Motor and Cycle

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 70

Motor and Cycle

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DEMON.

The varied uses to which motor traffic tan be utilised has been demonstrated at Waipukurau (says an exchange). On a lorry provided to take two families to one of the district seaside reorts was loaded parents and children and all the usual impedimenta, whilst in a compartment at the back of the lorry, in quiet contentment, stood the family cow,- a bigcrossbred Hereford. Thus was the problem of the baby's diet safely solved. Two athletic meetings at which cyclists •will bo well provided for are to be held at Mosgicl on February 16- and March it. Last season a meeting under the control of the Taieri A.A. Club was staged, and a large number of Dunedin athletes took part. An unpleasant feature of the meeting was the insufficient dressing accommodation, and as larger numbers of runners and cyclists intend to compete at the meetings this year, it is hoped that some extra shelter will be erected.

The Wairarapa Amateur Athletic SubCentre has received an application from T. Oakley for recognition of his time of 7min 13sec, established at the Wairarapa Caledonian Society’s sports on January 2, as a New Zealand grass track cycle record for three miles. --.Three •watches agreed, ind the course was certified as being the full distance. It was decided to approve the application and forward it to the Wellington Centre. No opposition to the broadcasting of the motor races at Muriwai next month will be offered by the Auckland Automobile Association. “We should welcome it,’’ said Mr F. G. Farrell, chairman .of the Sports Committee, when the point was raised at the last meeting. “I.consider the action of those sports bodies which have refused to allow it very foolish.” It was unanimously decided to send an invitation to the Broadcasting Company to relay a description of the races. The peril of unprotected railway crossings was discussed by members of the council of the Auckland Automobile Association at a recent meeting, when support for the request for a test of the new signalling device was sought by the Wanganui Association. It was stated that a Wanganui resident had invented a signal operating on the windmill principle, and that it was to be installed on three level crossings. The signal consists of crossed arms with red lights at each extremity. Revolving arms are intended to give an effect similar to that produced by a red lamp. They swing in a -circle and at the same time give audible warning from a bell operated by a knocker at each revolution. It was stated that the signal had been described by rail; way officials as “ wonderful,” “ remarkable,,” “ startling ” and “ splendid.’’ The council decided to ask the Railways Board to consider suggestions from the Automobile Association before erecting warning devices or selecting crossings for improvements.

REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES.

Up to December 31 the total number of registered motor vehicles in New Zealand was 171,255. The particulars are as follow: —

North Island —Cars 69.310, commercial vehicles 17,262. cycles 19,778: total 106,350. South Island—Cars 42,331, commercial vehicles 7789, cycles 14,815; total 64,935. Since January 1 there has been probably another 1000 added to the list. NOISY MOTOR CYCLING. At the Brunswick Court (Victoria) on January 9 Sydenham Thompson was charged with having permitted his motor cycle to make an offensive noise when passing a church where divine service was being held. Constable E. A. G. Pearse said that at about 11.20 o’clock on November 20 he was on duty near St Ambrose’s Roman Catholic Church, Sydney road, Brunswick, when the defendant passed on ia motor cycle. It was making an offensive noise. When he stopped him he said, “ 1 have a box on it. I did not think it was too noisy.” The Bench imposed a fine of £5, in default distress. On a similar charge John C. O'Connor, Rathdown street, Carlton, was fined £3, in default distress. OVER-INFLATION OF TYRES. Important though it is in the interests of tyre economy and other factors that the recommendations of tyre manufacturers as to inflation pressures should be carefully

observed to avoid the use of under-inflated tyres, there is also need to refrain from inflating tyres appreciably above the recommended standard applying to the individual tyre, with cover dimensions and weight of axle load taken into account. As with under-inflation, so with overinflation; it is far more important that the current type of balloon or lowpressure tyre should be inflated with precision than was or is the case with the now almost superseded high-pressure variety. An extra 101 b or a loss of similar extent did not matter so much when correct pressures ranged between 501 b and 701 b a square inch. But where the standard, as with low-pressure tyres, is somewhat between 181 b and 321 b as a rule, 51b difference one way or the other is by no means negligible. Constantly underinflated to that extent a tyre may have a useful life considerably below the average to be expected. Over-inflated to the same extent, the riding comfort is materially reduced; in fact, in the case of light cars, it is surprising what a difference is made? One can have too much of a good thing in respect of tyre pressure, from the standpoint of riding . comfort, at all events; and beyond a certain point the same applies to tyre life and susceptibility to punctures for the over-inflated low-presure tyre is more liable to be penetrated by a puncture fiend, as well as to be gashed by glass, large flints, etc.

