THE MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1915, Page 11

THE MOTOR AND CYCLE.

A NEW FUEL. A new fuel lias been invented by Mr. Robert Wood, an Englishman, which consists of alcohol and ether, about 40 per cent, of ether being present. In the motor spirit, which is called "Natalite," at present an England methyl-alco-hol is to be found, probably as a denatur»nt. This fuel is obtained at low cost from various plants which grow wild in Natal Australia and Egypt, and consequently the cost of manufacture is comparatively small, and the sources of supply apparently inexhaustible. The fuel has recently been tested by the R.A.C., and a certificate of performance, dated June 1, lias been issued. The test wa3 carried oat on a 22-h.p. fourcylinder (95 x 130 mm.) Ohanon car. and a consumption of 16.4 miles per gallon was accomplished, which, strikes us as being quite a satisfactory performance for a large engine of an old pattern. The certificate states that the engine on all occasions started easily, either from cold or when warm, and that the valve caps and valve heads were found to be very clean after the trial.

Unfortunately, it'will be quite twelve months before the fuel can be placed on the market, ag the machinery and plant for its manufacture commercially have not yet been erected. It is likely that the first factory will be established in Natal, from which State the fuel takes its name. Altogether. Natulite appears to be a very promising fuel, and we sincerely hope that its manufacture will be speedily ctsabliahed upon a sound basH, as there is no reason why, if this were carried out, the fuel should not be sold at a very cheap cost compared with petrol at the present time. The spirit itself has a strong smell of ether, but the odor of the exhaust, though peculiar, is.not particularly offensive, and neither it nor the smell of the raw spirit is so objectionable as with benzole, tit presents no difficulty in starting, and on the road there is no appreciable difference in the running, ex. cept that not quite so much air is needed as with petrol. The spirit if splashed on the varnish of the tank leaves a nasty stain.

A fine motor cycle performance was recently registered over the mountainous country between Toowoomba and Brisbane 'by W. Power, wlio negotiated the 92 miles in 21irs. samin. The fastest previous time for this rough trip was 3hrs. 7min. by a motor-car.

Few motorists realise how mussh. .neglected tyre cuts cost them a year. Fully half the burst covers one inspects are traceaib'le to ingress of moisture, grit, etc., into gashes or holes in the rubber tread. This eventually leads to a loosened tread, rotting of fabric, andthe inevitable shortening of the life of ffie cover. Probably the chief reason of neglect by motorists to plug the cover holes that permit water reaching the canvas casing has been the need of a sure, simple and effective plugging compound, something that would be not only certain in its result but cheap and easy to use. Thousands of good tyres are now ruined annually in this country through want of a little attention and a proper outlit)

Tlie neglect of certain little details in the ana,toiny of tlie bicycle goe3 to prove that procrastination Is not only the thief of time, but tlie thief of labor as well. Take the case of a slightly leaking cycle tyre air tube for example. Day after'day the man who suffers it must spend a minute or two in pumping it up to rideable degree of hardness. Occasionally, perhaps when time presses, this inflation is neglected, and tlie tyre suffers in consequence. The constant necessity of using the pump becomes a nuisance and an irritation, which, strange to say, are endured rather than that a qiiarter*of an hour should be expended to end them and to put the tyre in proper condition. .In many instances a few minutes spent in the investigation of the trouble will suffice to remove it. for probably tilie majority of tyre leakages are to be located in or about the valve. Xot infrequatitly (especially if the valve lias been long undisturbed) the rubber sleeve will be found to have cemented itself against the sides of the valve body, and will refuse to be withdrawn with the plug. In such a case it is necessary, if further trouble is to be avoided," to completely remove all the perished rubber from the interior—and a point which is often neglected— to thoroughly dean the stem befe-re fitting a new sleeve.

A defect to which many ears are liable is tint of excessive neise in the 'differential gear, generally accentuated when the ear is climbing a grade with the low gear in operation, and the engine running fast. This trouble is naturally only experienced in the case of cars that have a bevel drive, using a small bevel pinion and a large crown wheel. Where we have a worm drive no trouble of this kind is found. The noise is generally due to bad meshing of the engaging wheels—a common defect arising from their being too far out of engagement with each other. Jn most cases this is on account of the wear in the thrust hearings, both on the shaft which carries the small bevel pinion, and on the main bearing which carries the differential gear cases to w*hieh the crown wheel is bolted. TJhese bearing's have to take up considerable end thrust, due to the bevel wheels endeavoring to crowd away .from each other. Normally provision is made to take up this wear, but. even so. it is an adjustment that requires to he performed very delicately, and is not the kind of work that the ordinary motorist can undertake; indeed, it is not an adjustment that: one would-leave j to the average all-round repair shop.

