Dudek Triumph Streamliner

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The Dudek Triumph Streamliner was an American streamlined motorcycle with which William A. Johnson set several speed records during the Bonneville Speed ​​Weeks in 1962 , including the all-time motorcycle speed record of 361.41 km / h .

The builder Joe Dudek worked at North American Aircraft and based the design of the motorcycle on the X-15 rocket plane . Since 1956, two drivers have been claiming to be record holders: Wilhelm Herz had a top speed of 339 km / h with the NSU Delphin III and was recognized by the FIM . Shortly afterwards, Johnny Allen reached 345 km / h on the Texas Ceegar , but only with the approval of the AMA . “Bill” Johnson (not to be confused with the eponymous founder of Johnson Motors ), on the other hand, was recognized by both associations. His record lasted until 1966, when Robert Leppan reached an average of 395 km / h with the Gyronaut X-1 . However, that used two 650 Triumph engines, which brought him to the recognition of the FIM, which had set the limit at 1000 cc displacement . The next official record breaker was in 1970 with two 350 Yamaha engines and 405 km / h Don Vesco .

In 1974 the Dudek Triumph Streamliner was destroyed by fire.

Technical specifications

The motorcycle was 4.75 m long and had a tubular frame with fiberglass lining. The performance-enhanced two-cylinder four-stroke engine of a Triumph Bonneville T 120 had a displacement of 667 cm³.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Salt Flats: A Record Season , newspaper clipping on "Wildaboutcarsonline.com" (PDF; 1.5 MB)
  2. ^ Lindsay Brooke: Triumph Motorcycles. A Century of Passion and Power , Motorbooks, St. Paul 2002, p. 95
  3. ↑ The World's Fastest Motorcycles , website "castrolrocket.com" ( Memento from May 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Web links