CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 28 October 1919, Page 4

CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES.

•Lieutenana 1/. .G. Cherry, M.M., lost nis life last week whilst attempting to establish a motor cycle record over the ' A<V'lnide-'Melboiirne overland route. A side-car combination was being used, a Mt. 1). Cunningham travelling as [yassenger. Adelaide was left at 2 a.m. and the 65 miles to Wellington, on the ' | river Murray, negotiated in the good I time of 2 bonis. The motorists wero punted across the river, and started off for Meningie. They had only proceeded a short distance when the lights of the outfit were seen to tnrn backwards. Fearing a mishap tilie .ferrymen hastened back and proceeded along the road, where they found .Lieut. Cherry fatally injured, nndi his companion unconscious. As there, is a hight-'angle j turn near the spot where the accident occurred, .it is thought some part of the machine came adrift, causing the outfit- to turn over. The machine was

, found some 60 feet from -where the accident happened. The road at "this point is fast, and maybe the regrettable smash up resulted from taking the turn too fast. The deceased knew the road;, he having been over it twice previously," the last occasion being only a few weteks back when he was forced to give up an attempt on the record owing to adverse weather conditions. ' Lieut. Cherry enlisted in 1014, served at Gallipoli, where he was twice 'Wounded, and was .subsequently wounded and: gassed dn France.

Yhe question of tyre .mileage is a, subject that interests all motorists, And at the same time is one upon which' it is almost imposi&ble to form even an approximately coTrect estimate. . There are so man.v factors thatt enter into the queatfon—tlhi® wcTght of oar, poiwer of engiine, the skill of driver, the pace

trowelled—fast of slow—the method of driving around corners, careless use off brakes, attention tt» tyre inflation, andl roads driven over, being amongst the most important. Then again faulty wheel alignlment may upeet one estimate, for nothing wears tyres so quickly. Very seldom will a car owner believe that the alignment is at fla/ulft, but its more in evidence than ntost carists think. Then again there is another important factor, and thajt is the variations, that must occur in fabric, and rubber, and their treatment in manufacture. No tyre maker in the worl<3 has yet succeeded in making this output of covers of uniform Capabilities as far as wear is concerned, but motorists can reasonably anticipate the best average results by keeping to old experienced manufacturers such as the Dunloip 00. "When one observes |hoiw great numbers of drivers illtreat thedr" tyres by faulty and careless driving, the wonder is that tyres jjive the average wearing results they do. (Every motorist can without doubt add consid<sraJhly to the miileiage of his tyres if he will only give them = a little care and consideration. , The mlanuffacfclirer has only the world's best cotton amdl rubber to build up a type to withstand almfesfc incredible .stresses, and be is doing his beiSt flo evolve wear resisting long service covers, but his efforts aire nullified in many instances by brutal and thoughtless treatment by the careless driver. There is ia degree of uncertainty in the mileage of all dovers, but one /thing is sure, and tibat is bad driving- and insufficient inflation considerably shortens .the life of any cover.

Undoubtedly the most progressive point of design incorporated in English 1919-20 .motor cycles is the spring frame. It must bo remembered, however, that /the suggestion itself is not a new <*ne. The average rider-mech-anic realised the demand for rear-spr-ung motor cycles at least a decade ago, tbe result that a. great amount of thought and experimental work has been exipended towards the solution of the question. • Nevertheless, the successful rear-sprung motor cycle (with possibly a single exception) has yet to make its appearance, although the American manufactures have made considerable advance in ithis direction. 'Numerous types of efficient, reliable front forks have Ibeen 'oik the market for the past twenty years. With the exception of one make, not a single rear-sprung folk "or frame has weathered the .varying fortunes of twelve' months' road service. ' Numbers of so. called ideal rear springing system' have been incorporated on well-known machines from as early a s 1912. Interference with the transmission system— too many points of play—faculty principles—changing <wiheolbase—or a cxnrabination of all or ,any of these spelt the doom of the average spring frame. The great "snag" on which: mosrt> spring frames so far evolved have been wrecked is on that- of lateral rigidity— or rather lateral rigidity in combination with a reasonable weight. If any I side play is present in ia mentor cycle , frame one's riding safe/ty is obviously [ greatly endangered. If the weight of i the complete machine is excessive no matter how efficient it's springing may bo, and will neven become popular. On paper mang of the design machines look qiljite efficient and eminently neat. Nevertheless "pros, peotive buyers might fluid it interesting and profitable to obfcadn the aotual , weight figures of the complete machine. r nt I