MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1915, Page 11 (Supplement)

MOTOR AND CYCLE

AN ABSURD PROSEODTKMC * ! The by-laws of the New (Plymouth Borough Council surely need furtlwr revision when a side-canst has been prosecuted for carrying a passenger on the carrier. On a solo machine the practice may be dangerous, but with a aide-car attached to the cyde an accident is no more liable to happen to the passenger than it is to one sitting on tins dickeyseat of a small motor-car. In b|>th cases the practice is perfectly safe. That the by-law is being enforced is disconcerting to many side-car owners who have adopted this means of taking their! families out for an airing, for a motor-cycle and sidecar is called the "poor man's motorcar," and it means that the irian with a wife and daughter or son wiljl be unable to make a trip together. I Motorcyclists should immediately combine and send a deputation to the Borough Council to have side-cars exempted ffom the by-law. Another thing, families outside will choose another town for their weekend excursions if they cannot come to New Plymouth with more than one passenger. . NEWS AND NOTES. ; A very fine motor-cycle performance was recently established on the hew Chicago ('U.S.A.) Speedway by C. Goudy who won a 300 miles race in the record time of 3 hours 29min. 4 : lsec., equal to an average speed of 85 miles peri hour, the first "century" was covered at a speed of 89 m.p.h. Goudy rode a HarleyDavidson. Quite a number of ladies are taking up motor cycling in Canterbury. A lady was recently noticed riding a 3%-h:p. machine with a passenger on the carrier. She appeared quite unconcerned about the traffic, which was extremely heavy. Again, another lady driving a side-car was seen dodging cleverly other motorists and tram-cars. There are at present 30,000 motor-car drivers on active service at the British front in TYance, driving motor lorries, carrying supplies and ammunition. This number does not include hospital cbrps, ambulances, armored cars, etc., but simply the supplies' transport service. The figures are authentic, and were contained in an official communication from MajorGeneral iS. S. Long, director-in-chief of the British Supplies and Transport Service.

A motoring tour which must cohstitute something of a record waa recently completed by a young lady motorist ■ (italy 19 years of age). Accompanie&j by her elderly father and mother and her Bister, she motored from liaikoura to Gisborne. The first stage of the journey, Kaikoura to Blenheim, is an ordinary 100 miles run. From Wellington the party travelled via Palmerston. The overland journey from Napier to Gisborne, probably one of the earliest of the season, occupied two days. The roads were found to be very rough, and the visitors underwent the experience of getting bogged on the Wharerata hill,

One of the latest inventions consists of a new type of automatic gear change for automobiles. Generally speaking, the speed gear comprises a straight through gesfr box, operated by a central spindle. The spindle is connected to a spring controlled Bliding member which in its turn is adjusted longitudinally by the centrifugal governor above it. When starting the car, the gear lever is shifted from neutral into either the fir3t forward or reverse positions. After the driven shaft has reached a certain speed, the centrifugal governor automatically brings the next into action; when the speed has again increased, the highest speed ratio is engaged similarly. Retarding the speed of the car causes the reverse series of operations to take place. The question has been raised as to which is the most meritorious motor-car record yet established in Australia. Of the many fine performances recorded in the Commonwealth, three undoubtedly stand right out by themselves for sheer merit, these being Murray Aunger's Mel-, bourne to Adelaide (504 miles) drive in 14 hours 54min.; A. V, Turner's Melbourne to Sydney (6® miles) run in 19 hours 2min., and the recent FremantleSydney record, via Adelaide and Melbourne (2699 miles), of 8 days 23 hours 40min., by Messrs Armstrong, Praser and party. Erom a speed point ef view the writer gives pride of place to Aunger's great record, which was a magnificent piece of driving, but from a mechanical point of view, that is as a test of steel and tyres, the Fremantle-Sydney run stands out as the finest Australian demonstration of speed, durabiltiy and reliability of the present-day motor-car, In a comparaticely short run, such as between Sydney and Melbourne, a chassis, whilst subjected to terrific stresses, has a better chance of pulling through than in a transcontinental trip, where the .strains have to be borne day after day, and where any weakness is almost sure to wreck the trip; hence the reason why from a mechanical point of view the recent trip by Messrs Armstrong and Eraser stands out as the greatest car test carried through in Australia. In a motor-cycle connection the finest performance yet recorded is J. Bolger's 23 hours 41min, from Melbourne to Sydney. The time-honored headline, "Is the Magneto Doomed?" says the Motor (England), has once again aroused a considerable discussion as the result of certain American innovations, and it may be the case that when the time arrives to enable British and Continental makers once again to consider the design and manufacture of cars, the status of the magneto may have to be investigated in the light of these innovations. We say "may" advisedly, because there is no gainsaying the fact that the magneto strictly on its merits has a very firm hold on the British and Continental maker of cars. He knows that it relieves him of a large amount of trouble, and it means absolute reliability of the ignition system for the car user. It 13 not in the least likely, therefore; that the magneto will be discarded for a whim or passing fancy. It is also very improbable that there will be any attempt, as it were, to ''graft" something else on to the magneto, and make it a two, or even a three, function machine. Either the magneto stays as it is or goes altogether. 1" the latter, it will have to be substituted by something at least its equal in efficiency and reliability. So far as can be judged, any competing system must have as its basis an accumulator. and it is safe to say that, considered on the strictly limited question; of reliability, an accumulator by'.the very principle of its construction—i.e., chemical arrangement—is not comparable with the magneto in reliabiiitv. That is not to suggest that any accumulator cannot give excellent service, but it lacks the permanency of a wellmade piece .of mechanism. .This seems to be the decisive factor in the whriT