MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 22 July 1929, Page 9

MOTOR AND CYCLE

MOTOR TRANSPORT. WHERE NATIONS STAND. LATEST FIGURES. The following facte and figures are taken from the 1921) book issued by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, New York: —

LEADING CUSTOMERS

THE BATTERY.

TO ENSURE GOOD CONDITION.

The things which car operators should do to keep their butteries in good condition arc simple. The essentials are:— 1. -Fill with distilled water once a week in summer, every two weeks in winter, to a level slightly above the tops of the plates, 2. Wipe the top clean and dry after each filling. 3. If the terminals become corroded, clean them and cover with a thin coat of vaseline. 4. See that the battery is clamped down tight. 5. Don’t drive wilh light on to “save” battery. Over-charging is rare and is not likely to cause any trouble. 6. Check the specific gravity of the electrolyte in each cell once a month. If any read below 1-15 have the battery charged. 7. Have the battery inspected at a battery service station twice a year. 8. Don’t test (?) a battery by short circuiting it and judging its condition by the spark produced. This test is both harmful and misleading.

REPAIRING PUNCTURES.

The comparative freedom from punctures of some modern tyres and the most universal practice of carrying a spare wheel have combined to make it seldom necessary to repair tyres by the roadside, ■says ait article in the Goodyear News. In consequence, many new owners never mend a puncture; they merely fit the spare wheel and leave the repair work in the hands of the garage. Sooner or later, however, two tyres will give trouble within a few miles of one another, leaving no other course open to the owner but to mend one of them. For this reason it is advisable for every motorist to carry a puncture repair outfit.

It is not proposed, here to deal with the whole subject of tyre repairs, but there are one or two mistakes frequently made by the novice whii need emphasis. The most common error lies in applying a patch to the tube immediately after it has been coated with rubber solution. If this is done, it will be found difficult to make the patch stick, as it will tend to curl up at the edges. The patch and tube should be liberally smeared with solation and five to ten minutes allowed to elapse before applying the patch. Another point concerns the use of French chalk, which should always be sprinkled liberally over the tube. It not only pre‘vents the tube from sticking to the cover, but alsp acts as a lubricant and tends to stop chafing. French chalk should never be used until the patch has stuck satisfactorily, for there is a danger of it finding its way under the patch and making it necessary for the whole job to be done again.

LIGHTER SIDE OF MOTORING.

MOTOR HUMOUR.

In the Madeira Islands the novel method of organising a lottery is adopted to sell cars. « «= * * Small Son: “Daddy, what do you call a man who drives a cart” “It depends on how close ho comes to me.” ««>*■* P.C.: “Well, if you're not a vagrant, what is your job?” Tramp: “I’m a professional thirdparty in motor accidents.’’ * * * Lorry driver (telling of a crash with a small car): I see the little devil cornin’, and I thinks—“ There’s a fly on me windscreen.” Then the thing dashes through the radiator and knocks the tops off all me spark plugs. # # # # ! Motorist: “I killed your cat, but I’ll ; gladly replace the animal.” Oid Maid: "Why—er—this is so sudden, and, besides, I’m afraid you cant catch mice.” # # # # Agitated Wife: I’m positive that was a human being we ran over. Motorist (in thick fog): Good! Then we’re still on the road all right. GENERAL ITEMS. Adjustable seats which are locked in the desired position by means of a handoperated cam on each side, sometimes tend to rattle owning to the existence of : clearance between the rollers upon which the seat runs and the toothed racks with which the rollers engage when the cam is fully home. The cure is to remove the rollers and cut away the woodwork of the seat to the necessary degree, so that the roller brackets are slightly countersunk when screwed into position again ,and the; clearance, thus eliniinatcd.

The design of the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine is a matter of considerable importance. Rapid strides have been made in. the development of the Ricardo head, which is the invention of a British engineer, Mr. Harry R. Ricardo. The essence of the invention is the creation of turbulence of t!«& mixture in order to produce a rapid spread of the flame —in other words, perfect combustion. It is claimed that the Ricardo head increases acceleration, effects fuel economies owing to the fact that all the spirit is burned, and helps hill climbing. Numbers of makers of commercial and public service vehicles have recently adopted the head. Cylinder heads suitable for a variety of popular makes of cars can be supplied. * * *

An employee in a grfrage at Brisbane, while standing near a naked light, accidentally caught his clothing alight. Under tlie impression that he was throwing a tin of water over him, a colleague soaked him with petrol and the unfortunate man was soon enveloped in flames, which were not put out before considerable injury had been caused. In many garages a petrol tin is used to hold a supply of water for radiators. In view of the possibility of confusion it would certainly appear from the foregoing that such a practice is definitely undesirable.

An automobile death list of 20 persons each month is arousing medical specialists to seek a way of checking the mounting accident rate. Police reports in the Paris district show that slightly more than naif the fatalities are due to “imprudence,” but the doctors think that some of the imprudence is a wrong label for physical in.iipacity. Dr. Raoul Blondci suggests that defective sensibilities and faulty reactions often are to blame, and suggests physical examinations to test the general competence of applicants for driver’s licenses.

I 'he world’s largest users of motor vehicles are:— 1. United States 24,493,12-1 2. United Kingdom 1,318,169 *» FV-ftHCC 1,098,000 4. 5. Canada ....... 1,061,830 Germany 531,000 ..... 516,695 6. 7 Australia A r<y0irtiud: ..... . . 310,805 8. a ..... 177.330 165,200 10. New Zealand 151,454 11. 12. 146,088 S weden 127,850

Tho motor vehicle exporta from

United States and Canada arc: — 1. Australia 2. Argentina .... 58,919 3. Brazil .... 37,698 4. British South Africa .. .... 29,677 .... 27,226 6. United Kingdom .... .... 26,661 25,185 25,153 9. New Zealand 18,794 10. Dutch East Indies ..., 18,184 ,,... 16,139 12. Germany • 15,398