CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 3662, 20 May 1924, Page 54

CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

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"DEMON.”

• A particularly fine pictorial art sheet in two colours, comprising 27 views taken along the route of the recent 1250 miles alpine motor contest, has just been issued by the Dunlop Rubber Company. To motorists who appreciate touring in mountainous regions this supplement w r ill be keenly appreciated. A copy may be had gratis by any motorists upon application to the Dunlop Company. An interesting test was recently carried out on a six-cylinder car in England. The car was supplied with a pint of petrol with a view to ascertain how far it would travel up a certain hill on its various gears. At an average speed of 20 miles per hour on top the car covered 3.30 miles to a pint, or 26.4 miles per gallon. On second gear at the same speed the mileage was 16 to the gallon. The next test was to let the car go fast, using the most suitable gear for the purpose, the result being that two and a-half miles were covered at an average speed of 36 miles per hour on a consumption of 20 miles per gallon. Other things being equal, therefore, a car is more economical on fuel on top gear, explaining why a car will give different results in different hands. The Brooklands Racing Track m England is greatly improved for the 1924 racing season, which has just opened. Over £IOOO has been spent in repairs, and motorists and motor cyclists will find that the track is considerably smoother and better in every way. CRAWLINC ON TOP CEAR. If you want to drive very slowly on top gear jou must retard the ignition •ufficiently, If you don’t, crawling on top gear will be represented by a series of jerks and engine “staggers” and transmission snatches. When an engine is accelerating after a topgear crawl. the ignition can usually he appreciably further Advanced than when its slow speed is being

maintained on a practically closed throttle. Under the latter conditions the ignition should be retarded as far as possible, assuming that the timing is normal, and that the details of the ignition are in fair order. If there is the slightest advance in the occurrence of the spark—if it occurs before the pistons reach their top dead centre —snatching and staggering cannot fail to be evident in top-gear crawling. THE TYRE TRADE. More than 45,CC0,0{X) automobile pneumatic tyres were manufactured in U.S.A. in 1923, and the sales value of tyres, tyre repair materials, and sundries shipped during the year totalled £124,122,800. These marks established new records, for the best previous output of pneumatic casings was 41,000,000 in 1522, when the sales value of finished products of the tyre industry amounted to £113,245,000. Every branch of the tyre manufacturing business, with the exception of the solid tyre field, in 1923 went ahead of its previous high mark. Some 60,000,000 inner tubes were made last year, while in 1922 the production of this item totalled 51,0-00,000. Solid tyre production in 1923 was 769,057, compared with 874,003 in 1922. The sales value of pneumatic casings alone reached £97,734,000 in 1923. The importance of the tyre industry will be appreciated when it is understood that the sales value of all manufactured rubber goods shipped last year amounted to £196,315,600. The tyre business handled over 63 per cent, of this volume. POINT’’ DUTY. White overalls for London police on point duty are suggested by Captain Viscount C’urson, who asked the Under-secretary to the Home Office in the House of Commons whether he was aware of the great difficulty under certain conditions at night, in London, experienced by drivers of vehicles of seeing traffic signals made by police officers on point duty; (hat in many great cities the police employed on such duty were equipped with white overalls; and would lie, in view of these facts, consider the possibility of providing such overalls for officers on point duty at important junctions where street lighting was poor? The Under secretary said that white gloves were provided, but white overalls were not suitable to London ; also, that safety on the road did not deopnd on the colour of the officers’ uniform, but very of lon on the speed of the motor car. The obvious retort to that, though it was not made, was

that the speed of the motor car quite as often depended upon whether or not the driver could see the officer on duty. Some times in our cities it is difficult at night to determine whether the constable is beckoning or holding up the traffic. CASED TYRES. Rubber cuts more easily when the cut ting surface is wet, as evidenced bv the fact that rubber workers dip their knives into water to facilitate their* work. Hence on a wet day glass, china, and sharp stones more easily lacerate the covers, and in some cases may lead to puncture. Therefore, after driving over wet roads, more frequent inspection of the tyre treads is advisable in order to extract any foreign substances that may have become embedded in the rubber. A lthough a puncture may not have been sustained, it i‘s almost sure to take place if any fragment of stone or glass be left in the tread for any length of time ; also, if a cut that is deep* enough to reach the casing is not filled up 'or otherwise properly treated, water will find ingress, and the tyre will be weakened thereby. CONCRETE FOR GARAGES. Easily the best, safest, and most durable, and —in the long run—most economical garage is one constructed of concrete, says a northern writer. A concrete garage is, above all, most durable—concrete hardens with age It is easy to keep clean; it is fireproof, and retains its warmth in winter, while keeping cool in summer; it does not let in dampi, and the dry-rot question does not arise. Concrete is, in addition, exceedingly economical where labour is concerned. Thus it is quite possible to fit up onescif a most lasting and serviceable garage constructed of hollow concrete blocks, fittlhg into one another, with the assistance of a jobbing carpenter. Or, depending on circumstances, it may sometimes be more economical to mix the concrete in situ, using local materials for aggregate. The whole outlay might not exceed a hundred pounds, so, apart from the use of a concrete garage, its construction will well repay the owner who lias his eye on the leasing value of his property. Whatever method of construction be used for making a permanent garage, the convenience of an inspection-pit should be remembered. It is easy to make a pit, about sft deep, cemented, “stepped” for ready access, and boarded over when not in use. It saves such a lot in wear and tear of cloities and temper when work has to he done to the under part of the car. A cement floor,

