Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3280, 24 January 1917, Page 50

Cycling and Motor Notes

BY DEMON. great movements in the reform of locomotion —the railway, tho bicycle, and the motor, taking them in chronological order — winch have had potent and far-reaching results throughout the world, were met by tho blindest prejudice. _ In high-grade cars aluminium alloy pistons and steel reinforced alloy engine bodies, aluminium alloy crank base, covers, fans, \ pumps, suction manifolds, and as many details as possible will bo of tho light metal to eliminate weight, and to make the best appearance. Steel will bo used only where essential, as in crank shafts, valves, connecting-rods, and gears, and _ iron for cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds. Frank Kramer, tho phenomenal American rider and national champion for upwards of a dozen years, has '.eon defeated in match races no fewer than seven times by the Australian, Spears, who, seemingly, has the measure of tho speedy Yankee. Kramer's eclipse, however, is not to bo wondered at, for age will tell. His career has been even more brilliant than Zimmerman's. T. Ellegaard, tho Danish racer, who visited Australia 12 or 15 years ago, is still riding well, and recently won a sprint race at Lyons, France, and was also successful in a 50 kilom. competition. ■ Cycle-racing in the United States seems not to be waning—in fact, new tracks are being built in several of the large cities. A cyclist, who rides consistently almost every day, and has also indulged in touring, says that lie is using a tyre which has not yet been punctured, although it was on the rear wheel for 12 months, and for the last six months has been doing duty ,o>u the stoercr —a fine record, truly. » After some years of experiments a Californian motor company has placed on tho market a front wheel driven car, known as tho Laughlin. An 8-cylindcr engine is mounted in the usual position in front, under a bonnet, and the drive from it is through friction discs and a jack shaft, and thence by silent chains to sprockets on the front axles. Since the front wheels must do the driving and steering, suitable joints are interposed between the driving sprockets and tho wheels, to allow of universal movement. It is stated by the manufacturers that the universal joints used are of a new and patented construction, and composed practically of two pieces. The sprockets and chain drive on tho Laughlin car are carefully encased. In tho front-wheel drive It is claimed that more than usual stability is secured, and in tests conducted by tho "makers it was found impossible to cause the car to skid; and that is made one of its leading points. Steering is said to be ideally free and easy, and power delivered to tho front wheels

makes it possible to travel over all sorts of roads without the usual discomfort —so it js assorted. The rear axle is dead —that is, it does not turn, but merely carries the wheels and supports tho load. war manufacturers were wont to employ special steels for making cars solely for competition purposes. There were, however, a hundred and one reasons why they could not standardise engines of high output then, among them being- the fact that the very special grade steels of which # they must bo fashioned were not commercially available. Again, the rank and file of each factory staff were not educated to such highly specialised work. But tho demands of war have compelled one. motor-maker after another to produce engines of moro or less high output for aviation work. The original British designs that have proved practicable arc few in number, a remark which applies equally to the cases of France or of Germany, for instance; but manufacturers are, nevertheless, gaining enormous experience, because many who are unable to make high-powered aircraft engines of their own designing are reproducing them from designs evolved elsewhere. Tho difference between war and peace work for engines of high output Lj this: that in peace time the

individual manufacturer produces a few examples for competition work under what may be styled more or less nursery conditions, in that the cream of his staff or mechanics is in constant attendance on them; whereas in war time engines of high output have to bo standardised precisely as do those of touring cars, and issued to the services, whereupon they are placed in charge of those who, for the most part, had never anything to do with this class of engineering construction before the war; hence experience is being gained on an immense scale. Sonic high car speeds wcro attained during the Christmas holidays on the sea beach at Seaport (Q.). W. Jewell, driving a Studebakcr negotiated half a mile, on the hard sand from a flying start in 21 2-sseo, equal to a speed of 84 miles an hour. A milo was also covered in the fast time of 44seo (nearly 82 miles per hour). E. Lahev, on a 7-9 h.p. motor cycle, covered the mile in a second slower time than the car. The tests attracted considerable interest m Queensland motoring circles. A well-known American motor car manufacturing concern recently offered a prize of a modern car to the owner of the oldest car of its make in America still in service. The winner proved to be a motorist in the Stato of Indiana, who is still running a car that he purchased in 1897. According to Mr Granville Pollock, who for over a year had charge < of the Pierce-Arrow lorries used to carry anti-aircraft guns during the early stages of the war, the late Captain Wilding, New Zealand's greatest tennis player, was responsible for many- innovations which proved to be of great value. Among these may be mentioned the idea of mounting the guns on a motor car axle with wire wheels, having double pneumatic tryes, and towed behind the armoured cars. It worked so well that the efficiency of these guns became so annoying to'the Germans that they made special efforts to "get him," using their heaviest artillery lavishly, which is quite a compliment in its way. They finally succeeded in dropping a "coal box" —a 42 cm. shell—on to the top of the dug-out in which Captain Wilding and some others had taken shelter when they had first started to shell them. An experiment conducted in England showed a surprising loss of power between the engine and road wheels of a motor car when the different gears were in operation. For instance, on a three-speeded car the average loss was 5 per cent, on top gear, 16 per cent, on the second gear, and 27 per cent, on the bottom gear. Now, no one will be surprised at the difference in efficiency between the direct top_ gear and tho indirect second speed; but it is certainly surprising at first siffht that there should bo a further power loss of 11 per cent, on the first speed, because it is no more indirect than the second. This additional loss Is attributed to the churning of the n-oar box lubricant being so much mora rapid on the bottom speed, and the exj perimentist makes the excellent suggestion j that some engineering college should con-

