SUNDRY SPORTS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 52, 30 October 1915, Page 7

SUNDRY SPORTS.

MOTOR CYCLING. Very few motor cyclists realise the different forces set up. when indulging in passenger carrying on the carrier. There is little doubt that an extremely largo proportion of motor cycling accidents are attributed to the "pillion peril," and it is iittle wonder when' when one considers certain facts re-1 lative to this dangerous practice. Most of the trouble is caused through less 1 road grip on the front wheel owing' to want of balance. The weight registered, when the front wheel of a 2|j h.p. motor cycle stands on a scale, isj 751bs. With an average weight rider; iu the saddle this'is increased to 120 lbs., but when an additional passenger sits on the carrier, the front weight register is 961bs. It will thus be noted that the weight of rider ill the saddle adds -lolbs. to the pressure of the front wheel on the road, but when the "pillion" is aboard, he pressure on the road is reduced by 241b5., although the total weight carried by the machine is doubled. Is it any wonder then that the grip of the front wheel is considerably less, and as a result there is more likelihood of aggravated front wheel skids, which are the worst imaginable. The more weight carried the more control the driver should have on his machine. With a passenger on the carrier the reverse is the case. Weight is taken off the front wheel, "hieh means less control in steering and the direction the driver wishes the machine to go. The control of the machine is also considerably affected by the fact that the weight carried behind the back axle tends to lly outwards at a corner, consequently swinging the front of machine inwards. Another fact motor cyclists fail to realise is that the back forks of the ordinary motor cycle arc not designed to carry a person behind them. Again, the ordinary standard tyres are not made to withstand the extra strain, although to the credit of the tyre manufacturers, many of them do. From all directions the practice is a most undesirable one. The accidents solely attributable .to this cause have been so frequent in England that some of the insurance companies absolutely refuse to issue policies to motor eyelists, who indulge in passenger carrying, whilst other concerns charge 50 per cent more to cover the risks attendant on this form of motor eyeling. That is their experience of this practice.