The sun., 1912-08-04
MOTOR CYCLES BOTH
CHEAPER AND BETTER
About S65, 900, 900 Worth Made
Last Year-There Will Be
More for 1912.
AVERAGE COST S25 LESS
Used by Doctors, Soldiers, Rural
Mail Carriers. Police and
in Other Callings.

brother OF the automobile and is grow
ing In popularity. Within the las.
twelve months greater progress has
been made in motorcycle construction
than In any previous year Of It's
history.
In the days Of the bicycle a century
run was considered a finc test Of physi-
cal endurance. To cover the hundred
miles the bicyclist bent low over the
handlebars and pcdalled incessantly up
hill and down dale. His eyes were
blind to all beauties Of landscape that
the winding road unfolded. says
writer In Hdrpers Weekly Only when
he coasted down the slope that he had
surmounted did he have n chance to
straighten his back and look about him.
The motorcyclist sits erect. A hum
dred miles on his swift wheel leaves
him less tired than ten miles pumping
at the pedals used To. on the motor
cycle the days ride is one long coast.
A run Of a hundred miles costs only a
few cents and brings n fortune in the
way OF enjoyment
The motorcycle has been found in
dispensahle by inspectors Of roads. Of
telephone and telegraph lines. The
country doctor gets call over the
telephone from patient a dozen miles
away and is at his side in less than
half an hour. The rural mail carrier
on his motorcycle distributes his let
ters along the countryside as rapidly
as the city postman makes deliveries
In single block.
Commercial travellers are taking
more and more TO the motorcycle for
II widens immeasurably the field OF
nv,I
ton OF the police department Of every
city IL mounted on motorcycles In
fact. there Is hardly a branch of busi.
ness which. having begun by experi.
mentins with tho motorcycle. has not
adopted II.
4 In the army the swift. compact and
powerful motorcycle has become ex.
tremely important. In this country and
Europe there are corps pf express
riders mounted upon motorcycles. Mill
tary scouts and despatch bearers race
at high speeds along roads and lanes
and footraths, hopelessly outdista ncins
the couriers mounted on horseback.
In cases OF emergency II has been
found possible to transfer substa ntial
rcenforcements to points fifty and even
! a hundred miles distant at a speed
scarcely eQualled by that OF a railroad
train. The battles OF the future may
he won or lost and the fate Of nations
decided by the motor driven bicycle.
The motorcycles importance and its
sphere OF usefulness are widening con-
hnually and no one can predict what
Its limits are.
The motorcycle of to-day Is cheaper,
more comfortable. cleaner, quieter and
easier TO start and to operate than any
OF It's predecessors. One objection that
the man OF moderate means has found
against the motorcycle ha been its
cost. This Is rapidly disappearing. Mo-
torcycies cost ON an average $o5 less
this year than last. Nearly every man
ufacturer has lowered his prices
, In some cases the reduction has been
slo or $50 and In others az much a.
$50 or $40. Owing to the first cost Of
materials and workmanship II Is hardly
likely that the motorcycle ever will lie
; as cheap as the bicycle. bu. il Is prob
able that 1t Will not be long before the
thousands OF people who have been
! riding bicycles will bS able to afford 10
discard them for the speedier and more
powerful machine.
: Another fault that has bee remedIed
in the motorcycle of to-day IL the seat.
IN travelling Mt a high rate Of speed the
ordinary bicycle saddle and the former
notifications Of It have bee found to
be uncomfortable and tiring. The ex-
periencc OF the automobile manufac-
turers has been drawn upon to correct
this and II has been accomplished by
the use Of the floating or spring seat
. one type OF this seat Is suspended on a
long spring plunger working In the rear
diagonal frame tube. There are two
, springs one takes care Of the riders
weight and the other absorbs the road
shocks.
This improvement IS especially impor-
tnnt because In going over rough roads
the bouncing up and down OF the rider
somct!mcs comes dangerously near un-
seating him. Another way OF attain
Ing the same comfort In tho saddle IL
by using a spring frame. The springs
are in the rear upper stays. BY this
arrangement not only the rider but
! the weight OF the rear half of the ma
chine Is carried by the springs.
The present tendency IL to use larger
tires than year or so ago. The stand.
ard size for motorcycle tires has been
2SX2i1 inches. but the 1912 machines
in many instances are fitted with two
|
With rims that will take that size In
} the 1913 models which are just appear
Ing the three inch tire Is being tried.
1t took a long time for the automobile
manufacturers to devise and install a
satisfactory self starter ON their ma
chimes. Two or three years ago self
starter was n rarity. Now practically
every new machine Is equipped with
one. The motorcycle manufacturers
have been going through the same
period OF development. trying to figure
out foot starter that could be applied
to their machines At least one Of these
Is now on the market.
The fact that so many motorcycles
herald their coming by series VI eX-
plosions like the rattle of a rapid fire
gun is no sign that the manufacturer
have been idle or have made little effort
to decrease the noisiness of the ma
chimes. Too many motorcyclists still
tinker with their muff,ers so as to make
them Ineffective. because the continuous
trail OF explosions that follows them a, j.
tracts attention to their flight through
city streets. Some think II IA better
warning signal than the horn and
others are Just fond Of the noise. ON
the whole. however. the motorcycle II
7 growing less and less offensive as a
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