MOTOR NOTES.
COMMON SENSE WITH THE CAR.
CORRECT OPERATION .... MADE PLAIN.
LUBRICATION AND TEMPERAMENT.
In the tenth of the fourth series of "Radio Talks to Motorists," the Vacuum Oil Company's lubrication, engineers stress the need for a studs of the car one is driving, and of a complete "understanding," if such it could be termed, between driver
and car.
How many of us operate our motor-ears as if they were really a part of ourselves to Do we feel
that
synchronisin that perfect harmony-which should exist be- tween the thing of steel" and our- selves? Some years ago-before motor-cars were a common as they are to-day-one would often hear
be
BAN ON THE NOISY
MOTOR-CAR.
WHEN HOOTING IS FORBIDDEN.
CROSS-ROAD PERIL
New regulations designed to re- duce the noise of street traffic have been drawn up by the Minister of Transport in England and come into force, on August 1. The Minister has also circuinrised local authorities. drawing their attention to the cross-ronds peril and the remedies suggested by the road traffic conference which reported in May
The new regulations make it an offence for any person to use or per- it to be used a motor-car or a trailer drawn by a motor-car which
causes
44
any excessive noise as a result of any defect in design "or construction or lack of repair or faulty adjustment."
"Nerve-Racking Noise."
THE HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1929.
It is also an offence if excessive the expression: "He is a good noise is due to the faulty packing horseman; and that was dat of or adjustment of the load, but if it the highest compliments one could is due to some temporary or ac say of another in the realm of sport.cidental enuse which could not have An analysis of this expression would been prevented by the exercise of develop the fact that had his due diligence and care there is no heart and soul in horses and that offence. there was some kind of a bond be tween the two. He had the faculty The road conference was unable for control of such animals, and to suggest a way of dealing with the thoroughly sensed their whims tem grievance of the nerve-racking peraments, and peculiarities, and noise from motor-horns." All that could develop in them performance the new regulations do is to make to the extreme degree an animalit an offence to sound a motor-horn under his direction would behave
on a stationary vehicle except when and answer instinctively every wish
an audible warning is necessary on of its rider.
grounds of safety.
Its Of Days,
"What has that to do with motor cars?" you say. A motor-car is simply a thing of steel, inanimate without that power of compelling affection. Well, that inay be true in an actual physical sense, of course, but did you ever see lecomotive engineer pat his engine affectionately after a hard run Almost any locomotive engineer will tell you that his charge has its whimsits off-days and its good days its fite of temper and sach like. It is also a well-known fact that some engineers can get better results out of their engines than others would if placed in the same
cab.
The regulations apply to all motor vehicles, including motor- cycles.
In his letter to local authorities recommending the suggestions of the conference regarding cross-roads the Minister says:-
The advantages which may be anticipated from a continuous and systematic application of the recom- mendations now put forward will be largely thrown away if a feeling is thereby engendered that the drivers of vehicles on main trunk roads have right of way, and that all other traffic must give way to them.
"The conference recommended the erection of a special cautionary sign on the subsidiary road, but this sin is merely intended to warn & Why is thatf Is it because the driver on that road that he is ap- more efficient, man has had more proaching a special danger of which years of experience. Not altogether "might otherwise be unaware. that. But he has allowed the great The driver on the main road is not come a part of himself, as it were, thereby absolved in any degree from "The thing of steel seems to feel the responsibility of exercising pro- per caution on approaching a cross and respond to the master's tough.
road, and the use of the ordinary cross-road sign on the main route many will not be discontinued."
mechanism of iron and steel to be-
How true all this is, too, of motor car driving. There are drivers who operate their cars over long periods of time without much actual trouble or expense. The ma- chines always seem to be in tune, to ride rough-shod over everything always ready to respond, and yet do not slow up even for railway the owners drive just as hard and erossings. Of course, this kind of just as far as many others whose driving is not only injurious to the rescits are not at all gratifying, car, but adds the clement of danger But they do it all in such a differ- as well. They seem to be under the ent way. For one thing, when impression that to be careful and driving they keep their car's in cautious shows timidity or a lack perfect balance. If I could take of nerve. you down to the corner-to the To get the very best results from intersection of two well-travelled strouts could make my menning quite plaia. I cannot do it actual ly but let us pay a pseudo visit,
anyway.
Two Examples.
".
Tremendous Strains.
...
NERVE OR NERVES. MOTOR CAR WEAR
CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE
WOMAN MOTORIST.
I was talking about motoring the other day to a woman whom I have for long known to be of the type often described as a bundle of nerves," writes a correspondent. She said, in the course of our con versation, I should simply love to drive a
car. But, of course, I should be too nervous. Everyone tells me so." "
I had heard remarks like this be
fore from other women, so I merely asked, in what may have seemed an irrelevant manner, Have you ever bicycle? The answer ridden a came in a prompt and enthusiastic affirmative.