PRESSURE V. SPLASH LUBRICATION.

A long series of experiments conducted with engines having pressure and splash (pump and trough) lubrication systems have brought into prominence a risk of rapid wear, bearing troubles, and even piston seizure, that attach to the pressure system to a far greater degree than to the splash system. One section of the experiments consisted of “motoring” an engine (driving it by an electrical motor) after certain parts had been cut away, so that observation could bejnade as to what happened in respect of oil circulation at various temperatures. One suspicion was thus confirmed: that with an engine cold no oil exuded from the big end and main crankshaft bearings, and that that state of affairs persisted until the oil and the bearings w r armed up. Meanwhile the pistons and cylinder bores had become almost dry, and the contact surfaces had commenced to “ score.” On the other hand, under similar conditions, an engine with splash lubrication suffered no shortage of oil or harm at any point. Subsequent tests showed that if an engine with pressure lubrication were run under its own power at 1000 revolutions per minute for five minutes, stopped for 20 minutes, and that sequence of runs and stops continued from three to five times, the combination of lack of oil and formation of rust due to condensation had the effect of aluminium pistons seizing so tightly that they had to be driven' out of the cylinders after the engine had been dismantled. The trouble could be remedied, it was found, by arranging for a small but definite quantity of oil to be thrown on the cylinder walls during the starting-, period. With a spledi-lubricated engine no such trouble occurred, the reason being that the dipping of each connecting rod into its trough caused oil to be supplied to the cylinder walls immediately the engine was started. ENORMOUS SAVINGS THROUGH CO-OPERATION. Millions of dollars, it is said, have been saved to motorists as a result of chemical research work in laboratories. A billion more gallons of fuel than formerly, usable in automobile engines, is now extracted from a given quantity of crude oil. The extra gasoline thus usable is worth 150,000.000d0l a year, and has kept the price of motor fuel from increasing materially, notwithstanding that consumption has increased tremendously in the last few years. It is estimated that 100,000,000d0l is saved annually by the public on gasoline alone as a result of the co-operative fuel research, according to a statement made by Dr H. C. Dickinson, of the Bureau of Standards.

The co-operative fuel research was begun in 1922, when the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce and the American Pestroleum Institute provided a joint fund to be administered by the Society of Automotive Engineers for research to be conducted by the United States Bureau of

Standards. Other experiments with oil used for lubricating purposes on Engines have been made with benefit to the machinery. Thus it is that the work of the world goes on, one industry cooperating with another, and a new branch of commercial and creative chemistry opening to students. MOTOR HORSE BOXES. In France and in the United States of America the normal method of transporting racehorses and hunters from one place to another is by road motor vehicle, and only in exceptional cases is recourse made to the railway for long-distance journeys. ' While in Great Britain the motor horse box has not yet achieved such wide popularity, its great merits are rapidly securing recognition, and large are being turned out to meet the demand. In Australia the claims of the motor horse box have not yet been fully recognised—largely, no doubt, due to the lack of first-hand information concerning it.

A special study of this class of vehicle has been made by the Curtis Automobile Company, Ltd.. London, who manufacture a range of horse boxes to accommodate from one to four horses or six ponies. The framework of the bod.ies is of duralumin, an aluminium alloy of great strength and very light -weight, and the panels are of sheet aluminium. In this way the weight of the vehicle is kept down to a minimum, with a consequent gain in the live loadcarrying capacity and in durability and imperviousness to weather conditions. 1 f desired, all the interior fittings can be removed to enable other live stock, or goods to be carried.

ROUND THE WORLD BY CAR. The growing popularity of the motor car for long distance and even world-wide travel is again illustrated by the 25.000 mile tour through Australia, South Africa, Europe, and America which is being undertaken by Mt and Mrs G. W. Allsop, of Auckland. Mr Allsop, who is -a leading New Zealand architect and an authority on hospital construction and sanitation, reached Launceston by the Nairana. He is accompanied by his wife, and after visiting Tasmania they will motor overland to Perth, where they will leave for South Africa. Before their departure from Australia, they will have travelled by car through Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. They left Auckland on July 22, and expect to be away about two years. With the exception of the sea passages, the tourists will motor throughout the tour, and the same car—■a Packard sedan—is to be used for the entire journey. Mr Allsop pointed out that it was much cheaper to take his car

