MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1920, Page 9 (Supplement)

MOTOR AND CYCLE.

NEWS AND NOTES. The tendency now-a-days is to reduce the width, or rather the depth, of piston rings* in motor-cycle engines, with a view no doubt, to a correspondingly reduced amount of surface area in contact with the cylinder walls thus eliminating a percentage of the friction entailed as between piston, and cylinder. Provided the rings are a good springy fit in the grooves, accurately conforming in respect of both diameters to the groove in the piston inside and the ; bore of the cylinder on the outside of the ring, the depth can be safely narrowed down and with advantage on frictional account. What is required in a gas-tight fit in the cylinder, the piston itself being accurately shaped and proportioned, of the right size to within a very small tolerance and concentric with the bore, and next that the rings shall be as narrow as possible, but for that reason frecise in the matter of ''fit" and elasticity. One interesting conception of the future is a series of great centralised power generating stations for transforming solar energy. All automobilism will then be electric, tapping off power and wireless, all roads having power distributing posts at certain distances apart. The least sceptical of such a future is the highly-trained scientist, as he. knows of the astonishing discoveries of the past few years in the research laboratory in bringing hitherto hidden forces and agencies to light. He knows that both coal and oil are intended to' play hut a minor part as steppingstones in Nature's grand scheme of world progress Quite possibly, the next !»stpppiiig-Btone will be the era of power alcohol coupled with the perfection of the internal combustion turbine. Then tlie world may pass on to the era of direct solar power, completely revolutionising social and commercial life. Hitherto there has been too great a concentration on trying to develop, by small degrees, principles which are not very efficient. As an example, one need only seriously consider the fact that from every two-gallon tin of * petrol 70 per cent, of the fuel is absolutely wasted, this is unavoidable with the existing means of converting the chemical energy in the petrol into mechanical power. An entirely new type of engine might, at the outside save 12 per cent of this waste, but, clearly, it is necessary to go buck to the beginning and deal with our fundamental source of power The man who has seen more of Australia than any other individual is Francis Birtles, the well-known cycling and motoring overlander. A glance at a map of this continent marked with the numerous routes covered by this interesting nomad is a study East to West, North to South, Birtle's routes, range into almost every part of Australia. All told more than 2i>0,000 miles have already been cycled or motored by Birtles, the major portion by cycle. This rider is shortly again '-taking on" another long journey for the purpose of obtaining photographs and cinema pictures of life and incidents in out back country in various parts of the continent, His mount will again be a bicycle, a "Universal" machine, shod with Dunlop tyres, and all told he will carry over two hundredweight of luggage etc. attached to his machine. He will start from 'Melbourne, and expects being away about two years, during which period he proposes coverin,!; some 10,000 miles. Leaving Virtoria Birtles will go by the Prince's" Highway to Sydney, thence along the north coast of New South Wales. He will then strike inland to Oodnadatta then going on to Arif.nnga Goldfields He intends to visit Hutches' Creek wolfram field, which is said to be very promising. Later he will proceed to' Groote Island, where the Church Missionary Society ia founding a new aboriginal station. He will reach Darwin along the Roper River. The return to Melbourne will be made by way of Queensland. That there has been a slump in America is very evident from the fact that word is to hand from Akron, the big motor lyre centre, that the services o? 3!>.ouil lyre hands have been dispensed with since June last. Recent cablegrams anent. reduced motor-car prices, in conjunction with the above news, re slacking off of tyre production, points to the fact that the American motor production has over-reached the demand. A great deal of trouble is caused and an unsightly appearance results through the banging of doors on both touring and enclosed motor bodies. The framing of some car bodies, especially the lighter and cheaper American type, is none too robust, and the angle irons which support the door stanchions are apt to get distorted. This results in difficulty in getin" the door hitch to engage 'properly, anil even greater violence is then applied (o attain the result. The appearance is spoilt, and internal draughts are up, which arc annoying and inconvenient! It is a good plan to lit rubber buffer stop which will take the jar of the closiu« door and prevent this derangement. These stops will also save broken windows in Die case of enclosed cars. These rubber stops in brass cases can he obtained from any coach-fitting establishment, and some ironmongers sell a type of window rattle preventor for household windows which can be conveniently utilised for this purpose. The fitting of these little appliances also ensures absence from annoying rattles when ' doors do not fit well, since the rubberbutler keeps a constant pressure on the door and tends to hold it firmly, ' ,