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AUGUST Sth, iQi8.

THROUGHFEMININEGOGGLES.

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Appreciation of a Royal Enfieldand Remarks on the Ideal

Lady's Machine.

women who have joined the Forces asdespatch riders and drivers of sidecars are quitecontent with the standard diamond-framedand with the return of normal times we shall

be unnecessarily squeamish when asked to managewitli standard

and so give timethe designers ,who must

and in turnour special de-The compara-

few pioneer womencyclists whosewere familiar indays have been

in the vast num-who have learned toa motor cycle dur-

the war.The Royal Air Forceits women drivers,their P. and M-which have been

for sterling quali-are at once* power-and easily handlecTlwomen police favoursolo Enfield. This

too, is capablegiving very considerable

even ' on longdrives, when dutyThe machine is

to get hard wear inhands of the novice,we all must pass our'

obatioiiary stage beforedegree of excellence

achieved in motoring asother spheres. Evenmasculine mind can-grasp the essentials todriving without bothand practice.A few days ago I saw a

h.p. Enfield combina-trying to start off with

additional passenger oncarrier. The driverevidently still much

learn. The throttlev/idely opened, the

raced, and eachthe clutch was let in

front wheel reared like

The Enfield outfit which the author of the article used before iKewar. Such scenes as those depicted bring to mind the old days oipetrol plenty, and also prompt the eternal question-days of motoring be renewed?

a restive horse. The carrier passenger wore an ex-pression of dire discomfort. 1 waited, expecting tohear the driving chain snap under the strain, and in-wardly fuming in my desire to suggest to the driver amore gentle and gradual manipulati'on of the clutch

handle, when, with a sud-den swerve and a dash, themachine got away.We all make our mis-takes, and the poormachine has to pay forthem in undue wear. TheEnfield will stand as muchill-treatment as most. Iremember some good timeswith a 6 h.p. outfit. Itwas made early in 191 3those remote days beforeone's patriotism forbadea pleasure jaunt. It wasused as a kind of family'bus. When one memberhad not got it on the" open highway " anotherhad. All the year long itanswered up merrily to atwist of the startinghandle, and many were themiles it was rnade to an-nihilate. Day after day itwas hauled forth ; givenno attention beyond fillingup with petrol and oilleft alwaysshocking ad-mission-with its last coat-ing of mud to be shakenoff on the next trip. Abad plan, but our failingsare many, and to clean amotor bicycle and sidecarproperly requires a gooddeal of energy.A tip to obtain ease ofstarting that may proveuseful to those women incharge of difficult enginesis to open the compressiontaps and turn the engineover a few revolutions.The rush of air so causedwill dry up any drops ofmoisture in the cylindersor on the plug points.Then by injecting a fewdrops of spirit before

^A35-When the

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1.^0 AUGUST 8th, igi8.Through Feminine Goggles.closing the taps again much exhausting effort issaved. This tip is especially useful when a machinehas been left standing in a damp garage, and it mayalso be tried if a suspected cause of the difficult start-ing is too rich a mLxture in the cylinder.

During the cessation of private motor cycling itwould be a fine idea if a woman driver of experiencewould design -a lady's mount which would incorporateall the good points of the machines already on themarket and discard the faults. There is no machinethat embodies aU. we would like to have, and severalthat leave much to be desired. Possibly we should

not all agree as to what are essentials to comfortable-riding, but I feel certain that the handle-bar clutch forone item would secure all our vote.s.

Summer-time is here once again, and the roads dry-and dusty, but we do not talk of igrS ladies' models.Were such made, prices have risen to such magnitudethat few could afford to buy except the moneyedclasses : the munition workers. Still some day, per-haps, this topsy-turvy world will readjust itself, andwe shall again debate as to- the fitments we hope to-order at the Olympia Show. Until then we must be'content to live on hope' and such optimism as we canmuster. ' May Walker.

MOTOR CYCLES FOR THE DISABLEaSimple Adaplalions of Clutch and Brake Control.

SEVERAL articles have appeared recently on thissubject. All are agreed that the motor cycleis easily adapted to the needs of- disabled men,

but some of the proposed schemes seem too compli-cated and expensive. With the object of finding asimple method of control I have been studying suchup-to-date catalogues as I could get.

Let us consider the case of a man with one leg offabove the knee or one arm off above the elbow. Itshould be explained here that an artificial limb forlowej amputations than these can operate any controlnearly as weil as the real hand or foot. A one-leggedman must have the brake pedal put on the same sideas his good leg. Most makers seem to favour tlienear side, but this alteration is very simple ifnecessary.

The Possible Forms of Control.Thre are several alternatives for clutch control :

{a) Handle-bar control. Xb) Clutch pedal of the cartype alongside brake pedal, so that they can beiterated together or independently, (c) One pedaloperating both clutch and brake, the clutch comingright out before the brake is applied, (d) Either{b) or (c) combined with a long lever control, as on

tlie Indian ; thislongJLever can beeasily fitted todutch pedals ofthe old Triumphor B.S.A. type.{e) Combine dclutch and gears,worked by onelever, as in theRoyal Enfieldand Phelon andMoore.The kick starter

if on the off side can be operated with either foot. If onthe near side (the Douglas is. about the only Englishbicycle thus fitted) it is impracticable for a right-leggedrnan and very difficult for a man with a good left leg.The writer is assimiing throughout the use of a side-car, though solo riding is possible for an active andconfident man. But for a legless man handle-startingas on the 6 h.p. Enfield is certainly to be recom-A36

Fig. I.Brake and Fig. 2.Brake andclutch operated by clutch pedals side byone pedal. side.

Fig. 3.-

mended, and is the only form likely to give real satis-faction before self-starters become common.A man with one arm is more easily suited. Hemust have his carburetter and ignition levers mountedtogether on his good arm side, with the exhaust lifterunderneath. Hecan have clutchand brake pedals,one .on each side,and kick starteron eitlier side. 1 fhe Wants a hand-controlled clutchas well, he canhave either the.long lever typeor the handle-bar type. But hemust have a footclutch for gearchanging unlesshe has a pedalgearshift, as inthe Scott, or canfit a foot gear-shift, as many D.R. 's do to their Triumphs. In short,the one-armed man can in nearly every case arrangeto keep his artificial hand on the bars for steering.

For Very Bad Cases.Men who h-ave been so mifortunate as to lose both

legs or both armsthe writer is only minus one legand thinks himself luckyif they must have a cheapmeans of getting about, and have the courage to trya sidecar outfit, could probably find a few machines'which they could adapt to their needs, handle startingbeing essential to the one and combined pedal clutchand gearshift to the other. But, of course, bothwould find a light car infinitely more comfortable andconvenient. I have also learnt to drive a car witlithe greatest of ease since my -disablement, never havingdriven one before ; but I would urge on all disabledmen not to be discouraged, to try to do as much aspossible with their artificial limbs, and, finally, tobuy a motor cycle, which has always been to me,and still is, the best, fastest, and most enjoyable'means of getting about the country. F.E.D.H.

-B.SA. type clutch operated bylong lever