But that is very different from driving a car." my friend added, the keenness dying out of her voice. "Not at all," I assured her "Riding a bicycle and driving car have a great deal in common, and I always think, and have al- ways found, that the woman who made a success of the one is equally good at the other. Tell me, were you a good cyclist, or were you nervous-the kind of rider who wobbles all over the road at cruci
al moments!"
4
AND TEAR.
ACCELERATORS, CLUTCH AND INSUFFICIENT OILING TRAP.
The managing director of Gen- eral Motors declares that motorists are demanding exact information on one point. They want to know how to get the maximum use from their cars.
Carelessness in handling the clutch causes more wear on cars
than any other one thing. Many
drivers let in the clutch with such suddenness as to cause the driving wheels to cura a little on their tapered axle ends. Looseness at this point actually becomes à safeguard;' otherwise pinion and ring gear would have to endure more strain than at present Universal joints are strained by sudden application of power, especially if they are worn to a point where they are
nose
Sudden stepping on the necelerator is more apt to strain the clutch and
the rest of the drive line, though it also frequently loosens the rear
wheels from axles; injures the universal joints; strains the spokes of the wheels and helps burn up tyres.
My friend assured me that she was a good cyclist. "At least I was never at all nervous when riding," she added, as it fearing to sound boastful. "I rode for designed for easy operation and if He explained that clutches, are years, and never had any accident the engine is accelerated beyond the worth mentioning. I loved my ma point where the car itself can im chine. I was awfully sorry when I'mediately follow, the clutch plates had to give up riding."
will slip. This heats them up and may permanently damage them. heat up and expand, resulting in Often when a clutch slips it will sudden grabbing that is particular- ly hostile to the drive line.
You ought to try motoring." I told her. You would and it a better nerve sedative than many battles of tonic. Try it, and see for yourself."
Now to many who have not had much experience of cycling and motoring, and to those who do not grasp just what is needed of road users to-day. this advice may seem rash. To suggest to a person who is admitted's troubled with ner- ves that she takes to driving a car, sounds a little mad, on the face of it. But the experienced motorist or cyclist knows that it is just these highly strung, nervous people whom we want on our roads in these days, rather than those bardy souls who boast openly that they don't know what nerves are.
Imagination.
In our use of the words "nerve"
and "nerves" we are apt to become a little involved. We take the one for the other, while, in reality, the two words signify two very different things. The person troubled with nerves in the ordinary way is like ly to be the one possessed of nerve when things come to a crisis. The robust individual, who does not know what fear is, will often suc cumb to the sudden panic, the un- expected
catastrophe, while the nervous person, who has pictured the event which has now taken place many times in her imagina- tion, is not overwhelmed by it, he cause not surprised.
What road users want to-day is more imagination. It is the chief necessity for all who would take charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle. No matter how well you may be able to drive. no matter how dexterous your handling of the car may be, if you have not im- agination you are not a safe per son to have on the road. For, as all readers of the newspapers know full well, the cause of a large pro- portion of the accidents so fearfully common in these days is, in the first place, a lack of imagination. It is not enough to" drive and to think of what you are doing. You must think even more of what the other road users are doing, and, more than this, of what they may do at any given moment.
some
Time and time again the warning has gone out that engines deter orate most on account of inade quate oiling. Time and time again this has been demonstrated. The motorist to-day assumes his engire to be very economical on oil, and thinks all there is to do is change the oil at stated intervals.. În many cases such a rule serves well enough, but millions of engines re quire more oil than they get, and even, the engine that is extremely economical is apt to be pressed into extra hard service, which results in a higher rate of oil consumption. Body noises often can be traced to carelessness in use of more po-
werful brakes as well as to abusing the advantages of balloon tyres.. To stop suddenly places a strain on the body of the ear, loosening and weakening it. There is a tendency to drive too fast over rough spots when balloons lessen the bouncing Lut the body and the chassis are taking a terrific strain under such
circumstances.
- pr
A JUDGE'S WARNING TO MOTORISTS,
A SERIOUS MATTER TO NEGLECT INSURANCE,
PENALTIES THAT CANNOT BE PAID.
The necessity for all motoriste to be insured wat emhasised by Judge Snagge at Marylebone Coun- ty Court recently. A youth of 20, against whom a claim for £0 6s. Ed. damages was allowed by the Judge, as the result of a collision between a stationary private car and the defendant's car in Regent's Park, offered to pay 25, od a week. The Judge: Are you insured 7 Defendant: No.
Whose motor were you driving? My brother's
Was he insured No.
The Jodge This is a very seri ous matter. You tell me that the insurance had just run out. There you were driving at 30 or 35 miles an hour and damaging another car. "Only recently," aded the Judge, I had a case where an aged, maa was knocked down and was crippled for life. The jury very rightly gave bim £750, but the driver was not, insured, and the poor old man har not got a penny."
dant was learning the motor busi- It had been stated that the défen- ness and earned 30. a week.
