CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 59

CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES

ANSWER TO CORRESPOMJENT. N.S.tX featkerweigbt «m^no can U fitted to t v # or^n,— blcyci* *nd give rfery gooa je^ult^. Th6x« *r« o>«i#r engines on th»* mukei iraich OMI RlffO jg ittaohed to bioyoles. "Vyiite to Messrs w.< Jtelvillei and j Qs?v <Hosrg« «txeet, Simedua/ yrhn ypi\ be

able to give you further information as to the Motisoooche, BY DEM?*. — The motor ear gymkana. to be held under the auspices of the Otago Early Settlers an 4 XHago Motor Aeeowation at Tfthuna Park on Saturday promisee to be * most successful outing. A largo autaber of o&rs irill take part in the sports, and • the drivers «re looking eagerly forward to displaying their prowess in the different driving events. The- programme offers all kind* of competitions for oars, and should be the means of attracting a large crowd to the Park on Saturday. Mr F. Furminger, driver of Dr Cfolquhoun's 15 h.p. Vulcan, informs me that their run to InveroargiU laet vreek proved most enjoyable, ih« roads and vreVtbei' yeing exoellent. On tbe return journey, nowweri ■*ten on the roaa between awa Edendale, owing to the rain, they tun a xather trying time, the road 'being in a very bad and greasy state. So much w that chaine had to be wound round the wheels to makes the tyres grip. After three hourt of slow driving good progress wm made to Pukerau, when tnotWr bad «ir«toh. of *oad had to be traTearsed. Thia latter tjeoe of road has for iong held an unet viable reputfttioa

amongst cyclists and motorists, and it seems strange that nothing has been done to try to improve it. Could not the Otago Motor Association approach the authorities responsible for the upkeep of this road> with a view to getting tt put into something like decent repair. Mr S. R. Stedman has . just had m three day*' tour of Otago and Southland in his 10-12 Humber, during which time he covered over 450 miles, the car running" splendidly. Mr Stedman struck the Dacre road, between Inveroargill and Edendale. at night, and until the moon rose had a/ rather tiresome drive. Coming north from Invercargill Mr Stedman, went - round by Seaward Downs instead of the Daore, and 1 considers that the extra 1 distance of five' miles is amply compensated for by th» fine road traversed. , At a meeting of the South Canter* bur 7 SS"** 6 ot th * I^ag«« of New Zealand Wheelmen, Mr R. h. Rule was appointed official handicapper for the Oamaru and North Otago district. Responding? to the toast of "The Parliament of New Zealand" at the presentation of prizes won in «he recent Christchuroh reliability trials, Mr R. Ml Macdonald said that e> marked change was coming .over the attitude of " legislators towards motoring. He believed that the member of Parliament who had introduced tne Motoring Bill had been a fierce antil motorist, but lately that member had bee& ! converted, and now, after suffering some jof the pains of motoring under present conditions, he was prepared to support any reasonable demand of motor drivers. In responding, the Hon. C. liouisson said that he was sure that Parliament would be very glad to meet any reasonable demand for legislation for the encouragement and development of motoring. At th© Temuka Bicycle Club's sports at Easter a band contest is to be held, the prizes for the test piece being £30, £10, and £5. „ Cycling- events will be run at th« Uamaru Hibernian sports on Easter Monday. The Wheel Race will probably have el £10 first prize-. _ Judge. Edge said at the ClerkenwelJ County Court that disputes affecting the internal parts of motor-cars were becoming so frequent that he thought of taking a course of technical' instruction to help him in deciding them. Cyclists will be interested to hear that a doctor has been investigating the proper nutriment for a long-distance ride, and has concluded that no meat. or other nitrogenous food, should .be. taken while doing the day's- work, but that the ideal refreshment is fruit and milk. In. a five-mile scratch race at m recent meeting on the' Melbourne "saucer" track, MacFarlandi the then- manager of the track, as -well as a competitor, was fined £5 for unsatisfactory riding. MacFarland, who knew he wan not in good form, was urged to race, and at a critical moment had to retire, giving, it it alleged* an undue advantage to Clark. MacFarland, who rode against his will, was very soro over the matter, and resigned the management of the concern, stating that if his reputation «c *. rider was at stake, he would rather throw up a lucrative job and attend to his training. Later news by the mail states that at each of the last two meetings on the "saucer" track MacEarland htt- scored a win, and has thus made good his word that he would attend to his training when he relinquished the management of the track. Hi« riding, evera apart from his wins, shows him to be much" improved, MacFarland in his best form 1 is a marked personality on the track, ana very popular witb^ the public. ■^— — 'A scheme i« on. foot in America fctf build a motor-racing track — a duplicate of that at Brooldands, -England, only better, of course. Its location is to be near Phiia/ delphia, and ' ip will be two miles in, cir< cuntference, with \ a width of 100 ft ordin/ ariljr and 126 ft at the turns, which wilt be banked to an angle of 30deg. A com* pany, known as the American Motordrome Incorp., has been formed, with a capital of £100,000, and hag secured a tract ol land some 200 acres in extent. It m prov posed to bjuild the track proper of cltfd«ri and oement, *n$ "if matters progress satisfactorily it is to be opened io June next, —■*■- Other things being equal, tho cm 1 , which makes the least noise in action in apt to be most attractive to the prospective purchaser. Therefore, silent tunning should be a quality sought for most oa-iefully bj.

