Cycling & Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 70

Cycling & Motor Notes

BZ

“DEMON.”

A London motor correspondent writes that the Ford Company’s adoption of the British Dunlop pattern well-base rim has put the cat among the tyre trade pigeons. One of the largest European tyre makers (a one-time strong advocate of the old beaded-edge type) has now officially announced his capitulation and his adoption of the wired-edge and well-base principle in. tyre and rim manufacture. Motorists often find that it does not pay to be too free with offers of rides in their cars, and a Gisborne man who was the proud possessor of a new car recently had an experience which will wake him’ very careful in future (states the Times). On his way home he gave two men a lift, and then left his car standing out in the road. Later a friend came along and was admiring the car. He noticed a hole -in the upholstery on the back seat and drew the owner’s attention to it. Eventually it was found that the upholstery was smouldering, orte of the passengers having apparently left a burning cigarette butt on the seat. The new city by-law in Christchurch which provides for cars to be parked at an angle of 45 degrees to the kerbs in the streets where there are no tramlines is meeting with disapproval from many Riotorists, who state that the practice leads to much confusion. A councillor inquired, amidst laughter, at a meeting of the Christchurch County Council last week “ the by-law covered motor vans and lorries, and a letter was received from Mr F. W. Johnston on behalf of the Automobile Association, expressing .astonishment at the adoption of the by-law in its present form in view of the opinion Of expert motorists who were consulted. He thought that there must be some mis-

take. No action was taken by the council in the matter. NEW NUMBER PLATES. All motor vehicles after April 1 next (it is reported from Wellington) will be decorated with—or should be. unless the owner wishes for an interview with the police—the new orange and black number plates. The supply of plates for 1927-J3 is now available. After March 31 next the black and white plates cannot be lawfully used. On and after April 1 owners using vehicles upon which the orange and black plates are not displayed are liable to prosecution by the police. UNIFORM BY-LAWS. Motorists in the country are frequently puzzled by the fact that in many cases by-laws which are in force in one county are non-existent in another. It is possible that in the near future all difficulties arising from this fact will vanish, as at a conference of the counties of Otago, which is to be held at the Town Hall in Dunedin on Wednesday, the principal business to come before the meeting will be the discussion of a set of standard by-laws which, it is proposed, shall be adopted by all the counties. The proposal to form a Provincial Counties’ Association for the counties in Otago will also be considered at the conference.

RACING MOTORIST KILLED. SYDNEY, January 20. The latest smash at one of the Sydney speedways, involving the instantaneous death of a well-known motorist whose daring made him the idol of the crowds, and who, incidentally, always insisted on carrying the number 13, has shocked the community, and has propipted the press to ask if there is no machinery for the governmental control of these establishments. It has come as a surprise to the public to know that the police are powerless to take any action, because of the fact that motor-racing is not' a public entertainment within the meaning of the Public Halls Act. . j?d>e position is Gilbertian. . That it is -a public entertainment is illustrated strikingly by the vast crowds who attend the speedway meetings, even if they do not come within the

ambit of the. Act. The Government is powerless. Lntil special legislation is introduced, nothing can be done to bring about the Government control of motorracing. CROSSLEY CARS. It is interesting to note that Crossley cars will be used by the Duke and Duchess of York during each of the forthcoming Australian and New Zealand tours. The type of car selected is the well-known sixcylinder model. For Australia' a fleet of 12 will be utilised, and for New Zealand a fleet of seven. They comprise enclosed limousines, enclosed landaulets, and open touring cars. An enclosed limousine has been specially prepared for the personal use of the Duke and Duchess of York. The cars will be shipped to Australia and New Zealand so as to arrive a short time before the commencement of the tours. The Crossley car has a very remarkable record in connection with Royal tours. It will be remembered that they were the only official cars used by the Prince of IV ales during his series of dominion tours. A fleet carried the prince and suite throughout his Australian tour in 1919-20, during his great Indian tour 1920-21’ and again through South Africa

RACING TYRES. While no car has yet attained a speed of 200 m.p.h., tyres have, nevertheless, been tested at that speed. In a specially constructed shed at the Dunlop works at Birmingham, England, recently, tyres similar to those Major H. O. A. Segrave will use on his Sunbeam car in an attempt to reach 200 miles an hour, were successfully tested. The tyres were fitted to a carcfully balanced wire wheel which was driven by an electric motor, and below it was a broad steel wheel which was raised until it came against the tread of the tyre with the desired pressure, thus producing the actual racing load. Having been warned not to stand in line with the machine, Major Segrave and others watched proceedings through protected peepholes. Nothing untoward occurred however. After running for an appreeiable time at a speed of 30 revolutions a second, equivalent to 200 m.p.h., with a load of lOcwt, the tyres were still perfect and cool enough to touch.

