MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 200, 21 February 1914, Page 7

MOTORING.

A novel motor propeller attachment for use on bicycles has been mnrketed in Canada. The attachment consists of a three-port two-cycle air-cooled engine, which gives off 4-h.p. at 2500 revolutions a minute. This is supported on supplementary stays carried out from the hack of the saddle pillar' Ing, and braced with down stays to the back wheel axle after the style of a strong luggage carrier. A two-blade propeller is attached to the engine crankshaft, so that it serves also as a flywheel. The width of the propeller is about that,of the ordinary handlebars, thus minimising the danger of striking objects on the highway. The petrol and oil tanks are attached on the top stays, just at the rear of the saddle, the engine being set well back, so that the propeller blade clears the back tyre by a few Inches. The power unit can be attached to any ordinary bicycle, whieii must be fitted with a free-wheel, and under suitable, conditions a speed up to 60 miles an hour is guaranteed by the makers, if their racing propeller is used. With a flatter bladed propeller 35 to 40 miles an hour is said to be easily attainable on gbod roads. Over 100 miles to the gallon of petrol can be travelled on ordinary roads. In ven [congested traffic, the engine can be switched off, and the cycle easily pedalled along in the ordinary manner. The whole outfit sells at about £lO in Canada, and if this motor Attachment is only half as successful as claimed by the makers, then it will not be long before these propeller-driven bicycles are seen in large numbers in this country.