MOTOR & CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1924, Page 14

MOTOR & CYCLE

ECONOMY OF NEW PLUGS. Motorists who are contemplating long tours will find it to their advantage to instal a complete set of spark plugs before starting. A few years ago it was believed that a spark plug could 'be left in Die engine as long as it continued to fire. But recent exhaushow well a spark plug is made it loses five tests have proved that no matter efficiency in constant service. The continued .stress to which a spark plug is subjected in engine operation pits the electrodes and burns carbon on to the -insulator tip. This causes leakage of the cun-ent and loss of the spark intensity. The weaker spark cannot fire mixture quickly enough to give complete combustion. The unburned petrol in addition to meaning lost power also dilutes the oil in the crank case as it works by the pistons to escape from the compression chamber. That is Why engineers now declare it real economy to changg spark plugs at least once a year. They say that engine performance is made better in every way —’that oil and fuel are saved, and that more power and speed are generated from the same amount of petrol. It is particularly desirable to instal new plugs before beginning a long trip. Experts who have studied the question say that the cost of the new spark plugs will be more than met by the saving in gasoline and oil. PREVENTING PETROL EVAPORATION. It is not generally appreciated that a certain amount of evaporation takes place continually from the petrol in the tank if the car be left in the garage for a long period. In cars with gravity or vacuum feed the tank filler cap is always drilled with a very small hole, to prevent an air lock forming when the car is running. If the car is left in the garage for a very long time it is a good idea to push in a smlall wooden plug into the hole in the screw can. When the cap of the petrol tank is in an inaccessible position, as under the front seat, an old bicycle valve cut short and soldered over the vent hole in the screw cap will answer the purpose. CHANGE RUBBER HOSE. Be sure that the rubber hose at top and bottom of radiator is changed at least once a year. The hot water passing through it rots the rubber, which loosens up the fabric, so that it gets in the way of the water, cutting down the efficiency of the cooling system. This is a frequent cause of overheating. INGENIOUS MOTORISTS Some motorists are constantly in trouble and many of them are quite helpless over the slightest little thing. Others—not because they are experts or have had a scientific training, but merely because they are naturally ingenious and use their brains—have acquired an almost uncanny gift of rendering first aid to ailing cars. With little bits of copper wire and insulating tape they can do wonders. With a luggage strap taken from the grid at the back of the car they can cure fractures and breakages that would leave most people stranded on the road for hours. One man 1 know cured a. petrol pipe fracture by boring a hole through a potato and inserting the fractured ends of the pipe therein. An onion might also come in useful for a similar job. HOW WaaER GETS IN. Most of the water that finds its way into the petrol tank comes from condensation of the water contained in the air. If the car has been in a warm place and is suddenly put into a much colder place, the metal tank is quickly cooled, and the moisture in the warm air in the tank will condense on the inside of the tank in the very same way that moisture will form on the outside of a glass of ice water kept in a warm room. This moisture is gradually shaken to the bottom of the tank, and if not drained off from time to time, it will get into the feed line and cause trouble. Other sources of water in the petrol are leaky petrol gauges, which allow rain water to seep into the tank, and, during the operation ot filling the tank in a hard rainstorm, some of the rain drops going into the filler neck.

Inasmuch as water and foreign material of all kinds are heavier than petrol and sink to the bottom, any depressions or low spots in the line will be the first to clog up. This settling of foreign material is taken advantage of by manufacturers by providing sediment traps or settling chambers which can be drained from the bottom from time to time to get rid of the foreign material.

PROTECTING THE EYES. Useful as goggles are when serving their usual purpose of protecting the eyes When driving, there is another use for them which seldom occurs to the motorist until an assortment of road dust and dirt generally falls into his eyes when he is carrying out some repair job which necessitates getting under the car. Before crawling under the car to tackle one of those fortunately rare, but very irritating, breakdowns which can only be dealt with by this uncomfortable method, a great deal of inconvenience can be overcome by putting on a pair of close-fitting goggles to keep out dirt which may fall from the under- shield. HINTS AND TIPS. ? NOTES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. If a tyre bursts do not jamb on the brakes—cut off the power and let the car coast to a standstill. Jambing on the brakes might cause a skid that would fatally ruin Die car. In putting on new tyres put them on the rear wheel and remove the halfworn ones to the front wheels —-this Will give them a longer life. In putting on a single tyre put it on the lefthand rear-wheel as this gets the most wear in running over single stones at the side of the road.