An ordinary racing tyre, similarly tested, burst at 120 miles an hour anil umps of hot rubber hit the shed with bullet force. Many valuable lessons have been learned from racing, and the effect it has had in helping the successful development of modern tyres. ACCIDENTS AND THE UNKNOWN FACTOR. that there are too many motorin" accidents no one will deny, but that the Problem of “dangerous driving” can ever be dealt with except as palliatives ainiin" at lessening their number, both actually and in relation to the increase of ihotor vehicles, is the most that can be hoped •° r '« , S ause nearly every accident is speed in the wrong place,” a mechanical fault (such as brakes or steeringgear failing), or just human carelessness or ignorance or a combination of all three. Accidents will go on while motor vehicles are used and no mere limitation of speed will prevent them. A legal speed limit is so palpably an absurdity that nothin" but the machinery of the law behind it makes it work at all.

If a speed limit presupposes a “safe” speed, then it is only actually so when the accompanying set of conditions are specified; any variation either wav makes it either “unsafe” or ridiculous. It is these varying conditions that are the unknown factor in every case. Human psychology is the root cause of far more motorin’" accidents than any other, and it is only by the slow training of the human element that motoring will ever be made “safer” than it is now. Human beings will gradually become more clever at the steering wheel intuitively as time goes on. As yet we are hardly in the second generation of motorists, and. just as a “good seat in the saddle” was a natural prerogative of those whose forefathers were all horsemen. so a new generation will bring keener perceptions and more innate ’’road sense” to their motoring, and this alone will lesson the proportional number of road accidents.

But in the meantime there are no reasons why the other factors should not be dealt with. First and foremost, our roads are mostly all wrong from the point of view of “safer motoring.” Nor, with few exceptions, is- much improvement apparent, beyond smoothing out some corners and a little widening here and there, on main roads mostly, apart from so-called arterial roads. Roads are year by year becoming more like permanent ways or railless railways, and until we treat them with the same amount of respect we shall not be doing all that is possible to lessen accidents. The roads are still the common playground for dogs and children. Cattle can stray at will. Pedestrians consider they have prior rights to wheeled vehicles. Cyclists are equally certain of their- rights. Roads are still torn up at will by anyone with pipes to lay or wires to renew. Until the roads are recognised for what they are, the pei manent way of future generations motoring will never be really safe, because the roads cannot be made safe The human element will gradually get better anil better both as to road manners and road sense, while on the mechanical side

I the risks of failure of anv part essential to safe motoring will almost disappear, bo it comes back to the need for making the roads more suited to their modern work and abandoning the old-fashioned c ? s ft bout them. This entails taking their care and renovation out of the hands ot local authorities and dealing with them on broad national and scientific lines.

UTILITY OF SECOND GEAR. In driving a small car through the crowded streets of a city, the advantages ot changing to a lower gear frequently are not appreciated by many motorists By changing down (as it is called) slow moving tame can be passed more rapidly, the near side of the road being regained in a shorter space of time, and a better get-away can be made from traffic holdups. Then, again, when coming out of a by-road and crossing the main stream of trafhc, it is the foolish policy of many drivers to proceed at about 15 m.p.h in top gear, causing oncoming vehicles to brake more or less violently, simply in order that the driver who is emer"iii" ironi the by-road may save himself "the trouble of changing down. The correct procedure, of course, is to engage a lowergear before the corner is reached, making sure that the course is clear before cii- 9 deavouring to cross the main road If there is no one in the way the acceleration available on the lower gear will enable the car to get quickly across, and the whole process will take no more time than that occupied by the average slap-dash topgear driver. Many instances could be quoted to show the folly of top-"car driving and the wisdom of changing down dVffir/lr . tra ?’ c - I* IS > °f course, more dimeult to change gear on some cars than on others, but assiduous practice should enable any driver to become completely a "’/'‘Ster ot his gearbox. He will eertainlv hnd that, thereafter, the handliii" of his a"n'brf»rT re