Some evidence of the increasing efficiency; of the motor-ear engine can be gathered from the times of the winners of tiie great Indianapolis "500" (says The Bulletin). When Harroun won in 1911 he averaged 7i1.8 in.pJh In 1812 Dawson registered 78.7 m.p.h. Goux had an easy win in 1913, his figure being 75.93 m.p.h., but he could have done better if pushed. In 1814 Themas jumped to 82.47, whilst thiß y«r Ralph de Palina broke all exist-

ling American records by covering the oW) miles at a speed of 89.84 m.p.li. In connection with de Palma's great d> ! ve ' it is interesting to note that his time of shr 33min 55sec. is only 17min losec slower than the world's record of ohr lOmin 40see, which was established by Messrs Lee, Guiness, de Resta (who ran second to de Palma this year) and Chassaigigno, who all took turn about at the wheel of the Sunbeam, when the reicord was put up at Brooklands (England) in October, 1913. Of the two performances de Palma's is undoubtedly j the better, for he drove right through I the contest by himself, and also had | to contend with a big field of competii tors in the early part of the race. j , ' Fifteen hundred employees of the English 'Dunlop Rubber Co. are now serving 'at the front. This must be nearly a record "service" from any one British commercial company. The English War Office i.| still calling for more cyclist recruits, and from the number of cyclist battalions being formed in England it is very evident that the value of the soldier'cyclist is appreciated, not only by General French, but by Lord Kitchener. A unique road event was recently held jin England. A fifty miles road race was promoted by one of the cyclist battalions, the contestants having to ride army machine, and in uniform, with boots. The winner, H. Gayner, a wellknown English crack, put up a fine performance by negotiating the "fifty" in 2hrs. 48min. 57sec. from soratcli. » • » To decide ft wager of. £2OOO, a veteran cyclist Oi Los Angelos, named C. Atwood, undertook to cycle from San Francisco to New York—3 800 miles—in 35 days. Atwood, who got £BOO of the stake", succeeded in getting across the continent of America to time. He is 53 years of age, and rode a motor cycle geared to 82,. a wonderful performance lor an "old one."

It is stated that the Russians succeeded in destroying both the plant and wells in some of the Golician oilfields before they retreated. No doubt both the Austrians and the Germans were badly in need of the fuel. It ia hardly possible, Jiowecer, that the destruction can have been very thorough, for we should think that the Russians had very little time at their disposal.

For some months there has been a considerable shortage of cycle tyre valves in England, owing to the makers of these being engaged in Government munition work, and old valves are acquiring a value in excess of their original cost. In this connection one English tyre concern makes an offer which may iuterest a good many cyclists. In exchange for two complete valves from old tyres, a sixpenny repair outfit is given.

It is stated that of the two hundred motor cyclists who were attached to the first British Expeditionary Force, less than fifteen per cent, have been killed, wounded or missing. Eighty-live per cent, of the men are still serving, and many of the original contingent have been promoted to commissions and transferred to other departments of activity. The figures, if correct, would seem to confirm the reports that all despatch riding is 'by no means as dangerous a game as one would think.

The drip-feed lubricator makes an undoubtedly more economical method of lubrication . than the ordinary handpump; it can be set to a certain drip and if the crank-case is perfectly oiltight the consumption can be cut down to a remarkable degree without .my harm being done to the engine. It has been stated, however —but whether there is any truth in the statement we cannot say—that this method of lubrication is inclined to make th" big-end" bearing wear unduly, the idea being apparently that when a pumpful of oil is injected into the crank-ease the big-eud hearing receives for a short period a large quantity of oil of which it more or less retains.

