MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1921, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE.

I inEW-S and notes. JTHE RATTLING NOISE, May 28, 1921. Some motorists are so highly strung that they are considerably worried over any unusual noise or rattling they hear when driving their car. There are others, of course, who appear to be impervious to any kind of pandemonium caused by the mechanism of the car, so long as it will stagger along somehow and eventually complete its journey. Neither o<f these two extremes of temperament characterises the really contented motorist, who succeeds in steering a middle course between extreme fussiness and entire disregard of any unusual symptoms in his car. The numerous potty annoyances, isuch as the rattling of loose fittings on a car, which jar the nerves of the sensitive motorist, are not without their virtues, as a moment’s reflection will. show. The petrol pipe which rattles against the chassis frame eventually chafes into a hole, but if firmly secured when the rattling cofnmenced this could have been avoided. Those peculiar noises which become audible when lamps and similar fittings commence their downward career, terminating in the scrap heap, should indicate the precise moment for attention either on the part of the car owner or of the person entrusted with its maintenance. Spare wheels carried in wells or brackets on the car are by no means immune from damage if not properly attended to at the right time. The writer has noticed more than once a spare wheel carried at the rear of a car, which had been allowed to remain loose for such a length of time that a hole had been worn nearly through the tread of a new tyre owing to its chaffing against a bolt on the carrier 'bracket. Such neglect is expensive!

THE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA. An idea of the growth of the motor business in Australia may be gathered from the fact that there are now over 3200 motor workshops in the Commonwealth, whilst the Australian body building firms are capable of an output of 1500 motor car bodies a year.

LARGER TYRES AN ECONOMY. Motorists desirous of extra comfort can generally get it by having larger tyres fitted to their car or motor-cycle. The difference in comfort is very great. Whilst larger tyres cost more money for the initial purchase they are in the end an economic, and so great that they are well worth fitting for this reason alone. With large tyres one can usually get nearly double the mileage obtainable on the smaller tyre. Many motorists are unaware that they can obtain larger tyres to fit the rims on to their cars. A glance at the latest Dunlop tyre list shows tliat oversize tyres are made for all the popular sized tyres used on Australasian roads.

EFFICIENT MOTOR CYCLES. English motor-cycle manufacturers are bringing their h.p. (500 C.C.) machines ;to a high state of efficiency, in fact the improvement in this type of machine is such that the larger powered machines (which come under 1060 C.C. Class) will soon have to show improvement or they will get left, as regards speed. The English track record for the flying kilometre (1093 yards) is at the rate of 95.24 miles per hour for the big twin and 92.44 m.p.h. for a single cylinder 3| h.p. machine. The latter performance was registered on Brooklands by R. W. Judd on a Dunlop shod “Norton.”