sloping towards the centre, is essential to any garage, even if other materials are used for different parts. It should, after all, be remembered that the weather-proof quality of concrete will lengthen a car’s life. KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR CAR. Never let your car get up too much speed when descending a gradient. You should check it gradually, and have the

feeling always that you have the car under perfect control. Remember that it is \ cry much easier to stop a slow-moving car with the brake than one travelling at a breakneck pace. You should always, of course, keep well to your left on corners, especially so when descending a hill, as you never know when you might come face to face with somo reckless driver taking the corners much too fast, and probably much too wide, in consequence, in order to make a rapid climbs

CARS DESIGNED WHILE YOU WAIT. Pasadena, California, is reputed to be the winter home of more millionaires than are seasonably gathered in any other spot on earth. With a vast colony of millionaire castles assembled in one city, and nestled in magnificent estates that resemble great parks, it is not surprising that this community revelling under the benign climate rivals cities like Paris and New York for leadership in the sales of costly motorcars. Selling dozens of cars of the £IOOO to £2500 class is everyday business in Pasadena. Wealthy buyers are usually fastidious, but one firm of eoachbuilders has a department where the prospective purchaser may see any kind of coach job he desires — designed before his very eyes. An expert works with lightning-like speed. “What sort of a coach would you like?” asks the designer. The prospective buyer tells him as nearly as possible what his ideas are, and the designer immediately “builds up” that type of automobile—actual size, on a huge blackboard. "There you are 1” says the designer. “How do you like it?” In a very few minutes a few lines are changed here and there until the customer sees a life-sized sketch of what his car is going to be like. Once the design is approved, it is photographed and transmitted to the specification stipulated by the prospective buyer. TRAMS AND BUSES. According to a Board of Trade report published early in 1914, it appears that in 1911 licenses were held by 2743 motor-buses In London. This figure has now been sub-

stantially increased, and the London General Omnibus Company had 3869 buses in operation last December and was increasing this number at the rate of 25 per week. Other companies ran 208 buses, making a total of somewhere over 4000. In addition to the gain in numbers, the modern motorbus is both larger and more reliable than its predecessor. In any case the greater number now at work adds very materially to the frequency of the services, and it is this which is often the determining factor as to whether a bus does or does not secure a passenger, says Engineering. This is very obvious in certain parts of the London area where buses and trams are running in competition, but where tho latter are giving the more frequent service. If the bus chances to arrive at a starting point at the same time as the tramcar, it secures most of the passengers, since, owing to the facility with which it can wend its way through traffic, its trip time between competing points is less than that of the tramcar, although tho latter has the higher maximum speed. The difference in the speed of transit, however, is not sufficient to induce passengers to wait for a bus if a tramcar is immediately available, since on the average a net saving of time is effected by taking the first vehicle to hand. There has been extraordinary growth of the bus traffic. In 1911 the buses carried 401 million passengers and the electric railways 436 million. Last year the motor-buses carried 1214 million passengers. The tramways, including all services, carried 1050 million, so that the more modern vehicle has definitely outstripped its rival. RECKLESS OR DRUNKEN DRIVERS. Section 35 of the Criminal Justice Bill, introduced recently in the House of Lords by Lord Haldane, seeks to sanction the imposition of heavier penalties upon persons convicted of being drunk while in charge, on any highway or other public place of a motor-car. Lord Haldane proposes that on. summary conviction, even for a first offence, a defendant shall be liable either to a fine not exceeding £SO, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, or to both such imprisonment and fine. Under the Act of 1903 a first offence for reckless driving was punishable by a fine not exceeding £2O, while a second or subsequentconviction rendered the defendant liable to a fine not exceeding £SO or, in the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months. Statutory right of appeal was given in the event ot the imposition of a fine exceeding 20s While the motoring community as' a whole is decidedly in favour of the ruthless suppression of the reckless or drunken driver, says an English writer, one must not lose sight of the difficulty experienced even by medical men of distinguishing between the effect of alcohol and the effect of a severe shock to the system, such as might easily result from an accident to the car.