THE MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1915, Page 11

THE MOTOR AND CYCLE.

J. Booth, the crack Victorian moto* cyclist, recently established in Sydney a new Australian competition record by covering five miles in 4min 43 2-ssee.

An American sporting paper announces that the Paris-Roubaix race—one of the French road race classics—has been abandoned for 1015. As the route goes right through both the French and German lines, we should think so!

There is an absolute boom in cycle racing in the United States. It seems to be as popular there as it was in England twenty-live years ago, and in this country sixteen years back. Illustrations of a recent meeting held at Newark depdot packed stands and grounds.

During a recent official touriug cor test for a speed on the new Chicago speedway, it was found that witii the hood up on a powerful 1-2-cylinder car the diffw-cnr-.e in speed was equivalent cnly to three miles an hour. With hood dotfu tile pace maintained over !0 mill's was 72.7.in.p.h., with it up Ofl.S ni.p.h. On a lower-powered ear the difference wonUl, of course,' be more'marked. 1

Tlie war lias proved' the vital necessity of some means of re-starting an aeroplane engine without the necessity of the aviator having to leave the machine, even for a moment. A clever contrivance has just been invented in England, it taking the form Of a light self-starter, weighing, with fittingsj battery, gears, etc., only 841ba Tests proved that this outfit was capable of turning a DO-h.p. Daimler aero engine for two minutes at 60 revolutions per minute, and the outfit proved in every way a success. Hitherto attempts to provide a good self-starter have failed, owing to the difficulties in regard to the question of weight.

Erank Kramer, America's champion cydist, recently established a new world's record for the qiiartcr-mMo 1111paced, in competition. Tlie 410 yarda were covered in 27 2-ssee., three-fifths of a second better than Uoullet's previous recoTcl. Kramer and A. Orenda (Tasmania) tied on points for the American championship when the latest American maffl left. Goullet was close up, being only two points away, third. Showing what a remarkable sprintr Kramer is, he recently roiie the concluding eighth of a mile (220 yards) of a match with Goullet in 11 2-ssee., which i? the fastest ever recorded for that distance in a sprint.

Experiments were recently luMe in Indiana (U.S.A.) of a system of illumination dn order to demonstrate the practicability of motor-ear raeing at night on a big scale. The tost proved a complete success. Lights of the type used in contracting and .railroad work for emergency operations at night were placed at diiteiMals about the track. Each light was supplied with a cylinder of dissolved acetylene, and developed a light of from twelve to fifteen thousand candle-power. The test demonstrated that this form of illumination makes it as easy to follow the racing at night as in frroad daylight. _ _^