the designer, and fostered by the Belling agent in making his adjustments. The matter resolves itself usually into a reduction of lost motion, and providing soundabsorbing medium wherever., possible. There ie a likelihood of some very fast motor racing being seen on the- Brooklands track shortly, owing to the fact that the F.I.A.T. -^fotor Company, of Italy, (has accepted the -broadcast challenge of Messrs 8. F. Edge and Co. r of England, to 'race the Napier cars, of certain horsepowers and over certain distances, against All-comers. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the racing, providing 1 it eventuates, is that Nazzaro, the famous Italian driver, will handle the F.LA.T. cars. He has not yet raced on the Brooklande track, but in a trial run upon it he declared it to be a magnificent speedway.

- — During the coming year (say* the Autocar) many English manufacturers intend to give the Royal Automobile Club's rating of all engines in their catalogues. •For instance, if the car is nominally known as 18-22 h.p., but comes out of R.A.C. rating as 26.5, this Information wfl| also be given. This will -give a far more ea'tie•faetory means of comparison of power of ■different makes ■of care than when the manufacturers' rating only was given, as so many different formulas are- used by them.

— — P. Dickentmaim, who came to Australia as one o! RoWs pacing team, is again in the Commonwealth, but only on a few weeke? holiday trip.

The- chief characteristic of the new Dunlop detachable rim — which was the tali of the recent Olympia motor show (Eng.) — is its excreme simplicity. There is not a single loose part, not one nut, screw, or strap to be manipulated. The whole operation of changing, a tyre and rim consists £f a single movement of a lever, when the .punctured jtyre and ita rim. oat be "slipped off" and another cover and rim "slipped on" in its place 1 . Another movement of the lever and the rim is securely locked on to the. wheel in such a manner that it is impossible to come off under the severest driving stress. N The whole operation is so simple that a tyre has been changed seven times in one minute; in fact, anyone without practice can change ' over a tyre two 6r three times m a minute once a wheel * is jacked off the ground. There is little , doubt that jthe rim is destined' to play -an important part An popularising motoring throughout the world. Interviewed in a recent iesue of * Home paper, Mr S, F. Edge, . who has now attained a worlds-wide reputation as a, motorist, has thie to say regarding the introduction of the Napier car to the BritisK public =— " - -. . Between 1830 XjiA 1900 I bought a. great many motors and learned everything about them, and until 1901 I kept on racing on motor cycles, though I -was a good deal confined to my office at the time. Still, I found I did not Tiave to be co fit as with bicycling, for though there is a great strain in some way* i on a. motor cycle, it is not anything hia [

the same strain as in bicycling, for one does not have the pedalling to do. In ISOO I met Mr Napier. I wanted some /ideas of my own carried out in a motor car, and a friend recommended him to toe as engineer. I had known him for 15 years o« a cyclist, and a keen cyclist at that, bo I went to him and asked him if he would make me come motors. In that, ako, I bad 1 success. We determined to compete m the 1000-miie tour of the Automobile Club through England and Scotland, and to that end built a Napier car. It was the' first Napier made, and it was the first British car which succeeded against the foreigners, for there were few British' makers -even in those days." Considering the' splendid and economical results to be got from the use of small commercial bicycle trucks for delivery of light packages, etc., it is a strange thing that more advantage is not taken of thi6 cheap means of delivery by business houses (says an exchange). In, a few" instances the cycle trade have adopted this speedy and economical means -of delivery with satisfactory results. , There: is little doubt but -that a good business is open to ' anyone who will take the commercial cycle, or, correctly- speaking, tricycle,' in hand and properly bring its advantages before trading concerns whose business necessitates the speedy delivery of numerous small packages. In England and America firms are now making a specialty of this y class of vehicle, and it looteae if the business is going to prove a lasting and lucrative one. The machines want to be built on light but strong lines, and geared low; whilst provision^ h« to be made for a light waterproof carrier or body in which light merchandise can be carried without fear of damage from. rain. Such a machine can be made and sold at a reasonable figure, and would prove a boon to tradesmen who want delivery of light parcels quicker and! cheaper than oan. 'be done>'by the ordinary delivery