MOTOR AND CYCLING NOTES.

Shannon News, 10 April 1923, Page 3

MOTOR AND CYCLING NOTES.

A motor speedway on up-to.date lin. s, will be available near Sydney within a couple of years. The “ Referee ” (Sydney) states that Mr. Albert John Hunting is promoting a company with a capital of £250,000 to construct a motor speedway l’<?r mo. tor car and motor cycle racing. The .local Land Board recently granted Mr. Hunting a lease of 75 acres, a few miles out of Sydney, in the southern angle of the Maroubra Bay, and Long Bay tram lines for the purpose. It is stipulated that the new com. pany must spend £IOO,OOO on th.e pro. perty within the first three years from October 1, when tire lease will become operative. The terms tentatively agreed upon are £2OO per year for the first three years, and £llOO p.er year for the remaining 25 years. It is esti. mated that the speedway will be ready in about two years, and it will Accommodate 100,000 spectators. Although the scheme is not yet com. plete, it is proposed to build a saucer track a chain wide, of either timber or concrete. The outer edge will be 35ft. above ground level, so that the track will be highly banked and easily accommodate speeds up to 120 miles per hour. The speedway will be welcomed by the motor trade and sporting folk, as-it will enable enthusiasts to see mo. tor car and cycle racing, as it is car. ried out in Europe and America, where huge crowds are regularly at. tracted to witness racing at a speed up j 1 5 0 miles per hour. The most strenuous record drive on a motor car yet attempted in this part of the world, will start from Fremantle (W.A.) next week, when Mr. J. L. Burton, accompanied by W. Bradley, and driving a Dunlop shod 30h.p. Vauxhall,” will endeavour to cross Australia from west to east in about five days. As the total distance via Adelaide and Melbourne to Sydney is 2884 miles, it means that over 500 miles a day will have to be negotiated —a big undertaking—when one con. Siders the lack of roads plus*' heavy sandy stretches on the run from the W.A. gold fields to Port Augusta (S.A.). Mr. Burton intends driving to ,a 25 mile per hour schedule for the whole trip, the average speeds rang, ing from 12J up to'4o miles per hour on the good stretches. It is going to prove a great physical test as little‘time has been allowed for stops en route, Burton and Bradley taking turn about at the wheel, and snatching ta bit of sleep when the going is good. The stiffest proposition on this overland route is the crossing of the heavy sand hills after passing Wallala Tank (1308 mile from Fremantle), there being about 30 miles of very heavy going. Mr. Burton lias an intimate knowledge of this overland route, in fact assisted in the coastal record established by Messrs. Fraser and Armstrong, when they drove a six cylinder “ Studebaker ” from Freman. tie to Sydney in 8 days 23 hours 35 minutes in 1915 —he accompanying the overlanders to South Australia. He also holds the direct route transcon. tinental record, having driven across from west to east via Broken Hill into New South Wales, afid thence to Sydney (2600 miles) on a “ Hupmobile ” in 7 days 2 hours 17 minutes in 1918. The forthcoming run will be watched with interest by motorists through out Australia. The fastest time that one can travel by express from Perth Ito Sydney, making the quickest connection at Adelaide and Melbourne, is llOsl hours. If Burton gets anywhere near this -train time, it will be a re. markable performance.

Somb interesting [information (relative to the costs of the various components of a twin cyclinder 7h.p. side lar combination, was recently publish ed in England. Here is the table:— Per cent. Engine complete with magneto, carburetter, silencer, etc. .. 25 Transmission, including gearbox, clutch, chain sprockets and chain casse, etc 24 Frame, including forks, tank, handle bars, carrier, tool bags, and all fittings ...... 23 Wheels, with tryres 8 chassis, complete with wheel and tyre . 10 Sidecar body complete with wind screen and apron 10 Every motor cyclist will be surprised at these figures, particularly the heavy comparative cost of the frame, forks and fittings. Ten years ago the cost of the transmission of many ,a 7h.p.. sidecar machine was no more than £5. To-day it represents 24 per cent, of the cost of the whole combination. A startling claim is made by an English motor cyclist named E. J. L. Strong, who states that lie has discovered a means of making synthetic ipetrol at a cost of from three to four pence per gallon. Similar claims have been made from time to time in.other parts of the world, but they never got past the “ claim ” stage. In this instance interest attaches to the claim as Mr. Strong is a well known English motor cyclist, and he states that he has motored some 4000 miles on a mixture of which the major portion is water. According to the report to hand efforts are being made to secure protection for the invention—a rather difficult matter—anyhow, further details of this remarkable claim will be awaited with interest.

Every motor-cyclist knows that the poorer produced by an internal combustion engine is, within the limits of its speed, ' proportional to the speed at which it is running, and that the great success which the petrol engine, in particular, has achieved as a power unit for all sorts of transport purposes—from the heavy lorry to the lightweight motor cycle, and the aeroplane—is due to the fact that it can function at very high speeds indeed, with the result that it is able to produce very high power for its bulk and weight. Early designers of petrol engines did not run their engines at high speeds. Over 500 r.p.m. was considered fast 25 years ago, and when the introduction of high-tension electric ignition removed the principal technical difficulty in the way of higher engine speeds, designers were still afraid to take advantage of the fact. Matters have progressed since then, and the modern motor cyclist thinks nothing of sitting over an engine doing, 3000 r.p.m, while racing engines have frequently been coaked up to 6000 r.p.m., and even a single-cylinder two-stroke has been known to reach 10,000 on the test bench. Few realise what these speeds mean, or give a thought to the pace at which the various parts of the engine run, so a few figures will possibly be of interest. Any ordinary tourist will touch 40 m.p.h. on occasion, so that may be taken as the basis of speed for the necessary calculations. Assume that the machine is geared 5 to 1 and is fitted with 660 mm. by 65 mm. "Dunlops.” Now, a 660 mm. by 66 mm. tyre, when inflated normally, will

have an effective diameter of 23in. when the rider is in the saddle. _With this fact remembered, a very simple calculation shows that at 40 m.p.h. the rear wheel is revolving at the rate of 540 revs, per min. Since the gear ratio is 5 to 1, the engine will be turning round five times as fast; that is to say, it will he doing 2700 r.p.m., quite a respectable speed. If the engine is of the usual type, with inside fly wheels, each fly wheel will have a diameter of somewhere about Sin. Again, a simple calculation shows that a point on the periphery, or outside of the flywheel is whizzing round the crankshaft, at a speed of no less than 64 m.p.h. No wonder, then, that the. oil pumped into the crankcase is spun into a fine mist by the flywheels, and no wonder that, for racing work, it is essential to polish the flywheels, so as to reduce air and oil friction inside the crankcase.