Cycling & Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3673, 5 August 1924, Page 54

Cycling & Motor Notes

BY

"DEMON."

■What ia the greatest distance covered by f motorist in 12 months? No authentic •eoords have been published in this con-

nection, but figures recently published in England show that one of the tyre testers employed by the Dunlop Tyre Co., has driven a car 93,085 miles in the 17 monlhs between November 1, 1922, and March 31, 1921. Based on a monthly average, this would give 5769 miles monthly, equal to 69,228 miles in 12 months, which must be in the region of a record. There is a prospect of the next Alpine Motor Contest, which is conducted annually by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, ibeiing rqsttricitod solely to ownerdrivers. Should this eventuate an open reliability contest over a shorter course and leas days will probably be conducted this year, in which trade cars and owner-drivers will compete. As regards the alpine contest, the greatest event of its class in Australasia, it is realised that the accommodation

en route is limited in placed and inadequate to cover the requirement of the large number of contestants that, would' take part in the 1925 event (set down for Mftrcii next) if the contest was open to the trade, and such being the case it would be better from a public point of view that this classic event be reserved for private owners of cai-s. When a car lias had a run in heavy rain, particular attention should be given to the bonnet, as after a long run the bonnet becomes fairly hot, and if raindrops are left to dry upon it they will stain far more than upon the body of wings. If circumstances do not permit of the car being washed down at once, the precaution should always bo taken of removing the bonnet and then leathering it lightly to take up the moisture, otherwise it will spot so badly that it wiil never look smart again until it is repainted and varnished. Wet mud-spots are worse than rain-spots. Never attempt to extinguish a petrol fire by pouring water on it. This only has the effect of spreading the trouble and is highly dangerous. If possible sand or soil should be used. * A driver on one occasion succeeded in smothering a very promising fire with an armful of damp grass, which by a fortunate coincidence happened to be lying by the roadside. OLD-TIME MOTORINC. Old-t i mors of motoring in Canterbury had an opportunity of talking over the days of large-wheeled motor cars recently (says the Christchurch Press), when the Canterbury Automobile Association held an old-timers’ social evening. Mr A. Dudley Dobson said that the purpose of the evening was to give the younger members an opportunity of meeting the founders of the club. The club had been formed on February 4. 1903. when Mr .Terming bad presided and Mr N. Oates had moved that a club should be formed. Mr E. James gave a report of the work of the committee, which ~ask«d the City Council, in 1904. to make the following alterations to the by-laws:—“That the speed limit should he increased from six to 10 miles per hour; that the continuous sounding of horns should bo altered to sounding only at intersect ions, and that chains round wheels should not be applicable to motor cars.” All the recommendations were adopted by the council.— (Daughter.) Professor R. -T. Scott, an examiner of the club, said that in 1890 he got between 30 and 40 miles an hour out of his car. He devised a steam carriage when he arrived in New Zealand in 1879, as be saw tl<at farmers needed some form of transit. The car had no chassis. The boiler was cokefired. and the engines developed 35 horsepower. The machine was built bv Cutten 8r05... Dunedin, from bis drawings. The car bad no differential gearing. The (rial trip was rather amusing. Mr Oliver, then Minister of Public Works, was invited to participate. When bringing the car down to Cut ten’s yard it got out of control, and rushed through a corrugated iron fence into the yard, where Mr Oliver was standing, with his silk hat and umbrella. When the Minister saw the car rushing towards him, he took refuge behind a steam-hammer casting, into which (he car crashed. When the casting tottered, Mr Oliver pushed up 11 ia umbrella.—-(Laughter.) The effect of the crash was to reverse the engine, which then carried away the greater part of Cutten’s office. Professor Scott grave an account of the proposed run lo Christchurch

for an exhibition. The car got as far as Waitati, when it collapsed. The engine was taken by train to the exhibition, where it was awarded a gold medal, and the boiler was used for years afterwards for making sausages.—(Laughter.) DRIVERS TO BLAME FOR ACCIDENTS. Of (be 17.000 automobile accidents in the State of Connecticut in 1923 nearly half occurred in the seven largest cities—New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Britain, New London, and Meriden, — the combined population of which is about half that of the whole State. The fatal accidents in the seven largest cities were 35.7 of the total number. The proportion for the first three months of the present year, however, is much larger—6o per cent. Of 16,000 accidents analysed more than 70 per cent, were the fault of the operator. Nearly 3500 were the fault of other persons, 600 the fault of defective equipment, and the remainder were listed as miscellaneous. There were twice as many accidents in proportion lo registration from commercial cars as from private cars, and 1.66 times as many from public oars as from private cars. The number of fatalities from motor cars has increased from 33 in 1910 to 280 in 1923. During the same period accidental deaths from other causes have decreased from 911 in 1910 to 769 in 1923. The motor vehicle accident deatlmate increased from 3 for each 100,000 in 1910 to 18 for each 100.000 in 1917, and since then it has remained nearly stationary. In 1910 there were five times as many deaths from typhoid as from automobiles. In 1923 there were five, times as many deaths from automobiles as from typhoid. TYRE HINTS. Sudden letting in of the clutch or application of the brakes causes local wear of the tread. Engage clutch and brakes gradually. Don’t drive on a fiat tyre, even for a hundred yards. It will not only injure the casing, but also will tear the tube.

