MOTOR CYCLING.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 92, 24 March 1916, Page 7

MOTOR CYCLING.

The most notable tendency of future motor cycle design will be the provision of better methods of elimin-j a ting read chocks, particularly in the! springing of the rear wheel. It.is a matter to which riders and the tech--i meal press have been drawing the at-J tention of the manufacturers for a' long time, while scarcely a week pass-! es without some new and sometimes very meritorious design being published. Efficient springing is not only) desirable from the'point of vi. w of the additional comfort which ft pro-, •.ides for the driver, but because it also saves the engine and all pares of the machine from severe shocks. Such items as mudguards, carriers end accessories are of course, not so liable to work lease if they are not subject to road vibration, and it should be. equally true that such calamities as broken frames would happen rarely! if all machines were .scientifically j sprung. During the last few years manufacturers have realised these facts and many of them have introduced models embodying ishock-asb-sorbing devices. All of these, without exception, may be regarded as improvements upon the unsprung machines, but there are many degrees in their efficiency. First of all we may divide them into two classes: those which insulate the rider from road shocks and those which absorb vibration before it reaches either the rider oi- the machine. Without doubt the latter is the ideal, for reasons already pointed cut, though the former may provide equal comfort for the rider; and motor cycles fitted with such devices are far easier to ride than "those with unsprung hack wheels. In this connection it is interesting to note that a Melbourne invention by Mr S. Whiting—of a novel laminated motor cycle spring frame- lias created a very favorable impression amongst English experts. The Whiting frame provides laminated springs to both front and back wheels, absorbing vibration before it reaches the machine or rider. This invention has been subjected to a series of severe tests in England and has given most astonishing results; so much so, that there is little doubt that it will ere long be incorporated in one or more leading", 'English makes of machines.