Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/259

Rh car be very light, while the third should invariably be chosen for the driving wheels, and preferably for the front as well. It is well to bear in mind that the average English road is not as good as the average French road, and to make allowances accordingly.

The repair of a Michelin motor-tyre approximates to that of an ordinary cycle-tyre with beaded edges, save that much greater resistance has to be overcome in the former type owing to its substance, while the winged nuts add one new feature of complication. On the other hand the motorist has full access to the wheel, and has no fork-blades to impede his operations. While it is probable that most automobilists will have previously become acquainted with a cycle-tyre, it is desirable to describe the repair processes throughout.

It is essential that a satisfactory repair outfit should be obtained at the outset, and nothing on the market can be compared with the Michelin nécessaire de voiture, which is worth buying if only for the special levers it contains, apart from the



excellence of the tackle generally. One of the levers (see fig. 1) has three projections intended for use with covers of 65, 90, and 120 millimetres respectively; the other lever has a hook which comes in handily when replacing a large cover (see fig. 13). The larger the tyre the more essential are the levers; a new cover is also much stiffer than one that has been used for a considerable time. In the case of a small or medium-sized tyre, not too new a very strong pair of hands may render the levers superfluous.

When the driver has reason to suppose, from the bumping of the car on one side, that a tyre is punctured he should stop at once to examine. It is of the highest importance that a tyre should not be ridden deflated, but it is not always easy to