Cycling & Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3488, 18 January 1921, Page 42

Cycling & Motor Notes

By

DEMON.

A country correspondent refers to a neat and handy covering for the spare tyre which can be made of a disused, even a slightiy perished, inner tube, which is cut right round on the inside circumference, the valve, of course, being removed. The old tube is then slipped over the spare tyre, whether mounted or not, and it makes a remarkably neat dust waterproof envelope at practically no cost. By keeping track of the oil consumption, better efficiency will be obtained from the automobile. If an excessive use of oil is being made there is a. leak somewhere which should bo fixed, or the engine is sucking up the oil into the combustion space. This means carbon and its accompanying trouble, and should be corrected immediately. When the water in the cooling system of the engine becomes discoloured by rust, which inevitably forms, dissolve a pound of ordinary washing soda in warm water and pour it into the radiator and start up the engine, allowing it to run some little time. The soda will loosen most of the rust in the water channels, and, after emptying the system by the plug at the bottom of the radiator, insert the nozzle of the hose in the filler so that the fresh water may carry off all rust that has been freed by the soda. Do not use too strong a solution of soda, or leave it in the pipes and radiator for too lengthy a period, otherwise the inner rubber 'wall of the hose connections may be damaged, and scale, checking the flow of water and bringing on fteating troubles. a speed of 80 miles per hour was deemed a performance of high merit for a 60-8% h.p. motor car. but to-day that speed has been attained by a 23 h.p. A.J.S. motor cycle on Brooklands track, England, where a kilometre was covered at a speed exceeding 80 miles per hour, and five miles at the rate of 69.8 miles per hour. More than anything.it demonstrates the efficiency of the high-class low-powered British motor cycle engine, on which much thought and experiment have been bestowed during the past, five years. Some of the most important automobile work being done in America is in connection with aluminium alloys. One firm has under construction a practically all-aluminium car which, with a. five-pas-senger body, will weigh 12£cwt. This is a full-sized standard track car. the lightness of which has been secured by the use of special aluminium alloys, and not by paring down on dimensions. A little care in starting a motor vehicle from the kerb may, in the long run, save the machine from a great deal of strain - on the tyres and wearing parts. Many drivers,'starting' from the kerb, turn the front wheels out before the vehicle is in motion. This can be obviated largely by making the turn as the vehicle comes to rest, so that when it is restarted it can come away from the kerb- without wearing' the front tyres by dragging them round.

A MEW MOTOR SPIRIT.

TEST IN WELLINGTON. An official test of natalite, in comparison with benzine, has just been held in Wellington. Four runs were made m a modern six-cylinder ear with the same quantity of spirit over precisely the same route. This demonstration took place in the presence of Mr W. 11. Morton, city engineer of Wellington; Mr W. Forrest Marshall, consulting engineer of Sydney, and others. Ihe testing car was driven by one of the Wellington city motor inspectors. The petrol used was one of the leading- standard brands. i It was considered by those who witnessed the tests that throughout the car ran more sweetly with natalite than on benzine; that on the hills the propelling power of natalite was superior to that of benzine; that natal.to proved more economical than benzine, arid gave a greater mileage for the same quantity of spirit—nearly 30 per cent, more mile!} per gallon. The trials as a whole were calculated to impress all who saw them with the fact that at last there seemed to have been found a thoroughly dependable supplement or substitute for petrol that could be applied to all internal combustion engines. Later the detailed report of these official tests, signed by those who conducted them, will be published in the principal newspapers. Natalite was first produced in South Africa less than four years ago. there it is said to have already proved a practical and commercial success. The output, last, year exceeded three million gallons, and even then did not nearly accommodate the demand. Shortly the manufactory in Natal is to be doubled in capacity. Natalite is made from molasses, maize, palm trees, and other vegetable growths. The works, which are to supply Australia and Now Zealand, will get their raw materi d in the South Sea Islands.