CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 March 1917, Page 7

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

NEWS AND NOTES. We arc still, says the Car (England) no nearer a solution of the problem as to what will be done with the many thousands of Army motor vehicles now operating on the various fighting fronts when peace is declared. Should any considerable number of them return to Engand the most obvious and satisfactory solution would be for the Government) to co-operate with the makers before swamping the market with the used machines, a policy which would inevitably jeact on both makers and users. Naturally the manufacturers cannot view even this suggested scheme with supreme favor, for, having great leeway to make up, and with greatly extended manufacturing facilities, they will naturally be anxious to concentrate on the production of vehicles of the latest types, and the extensive repair and overhaul of thousands of used machines is not n prospect which can be viewed with any great enthusiasm. Latterly authoritative opinion inclines to the belief that few oi the Army machines will return to this country. The signing of a peace will not automatically clear the invested countries of the huge armies at present occupying them. This will he a slowprocess, no matter what developments may occur, and the men must lie fed and clothed and transported. Motors in big numbers will be needed for this work. Again, much work will need to be done without loss of time in regard to the building and repair of the roads, of towns, of villages, of all the essential paraphernalia on which modern civilisation rests. It would be to the advantage of all, in our opinion, to retain the tens of thousands of motor vehicles in the countries in •which they are now operating.

The remarkable advance made in the construction and efficiency of the motorcar during the past decade sets one wondering what the next ten years will evolve in that direction? What are the : ideals to be yet realised by, say, 1927? Doubtless a great many people desire nothing more fervently than that motor- , cars should become as cheap as bicycles. . But there are obvious limitations to the theory that a demand creates a supply; what is actually created is such supply as is possible in all the .circumstances of the easce, and one ca.n no more hope to buy a motor-car for five pounds than to obtain a golden sovereign in exchange for a shilling. Nothing was a greater revelation to the early converts to motoring who had never driven a horse than the cost of the body of a car in proportion to that of the chassis; and even now it is not everyone who appreciates the part which inelaborate coachwork plays in the cheapness of the American car. Impossible limits apart, however, the price of cars will undoubtedly come down by degrees. The existing motorist, as opposed 'to converts yet to be made, takes- that for granted, and is more concerned with the question of changes in construction. too, it may be expected, will 'be gradual and not startling. There is nothing revolu-, tionary in prospect, nor iJues anything of the kind even suggest , itself as desirable, unless motorists become jealous of the aeroplane and wish to travel on land in airy structure, spars, canvas and piano wire, instead ot relatviely substantial carriages on steel frames. Individual manufacturers will continue after the war to import into their designs whatever they think will improve the efl'ciency of the cars. But from the user's point of view there are sundry desiderata which have too long been left out of consideration. The expansion of motoring over a wider field is dependent on the owner-driver, because paid drivers cost more than the running of the moderate-priced car; and before the owner-driver wants a more efficient car lie wants one that is less trouble to maintain. Instead of filling up a couple of dozen grease-cups at frequent intervals, he needs a car that is self-lubri-cated for six months at a time. He wants a car, too, of which every part is readily accessible, and which does not provide all manner of needless obstacles in the way of repair. The theory of the manufacturer, .of course, has ever been that a car is perfect as it leaves his works, and only needs replenishing, as used, and being attended to as per the instruction manuals. No one expects such perfect—nos even an ownerdriver; but what he »tocs desire more than anything else is that, if lie has to set to work to remedy designers' faults, he should be allowed to do it in a simple and reasonable way. . 'Bolt-heads that tannot be reached by a spanner, detacnafile parts that cannot be detached except in a workshop—anything, in 'act, that, requires the labor of a skilled mechanic instead of that of a man who drives a car because it appeals to his brains — these are the things that need to be abolished once and for, all. The mo-tor-car .industry, to its credit, lias essayed to produce the "fool-proof" car which shall not baffle its owner in respect of diagnosis, but it has never regarded with sufficient seriousness the question of mechanical aptitude. AH experience has shown, however, that for every amateur cares to handle a spanner there are thousands who can appreciate the theory of an engine and the whole running system of a car.

There is no one part of a motor-cycle in which greater improvements have been effected than in th change-speed gear mechanism. In the earlier models built, some year-; ago the variable gears, where they existed, were heavy and of clumsy proportions generally. The parts were made unnecesarily large. The modern motor-cycle gears themselves and the actuating mechanism by .which their movements are controlled hare undergone the same process of evolution with an identical result as regards improvement. The number of types of gear has been increased of late years, and the tendency nowadays is in the direction of supplanting the two-speed gear box with one. having three ratios, and there can be little doubt that for tiie heavier classes of machine the standard of the I future will be the four-speed gear box. | Even with this added improvement the weight and size of the mechanism will I hardly equal that of the older two-speed gears, but the added flexibility imparted by the two extra changes loads to a very great improvement. There are, of course, a few directions in. which the motor-cycle gear-box 01. the ordinary tynrt may be still further improved. It is possible to conceive, and, indeed, to anticipate -with every confidence, the more silent type of mechanism, and in Some few cases an improvement remains to. be effected, in the matter of acessibility and ease of assembling whilst the design of the control leaves something to be desired. It seems undesirable to St control.mechanism in which there are a number of join.ted parts with pins to wear and become slack, and, as we know that all the adjustments required can be effected without this feature being in-

troduced, any that include it are hardly to he considered a& o! the best type. A strong plea may be put forward oil behalf of the infinitely variable type of sear mechanism which has no arbitrarily fixed ratios, but can, as its name implies, be altered at will bet,ween the maximum anjl minimum points permitted and which are governed by the diameter of the pulley. It is sometimes urged that changes of gearing effected by this means are not sufikiently definite, and that because some gears tie one down to a particular form of transmission, namely, the belt, their field is a very limited one. The counter argument to this is that bolt drive with a much wider range of gear ratios than is. possible with the other types of mechanism is preferable, to chains.

The remarkable expansion of the American motor tyre industry in recent years is well illustrated by the growth of the ''Tyre City," Akron, Ohio. Whereas in lflH'J the population of the place was there are now 01,100 of its inhabitants employed in the rubber industry alone, it is estimated that well over 11 % million tyres were turned out in 1010, and as the daily output of the various factories is now '54,000 per day, it is safe to say that tjie total in this year will be considerably in advance of 20 millidps.

Many motorists are unaware that the contact points in the magneto of their car or motor-cycle is made of paltinum, the present, price of which is £l4 per ounce. Owing to the scarcity of this metal experiments have demonstrated that, a silver and gold alloy, the former predominating, will make a good substitute if the contact surface is greatly enlarged.

Owing to the heavy condition of the roads on the Balkan Peninsula, rendering motoring practically impossible, General Snrrail, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces at Salonika, has his staff motor cars shod with metal Hanged wheels, which enables them to travel on the railways instead of trying to plough through the mud road.

The value of the British motor "tanks" as a fighting unit may be judged by the following extract from one of Sir Douglas Ilaig's recent despatches:—"On the same day Gueudecourt was carried, after the protecting trench to the west had been captured in a somewhat interesting fashion. In the early morning a 'tank' started down the portion of the trench held by the enemy from the north-west, firing its machine guns and followed by bombers. The enemy could not escape, as we held the trench at the southern end. At the same time an aeroplane llew own the length of the trench, also firing a machine-gun at the enemy holding it. These then waved white handkerchiefs in token of surrender, and when this was reported by the aeroplane the infantry accepted the surrender of the garrison. By 6.30 a.m. the whole trench had been cleared, great numbers of the enemy had been killed, and eight officers and 382 other ranks made prisoners. Our total casualties amounted, to fiver