CARE IN LUBRICATION. The internal-combustion engine operates under such strenuous conditions as to temperature that the necessity for most careful consideration of the lubrication problem becomes imperative. An enormous amount of research has been undertaken in the matter both as to the methods of applying the lubricant, the means for keeping the lubricant effective, and the nature of the lubricant itself. The latter is a chemist s job, since the conditions are so severe that a lubricant for the internal-combustion engine be capable of operating under the most adverse conditions as to temperature and pressure, lerhaps one of the most important aspects of the question is that which relates to the efficient filtering of the lubricant and method of circulating it, under pressure, to the points where it is most imperativclv required. Given the best oil of the highest flash point and requisite viscosity, and the mechanical means of circulating it to the points of service, we must have means of ensuring that it readies these points clean and free from any impuritj* of foieigy matter which would cause trouble in the finely fitted bearings of big-ends

and main journals. Filters should be adequate to the supply circulating through them, and should have a gauze or filtering medium of a fineness sufficient to stop the passage of any foreign matter which would cause trouble if it came between adjacent bearing surfaces. Unfortunately, some of these filters are too small to be completely effective. If a gauze of a fineness of mesh necessary to hold back all impurities is used, then the area of the gauze filter must be considerable, and in these small devices this is difficult to arrange. All oil as it enters and leaves the pump should be filtered, and it would be well if more efficient —and not easily removed—filters were fitted to the filling orifices of crankcases and sumps. Sometimes these filters are purposely removed by users so that the filling may be more expeditiously accomplished. It is a bad practice. Lubricating oil should reach the bearings and the cylinders absolutely pure. If it •does not, a great deal of the money expended on expensive lubricants is thrown away and much expense entailed in rectifying inefficiency, and even damage, caused by foreign matter reaching beautifully fitted and Bcraped hearing surfaces.-

INTERESTING FIGURES. Figures giving the value of the motor export trade to Australia from England and America for the past eight ‘years, have been prepared by the Australian Association of British Manufacturers and their representatives, as follows: —

N.Z. MOTOR TRADE. The sale of 1738 cars in the Dominion in December falls far short of the aggregate of 2173 in December, 1925. More than two-thirds of the cars were delivered by North Island dealers. December sales were conspicuous for the increase in English car deals. The total of 266 out of the 1738 was a record for any month in 1926, and only one car less than the British record of 267 in December, 1925. The percentage of British cars sold in December is a record over all time. The total sales of British cars during the 12 months were 1965. Following are details of the sales for the year:

The North Island’s share was 11,602 cars, and the South Island absorbed the balance of 6,422. CLOCKS ON MOTOR CARS. The winding of one’s watch is seldom forgotten. It is part of the routine of going to bed, and, therefore, takes place at regular intervals. Not so the clock on the dashboard of a car that is taken out at odd times; and the frequency with which such clocks stop because the owners have forgotten to wind them up is astonishing. A car clock can now be obtained which winds itself, so far as any attention on the part of the owner is concerned. In reality it is wound by electric current from the lighting battery. Moreover, it is continually maintained in the fully- ’ wound condition, the electric device acting at the first tooth of the winding ratchet. This feature promotes good time-keeping, since the strength of the spring is always the same.

AMERICA'S MOTOR CAR LIMIT. Motor car ownership in the United States can reach the 40,000,000 mark without danger of saturation in the industry, Mr 11. F. Kingsley, of Chicago, declared at the automotive equipment show in Chicago a few weeks ago. “ Registration of cars has doubled in the last five years,” said Mr Kingsley, “ yet in 1921 experts talked of the approaching saturation point. Five years ago automobiles in America numbered 10,500,000. To-day ] they total more than 20,000,000. The future rate of increase will not be so rapid because of growing replacement requirements, but the 40,000,000 car mark will be reached easily within the next 15 years. There are more prospective automobile owners ,-in the country at present than there are cars registered. More families can afford two cars to-day than were able to buy one car 10 years ago. National income is increasing at the rate of 2,000,000,000d0l a year, income tax statistics show. Wages in the steel and iron industry have risen 140 per cent, since 1914, while in the automobile industry they have jumped 122 per cent. Yet the actual selling price of cars is 29 per cent, lower than it was 12 years ago. The industry is approaching the p'oint where it will take nearly all the present factories to replace care going out of service every yean The annual toll of scrapping and