To keep leather upholstery fresh, supple and free from grease, it should be rubbed over occasionally with a rag soaked in linseed oil. If the latter is thinned down by the addition of a little turpentine, any surplus dirt which may be on the .surface of the upholstery can be removed. This operation should be performed overnight so as to give the oil time to soak into the grain of the leather, and in the morning the surplus can be wiped off with a dry rag. Care should be taken to see that this is done thoroughly so as not to leave anything that might get on the clothes of anybody occupying the seats. A good plan is to leave the car standing in the sun for half an hour before using it. An unusually noisy gear-box is sometimes due to the top of the box being resonant and magnifying the sound. Instances are given in which the noise by elamping to the aluminium a feltof tlie gears has been greatly reduced lined piece of board. In most cases, however, gear-box noise is due to wear. It sometimes happens that an owner ■wishes to continue to use a tyre which ha; burst, either for financial reasons or because a new tyre of the size required cannot immediately be obtained. In these circumstances some means must be adopted for repairing the burst cover in order to prevent the inner tube from working through and blowing out. The Motor suggests cutung a short length from an old cover, removing the beading, and inserting it so as to come between the burst and the inner tube, and then to prevent this repair section from working round the tyre it ean be secured at each side, near to the beading, with a couple of small coach bolts and washers. MOTOR-CYCLING. Recently, A. Denly (490 c.c., O.H.V. Norton), broke the 10 kilometres standing start Italian record by covering the distance in 4min 21 l-*ssec at an average speed of 84 m.pJi. An engineer associated with the Raleigh factory has patented a gear box lay out in which the kick starter pinions are utilised in the ordinary train so that a reverse gear may be obtained without too many gear Wheels. A Brussels motor-cycle dealer is fitting American Big X’s with four-valve Triumph cylinders. According to reports the acceleration is terrific, and with a standard Schebler carburetter, the machines are capable of 78 m.p.h. on the road. Quite a number of these machines have been sold on the Continent at £-'132, including electrical equipment.

Perhaps the best summary of the advance in efficiency of the motor-cycle since the early days of the industry may be found in the records of the first T.T. races in 1907, compared with this year’s events. Then the fastest speed attained was 38.2 m.p.'h. In the 1924 races, machines of If h.p. exceeded this speed by 13 m.p.h., While the senior division was still another ten miles faster.

When the motor-cycle engine is revolving at high speed, say, 3000 revolutions per minute, each .piston starts and stops 100 times a second. Each of the valves opens and closes 1560 times a minute, or more than 20 times a second. The periphery of the flywheels travels ai the rate of 125 ft a second; the piston moves up and down in one-three-thous-andth part of a minute, and the ex-

haust and intake valves’ periods are at the same rate.

Do not neglect the tyre valves; they arc small things, and, ordinarily, need little attention. Still, they are important; the rubber portion, ensuring an air-tight seal, may be cut or more or less perished, and l requires renewing. Always keep the dust caps screwed on. To use a tyre with a valve that has developed a minute leak may be its ruin. The tube may be nipped, or the tyre may creep and tear cut the valve, and the walls of the cover be irreparably damaged. A multitude of different types of power-driven vehicles have been developed in recent years, each type filling its place more or less efficiently according to the requirements which naturally change as the years pass by. The motor-cycle is one of the successful types and is developing satisfactorily. Af a means of combining sport and pleasure the motor-cycle, because of the speed of which it is capable, and its low operating costs, is attracting an everwidening field, and for general utility, and as a means of travel, the economy of the motor-cycle and side-car is proverbial. The combination machine can transport with ease three adults, covering from .40 to 50 miles to the gallon of fuel. NOTES. Of nearly 900,uuJ motor-cycles in the world, there are only 200,000 in Canada. A majority of the plate glass now produced in America is used by the automobile trade. A vehicle should not be used when it is so constructed, enclosed, equipped or loaded as to be dangerous, or noisy, to scatter its contents, retard traffic, or prevent the driver from raving a view sufficient for safety. The world’s production of motor and motor-cycle tyre covers is estimated to now be 52,520,000. The United States, which has 80 per cent, of the world’s motorists within its borders, produced about 46,000.000 of the above total. There were 2626 street accidents in Victoria in 1923, and for the first half of the present year the number has exceeded last year’s total. It is estimated that —should the present average be maintained—the number will be more than 100 per cent, greater than that for the twelve months previously. In Canada last year 585,079 motor vehicles were registered, and, according to an official return, thousands of others were attracted in the class of tourist ears from the United States. It es estimated that these tourists spent in Canada in that year £23.700.000, which shows it to be a business well worth cultivating.