Triumph Streamliner
The Triumph Streamliner , also known as " Texas Cigar " or " Texas Ceegar ", is a streamlined motorcycle built in the early 1950s , with which several motorcycle speed records were achieved, the best value being ridden on September 6, 1956 at 345 km / h Johnny Allen on the Bonneville Salt Flats . American Motorcycle Racing -Begeisterte in the environment of Dalio's Triumph Sales in Fort Worth ( Texas ) have the different Triumph - engines built equipped vehicle.
prehistory
Dalio's Triumph Sales exerted some attraction on speed- obsessed in the days of the creation of the Texas Cigar , customers such as the experienced American Airlines flight captain JH "Stormy" Mangham got the coveted high-performance engines from in-house tuning specialist Jack Wilson . Pete Dalio's customers included an army colonel of German descent who said on occasion that the record set by Wilhelm Herz on an NSU in 1951 at 290 km / h looked unbeatable. For Mangham and Wilson this was an incentive to surpass even that record. The captain's prerequisites were not bad: he was a talented designer, had a workshop that was part of an airfield that he also owned, and was able to use himself to procure components from an aircraft wreck. The time it took to plan and build the record-breaking machine was correspondingly short at six months.
Development and technology
The innovative feature of the vehicle was the accommodation of the driver, who did not sit on a saddle as usual above the engine, but in front of the unit in a seat shell. The tubular frame consisted of two 3660 mm long ladder-like structures made of 3/4 inch CrMo steel tubes (0.9 mm wall thickness) with ten 305 mm “rungs” each, provided with a slight curvature so that A canoe-shaped structure was welded together on some cross struts - also oxy-fuel welding for the diagonal struts in the compartments. Frame parts of a Triumph were welded in to accommodate the engine and transmission. A roll bar was attached directly behind the driver , and in front of him was the construction to accommodate the rocker arm with a large caster angle . The steering angle could be restricted with a device, because as much as large steering deflections were necessary in the starting phase - the streamliner only rolled stable from 16 km / h - they could be catastrophic at high speeds. The rear swing arm was fixed to the tubular frame with rectangular tubes, no suspension. The “Texas Ceegar” was steered with a handlebar, as is customary for a motorcycle, with a throttle twist grip on the right and the clutch lever with an emergency stop button on the left , connected to the fork by a push rod. There was only one brake that was operated with the left foot, the right shifted the four-speed gearbox.
A GRP cladding in the shape of a thick knife blade was built around the steel frame . While the NSU holding the record was round at the front with a teardrop shape towards the rear, which under certain circumstances led to buoyancy, the "Texas Ceegar" with its "crease" was noticeably more streamlined - just in case there were two lead-filled baking pans behind the front wheel for the downforce appropriate. A prominent pipe was noticed at the stern, a container for two brake parachutes , which should only be used in emergencies - if the Streamliner slipped on its side. The vehicle ran stably, although no wind tunnel was used in the development of the shell . Mangham used water tanks for tests and attached a balsa wood model studded with threads within sight of an aircraft cabin to study the flow conditions .
First try
In 1954 Mangham was ready to transport his red vehicle called Devil's Arrow to Bonneville and to get a speed of 231 km / h with a nearly standard 650 cc engine from a Triumph Thunderbird , not a record, but a promising start. The scope of changes for 1955 consisted of a different driver - rail specialist Johnny Allen was used - and an engine that Jack Wilson had tuned. It was a private project, support from the keenly calculating Triumph boss Edward Turner was out of the question, but Wilbur Ceder, number two at Johnson Motors , the West base dealer in Pasadena (California) , managed to triumph a few executives Plant in Meriden ( Great Britain ), which led to indirect support behind Turner's back: Suppliers could be won as sponsors for Manghams activities.
The 49-year-old had to deal with a second rival. Russell Wright had driven 297.64 km / h in New Zealand on July 2, 1955 in his Vincent . On September 22, 1955, the then 26-year-old Johnny Allen was able to oppose this with an average of 311.19 km / h from two runs on the Bonneville Flats - a new record. At least it was the AMA US record, because the FIM refused recognition because none of its representatives were present.
Record runs
Russel Wright was able to call himself the record holder for a good year, then on August 4th 1956 Wilhelm Herz drove again with his NSU Delphin III 339 km / h and Mangham again had the original competitor. The Texans then competed with an externally modified streamliner , the pipe for the brake parachutes had been removed, a streamlined hump stretched from the driver's headrest to the rear of the vehicle, which was now painted in the colors of the Lone Star flag . Two engines were available, a 500 from the Triumph Tiger and a 650 from the Triumph Thunderbird . Instead of charging with a compressor, the higher engine power was obtained by using a methanol / nitromethane mixture in a ratio of 80/20. Unlike the series Thunderbird, the large "40-inch" (40 cubic inch) had two carburetors , large intake valves from Harley-Davidson and a special crankshaft that was carved out of the discarded piston of a steam locomotive . On September 6, 1956, Johnny Allen drove with him on average from two runs 345 km / h. Triumph named its new production model Triumph Bonneville after these record drives . However, this record was not recognized by the FIM.
