms and letters. A billiard tournament was held recently and a B.S.A, Bicycle put up as a prize. This prize was won bv the local ■qairei who has now become a B.S.A. enthusiast. The agent has also founded a B.S.A. Bicycle Club, and hopes to enrol

100 or more B.S.A, riders during the next 12 months. Engine oil should vary with the distance run with a Cal'. In-the early stages a light oil will prove efficient; but as wear goes on, and the pistons and rings are chafed smaller by constant working, the grade of oil should be heavier. Say a car has run 5000 miles, one might reasonably consider that the pistons and rings have worn sufficiently to let petrol through to the lubricating oil, which does not tend to purify the oil, but instead deteriorates it. Thus, after 5000 miles, a medium grade lubricating oil should be filled into the crank cvse after the old oil has been run off. Then, after some 20,000 miles have been covered, a heavier oil should be used. By adopting these changes of oil the wear of piston and rings will be sealed, and tfie viscosity of the oil will not be impaired by petrol leaking through.

FIREPROOF FUEL RESERVOIR. Recent experin •tilts with fire-proof petrol tanks in France suggests (says an exchange) that a fuel reservoir which remains unaffected by fire has at last been discovered. A fire was lit under a sheet-metal tank containing some five or six gallons of motor spirit, and after half an hour the external part of the tank had become unsoldered at the seams. The lining of sheet metal, however, remained unaffected by the heat, and after the experiment the petrol was hardly tepid. The process for rendering the tank fire-proof consists of interposing a cushion of air and of an insulating and incombustible substance between the sides of tin tank and its inner lining.

HENRY FORD. Mr Henry Ford is considered to be the richest man in the world. Figures given to his income far exceed anything of the kind alleged in regard to any other millionaire. His cash in hand is stated as 36 million pounds—an income of £IOO,OOO a day—and his annual profits, after payment of taxes, 22 million pounds. This all sounds like national debts rather than private fortunes (says The Times, London)., and. it has a nightmare enormity if we try to imagine ourselves in control of them. ... . However, he is forced by his own conscience to live much like the rest of us, and also by the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day. HEAD LIGHTS. There has been one long drawn-out cry against dazzling head lamps ever since the introduction of electric lighting on motor vehicles. In the older days acetylene head lamps were used, and found adequate. Nowadays, such lighting is obsolete, and, indeed, useless. One must remember that a few years back there were only a few motor cars, comparatively speaking, on the roads. To-day the roads are alive with them. In earlier days accidents were of rare occurrence. To-day they happen all day long. Pedestrians will scurry over busy roads at night, and motorists narrowly miss running them down as regular as clockwork. Electric head lamps are imperative, and the longer the beam and the brighter the lie ti er for the driver. Dim the light by frosting, the glass and he is robbed of efficient lighting. Cars should not travel at high speed at night. Cars on country roads should travel at a normal rate, and keep well to tha left, USED OIL. As a motor engine works, so naturally it wears; and as it wears it distributes fine particles of metal within itself. Dust and grit enter the breather pipes and join forces with the metal particles. These all settle sweetly in the oil in the crank-case, to get whirled around all the working parts of the engine when running. At regular intervals car owners should empty out the old oil from the crank-case and re fill with new. Some motorists may think this a waste, but it will prove economical in the long run. motor-assisted cycles. According to English advices there is an increasing demand for motor-assisted bicycles—the cycle with an engine to propel it as distinguished from the motor-cycle proper. These cycles are now being manufactured in larger numbers and are being placed on the market at lower- prices than has previously been the case. The ordinary cycle, too, has come down iii price—the reduction averages 20 per cent.—and since the motors cost less, large numbers of cylists are having their bicycles fitted with motors.

POPULARITY OF MOTORING. An erstwhile Aucklander writes to a fiend in Te Aroha that he recently travelled from San Francisco to Los Angeles, by train 471 miles, in 13 hours. For 100 miles the express travelled alongside the surf. “The automobiles here are everywhere,” he continues, “and there are thousands and thousands of them. You seldom see any horses; everything is electrically run, or by benzine. By the way, benzine is lid a gallon in Los Angeles, and all the roads, for thousands of miles from Los Angeles through to Chicago, and then on to New York, have the appearance of a worn tyre—all black and smooth and oiled; no dust whatever. The road through from San Francisco to Chicago has not the same appearance, for it is concrete all the way. You never saw such fine roads, and, of course, everyone has a car. BRITISH LICHT CAR. Light cars promise to oust all other classes from" the position of really popular vehicles on British roads. Both engine and chassis (says the Daily Mail motor supplement) have been developed almost alarmingly during the last few years, certainly much more extensively and intensively than any other class of car an interesting demonstration of which was afforded at the recent speed championship of Great Britain when the speed of the winning car in the 1500 c.c. class was only a fraction of a mile an hour less than that of the winning car in the 2000 c c class. With this improvement in engines and chassis is coming a. corresponding improvement in bodies, and it is no longer necessary for the light-car owner called up to carry four passengers to have to apologise to them for their comparatively cramped accommodation ±"racu callv every 4-seater British light car can gh-e a highly satisfactory road performance when so laden. It is no sight to see an engine : rated at 10 or 11 ll.p. carrying a totally enclosed four-seater saloon bodv with entire satisfaction to all concerned and with no distress to itself. . The Manchester Guardian, m discussing the subject, says the smaller car in addition to its relative cheapness, has been found entirely satisfactory to owners. I hey noint to the fact that motoring has become a business, and unless the business depression is removed it is unlikely that buyers will want t o sink large sums in more _ expensive machines. A number of these light cars weigh, complete for the road, about 1200 pounds, and are equipped with twocylinder air-cooled engines similar to those employed on motor cycles, these rating at 6 to 8 horse power and running as high as 50 miles per gallon of fuel. MOTOR CYCLE TRACK RECORDS. Gradually the one-hour motor cycle track record is creeping up closer to the 100 miles mark. Years ago it looked a_s if the motor cycle would soon achieve this record, but time has proved it a more difficult proposition than anticipated, and even the light

car. with a 1500 c.c. engine, has achieved the honour before the soro machine. The latest recorded attempt to establish new figures for the hour is that of the crack English rider H. Le Vack, who covered 89 miles 1591 yards in 60 minutes. His. time for the 100 miles was 1 hour 6 minutes 43 4-5 seconds.