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Discussion Starter · #1 · (Edited)
well, ive bought the motel rooms for the land speed races in maine for july. my ride is a 1965 triumph 650, actually a 65 T120 frame with a 1970 (sort-of) motor in it.

i have the class record for this machine at 135.259 in the 1.5 mile, i think 134-something in the mile. this is with a production frame and forks, no fairing, on gasoline, and with a more or less stock seating position. all dictated by the MPG rules.

there are fast machines that run nitro, that run non-stock frames, that run aerodynamic aids. but given those constraints, the speed that this machine has been able to generate is faster than any 650 triumph of this configuration has ever managed, at any time.

my target is 139.226, which was achieved on the bonneville salt flats by a vintage machine with non-stock cases, a non-stock frame, non-gasoline fuel, and a non-stock seating position. if i can hit 140 mph, mine will be the fastest 650 triumph that has ever been recorded, anywhere, nitro excepted.

this includes bonneville, any american tracks, australia, and anywhere in the UK, ever. this is what it looked like when it first went 135:



then i changed to drag slicks and 17-inch wheels. lowered the bike, but i blew up the motor at 131.



the compettion: this was the fastest production-framed triumph 650, ever. im already faster than this one.



and this one is the fastest triumph 650 of all time, at 139.226-- heavily modified. its gone 175 on nitromethane, but thats of no interest to me.



this july im retturning to the spoked wheels that were fastest, as when i returned the year after blowing up the motor i lost the rear wheel bearings. rather than spend time on that, im going to run the heavy spoked wheels and work on my tuck. at speed the tuck is all-important.

and the kids will be unning the little 250 ninja, where they already hold the records at 109.
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 ·
yes. in naked LSR you live and die on riding position. the seating position puts my head down below the left triple clamp, so i have one eye on each side of the frame tube. but it doesnt matter really because the vibration is so high above 120 that i have to close one eye in order to see one image of the course anyway. i still havent found the perfect position. i could get maybe 10 mph more with a fairing, and who knows how much faster with nitro, but im interested in minimalism. the machine is lightened about 140 pounds from stock by just leaving things off, and has maybe 65 hp. not much until you remember that the technology is mostly 1930s.

anyway, theres a few BSAs to run against, and sometimes a norton. but mostly in LSR youre running against nothing but your last timing ticket.

we ll see what it does. when i blew it up before it was on the first day, and the next three days had a 12 mph tailwind. i was crying, but the kids all pushed the little ninja 250 to records at around 109. maybe theyll be faster this time with two teeth off the rear sprocket.

its a humbling place to race an old triumph. the fast cars go well over 250, and the hayabusas do around 250 or more if they dont blow. the fastest motorcycle was a 311 mph mile run a few years ago, which is still the course record.
 

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
Some nice titanium header pipes, alloy fork tubes, uber lightweight hubs and rims, might shave about 20 something pounds :cool:
^^^this is correct, but in truth it really doesnt matter. the reason i say this is because in LSR, it is assumed that you can reach top end over the course. weight is really important only for road racng or drag machines, where accellertion is involvld. in LSR the barrier is the wind, and that occurs somewhere arounf 100 mph.
 

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Discussion Starter · #9 ·
Thats so cool

Is it smooth at that speed or is it trying to rattle all your fillings out ?

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its not so bad.

my crank is balanced and is as smooth as i need it to be. at 135 mph on a 60 year old chassis i dont expect much civility. i have to close one eye sometimes at arounf 100 mph because i get double vision with them both open.
 

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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
we're moving into uncharted territory now. ive so far been running C12-- a VP high octane fule of arounf 112, but we're going to experiment with oxygenated Q16. it has about a 9 percent oxygenation rationg and an octane of abvout 116.

its legal in my class and they say its good for about 5 percent more horsepower. ive ordered 8 sizes larger main jets to use in tuning, so we'll see where we are when we get to the track next month
 

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we're moving into uncharted territory now. ive so far been running C12-- a VP high octane fule of arounf 112, but we're going to experiment with oxygenated Q16. it has about a 9 percent oxygenation rationg and an octane of abvout 116.

its legal in my class and they say its good for about 5 percent more horsepower. ive ordered 8 sizes larger main jets to use in tuning, so we'll see where we are when we get to the track next month
When you pick up a gallon of the Q16, do you just give them your first born?
 
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