One outcome of the development of tlic motor-car as a fighting machine has been the creation of armored car corps, which are complete units capable of carrying out operations on an important scale. These corps, in the formation, of which Belgium has taken the initiative, comprise armor-plated cars, iittsd with cannon or machine-gun, or both, and other cars used % officers for observation purposes. The latter cars carry stores of petrol, oil and mechanical spares, and tend the wounded. Attached to the corps are a number of motor cyclists, using twin-cylinder light-weight Peugeots and armed with the Belgian service rilie. The duties of these men are to cany out reconnaissance, and particularly to discover the nature of the roads over which it is intended that the armored cars shall make an attack.

An extraordinary reliability trial has been terminated recently at Los Angelos, U.S.A., UlO miles having to d>e covered in two days. Apparently the only stop the compelitors were officially allowed was 4f> minutes for lunch. The course was over a burning desert, and the account of the run makes one oonceive it hardly possible for a motor cycle even to finish. Dead tired, and mad with thirst, the sufferings of the ridel's were further increased by a series of remarkable mirages; the road apparently descended into a brilliantly hlnc lake. Twelve competitors started the ride on various mdehines, of which the following were successful in gaining perfect scores—Three Excelsiors, and one each of Farley-Davidson, Henderson, Indian and Thor machines. The performance of the Thor was the most remarkable as ,it was aa old belt drive, fixed gear, ; singfle-oylindles, which had seen considerable servjc*

A few years ago the motor cycle was » more economical machine so far us fuel is concerned than it is to-day. The reason for this is that the great majority of motor cycles then on the road were 3%-horse-power fixed-gear machines. In practically every instance the petrol consumption of these machines worked out at well over 100 miles to the gallon. Nowadays, with the greatly increased weight of the machine and other causes, we find that the average S'/s-h.p. machine only gives a mileage of 75 m.p.g. to 80 m.p.g., and in many instances the oil consumption is also on extravagant lines. At the present time, when one should be as economical as possible, it is well wortli the trouble to cut down the fuel bill, and the most direct method of saving can be made when purchasing the oil. Unfortunately motor cycles seem to be very inefficient indeed, compared with motor vehicles, when oil consumption is to be taken into consideration. Owners of cars fitted with detachable wheels should immediately on delivery detach each of the four wheels, for it not infrequently happens that owing to their being put on before the paint is fully dry they may stick in position, and when, it becomes necessary to change a wheel on the roadside the operation may prove difficult. The best plan would be to detach the wheels in the garage, where the car was purchased, on delivery/ for if it is found that one or more of them has stuck in position, skilled help is available to put matters right. Even if the wheels are found to he free, it may happen that after a few months' use they become locked In position through rust or dirt, and hence it would be advisable to remove them periodically, and thoroughly clean arid lubricate the bearing surfaces, and also the nuts and bolts. The latter are especially likely to suffer from rust. In a case where a wheel has to be detached on the roadside and it is found that it has stuck in position, a good method of cleaning it is to get someone to hold the wheel firmly on both sides, and place a block of wood on the wheel cap, and strike it smartly with a hammer or heavy weight. As a rule this will free the handle. '• » » H. G. Hawker, the Victorian aviator, now in England, recently established a new British, altitude record by flving to a height of 20,000 feet,_ : whidh me'ans an altitude of over Hawker an hour andVa-half to accomplish his flight. l\e used an 80-h.p. Sopwith biplane, a similar make of machine to that used by him in Australia.

* # * Heavy oil consumption can be traced to several different factors. The most elemental, of course, is a leaking crankcase, and we must admit that it is a temptation to remedy this by,pumping in more and more oil. In some cases where oil leaks kadly from the valvetiming chamber this can be traced to the fact that too many holes have been drilled in the partition between the crankcase proper and the timing mechanism. An excessive amount of oil is thrown into the valve mechanism chamber, and this percolates out of the case, the joints of which, as often as not, are not vory well made. When the magneto chain case cover forma en integral part of the tinting mechanism cover, oil is carried along this by means of the magneto chain, and then, of course, it leaks from 'between the joaits of the chain cover.

An alternative plan to stopping up the holes lictwccn the crank ease and the valve timing partition is to drill two or three draining holes at the base of trtie valve mechanism chamber. These holes should "oe drilled downwards, in order that the oil can drain away more readilv.

Speaking broadly, nearly e«ry nulor cyclist has his petro] lever Bet too high for really economical running, liy employing a larger jet, and setting a lower level, a far 'bigger fuel mileage average will be obtained.