with him on the boat than to buy a new car each time they crossed the sea. The freight overseas was much, less than the loss in price which had to be faced when re-selling a car in each country. Moreover, the use and convenience of the car would easily outweigh the cost of its transport by boat. As soon as the Packard is put off the Nairana on arrival her petrol tank will be refilled on the wharf by arrangement with the Shell Company, whose supplies are being used exclusively throughout the world tour. After touring in Tasmania.the motorists will return to Melbourne about the end of February. POINTS OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Do not forget: That you are not the only person who will picnic on the spot you have chosen, so when you leave all kinds of rubbish there it makes the next picnicking party uncomfortable. That if you throw lighted matches or cigarettes into the bush there is very good chance of your starting a fire. That if you make a list of the things required for a picnic there is much less chance of leaving the corkscrew or the butter or some other important thing behind. That if you select a site that is very green there is a very good chance of it being damp. And that, in any case, it is always a good idea to sit on a rug, for shady places often remain a little damp. That if you have a picnic basket to bring your lunch in, you also have the I means of taking away your remains, and a rubbish tin at home to place them in. That if you leave your car in a position that obscures the vision of the passing traffic you are making motoring ■ more dangerous for your fellowmotorists. That to camp under the shady tree near someone’s front gate and to set your gramophone going, and play a nice rowdy game of cricket may be great fun for you, but mighty trying for the owners of the house, who are trying . to get a little rest from the racket and bustle of the city. That a little courtesy and consideration from you to a fellow-motorist is often much more anpreciated than you might think, and often sets a snowball of reciprocity rolling along the highway. TIMELY ADVICE. The falling prices of new cars and the fact that many old motorists are fortunate enough to be able to indulge’ their whims and buy a car every two years, have resulted in the trading of hundreds of

good second-hand cars, writes “ Focus ” in the Auckland Herald. The secondhand market has been so heavily deluged that prices are very attractive, and since many dealers have had to call a halt in their used car department, there are many cars for private sale -at prices which have been forced to a low ebb by the trend for an over-supply of second-hand vehicles. The Auckland market is certainly passing through a phase when the opportunities for the motoring aspirant with £lOO or £2OO are distinctly encouraging. The trap that every purchaser of a second-hand car desires to avoid is to pay, say, £5O for a car that will cost him another £5O or £lOO in repairs after he has bought it —unless, of course, be feels that the vehicle will be worth the total sum expended after it has been refitted. In other words, avoid buying trouble. One source of worry to-day to the would-be purchaser is the hire-purchase system of new- car selling, so that, unless he is very careful, he will find after he has paid over his cash that the so-called owner was in fact only the hirer, and the registration and licensing papers would not disclose the fact. Down comes the hirepurchase dealer, who is the owner, ami demands from the unfortunate holder of the vehicle either the car or the balance due under the “ easy-payment ” agreement with the late hirer.

If the prospective purchaser is mechanically incompetent to see whether the steering has too much play, or that the gears have a chipped tooth or so. or that the backlash of the propeller-shaft is excessive, to say nothing- of the condition of the engine, he should ask the local expert to give it a “ onee-over.” Amateur advice on strange cars is seldom wot th accepting when it comes to actual mechanical testing of the competence of the various parts to do their job. After the report has been received the would-be purchaser can ask if the engineer thinks it worth while paying the price demanded with the knowledge he has of its condition. The pedigree also gives the date of the car’s manufacture and first sale, so that, although the seller may call it. say. a 1923 model, the maker's report will clinch that or reveal it as a late 1922 or some other year. Discard the appearance of the paintwork as a factor for a low-priced article, but rather test the doors, windows, sidecurtains, etc., for' rattles, squeaks, and general shakiness.

AN AMBASSADOR FROM HOME. AUCKLAND. January 16. Mr S. T. Glanfield. who is touring thA world on a motor cycle in the interests of the British motor vehicle manufacturing industry, and who was a lieutenant in the British Air Force during the war.

set out from England last July on a machine made by an old-established British firm. He was accompanied by Flight-sergeant Sparks, a well-known pilot, and together they travelled through France, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, and thence across India. At Bombay Flight-sergeant Sparks was recalled to England, and Mr Glanfield continued the journey alone. He crossed the Malay States and Java, and successfully accomplished the arduous journey across Australia from Darwin to Melbourne alone, a feat that had not before been accomplished. Many thrilling adventures on the way have convinced Mr Glanfield that it is far safer to fly around the world than to do the journey on a motor cycle. The visitor w’ill continue his trip to Vancouver by the Niagara. He will cross Canada and thence back to England. CYCLING IN AUSTRALIA. CHAMPIONS. TO TOUR DOMINION. SYDNEY, J anuary 19. The'New South Wales Amateur Athletic Association has received from the Wellington Centre of the New Zealand body an invitation to the amateur cycling champions to tour the Dominion with a trainer.