I > j*. I'aliey, the overlanding cyclist, Wno is endeavoring to establish ne\v figures for the transcontinental ride from l'ort Darwin to Adelaide, is making fair progress. Fahey reached the Daly Waters telegraph depot (407 miles) after six days' hard riding, machine and tyro troubles delaying him considerably, and Powell'* Creek depot (about 553 miles fromh Darwin) was reached on August 10 (Fahey started on August 2), after a heart-rending plug against a fierce gale. In the circumstances the overlander did well to reach Powell's Creek in nine days from Darwin, for he was on rising country. It took Roicjiebttc-h who holds the record, BV2 diys> tb'tover the' aamo stages going in the J othcr"direetio'ri, with the fall in Ijis faVo'r. ;'■' Fihey got stuck up by his breaking, on the Tennants' Oreek stage,' and "abandoned the attempt at a .record. * * * * Close observers of the commercial vehicle situation in America have noted several tendencies of late which seem to portend an entirely new epoch in this industry—one that seems destined to have a far-reaching effect on the whola system of manufacture, sale and maintenance of commercial motor vehicles. This change is being brought about entirely through economic causes, apparently, and will do much, it is believed, to offset some of the unsound conditions which have been more or leas of a disturbing factor to the best growth of the industry ever since its inception. The experience of recent years is that the large user of motor vehicles can, and does, make motor trac.tiiiri pay, -because he can use them to advantage, anrt]Src-' perty maintain Me'm, for the expense ofskilleil supervision ajiil handling■' • is spread over a number 6f yeMeles, 'thereby;'keeping down the ritrinirig cost, andmaintcnajlce of eai'h vehicle.: Not'so tht rnah oV commercial house'that uses perliaps Viily one 'of' tiVo:vebicle.=. : ; In America" this is the type' of user'who: will probably be the means of railing' to be introduced a new system of bandling this pliase of motor traction. It lias been found in the United States that in most instances the commercial motor is not a payable proposal ion to the small man, i'or he must either' employ one'good 1 driver-mechanic to care for his machineand also own or rent proper garage fati--litios, or lie must pay some garage for ! its repairs, storage and maintenance. In either instance 'his expenses' are"likely I to be considerably out of proportion to) the trucking facilities' received, for in cue case lie maintains equipment and! skilled labor sufficient for a 'much larger number of vehicles than he actually use?: and in the other lie must puv regular' garage rates with the repair man's" profit added. The question therefore "naturally arise.*, would it not be better for ' the small motor truck- user if, instead of i nttempting to purchase and maintain ' vehicles of his own. he rented them from a motor company either regularly or by the trip? Wouldn't he really save money, to say nothing of c-caping the worries and 'troubles of trying to maintain one's own transportation equipment? There are indications that not j only the small users b-uf also the raanu-' faetureis themselves are beginning to' sec the light and arc rapidly'.oming to an affirmative conclusion in the matter. I From tho manufacturer's standpoint there is no question but that the present 9ysitem of marketing commercial vehicles and keeping their owners satisfied is both wasteful and detrimental to th.e beet development 0/ tie industry, ■

More damage is done to a side-car and fittings when running empty titan when carrying a passenger, owing to lie severe jolting it undergoes. A good idea Is to put a strap around the body of the car and under the chassis when a passenger is in it. Thus there will be a slight tension on the springs when empty, and jolting will be reduced to a minimum. ■

When a motor cyclist has trouble with a broken engine valve he seldom realises what an enormous strain it works under. It has been figured out that a mechanically operated valve in a motor cycle eiigine opens against a total pressure of from anything from 40 'to l"20 Ibs, according to the area of its head. For example, a valve with an area of 1 square inch opening against a pressure of 401bs, at the rate of ten times per second (1200 r.p.m.) has to overcome a resistance equal to 240,0001bs per minute. It's no wonder they sometimes break!

There is every probability that, savsj the Motor Xews (England)', within Ac near future (be motor ga.rage.s will be'iknmled of all their mechanic?', the best, of coin-fee, being selected. Already this has happened in .a number of 'cases. There is a cryiiig.need for men to pro duce shells and still more shells, and the .motor mechanic, who is generally a versatile individual, is naturally in great demand. Already in some garages only one mechanic lias been left, and no doubt ,tlicre will be as considerable difficulty in gotting/*ep»ir*v e#eat«Ui.vmtU tiie^.conclusion of the war releases the motor mechanics. No doubt it will have the effect of giving private owners an experience whwh they might not otherwise have obtained.

Motor cyclists will find that they can obtain slower running by making all joints between carburetter and engine absolutely air-tight. Fifth glue a«d. in,sulatir.g tape will be found.useful in this direction. . Also gee that no air is ■leaking into the engine by Way of the | valve caps, plug and compression tap I through being loose or 'having broken j asbestos and copper washers. A worn i valve guide may cause leakage. Attention to these points will render the engine much easier to start. If the engine is hard to start-another reason may be that the adaptor or choke tube is too large, or that the jet is too small. Another symptom of too small a jet is when the engine will not take any extra air and occasional firing back into the carburetter occurs. The remedy is to lit a jet sufficiently large that at least half the available amount of extra air can be taken at full speed. If a carburetter takes full- air at moderate speeds with the throttle full flpcn, either the air slide is not properly adjusted or the jet is too large. A spluttering engine may be due to a partly choked jet. A gaiira screen'choked with dirt and too'large a jet both cause overheating. A dripping carburetter is due to a puiictured float, dirt in the needle seating, air vent in float chamber cap stopped point of needle valve worn, dirt in the weight mechanism inside tile cap. Always use as much air as possible without causing the engine to knock or blow Iwck through the carburetter—air is cheaper than petrol.

