Harley-Davidson Streamliner

The Harley-Davidson streamliner is a specially for obtaining the motorcycle speed record built motorcycle to which the American racer Cal Rayborn on 16 October 1970 to the Bonneville Salt Flats those at 427.25 km / h improved, a value of only five Years later it was surpassed.

The machine was designed and built by Denis Manning, who began work in 1968 and brought the streamlined vehicle to 301 km / h with a standard Harley-Davidson Sportster engine in the fall of 1970 . The two-wheeled vehicle had the shape of a torpedo with a diameter of 58 centimeters, in which the driver was accommodated lying down. A view to the front was not possible, you had to keep an eye on the route marking through a side window. The motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson , who wanted to polish up its reputation as a sporting competitor in the days of the strengthening of Japanese competing brands under race director Dick O'Brien, took the opportunity and supported Manning, provided that Cal Rayborn would be accepted as a driver. Before he learned to control the machine, he had accidents several times and slipped along the route with the vehicle lying on its side - thanks to the solid construction without major damage.

The record was broken twice within a week: Don Vesco set a new record of 405.4 km / h on the Big Red with two Yamaha engines , before Rayborn set out to beat him, initially with the standard Sportster engine that brought him to a moderate 273 km / h. Finally, a "Godzilla" engine prepared by Warner Riley ( Skokie , Illinois ) - based on the Sportster model - was installed, the fuel of which was a mixture with 70 percent nitromethane content. Cal Rayborn achieved an average of two runs in the opposite direction at 427.25 km / h, although a valve seat broke 60 meters in front of the light barrier .

In 1975, Don Vesco again set the record to 487.07 km / h. A machine put into operation by Manning in 1985 with driver Dan Kinsey is the fastest motorcycle with a single Harley-Davidson engine at 460 km / h. The 1970 Harley-Davidson Streamliner is now owned by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum .

Technical specifications

General data

Wheelbase:	over 3000 mm
Dimensions L × W × H:	5800 × 584 × 635 mm
Vehicle weight:	approx. 227 kg

engine

Type:	1 Harley-Davidson V2 engine (1460 cm³)
Working method:	Four-stroke Otto
Power:	unknown

Power transmission

Drive:	Rear wheel drive
Transmission:	Four-speed gearbox with foot shift

landing gear

Frame:	Monocoque
Brakes:	Braking parachute