MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 March 1922, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE.

NEWS AND NOTES. March 5, 1922;. There are many motor-cyclists who advocate gear-changing by the feet and the operation of the clutch by the hajid, both of which found favor with dispatch riders at the war who used machines with Sturmey-Archer 3-spee<l gear boxes, who merely bent outwards the long gear-change lever (of the war models) so that it could be the more easily operated by the -feet. At the same time, there is no simple and sure pedal-change for the 3-speed gear box; the dispatch rider and others who adapted the lever as above became proficient, but sometimes the lever, owing to rough roads, was depressed too much or too little; the action was not always positive, and many difficulties confront the would-be designer of a simple, as well as a positive foot-operated geai change. Considerable interest therefore, attaches to a. device described in the Motor-cycle (England), designed by a subscriber. Briefly, a rod (with pedalplate attached) works vertically in guides through the foot-board, and is linked a t its lower .extremity to a long pivoted lever, which in turn is linked to the gear-actuating arm on the g&ar-box, and held in position by a spring. Pressure on the pedal extends the spring. Where only one horizontal pivoted lever is used, the design is only" applicable to geax-boxes in which the gear-actuating arm moves upwards to change to a higher gear, but it should not be difficult to arrange it for use with the more common type of gear-box where the arm is down in top gear. In action, the pedal is pressed down to change up, the action of the spring being sufficient to change down. There also is an ingenious point in the device. A spring-catch engaging in slots in the pedal is released by a wedge soldered on to a bared port ion of the clutchwire. As soon as the clutch is sufficiently released, the wedge clears the projection on the catch, which then flies back, thus engaging the next slot and locating the next gear position. Although the “timed mechanism” in the design would need to be kept in constantly correct adjustment, there appears to be no objection to the general principle. In connection with clutches and gearchanges for motor-cycles, there seems to be no ’ question, about the desirability of the clutch control being fitted to the handlebar. Every machine should have one in that position, even though there be -foot control as well. With hand-operated clutcji and pedal gear change there will be no need for the rider to take his hands from the grips, thus rendering his control of. the machine more efficient, especially if traversing rough and rutted roads and tracks, sandy, stretches, or driving through congested traffic, where sometimes the motor-cyclists seem to need three legs and arms. In a very thoughtful article on the great roads question, Alotor Traction (Eng.) deals with a phase of the subject that is gradually becoming apparent —that the roads should be built for the vehicles, and not that the development of the vehicle should be hampered by the prevailing type of roads. As the Journal points out, there are certain signs of a movement in favor of pressing for a reduction, rather than an increase, of weights and speeds in heavy motor transport, and it rather doubts the wisdom of such a course, holding that the traffic “which is or might be expected to be upon the road” is the ultimate -factor on which future development must inevtiably be based. It is true that the problem is not merely one for improvising for the next year or the year after, but of laying foundations for the future of inland traffic —i.e., transport of all kinds. While the great and insistent difficulties of the present cannot be disregarded, history has shown the foil}- of allowing the_future to be strangled by difficulties of the immediate present.

Adequate road development, after years of partially enforced neglect combined with the growth of road traffic, can be brought about only by a process of evolution extending over years, and during that period there is bound to be much grumbling about the burden of the roads. But the thoughtful owner and employer of motor transport vehicles, while discounting the burden, will recognise the need to use the highways with as little wear and tear as possible, for the road is as rnfich part of automobile transport as the vehicle, and “road consumption” from a national point of view, must be considered of importance equal to, if not greater than, tyre or fuel consumption. Even when the loads are built up to a. standard Adequate to traffic requirements, this argument for road economy will still hold. After dealing with the general beneficent effects of pneumatic and rubber tyres on road surfaces, the paper referred to thinks that one factor towards the solution of the problem will be the distribution of weight borne over six wheels instead of four.