INFANT ROADSTERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 July 1940, Page 9

INFANT ROADSTERS

DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOCYCLE. 150 MILES ON ONE GALLON OF PETROL. Bicycles are one of the things which in Britain they believe, with due modesty, that they can make better than anyone else in the world. The machines were invented and perfected there, and they are used by the million. The latest development is the autocycle, an improved pedal cycle rather than an inferior motor bicycle, which has answered many problems of war time personal transport and is becoming increasingly popular overseas. Considerably lighter in weight than an average man, these infants of the road cover 100-150 miles to a gallon of petrol mixed with lubricating oil. Valiant little mounts, their one-horse-power engines whiffle along remarkably silently at speeds up to 30 miles an hour, and climb gradients of 1 in 5 without pedal assistance, when a rider weighing as much as 170 pounds is in the saddle. When war broke out some of the dozen or so makers of this type of motorised bicycle were flooded with overseas orders, for although the extreme economy of the autocycle did not appeal with such force, people abroad quickly grasped the other advantages. Chief among these is that the machine can be handled almost as easily as a bicycle. A rider can lift his mount up a steep bank, push it through narrow doorways or up steps, wangle it over mountain paths, prop it against a kerb or park it in the back parlour. Yet despite its light weight and case of control the autocycle is no toy. The engine 'used in most makes is produced in model factories which specialise in two-stroke engines, more than 500,000 of which are now giving good.service to men and women riders in all five continents.

Most British manufacturers are experiencing a growing demand from overseas, and the elimination of competition from Germany in such markets as South America, India and West Africa opens new territories for development, not only for autocycles but for fully-fledged motor bicycles, used in growing numbers for police and other administrative duties overseas. The lighter autocycle, however, is being found valuable for filling in many short distance transport gaps in the complicated and varied branches of both private and public administration, and particularly for patrol duties. Its utter simplicity and the fact that it is devoid of all frills, arc features that appeal to so many operators, both men and women, in such a great diversity of lands overseas.