Other People's Minds, You are, for example, driving along an open road at a fair pace say at thirty miles an hour. A car in front of you is travelling at about the same rate. For a time the two cars are equidistant. Then something happens. For reason you are all at once on the top of the other car. What is the reason? It to be found in the fact that, for some purpose not evident to you, the first car has slowed suddenly, or even stopped altogether. Crashes, involving the loss of life and terrible injuries; have resulted many times from simple causes such as this I have indicated. It must be borne in mind by every driver that although there are road signals, yet these areT.T. not used by nearly every motorist, and it is always safer to assume that the person in front of you
The same need for the imagina- tive faculties is seen in many other trifling incidents, and the conclu-
motorcar from a driving stand- paint-to secure the greatest amount of pleasure for yourself and comfort for your passengers, que must acquire a delicate touch on both the clutch and brake pedals. We have all noticed at times cars Here comes a fairly large tour. almost jump for two or three feet ing car, with six people aboard, when starting off. This practice throws a tremendous sudden strain probably running about 30 miles an the turn. He slows down some, of on all parts from the clutch to the rear wheels-probably five times the course, but evidently not enough, because you will notice that those strain that is exerted when pulling in the rear sent are catapulsed to steadily up a steep hill. A piece of the far side with quite some force, common string will suspend Now, probably this did not entail pound weight indefinitely, but lift much of a strain on the chassis in the weight up a little way and let general, but its affect is noticed it drop suddenly and the string will after several thousands of such be broken. turns. And how about the tyres 1 They suffer severely under auch side The rear axle of your car, the atrains and skidding tendencies, to differential mechanism, the drive say nothing of the discomfort of the shalt universal joints, and trans passengers, who are being bounded mission are all designed with a around in their seats this way and high factor of safety, and will stand that. Now watch this other car tremendous strains when applied make the anime turn. I happen to evenly and continuously, but when know this driver, and simply to the car is jerked ahead from a watch him perform is an inspiration standstill by harsh manipulation of in itself. His car is just as heavy, the clutch pedal all these members he is making about the same speed, have to absorb the momentum of a and he also is carrying six heary flywheel suddenly, much the Passengers.
same as the piece of string subjected In the first place he doesn't wait to the shock of the failing weight, nutil the last minute before apply This sort of careless clutch mani- ing his brakes; neither does he pulation carried on over a period apply then as if he were jamming of time works untold damage, and On an emergency lever of some sort. may be the cause of a serious break- is one who fails in this respect. In making the turn the inside down some time when least expect- wheels take the lower part of the ed, and, of course, auch a break- road near the gutter, and the ear down will happen, as usual, when swings around and into the straight you are miles from saywhere." sion that one arrives at is that it way without being out of balance There are many little niceties of is only safe to drive when every for a second, much the same as a driving that will pay one weli La possible danger is apprehended and Pullman car takes a curve-acquire. They will give mych add-prepared for. To some this is outer rail is slightly higher than the ed pleasure in driving, both to your foolishness. Such people are the inside rail-the curve is.banked.
self and your friends-will and a motorists who, when through fail- factor of safety the trip anding to picture a possible happening go a long way towards eliminating they are involved in a disaster, are I have been asked repeatedly all those aggravating and expensive. Glled with surprise as well as dia "If I never drive over 25 miles on repairs which so frequently become may at what has occurred. They hour should my car not give long (an unwelcome necessity to the motor saffer badly from "shock" and for -continued good service 1 " Yes, it car which has been operated in Lo a time lose their nerve altogether, should, but it also depends a great ill-advised manner. So, tune up- The woman who was too per deal on just how you drive the get yourself in tune with the engine. vous to ride a bicycle" is certainly bumps, the holes and other hazards the clutch accelerator, brake, and not fit to drive a car, but the cap- mehjab apness suddenly, ing (sensualna pinalamandianerai jis is Linkkamundenbide-demnat sees to detecan Perhaporter heat lampspeedwar: you at times. Thez, too, there are a manner calculated to cause your successful motorist-one who will man who will be racing in the Is lots of folks who just naturally like friends to remark, " He is a good make a good and considerate use of land is Arthur Eranklyn, who will
(Continued on next Column') driver"
the rond.
Continued, Good Service,
paid at the rate of 21 month An order for the damages to be was made.
TOO FAST FOR DIRT.
TRACK STARS? Where are the daring oversens, dirt-track racers-or even the Eng lish exponents for the matter of that in this year's races for the Tourist Trophy in the Isle of Man
At the conclusion of last year's Manx events the speedway world, according to Motor Cycling, was all agog with the news that some of the American cracks had definitely decided to ride in the T.T. and their decision was quickly followed by several other overseas men. What has deterred them ? A glance through this year's entries show a fair sprinkling of men who have made their presence felt on the dirt tracks, but none of them is from Australia or the States
be riding a Beatt. in the Senior.
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