Non=skids for Motor Cycles.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 March 1906, Page 107

Non=skids for Motor Cycles.

In a competition recently instituted in England, to test the suitability of the various forms of nonskids for motor cycles, 33 devices were entered. The successful contrivances are illustrated herewith. The highest award was obtained by a smoothtreaded rubber tyre, on which was sewn a narrow serpentine band of rubber. In actual manufacture this band is, of course, moulded on the tread. Second prize was awarded to the Grose steel-studded leather band. The device that secured the third prize has the merit of simplicity, for it is nothing but a number of small metal bolts pushed through the cover from the inside, and secured m place by nuts on the outside. Most curious of all is the spring tyre of Mr. W. H. Robson, which secured fourth prize. The spiral springs are detachable and are fixed to the special rim by wedges. It is said to be a splendid non-shpper, and is, of course, unpuncturable. Its chief defect is the noise the springs make upon all roads, but particularly upon stone sets.

The judges were at first disposed to be sceptical of the value of this device, but in practical use they found it to be more resilient than many of the pneumatic-shod wheels to which anti-side-shppmg appliances had been fitted, and, had the springs withstood hard usage on the road, this exhibit might have taken a higher place. It is the_best non-slipper tried, and no grease, mud or dust were met with that it failed to negotiate ; it is at its best on very uneven surfaces, and at its worst on well-laid stone sets. It is, however, decidedly slower than a pneumatic, and the " dragging " is very perceptible, especially uphill.