Guy Martin speed attempt1st August 2016 1,000bhp | Bonneville | Salt Flats | Streamliner ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► 
Speed obsessed motorcycle racer and serial crasher Guy Martin is once again set to attempt the 400mph land speed record if the above Triumph Infor Rocket streamliner is everything the designers have intended it to be. Powered by two turbocharged Triumph Rocket Three engines, the output is said to be 1,000hp @ 9,000rpm. Guy Martin will make the attempt sometime this month (August 2016) when the conditions at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah are considered right. Developed between Triumph Motorcycles, Hot Rod Conspiracy and Carpenter Racing, this two-wheeled Kevlar and carbon fibre torpedo is 25.5 feet long, 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. The fuel is methanol, and the bike is competing in the Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category. The current backers include cloud technology and applications firm, Infor, and Belstaff clothing. 
According to the press release: "Triumph has a history of breaking the land speed record, holding the title of ‘World's Fastest Motorcycle’ from 1955 to 1970. The record-breaking Triumph Streamliners included: Devil's Arrow, Texas Cee-gar, Dudek Streamliner and Gyronaut X1, the former achieving a top speed of 245.667 mph. Today's record, held by Rocky Robinson since 2010 riding the Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner, sits at 376.363 mph." Well Triumph is also noted for failing to support Johnny Allen's record-breaking Bonneville Salt Flats run in September 1956 when he hit 193.72 mph riding a modified 650cc Triumph, a feat that was ratified by the FIM (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). Soon after he hit 214.5mph, except that technically he didn't because it wasn't official. Nevertheless, Triumph was happy to appropriate the Bonneville name and launched the 650cc T120 Bonnie in 1959, and now the factory is officially putting its money where Guy Martin's mouth is, except that it's really a different Triumph company (and all that industrial/political stuff). But let's not quibble. This could be history in the making. The point is, Guy Martin's going to try and kill himself again, and if that fails he'll probably try something even more dangerous until he finally buys the farm. He's a big boy, of course, so it's up to him—and we're sure that Triumph will be suitably upset when he ploughs into the hereafter. We're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Maybe we ought to be more enthusiastic. But the Golden Age of Speed has long gone. Today, it's really just a matter of going faster. See Sump Classic Bike News September 2013
www.triumphlandspeed.com
◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► | 