I Unusual wear of the iread in a short time indicates bent forks, frame out of line, wheels out of round or cocked in the folks, sidecar out of" line. Correct the defects as soon as possible, or you may wear the tread completely off in a short time. Don’t let tyres stay in oil or grease. Oil rots rubber and causes tyre to peel oft. Clean oil off with waste .soaked in gasoline. the trend of design. An analysis of the various cars in the all-British motor show reveals to some extent the trend of the design of motor vehicles (slates the Melbourne Age). The overhead valve has not made the advance which was expected of it. Of 52 types of motor car shown, 23 have overhead valves, 27 have the orthodox poppets, and two only are equipped with sleeve valves. In the heavy vehicle section, in which 21 different types are displayed, all 21 are equipped with the orthodox type of poppets. Magneto ignition still holds the field among British cars. Of the 52 cars previously mentioned, only five are equipped with battery ignition. The rest rely on the magneto. This is not extraordinary, perhaps, when it is remembered that in war lime Britain found herself without magnetoes, and had to set about manufacturing them. The boost given at tlyitlirne to the British magneto has bad the effect of keeping attention from battery ignition. It is interesting to note that none cf the heavy vehicles uses battery ignition. . Another interesting fact is the grovyth in favour of the four-speed gearbox. Not so long ago three speeds forward was the standard. In the present instance, out of 76 motor vehicles, 28 have three speeds and 48 four speeds. Fashions do not eliatige in wheels a great, deal. The last innovation, the disc wheel, has not. driven all the other wheels from the arena, hut it has made fair progress. The steel-spoked wheel is still first favourite among British oars. Out of 50 ears shown, 27 have steel, 13 disc, and 10 wire wheels.

Tlie four-cylinder machine is still first favourite with manufacturers, and therefore with the motoring public. Of 52 ears shown, 42 have four cylinders and 10 six. The preponderance of fours may perhaps he explained in part by the fact that Britain is to-day eoncentratiihg on the manufacture of the light car, and that type of vehicle requires no more than four cylinders. There are no very marked changes in motor cycle design. The one-cylinder machine does not seem to have lost its popularity. It is represented by 26 types, whereas the two-cylinder machines number only 11. There are no fours. One novelty is the abolition of the top portion of the motor cycle frame, and the substitution therefor of the petrol tank. TNRILLINC MOTOR RACINC AT BROOKLANOS. Immense crowds, far greater than at any previous motor racing meetings, were, at Brooklands racecourse recently to see a number of the world's most powerful cars driven “full out” in various speed contests at the spring meeting of the club. There were thrills in plenty, and there was also real enthusiasm shown by spectators for specially fine driving feats. The best time of the day was recorded in the race for the Brooklands Founders’ Gold Cup. which was won by Mr L. G. M. Le Champion in an Isotta-Maybach, a viciously ugly looking car under whose immense bonnet was housed a 200 h.p. Zeppelin engine. Mr Le Champion averaged 1044 miles an hour, but won by only 20yds from Captain Campbell in «• Sunbeam. The most sensational race of the day was the last, over eight miles and a-lialf. It appeared to be an easy win for Mr Eldridge in a monster Fiat, but while he was travelling at over 100 miles an hour one of his back tyres collapsed. The rim

came into contact with the track, sending out a shower of sparks like a. Catherine wheeh The ear held to the course, and Mr Eldridge came in third. The rim was almost red hot when he came to a standstill, with smoking rubber still sticking to it. The race was won at 100.6 miles per hour by Captain Campbell in a Sunbeam, with Mr Norris second in a Wolseley Viper, which also had a tyre in ribbons. The “ baby ” cars put tip very high speeds in the Easter Small Car Handicap. The winner’s speed was 75| m.p.h., and the engines of the two leading cars were about the size of a typewriter. CYCLE’S EARLY HISTCRY. Coventry’s association with the cycle trade may be said to date from the winter of 1868-69. It was during that period that Rowley B. Turner, a nephew of the head of the firm which we now know as Swifts, of Coventry, Limited, came over from Paris with one of the machines that had become popular in France, and which we now speak of as the boneshaker, to put before the directors of the English Sewing Machine Company a proposition that they should manufacture a number of the machines for him to place on the French market. The boneshaker which the ingenuity of the French people had evolved out of the dandy-horse of the early part of the century was the forerunner of the modern bicycle. Except that it was driven by the front wheel it contained all the elements of the type of bicycle which succeeded it, and which held undisputed sway until John Kemp Starley revolutionised the world of wheels by the introduction of the reardriven bicycle—the safety bicycle of to-day —in 1885. And that invention, to anticipate a little, was also one with which Coventry was associated. The boneshaker of the late ’sixties was not, however, the

first form of self-propelled road vehicle which was produced in Coventry. Three years previously, James Starley (an uncle of J. K. Starley, the inventor of the reardriven bicycle), who was then in the employment of the English Sewing Machine Company, had built a four-wheeled velocipede, but it never achieved any degree ofi commercial success, and it is very doubtful if there is to-day a single specimen of James Starley’s four-wheelers in existence. At the time that Turner put the proposition to build boneshakers for the French market before the directors of the English Sewing Machine Company, the industry with which the- name cf the company was associated was passing through a bad time, mainly because of foreign competition ; but when the directors agreed to the proposal, and also decided to market the machine at, Home, they little thought they were laying the foundation of a great English industry—an industry out, of which has grown the motor bicycle and the motor car, not to say the aeroplane. It cannot be said that the introduction of the bicycle created an immediate revolution; but, at anyrate, it served to revive the fortunes of the company which introduced it, and within a short period the title of the firm became the Coventry Machinists’ Company. Under that title it continued to trade until it was reconstructed during the company-promoting boom of 1896, when it became the Swiff Cycle Company. Ltd. Within cpiile recent years it became Swifts of Coventry, Ltd., having in the interval added the manufacture of motor cars to its activities while continuing the making of bicycles.