Jack Wilson (technician)

George W. "Jack" Wilson (* 1. May 1927 in Coryell County , Texas ; † 7. May 2000 ) was an American engine specialists, who began his career as a driver by itself uprated drag bikes started and to the tuning of Triumph - Specialized motorcycle engines. He worked on engines used in the setting of various speed records by the by Johnny Allen driven streamliner Triumph Streamliner "Texas Ceegar" .

Life

Jack Wilson owned the Big D Cycle Center in Oak Cliff, Texas, for 35 years, selling more than 100 new Triumphs annually. Although you first saw his appearance as a salesman and businessman, this was a result of his reputation as a master maker among the tuners, which in turn was accompanied by the status of a kind of engineer without a diploma. He learned the theory and practice of two-wheel mechanics during World War II while serving in the US Army . After a first job in 1949 at Roy Stone's Triumph store in the heart of Texas, he moved to Pete Dalio's Triumph store in Fort Worth in 1951 . His boss didn't blame him for giving his enthusiasm for drag racing space, but with a warning that he would not employ losers. All his life Wilson was driven by the ambition not to end up in second place, although his motto kept him athletic: "Let's do whatever is fair."

Success came early on with a project in which AA pilot JH “Stormy” Mangham was the driving force: the undertaking to achieve the motorcycle speed record with the Triumph Streamliner “Texas Ceegar” . The vehicle first appeared on the Bonneville Salt Flats under the name Devil's Arrow in 1954 , but the record was not achieved until two years later. On the engine side, a copy from the Triumph Thunderbird served as the basis, the most serious change was the conversion of the cylinder head to attach two carburettors for the 650  cm³ twin . Everything took place at a time when methanol / nitromethane mixtures were finding their way into drag racing as a fuel , and Wilson was unable to achieve the almost 100 hp that were most recently generated without replacing the standard, built crankshaft with a one-piece, specially manufactured one. In 1956, Johnny Allen drove 345  km / h with the 650 cc engine. Also noteworthy is a class record for 500 cc naturally aspirated engines , which Jess Thomas set in 1958 at 341.62 km / h - it lasted for 50 years. When Triumph touted the 36 world speed records held by their machines in the late 1970s, 24 of them had to do with motorcycles that had made their way through Jack Wilson's workshop. From 1955 to 1990 the Triumph engines were prepared there for more than 65 speed records. Everything that had to do with the mass balancing of these engines - the crankshaft was one of the weak points - added up over time to a wealth of experience that also benefited the Triumph plant in Great Britain .

The year 1965 brought a focus on the preparation of machines for road races. From 1976 to 1978 one was involved in winning championships in three classes of the American West-East Road Racing Association (WERA), much to the surprise of the competition with Japanese four-cylinder engines. There was a further boost in the early 1980s with the “Battle of the Twins” class, as was the case in Daytona , but the performance of the engines reached levels that the gearboxes could no longer cope with.

Jack Wilson played a pioneering role in equipping motorcycle engines with turbochargers . A corresponding 1000 cc Triumph Trident engine helped him in 1975 with his self-driven, partially disguised machine to a class record of 309.53 km / h.

The motorcycles prepared at the beginning of his career were now called " Vintage ", and Wilson was on hand with restoration and maintenance. The "Texas Ceegar" prepared by him was sold to the British National Motorcycle Museum near Birmingham in 1983 and was badly damaged in a major fire. A group of Americans then took it upon themselves to bring the “Streamliner” back into the state it can be seen in Bickenhill today.

Web links

• Jack Wilson. Dealer, tuner, sponsor in AMA Class C races , Internet portal "AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"
• Robert Baucom: Jack Wilson Eulogy , Internet portal of the "North Texas Norton Owners Association"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the 1956 650cc Triumph Streamliner , Internet portal of the "National Motorcycle Museum"
2. ↑ Internet portal "Save Our Mangham-Wilson-Allen Streamliner!"