CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 May 1917, Page 3

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

NEWS AND NOTES. The period of usefulness of a tyre js governed by the care it receives—or tin; attention it fails to get. Much has "been said of the need of efficient inflation and tyre manufacturers have found it necessary to frame and issue lists of tyre pressures according to the loads to be carried. That under-inflation has bc-en and still is the ruin of many a first-class cover is borne out by the examination-, made in the repair departments of the .large tyre mills, such as the Dunlop Rubber Company, for instance, but there is another factor in tyre destruction of a more subtle kind. This is mis-align-ment of the -wheels, the frame, or the axles, and however small, it exerts a rasping effect on the tread and wears it away sooner—very much sooner in some cases—than is reasonably expected. The foregoing applies to motor-cycles, but more especially to the rear wheels. The writer recently was shown a new cover fitted to the rear wheel of a standard American motor-cycle, which the owner said, has not covered 300 miles, yet the tread showed undoubted signs of hard wear, as if it had been driven for some thousands of miles over flinty surfaces. A close examination of the tread revealed the fact that the rubber was very minutely torn, suggesting that the wheel was not tracking, and an inspection showed that the rim was a quarter of an inch nearer one fork or stay than the other. Simply, the wheel had been carelessly adjusted in the frame, resulting in a grinding effect at the tread of the tyre. The motorist or cyclist who travels without a speedometer and a watch misses a great source of interest and enlightenments The distance sometimes covered in pottering about is surprising, and the driver is the wiser for knowing exactly what he has covered, for it has a great bearing on the tyre and petrol accounts. Further, he learns the exact distance from place to place and can gauge his time to reach a given spot with absolute certainty. With the telltale pointer on the speedometer he can see at a glance his rate of speed, which will sometimes surprise him, as when after a smart spin of some distance >\t about 35 m.p.h. the lower speed of, say, 20 or 27- m.p.h. seems very much slower, when he would think the machine for some reason was running badly. The speedometer corrects that impression, and, used in conjunction with a timepiece, he will find his trips hold more of interest than formerly. A device intended chiefly for garage and works mechanics who constantly have to make some adjustment or repair under a car has been evolved. Any one who has had to lie on his back beneath a chassis knows that the position is an extremely cramped one, and also most uncomfortable and that tlie strain comes on the muscles of the back if the head is to be kept off theg round. The "Light Car" recently illustrated this device, which consists of a piece of strong wire, bent to the shape of the letter U, with hooked ends which catch in holds placed at the extremity of a curved aluminium band about Bins in length, which is sown to the back of the operator's cap. When it Js desired to use the headrest, the curved wire is attached to the cap, so that when the operator is in a reclining position the rest hangs down, and is ready for use immediately lie leans backward. That part of the rest which comes into contact with the floor is edged with rubber to prevent'slipping.