J. Fahey's machine trouble, a broken . chain-wheel crank, during his attempt on | the transcontinental bicycle record bcjlween l'ort Darwin and Adelaide, call? J to mind the fact that a somewhat slmi,lar accident befel Messrs Coleman and .Mather, away back in 1887, when they were endeavoring to reduce ilia lima iftablirfied by Jerome Murif in nig pioneer ride across 'Australia-. In this connection it is interesting to note the advance made in the time records for this strenuous -triii across the continent. Jerome Murif in 1897 was the first cyclist to tackle the trip from ocean to ocean, and he succeeded in getting through in 73 days. Messrs T. Coleman and A. Mather the same year set after the record, and had a most unenviable trip. At Daly Waters the forks of Mather's machine broke, and Coleman had to go on and send back a party with horses to bring in Mather and his machine, etc. After a few days' delay the forks were patched up,, and the overtowlers pushed .on again. Further misfortune struck them, for near Tennant's Creek—where Fsihcy had the misfortune to his machine —the sprocket wheel of Mather's machine broke, and from there onwards Mathers had to proceed on 'horseback. Coleman, in the meantime, with an eye to the record, pushed ahead, bnt he, too, struck trouble in a bad attack of dysentery, through drinking poisoned water -from ;» hole full of dead hirdi, etc. Alone in the desert Coleman got so bad that lie collapsed and was 'imabb to proceed, and running out of prov isii.ns, etc.,, he was forced :to .disconnect the ovc-rlind. vMcli.'ev.entjatly brought Mm ..assistance, .-'and »t tii«'-s'suro 'J, m , much abhse from,all parts, owing fo'the cable service being held i;n for a day.or two. F.ventualiyYjolcmin reached .'.'Adelaide-in 03 'davs—lo davs fetter than Murif. iii Angust. 1808, Albert: MacDdnald, a' telegraph operator ~111 the Territory,' ;'iria4e a hi" cut. into the. overland figures'by ridinS from ttiwia to Adelaide (2.QOG miles) in <!81 days 13'.hours SOniin. Such a remarkable record was this that'it was i left untouched for Hi yea,r s , until. P. Reichenbat-h, (Vie.) reduced, the figures last year by riding from south to north in 28 .lava ,mm. One striking feature m connection with the whole of these transcontinental rides is tfiat Dunlor. tyres have been, used on every occasion

N.;w /ealandcrs arc fighting with t ], e British, tonccs ,„ each of England's many camp:,,.;,,,. Aran,,, the representatives or who were oj> active adr-. vice in j,|»> K a? t„ African 'campaign is a loriner resabnt of \Vailii, wlio.is seraing will, tho 25th, lloyal ami in , th« last letter to ,l,is wife, written on | May fl, ho flesenl.es (he situation of-the i ifl.se camp, which was reached after 48 . hours' journey by train from Mombasaa. ■\\e are ea.npedin a beautiful position,'' <™ •'> taw rolling pl a j„ doted all over w,th small -hardwood. 41101,1 lT(, ° s - A '"i firaas strewn will, wild i flovrcrs. and enclosed by a semi-circle of , 'Jffl. lulls on the south-oast and south I Kilimanjaro, l!),000ft high. J8 vij3ib]e , every morning about 40 or (10 miles away ,to the south-east, and 1 take it that the , prcvaihng w,nda, which blow from that direction, help to keep the plain temperate, as we are only one and a-half deRrees distant from the Equator There are said to be lion,, rhinoeeri, etc,, on the plums, but they are much more numerous a little further down the line in the thick worn-iicru!> district."