CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 6 March 1915, Page 4

CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

r,uiu liio juumop Oompany or -Yusuaiasia, ior tue week ending i'eb. 2vth. iyio. I'here are some ivßo are apt to take tiio view tnut it is nuicuious that one car maker snotud recommend a partiou- , lar orand ot oil tor his engine, ana anotuor niaJier some entirely different brand. U'lw assume tnat it one engine runs well upun a cui'win brand oi oil it ii> contended that every other engine must run equally well upon it. 'i'liey mai£e allowance ior the lact that tne normal speeds, bearing loads, and temperatures may very considerably so that an oil which may be quite suitable ,i> one case is entirely unsuitable in another, there is also an erroneous opinion tnat car makers recommend certain Drands from mercenary motives, as though any maker of repute would be so loolish as to damage his reputation by prescribing unsuitable oil ior his engine, uecause he could make sixpence or a shilling a gailon more upon it in the few cases where he was called upon to supply it, hut as a matter of tact the average car maker does not supply the luoricating oil as the owner ot the car buys it from his local garage. If motorists are well advised they will not oniy buy the brand ot oil recom- , mended by the makers ot their cars out also see that they buy it in seailed can's or drums. .Retailers are apt ! to recommend some nameless oil whicn they supply on draught, this may oe ana sometimes is, most excellent oil out in other cases it is a low class ! orand and simply pushed by the retailer for the sake of extra profit. It is only fair to say, that this is not always the case, some retailers buy a well-known brand of oil and sell it as a nameless lubricant simply because they do not want the motorist to Know what it is, or to buy elsewhere, but in these matters it is always better to pay tor safety, and to insist upon sealed cans or drums of the particular brand prescribed by the car maker.

Although American Motor manufacturers have heen seriously affected by the European War so far as concerned their foreign trade in pleasure cars, signs are not wanting that those firms which turn out vehicles suitable for military purposes, are being benefited. Thus, during the mouth 01 October last, only 732 pleasure cars valued £135,677 were exported from the United States, as compared with 169/ and £332,743, respectively, in the corresponding month of 1913. On the other hand the shipments of industrial motor vehicles increased trom seventy nine and £25,901 to 672 and £457,392 respectively. The returns show an ucrease to France, the United Kingdom and "other Europe," the last named piirase, however, excluding Germany and Italy. A low riding position is an advantage to the motor cyclist and particularly so where the machine has to be ridden solo in traffic and on greasy road surfaces. If, however, in the endeavour to secure the maximum effect in this direction, the designer resorts to the plan of materially reducing the amount of clearance space between the crank case and the ground, the advantage of the low saddle position is Jikely to become somewhat discounted. In England, where excellent roads about, tnere is little or no risk and no inconvenience of a serious kind arising fro.n the fact that the clearance is sligm, but in this country it is of vital import ance for a good clearance is absolutely essential on most of our country roads. Machines with big and weighty engines 6et low in the frame are no more noteworthy for steadyness an greasy roads than those in which the weight is carried at a higher level, and as the heaviest and most powerful motorcycles are used principally for side car haulage, wherein the question of balancing does not arise, the matter of an inch or :o becomes of no moment. Moreover, it v.< quite possible to secure at one and the same time as low a riding position as is to be desired and an adequate j crank-case clearance, the point being

settled in'the main by the design of the rear position of the frame. The type or construction now coming into favour ?n which the top- tube is continuously dropped from the head to the seat pillow tube ensures all that is required by an easy method, which adds rather than detracts from the strength ana stability of the design and leaves the matter of clearance quite unaffected.

Australasian needs must make allowance for the fact that roads in this country call for ample clearance, and that it is absolutely courting disaster ,lor any machine to be sold out here with less than 4Jin clearance; for country use a sin clearance is little enough on our roads. An interesting test was recently carried out in the United States by the manufacturers of the Vulcan Electric dear Change Device. Using al2 volt" o0 ampere hour battery, 134,490 geaV cnanges were effected, without any need ror recharging. Calculating on a 100 gear changes a day for 365 days a year this works out at four hours constant service without need of touching battery A Turther test of this elever device showed that after 294,491 changes at trie rate o'i 60 a minute, there was not the slightest indication of failure or wear.