Cycling & Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3590, 2 January 1923, Page 49

Cycling & Motor Notes

BY “DEMON.” Great, Britain contains many more motor cycles than America or any other country." According to a recent, return there "are 373,000 in use in the British Isles nearly 170.0Q0 more than there are in the United States. France can only muster an odd 50,000, Italy 31,000, Belgium, 20.000, and Denmark 14,000. Motor cyclists who are in habit of covering pretty long distances are always compalining of saddle-soreness. Even liar-, dened riders are not. exempt, from this, yet tb<3 remedy is simple. If & soft flannel cover is used over the saddle soreness will rarely result. A, back rest is also beneficial ‘ OVERHEAD VALVES. A contributor to the “Autocar” (Eng.) says that his experience of overhead valves has not- been entirely free from trouble of a petty nature; but it. is only fair to re member that overhead valves are in nearly every case a, post-war innovation on standard cars, so that no firm can claim to have perfected them as completely as a side valve svstem, with which the factory enjoys probably ten years’ experience. “Hence, - he adds, “one must not be too annoyed if a year's intimate fiddling betrays that the lubrication of some parts is distinctly crude, and that others are made of material which is too soft.” Two'points about the overhead engine are bound to charm every user—the extra liveliness of the engine, and the delicious accessibility of all valve parts as contrasted with the inaccessible tappets, and the trouble occasioned in removing the valve springs. Given an overhead valve installation, which is (a) encased, and (b) automatically lubricated, it deserves one’s commendation. STARTINC HEAVY AUTOMOBILES. The use of the electric starter has hitherto been confined to light automobiles, in which it now forms an essential part of an up-to-date equipment. Its advantages are, however, so great that a British company has been led to adapt the electric starter to heavy automobiles. In this adaptation the starter is independent, and is designed for use in garages where a number of | heavy vehicles have lo be started up in succession. An olectric motor of six horse

power is mounted with a special gear on a two-wheeled truck, which can be quickly run to the front of the vehicle t<p be started. By pulling a lever the operator lifts the truck off the wheels and places it firmly on three legs. Another simple operation engages the gear with the starting handle, and a thrid starts up the motor, which runs at 2000 revolutions per minute. The gearing reduces this speed to 130 revolutions per minute at the starting shaft—this being the most, effective speed for starting-up purposes. The same appliance can be used in the garage for pumping up large pneumatic tyres and other purposes. It has proved itself very efficient in operation, and is likely to become a recognised part of the equipment of large garages. ECONOMICAL HILL CLIMBINC. There is so much hill climbing to be done in this country that motorists will do well to study the advice offered by one who has had some considrable experience in this matter. The idea is often held that the most economical way is to ascend a hill without changing down if it can be possibly avoided, but that is only true if the hill is not steep enough to diminish the speed of the car to any appreciable extent. It is certainly not economical to hang on to top gear with the throttle wide open, and the engine labouring slowly in its eorts to keep going till the top of the hill has been reached, because little speed and power are being obtained from the large quantity of petrol consumed. As the car goes slower and slower (even if it ultimately ascends without the need for changing downi, it takes considerably longer in reaching the top, and consequently more petrol is being used than if the ear took the hill quickly on a lower gear. Change gear immediately the speed of the car lags; keep up the speed of the car by changing to a lower gear the moment you notice the pace begins to slacken is an engineering maxim which all motorists should follow. This means that the maximum power will be obtained from every drop of petrol, and a quicker ascent will be made, thereby consuming less fuel, while there is no strain on the transmission beyond that experienced in ordinary road travel. CHEAPER MOTORING. A step towards bringing motor car prices to pre-war level was to be made at the November Motor Show at Olympia, London. One of the factors making for cheap production (says an English writer) is the cut in the engineers’ wages, and in coal prices, but even more important is the fact that the men are settling down seriously to increase output.. Oa’ canny is a thing of the past. Manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to bring down their prices to the irreducible minimum, and so the public may look to receiving rock-bottom value for their money. Olympia prices, it was predicted, would be from 25 to 30 per cent, below those of 1921. The writer expected, also, an interesting development in the matter of air-cooling. This system proved its infallibility in the Scottish trials

a few months ago. Air-cooled cars romped over the mountains and put many water-cooled motors to shame.

