130 



RECREATION 



all these are considered not only as 

 proper sport, but as pastimes to be en- 

 couraged in every way. To my mind, 

 the dangers of reasonable motorcycling 

 exist mainly in the minds of persons 

 who have never been on a machine in 

 their lives. In the matter of control a 

 motor-cycle can be stopped much more 

 quickly than a wheel, as you have the 

 powerful compression of the engine to 

 aid as a brake if the spark is cut out, 

 and the efficient pedal brake in addi- 

 tion. I have frequently gotten out of 

 a tight place by turning on all reserve 

 power and shooting ahead of an obsta- 

 cle. I can run from four to thirty 

 miles an hour simply on the spark con- 

 trol. People complain of the noise. A 

 powerful motor-cycle engine running 

 with the spark back and the muffle cut 

 out makes an awful bang, but I can run 

 my machine within five feet of people 

 without their hearing me coining. In 

 fact I often have to open my muffle to 

 keep from running over them. A rea- 

 sonable skill in setting spark and throt- 

 tle will make a standard machine as 

 still as a sewing-machine. But when I 

 get away into the country, where noise 

 is no object, I open up to keep my en- 

 gine cooler and see what kind of explo- 

 sions I am getting. 



Two questions are almost invariably 

 asked by everyone to whom I show my 

 machine, "How fast will she go?" and 

 "How far on that much gasoline?" I 

 always try to evade a direct reply. I 

 never rode a racing machine and never 

 timed a mile on a road machine. Twen- 

 ty miles an hour is a good touring 

 speed. It is also a good tiring speed, 

 and I rather like a slower pace. The 

 speed question very quickly settles it- 



self. My machine never yet failed to 

 get there in a reasonable time. A good 

 road machine never should be limited 

 to a gasoline capacity of less than 

 seventy-five miles, — and there you 

 are. 



Troubles? Yes, I've had 'em. I 

 have been lucky, I'll admit. Never had 

 but one puncture, and got that right in 

 front of a repair shop. Most of the 

 troubles of the beginner are only those 

 of ignorance. If you make it a golden 

 rule never to take your machine out of 

 the house without filling* the oil and 

 gasoline tanks, your machine will ap- 

 preciate your kindness by carrying you 

 many miles without further attention . 

 It is more disastrous to start out on a 

 long trip without oil than without gas- 

 "oline. An engine without gasoline 

 won't run, without oil it will run, and 

 run itself to pieces. Look your ma- 

 chine over daily for loose screws and 

 nuts. If you hear a squeak, get off at 

 once and search diligently till you find 

 it. Tighten up all your battery con- 

 nections and tape them, and don't try 

 to run on exhausted batteries. Finally, 

 don't try to jump too wide a ditch, and 

 never, under any circumstances, try to 

 climb a tree. If you mind the above, 

 nothing short of a broken part will 

 stick you. I haven't had a broken part 

 in four seasons' riding. If my feeble 

 remarks could but persuade one jaded 

 office-toiler to but taste the joys of the 

 empowered wheel, I am sure that the 

 disease contracted could be cured but 

 in one way, and that according to the 

 practice of the homeopathic school. 

 Get a motor-cycle, know what real joy 

 in living is, and don't forget to join the 

 F. A. M. 



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