MULTI-CYLINDER ENGINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20668, 13 September 1930, Page 13 (Supplement)

MULTI-CYLINDER ENGINES.

BRITISH WAR OFFICE TESTS.

The British War Oflicq has been carrying out tosts with a standard fourcylinder, air-cooled aero engine, the results of which have proved really interesting, especially as ifc is an open secret that many of the British motor-cycle manufacturers are also experimenting with four-cylinder engines. This engine, which has overhead valves and the cylinders in lino, has covered 51,000 miles without dccarbonisatiou, or, in • other words, it has flown for 600 hours—not continuously, of course—at an average, speed of 85 miles an hour. When wo consider that few motor-cycles over cover even 5000 miles without being dismantled for carbon removal, this performance seems almost unbelievable. But the facts are unquestionable, and they give rise to the hopo that four-cylinder motor-cyclo engines "will bo notably freo from carbonisation troubles. They must necessarily bo less simple to' decarbonise than the single-cylinder engines to which motor,: cyclists are at present accustomed, but provided they can run for longer periods the added complication matters but little. Of course, with an aero engine there is not the constant opening and closing of the throttle that occurs with a motorcycle, so there is seldom any lubricant sucked into the combustion chamber. Also, less dust is induced (if motor-cycle carbon is analysed it is found to. bo largely road grit.) But oven when these facts are taken into consideration there seems an 'unaccountable difference between tho inter-decarbonisation periods of our single-cylinder motor-cycles and that achieved with this aero engine. It is belioved that the advent of four-cylinder motor-cycles will mark a new era in the reduction of maintenance work, also in silenco and flexibility, and that decarbonisation will become an annual or, at most, a bi-annual task.

THE SPORTS CLUB.

Mombers of the Sports Motor-Cycle Club will assemble at Western Springs at 9.30 a.m. to-morrow, prior to taking part in a run to Sharpe's Bush, Henderson Valley. In spito of tho rain, the run organised by the club last week-end proved a decided success. Sixteen members took part, and a game of motor-cyclo football was played at Sharpo's Bush.

A MEDICAL OPINION.

Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, M.8., M.S. Lond, F.R.C.S., an eminent English surgeon and hoalth specialist, in outlining tho many advantages of owning a motor-cyclo states: That the* motorcycle offers workers in many cities almost the only practical means by which they can spend their leisuro in the open air and at the same timo obtain from the sunlight a maximum advantage. That the motion of a motor-cyclo ■ stimulates the various organs of the body to perform the functions efficiently and that riding a motor-cyclo teaches a man to arrive at rapid conclusions—a capacity which is often of vital importance in business.

NOTES.

Thero aro 8000 to 10,000 turns of enamelled wire on a single magneto armaturo.

Saddle springs of v; ous strengths aro obtainable, so get a j>. ir that really suit your weight.

For a primary chain Jin. total up-and-down movement at tho centre of tho run is about correct; for the rear chain iin.

Over 835 British motor-cycles were imported into Australia during the month of February, as against 210 from America.

A fleet of seven Triumph sidecar outfits, coloured blue, has been provided for tho use of Belfast polico engaged in traffic control.

The first and only four-cylinder machine which ever competed in the Isle 'of Mpn T.T. races was an F.N,; it finished third in tho multi-cylinder class of tho 1908 race.

Most electrical head lamps havo a focussing devico, and it is well worth while experimenting to seo that the lamp gives the best possible beam. In many cases the focussing device consists of three alternative sots of notches in the bayonet joint bulb socket.

With dry-sump lubrication tho sump should bo drained and washed out every 2000 miles; in course of timo tho oil deteriorates, and rapid wear will tako placo if " muddy " oil is allowod to circulate through tho engine. Cleaning out the filters must not bo overlooked.

C. R. Collier, the winner of tho singlecylinder class of the first T.T. in 1907, pedalled, and one man dismounted and ran up Creg Willey's Hill. In 1909 pedalling gear was disallowed for the first time, whilo a fuel allowanco limit, which up to this time had been enforced, was abandoned.