GREAT ALPINE MOTOR CONTEST. No fewer than 53 of the 56 competitors m the 1000 miles Alpine Contest of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria completed the long and strenuous course through the wilds of Gippsland and over the rugged roads across the Australian Alps, during which dust and sand, snow and hail, were encountered, but, fortunately, very little rain. The contest was a success in every way and the magnificent scenery met with on the Alps at Mount Buffalo was a revelation to the majority of the participants, many of whom confessed that they had no idea that Victoria contained such lofty ranges intersected bv cut roadways, revealing an extraordinary wealth of natural wonders, wild and grand, and in some instances awe-inspiring. Considering the diffculties of the course, the accidents and mishaps were comparatively few, and there were no serious casualties. The final results of the contest will not be known until all of the cars have been examined for faults by a committee of experts, but the results of the fuel consumption contest and two of the hill climbs are valuable. In the fuel consumption test an Overland was successful with 57.1 miles to the gallon, and a Fiat and an Essex were successful in the first two hill climbs. LATER. Prize Winners.—A final chapter in this Great Motor Car Contest has been reached, and the prize winners declared by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, which organised the event. The winner was the well-known N.S.W. competition driver, Mr N. Smith, who drove an Essex, whilst close up was last year’s winner, Mr A. Iloette, whose It.ala was handled by another N.S.W. motorist in Mr A. V. Turner. A small Fiat driven by Mr Maurice Smith (Vic.) finished one point (out of 1200 further back third —and created havoc in the prize list by carrying off no less than eight trophies. The fact that- 53 cars completed this grueling test out of 56 starters and of the missing one was attributable to the illness of a passenger, speaks volumes for the ability of the drivers and the sturdiness of the cars. I ENERGY IN CASOLINE. A most important piece of work in progress at the General Motors Research Corporation is a study of combustion. The problem is to find ways to increase efficiency by utilising more of the energy in a gallon of gasoline. Automobiles now have low compression engines utilising under best conditions, but 10 per cent, to 15 per cent, of the energy in gasoline. ’When the gasoline and air are taken into the cylinder and compressed just before the explosion the pressure inside the cylinder is relatively low—about 801 b per square inch. If this pressure could be doubled it would make possible a corresponding gain in power with no increase in consumption of gasoline. When even the present low compression engine is pulling under full load, and especially at low speeds, as, for instance, uphill in high gear, there is the tendency to knock, or detonate, which decreases power. But if commercial gasoline is used in high compression engines this knock not only occurs all the time, but also becomes dangerously violent. Because of this knock high compression engines are loss efficient than low compression engines. The Research Corporation has developed a chemical compound which, mixed with the gasoline, eliminates the knock and permits the use of commercial grades of gasoline in high compression engines. This will mean that small big'll compression engines can be built which will develop power equal to the large, heavy, inefficient engine now in use. It will mean in turn that the chassis can he lighter and thus effect a great saving in costs of manufacture. There yet remain to be solved some of the problems incident to its manufacture, in commercial quantities before this anti-knock substance can be made available to the public. Existing types of low compression engines will be benefited by its use, but the real advantage will be in making possible the use of engines of high compression and correspondingly high fuel economies. MOTOR TRAMS. Paris is undergoing great changes, and a new design of trams is making its appearance. The cars are modelled on motor car lines, and will be propelled on the track by electric power. The mechanism of the cars is entirely new. and a light engine with a clutch takes the place of the old heavy engine. The new motor car trams were recently tried and proved exceedingly successful. It is claimed for the now cars that they are a great tie til nioie reli<ible airel mobile, and that they will reduce the traffic congestion in the French oapital considerably.