Cyling and Motoring Notes

Levin Daily Chronicle, 24 February 1917, Page 4

Cyling and Motoring Notes

From the Dunlop Rubber Company zt Australasia.. Limited, for the week 17th February, 1917.

According to the Motor Age, one of America's loading automobile journals, the registration of cars in that coun-ci-t for the first six (months of 191G, reached the enormous total of 4,932,-

455, almost 50 per cent greater th ui those of "he corresponding period jt 1915. The latest figure sare amming and if correct, means that there .s em car registered in the United States of America for every l twenty inhabitants. In addition to cars for home use, America exported 251,541 cars in 1916.

Owing to the heavy call on the railway system of Detroit (the big American motor centre), the Ford Motor Company had to close up tlicir tremendous plan tfor twelve days at the end of December to give the railroads a chance of catching up with the congested traffic arid transport. The suspension meant 42,000 workers being idle for the period mentioned, representing a loss to them of £10,000 a day in wages alone, and means a production loss of 175,000 Fords. Tho scheduled output of these cars for 1916 was 503,000 and it is anticipated that over 740,000 would be marketed in 1917.

According to advices from New York the recent submarine activity of the enemy has ersultcd in the sinking of a nnumbe rof steamers, part of the cargoe sof which consisted of large shipments of American motor oars and motor cycles.

, Few motorists realize what an important factor Tungsten stcol is in tlie construction of the efficient motor car or motor cycle engine. First of all Tungsten steel is as far ahead of the old carbon steels as steel itself is superior to iron. It is practically used for magneto construction. engine valves. etc. In fact it is about the only commercial metal that will stand up to the strain and lieat that exhaust valves are subjected to. Previous to tlie war Germany had a monopoly of this steel alloy, and it soon became necessary for England to make provision for filling her own requirements as Tungsten was essential in the national work of turning out munitios, etc. Word is now to hand from England That a fine plant covering some six acres has now been completed at homo for the purpose of supplying tlie leading English steel manufacturers with this almost invaluab-le allow. It is also pleasing to note that the output of the Tungsten metallic powder is

superior in quality to tlie pre-war German manufacture. Its price is controlled in England by the authorities, fte value being about £60 for a box (a foot square) containing 2001bs of the powder, which is derived from Wolfram oil, obtainable principally in Burma and to a small extent in Australia.

The lure of the open road is daily becoming stronger with the public, for everyone appreciates a pleasant run in the country, which constitute most attractive forms of popular relaxation. The automobile is of course the most efficient means of enabling people to enjqj' these pleasures, and noting the ease with which this vehicle fills its purpose bicycle riders liavo long wished for some method of applying power to their light and convenient mount that would relieve them of some of the labor of travel, as well as enabling them to extend the radius of their travels without increasing the exertion. To meet iliis demand many schemes have been devised for adapting ia. motor to the bicycle, but in most of these there have .been objectionable features and although more bicycles are in use to-day than ever before, the number fitted with power is very small. Jf the power plant is attached to the frame of the bicycle it usually develops that the machine is. not strong enough to carry the added weight and withstand the vibration of a fast-running engine, which moreover is not entirely comfortable; and if the power is applied as an auxiliary attachment the outfit becomes somewhat cumbersome and loses some of the desired traction. At the recent motor cycle show in New York a new power plant that can be applied to any bicycle was disclosed, which appears to meet the requirements of the bicyclist in a very satisfactory manner. Tlio power plant is incorporated as a unit with the rear wheel. It is not an attachment to be placed on theordinary wheel of tlio bicycle, but a specially built wheel, complete with all necessary mechanism that is substituted in a few minutes for the regular wheel. This is a very desirable feature, for this special wheel is strongly built, with special rim and heavy spokes, thoroughly adapted to carry the weight of the -motor and to stand up under the application of power, which an or-

dinarv bicycle \v 1 iou 1 is "unfitted for. The engine is an unusually neat little four-cycle gasoline motor of two horsepower, which will drive the outfit fast as it is safe for a bicycle on ordi- ' nary ro.ids, with an ample reserve of j power fjr hills. To meet any question of Uilance, from the engine being located oa one side of the wheel, the | main shaft of the engine is extended | right through to the hub of the wheel, ! and the flywheel i.s mounted on the right side of the rear wheel. This has the additional advantage that it permits of substantial and well-arran-ged hearings for the main shaft. An ingenious ignition magneto is built into the flywheel, and the drive to the road wheel is through spiral cut nickel steel gears. There are two connections between the bicycle frame and the power unit. The rear fork ends | are attached by bolts to a pair of colS lars jjliat support the power plant $ The power plant pivots on these bolts. J| A pair of pressed steel arms, which also support the mudguards and gaso-

i line tank, bridge the road wheel on . cacli side and are attached to the i collars of the power unit. The rear \ forward end of the yoke has a curved ' rod that passes through a clamp fixed ! to the forward part of the rear forks |; ol the bicycle frame, just behind the i : crank bracket; and threaded on this \ rod are two helical springs, one above | and the other below the clamp. This I arrangement of yoke arms mul spring;permits the power unit to rock on the pivots formed by the rear conncctinsr bolts, which not only cushions all shocks of the drive when starting, 'but also acts as a spring frame that softens the road shocks to tthe rider. The control of the motor is through i single Bowden wire comiccting with wi. small finger lever on the handlebar. The outfit weighs only 57 pounds, all of which is available 'for traction, awl the half-gallon tank carries enough fuel for <i trip of fiftv miles. All moving parts are carefully protected from dirt, and particular attention lin* been given to simplicity in removinc the cylinder for cleaning, etc. l f may be noted that the designer of tl- - outfit is one of the oldest and be-r----known motor-cycle engineers in \*»- erica, who thoroughly knows the requirements of two-wheeled vehicles.

The Australian crack riders Goullet and Grenda carried off the Boston sixdays' bicycle .race from the leadinct long-distance riders in America. Of recent years the Australians have practically scooped the American big

six-days' races. The one-hour professional motor-cy-cle championship of America was recently decided, and resulted in a win for R. Crevison, who covered 773 miles and incidentally established a new competition hour's record.

How often do motor-cycle side-car owners detach their machines? Xot very often. Why do they detach the side-car? In nine cases out of ten to get at the transmission. To obviate this, the car should bo designed with this in mind. What would a car owner say if he had to remove his bodywork to get at the cardan shaft? —which, by the way, very rarely requires attention, while on the motorcycle the transmission frequently is in need of adjustment. There appears to be 110 specia Ireason that tlie transmission should be on the inside of the machine or that both transmission and valve-gear should not be on the outside. It appear,s that the present practice is just due to the fact that it happened to be so on our very early machines. So long as tappets require adjusting every thousand miles or less, the valve-gear must be accessible, and until transmissions are designed which under ordinary condittliose on a car, this part of the machine too must be in such a position that it can be adjusted without having to practically stand upon one's head or crawl under the side-car supports to make an adjustment.

The immense value of the motorcycle ambulances on the French precipitous mountain pathways, where a four-wheeled vehicle could not penetrate. was referred to in London recently. It was stated that by moans of English side-car ambulances the wounded were conveyed now to their destinations in one hour twenty minutes, as compared with thirty hours when the oxen-drawn French carts were used.