After a successful practice session at the Bonneville Salt Flats with a speed of 274.2 mph, Triumph Motorcycles will attempt to set a new motorcycle Land Speed World Record during September, 2016. Today’s record, held by Rocky Robinson since 2010 riding the Top Oil-Ack (sic) Attack Triumph is 376.363 mph over an 11-mile course. Whether these are motorcycles is debatable. What’s not, is how bloody fast on two wheels they go.
Despite having a good course surface for testing, Triumph said that the salt wasn’t yet capable of supporting a top-speed run. In consultation with Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme course manager Mike Cook, Triumph is targeting September as the best shot for optimal course conditions required for a record attempt.
The Triumph Infor Rocket has a carbon Kevlar monocoque construction with two turbocharged Rocket III engines. They make a combined 1,000 horsepower at 9,000 rpm. The motorcycle is 25.5 feet long, 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Powered by methanol fuel, the bike is competing in the Division C, the streamlined motorcycle class.
Triumph has a history of breaking land speed records. It held title of ‘World’s Fastest Motorcycle’ between 1955 to 1970. Record-breaking Triumph Streamliners include: Devil’s Arrow, Texas Cee-gar, Dudek Streamliner and Gyronaut X1, the former achieving a top speed of 245.667 mph (395.28 km/h). Today’s record, as noted is 376.363 mph or 605.697 km/h.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
