MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1916, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE

AX AMERICAN SPEED TEST. THE MAXWELL SECURES A PLACE. The latest speed performance by Darin Resta falls sliort of the. world's record by only '2osec., but it is the fastest time in which a century has been covered in .1 racing car in America. His time. fur tlie distance was :"i(lmiiu :>:>.* 1 sec., and the contest was the first annual 10!.' miles race for the Darkness gold trophy. There were six starters, nmde up of four Peugeots, a Mercedes and .1 Maxwell. The drivers were Resla, Aitken, Mulford and 'Bin-man, m the four Peugeots, <l® Palma in. a Mercedes, and Jliclienbacker in the American Maxwell. .Thirty-five tliousand people watched the race. Numerous thrills were provided by Mulford, 'hut tyre troubles robbed him of a chance of winning. Burman finished second, being over a lap 'behind Kesta, and making the century in 5K min USsec., an average of 102.4.1 m.p.h. Third place went to the Maxwell, the only American car in the race, which averaged US.S'J ru.p h.

THE "CARIUFR MOTOR." The motor attachment for pedal cycles is at present receiving attention at the hands of designers, and latest designs consist of a small power plant carried on a platform above the rear mudguard. There are two of these ''carrier motors'' being marketed in .England, one being a friction drive and the other belt-driven. The power-plant is carried on an aluminium platform held by brackets and stays, which arc adaptable to any form of pedal cycle The engine .in the first model is a four-'trokc, the dimensions of which are G"2.5 mm. x 54 mm-, 117 c.c., whie.li is carried horizontally on the platform. The tank is carried saddle fashion over the crank case, and at the. present time an external timing gear is fitted. The transmission is 'by chain to a sprocket on a rocking arm, this arm having a phosphorbronze bearing at its uppermost end, moving on a steel sleeve fixed over the boss of the crank case. The lower end of the arm carries a spindle, on one end of which is*(itted the driven sprocket, and on the other a fibre pulley wheel engaging with the underside of a belt rim epoked on to the wheel of the bicycle. When the engine has started there is a tendency for the fibre pulley to run towards the rear of the machine along the belt rim, and this has the effect of increasing the grip in proportion to the amount of pull. The future model will be provided with a two-stroke engine, lubricated on the petroil system (i.e., the mixing of the lubricating oil with the petrol), and supplied with gas from a tloatless carburetter. The weight will be in all about lClb. The attachment is certainly seat, and the method of transmission ingenious. The second machine is beltdriven, a countershaft being employed.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SIDE-CAR The latest production of a designer (says the Motor Cycle), whilst the general outlines of the side-ear have been retained, the diamond frame of the bicycle lias been discarded. Instead, the vehicle has been built as a permanent three-wheeler. This is at it should be. If the lieavy coach-built side-car outfit has come to stay—and there is no doubt on that score—then makeshift methods of attachment are not sufficient. We are glad that one engineer, at any rate, convinced of the success of the side-cai as a type, has set about designing a vehicle on similar lines, which is intended to be a permanent two-seater instead of a vehicle in two separate sections, so to speak. In this manner it has beau found possible to improve upon many features which have 'been open to criticism in the past. A weatherproof shaft drive, for instance, has been incorporated, and it is possible to co-ordin-ate the frame design, by which we mean that, no matter how strong the hicycle or the side car frame of an ordinary type of machine may be as separate units, the idea of their attachment is not sound. Again, the wheels not being carried in fork ends are readily detachable and interchangeable. One excellent feature of the side-ear type of threewheeler is its wonderful mobility, and the great ease with which it may 'be turned in either direction in the space of a narrow road. It is thus possible to dispense with the complication of a reverse gear, and so simplify driving from the point of view. It was only the old pattern light side-ears with a narrow track which gave trouble on this score. We hail with considerable satisfaction the arrival of this very original design—the commencement of a new series of cycle-cars—as there is no doubt that side-car makers have got into a groove, yet the call for a weatherproof two-seater has been and is insistent, and the possibilities of such an outfit, as a result of the failure of the beltdriven four-wheeled cycle-car are doubled.

AN AMPHIBIOUS 'MOTOR-CAR. An American boy, Ralph C, Johnson, has just invented and obtained a patent for an ingenious motor-car and motorboat, which will run in and out of the water without need of any changes or alterations. The machine follows standard motor-car construction, the only difference being the substitution of a steel boat body for the usual motorear body, and the additions of rudders, a propeller shaft and propeller, and a sliding gear, with dog cluteh_ By means of the sliding gear the wheels or propeller may be operated either independently or in conjunction with each other. E. (3. Baker, the American rider, failed in his attempt to lower the 2+ hours' record a week or two ago in Victoria. He had covered 378 miles in 393 minutes, when, through striking a hole in the road, a spring support on his machine broke, and he abandoned the ride. En route 'Baker broke the 100 miles record of lltSmin., and established records for 200 and 300 miles. But for the mishap. Baker would have ridden to his schedule for 100 miles in 24 hours. He was well ahead of it when he retired.