While there was still a record to wrestle from NSU in the 500cc class, driver Jess Thomas did so in the 1958 Triumph Streamliner at 341 km / h. Johnny Allen made another attempt to push the record higher in 1959 and fell badly in the process. Due to the suction of the rotating rear wheel, a braking parachute had wrapped itself out of its container in the container and ultimately blocked.
Whereabouts
With the Trident logo and a three-cylinder engine, the Mangham Streamliner made its last trip on the Bonneville Salt Flats in August 1970 with Rusty Bradley. Jack Wilson restored the vehicle to the same condition it was in 1956 and sold it to the British National Motorcycle Museum near Birmingham in 1983 . There it was badly damaged in a major fire in 2003. The panel was burned, the frame bent and all aluminum parts melted. However, a group of enthusiasts was found in the USA who set about restoring the Triumph to its state before the fire. Most important tool: The original molds that were used to manufacture the fiberglass cladding in 1954 still existed. This is how the Triumph Streamliner first came back to its country of origin and can now be viewed again in the National Motorcycle Museum.
Technical data (1956)
General data
| Wheelbase: | 2840 mm |
|---|---|
| Dimensions L × W × H: | 4700 × 508 × 959 mm |
| Vehicle weight: | 318 kg |
| Top speed: | 357 km / h |
engine
| Triumph: | Engine of the production model Thunderbird , uprated |
|---|---|
| Working method: | Four-stroke Otto |
| Cylinder: | 2 / row, wind-cooled |
| Displacement: | 649 cc |
| Bore × stroke: | 71 × 82 mm |
| Power: | over 80 hp at 7400 rpm |
| Compression ratio: | 8.5: 1 |
| Valves: | hanging, 2 per cylinder |
| Mixture preparation: | two 35 mm Amal GP carburettors |
| Fuel delivery: | Gravity, tank above the engine |
| Starter: | removable kick starter |
| Ignition: | Lucas K2F competition magneto |
| Ignition timing: | 38 ° before TDC |
Power transmission
| Drive: | Primary drive through chain and chain drive to the rear wheel |
|---|---|
| Coupling: | Multi-disc clutch |
| Transmission: | 4-speed manual transmission |
| Circuit: | Foot switch |
landing gear
| Frame: | Tubular steel frame with GRP cladding |
|---|---|
| Suspension: | rocker arm at the front , unsprung at the rear |
| Brakes: | rear drum brake 178 mm, for emergencies two brake chutes 711 mm and 1219 mm |
| Steering: | Motorcycle steering head , fork connected to separate handlebars by push rod |
| Bikes: | Wire spoke wheels with aluminum covers |
| Tires: | 3.50 × 19 inch Dunlop |
Web links
- Mick Duckworth: 1956 Triumph streamliner , Classic Bike, October 1999, pp. 32–36 (PDF; 6.1 MB)
- About the 1956 650cc Triumph Streamliner , Internet portal of the "National Motorcycle Museum"
- The Bonneville Story Part 3 Introductions Of The Streamliner To Bonneville (Short film section on Youtube, which shows the starting process of the Streamliner)
Individual evidence
- ↑ nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk 1956 650cc Triumph Streamliner (accessed January 27, 2012)
- ↑ Photo of the frame on "SaveOurStreamliner.com"
- ^ Russ Kelly: I saw an American break the record , Cycle, November 1956, p. 30
- ↑ Image of the steering head on "SaveOurStreamliner.com"
- ↑ Those torrid Texans turn the trick , Cycle, November 1956, p 30
- ^ Russ Kelly: I saw an American break the record , Cycle, November 1956, p. 31
- ↑ Don Brown: World speed mark set by Triumph , Cycle, November 1955, p. 24
- ↑ Fred Siemer: Myth of Triumph. The twin of life , motorcycle, 15/2002
- ↑ Monika Schulz: Bonnie in Ocean , motorcycle, 24/2000
- ↑ Jack Wilson. Dealer, tuner, sponsor in AMA Class C races , Internet portal "AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"
- ↑ Harley-Davidson's Salt Shakers , Internet portal "BaggersMag.com"
- ↑ Photo of the crashed "Texas Ceegar" on "SaveOurStreamliner.com"
- ↑ Last Trip to Bonneville , "SaveOurStreamliner.com"
- ↑ Internet portal "Save Our Mangham-Wilson-Allen Streamliner!"
- ^ Triumph captures four new Bonneville records , Cycle, November 1958, p. 20