duct a series of experiments to measure gear box losses in an actual gear box, using different lubricants for eacb test. It is a well-known fact that the keener competitors in hill-climbs always empty their gear boxes of the usual thick oil and replenish with the minimum quantity of a thinner lubricant, and there is, perhaps, more in the practice than some of them have recognised. PETROL ECONOMY. Very few motorists realiso the vital importance, from a petrol economy point of view, of exploding the charge at the correct moment. Tne Autocar (England), in referring to experiments carried out on .Brooklands track by Mr Harry Ferguson, mentions that he ran with spark .fully advanced over a measured distance at a speed of 22 miles per hour, and the consumption worked out at 32 miles per gallon. He then retarded the ignition to tne halfway position, and on repeating the test found that the consumption was increased, the mileage only amounting to 25.6 per gallon. He then checked the consumption at a speed of 22 miles per hour, 30 miles per hour, and 38 miles per hour with the ignition advanced. At 22 miles the consumption was 32 miles per gallon, as already mentioned. At 30 miles per hour the mileage per gallon was only 24-, and at 38 it dropped to 20.8. As a result of other testa it was found that a very weak mixture was uneconomical, owing no doubt to combustion being incomplete, and' therefore the throttle had to be opened wider to obtain a certain speed in order to compensate for the amount of waste of fuel expelled unconsumed from the exhaust. A weak mixturo is also inclined to cause overheating. The Autocar sums up the problem of fuel economy as follows:—(1) To keep the whole chassis from end to end. in the best possible "tune"; (2) to so adjust tho carburettor that the mixturo is a shade less rich than that which will give the maximum power; (3) to drive comparatively slowly, instead of always "pushing" the car to its maximum speed; (4) to avoid unnecessary alterations of speed by way of frequent slowing down and acceleration. ... ■ CARE OF TYRES. The item of tyres in the bill of costs of running a motor car is invariably the highest, and there- are many car-owners who would be very glad if it could be materially reduced. Now, unduly rapid wear of tyres is in almost every case traceable to an error in wheel alignment; but it is not always possible to detect the defect by tho eye, except by an expert. Properly, to detect a comparatively small divergence or to correct a serious misalignment something more than the eye is necessary. Tho garage man will apply the straight-edge, and possibly resort to other methods to bring the wheels into line and axles .per-, fectly parallel. If, therefore, _ tyre-wear seems unduly rapid, tho motorist should, before blaming the quality of the covers, or the tyre manufacturers, first sec if the wheels are 'tracking truly. Sometimes there is ample evidence in the roughness of the tyre-tread that tho wheels aro not in line. Tho defect should bo rectified without delay. MOTOR CYCLING SENSATION. Motor Cycling (England) is responsible for tho announcement that a remarkable lightweight motor oyole is to bo placed upon tho English market, which will undoubtedly help to revolutionise the present trend of _ design. Tho machine referred to is provided ■with a two-cylinder rotary engine, and although tho type of power unit has in tho past been experimented with considerably, Buocess has not attended tho designer s

efforts, and consequently wc find that these experimental power units have not been proceeded with. In the present instance, however, a mileage running into thousands has been covered, during which the machine has been subjected to every conceivable test. Tho - power produced is out of all proportion to its capacity—i.e., 350 c.c. Notwithstanding that no gear or clutch was fitted, a,nd direct belt drive relied upon, there was. no necessity _at all for any form of clutch or gearing, owing to the fact that the engine would firo at speeds so low that tiiey iiad to observed to be believed. It is said that once this machine is available, as it will be after the war, in quantities running into thousands, it will make one of the b'ggest sensations that tho motor cycling world has experienced for a very long time. It will then, of course, be provided with a suitable clutch and gearing.