junking will soon be 4,000,000 cars, close to the nation’s present annual output.” IMPACT FROM TYRES. In a paper read before the recent Public Safety Congress in London, a -member quoted an experience in locomotive practice to illustrate the effect of want of balance. A few years ago a railway company accelerated a train on a given section, and had trouble with broken rails and weakened road bed, which was ultimately traced down to one locomotive. On examination' one driving wheel was found to be l-Bin off centre, thus running with a corresponding eccentric motion; and the resulting impact, which at the lower speed had been borne by rails and bed without injury, was sufficient to cause failure at the increased speed. Some recent experiments, also quoted by the speaker, show further the relative effects on the highway of various tyres run at different speeds. A 3-ton truck carrying a 44-ton load, so arranged that the total weight on each rear wheel was 70001 b, of which 53001 b was supported by the springs, was run on a road over a ledge giving a 2in drop, a special device recording the impact of each wheel. The truck was equipped first with an old solid tyre that had worn down to a thickness of lin, then with a new solid tyre 2Jin thick, and finally with pneumatic tyres 42in by 9in inflated to a pressure of 1421 b per square inch. The other conditions, except speed, were the same in all trials. At a speed of about 5.7 m.p.h. the impact of the several types was 11,6001 b, 94001 b. and 71001 b respectively: at 10.2 m.p.h. 18,5001 b, 14,1001 b, and 78001 b; at 14.6 m.p.h. 26,5001 b, 18,7001 b, and 83001 b. In these experiments, therefore, the increase of speed from 5.7 m.p.h. to 14.6 m.p.h. about doubled the impact from the new solid tyre, and increased that from the worn tyre two and a-half times, while the increase with the pneumatic tyre was less than a fifth of its original value. Other experiments, indeed, are said to have shown the destructiveness of the worn solid-rubber tyres as about equal to that of steel tyres. RUBBER PAVED ROAD. The believers in rubber as the ideal surface for city roadways are nothing daunted that their efforts have so far not met with complete success. The stretch which was laid down round the Cenotaph in Whitehall about two years ago had to be taken up, as the rubber surface “crept.’’ Now a new system of what arc known as the Gaisman blocks is being tried on a stretch of about forty yards in Upper Bridge Street, between Ludgate Circus and the river. The test here will be as severe as in any place in London, as the heaviest traffic of all sorts passes along in a constant stream. Heavy terra-cotta blocks lOJin by Sin have fixed to them a rubber _ cap _ fiveeighths of an inch thick which, it is claimed, will stand the heaviest pounding of the lorries, both horse and motor, that will go over it. These blocks arc laid on a 12in concrete bed. They are apparently I very well made, with straight-cut true edges. The edges are dipped in a mixture of rubber and bitumen immediately before laying, and the same mixture is poured on the surface joints, so that what is practically a complete rubber surface is the result. To look at the- roadway gives the impression of tiles, while the feel is that of pure rubber. A good comparison will be possible at the spot chosen, as half the width of the • road will be the ordinary wood surface • and the other half the Gaisman rubber. ; A Manchester company is carrying out > the experiment and will maintain the surI face for two years, after which the Cor- > poration will, if satisfied, enter into a 1 maintenance contract. During an arti- , ficial test in Manchester a 13-ton lorry > was sent over an experimental stretch j 1000 times in a day. This destroyed the granite sides of the road, but the rubber stood up to the test. It will be curious , if London goes back to the days of the ' Romans in Britain in the use of terracotta.

England. U.S.A. 1910 £346,483 £87,270 1912 .. . . .. 533,646 329.664 1914 292,731 354,065 1916-17 52,819 727,375 1918-19 9,131 931,282 1920-21 808,570 2,428,364 1923-24 1,172,845 5,555,181 1925-26 .. .. 2,323,420 6,544;762

1926 Total. British included. p.c. January . .. 17S2 143 8.0 February .. 1753 166 9.5 March . .. 1505 160 10.6 April . .. 1912 203 10.6 May . .. 1416 155 10.9 June . .. 1169 108 9.2 July .. . .. 1112 131 11.8 August . . . -1177 143 12.1 September . . .. 1431 156 10.9 October .. 1495 183 12.2 November . . . . 1534 151 10.2 December .. . . .. 1738 266 15.3 Totals . . . 18,024 1,965