The World's Fastest Buell - 217.9mph

[bitpusher]

an mildly hot EVO can do low 12's. you may surprise yourself.

[hellbilly713]

right, i was just saying 15s would be fine for a second. Ive seen some evos that would FLY down the track. I watch all the AHDRA on youtube. I love sitting here watching any kind of HD racing. and Indians too. I watch WFI with Anthony Hopkins about 3 times a week. I just wanna go fast

[maru]

Hey Aaron I have a funny story for you. An old friend aimed me in the direction of a forum that had a thread on a land speed Norton. Folks were commenting back and forth and then somebody posted a pic of a Black S1 speed trials bike with a nitrous bottle hanging off the left rear. The poster said his brother rode it but liked the one with the full fearing better. The story almost had the sound of a fish tale but then I looked at the name of the guy posting, last name of Horten and I realized that it must be Timbo's brother.

Weird story, but I found it amusing in the sense of how small the world is at times. Steve

[NRHS Sales]

that would be Chuck Horton. Timbos' brother as you guessed. Both Tim and Chuck came to Bubs last year.

[maru]

It was funny seeing those bikes in another dark corner of the interweb. There was also talk on the thread of a bad fast Triumph Trident that was towed down from Canada by an old Rolls Royce. That bike had some interesting details that might benefit many of the guys already going fast. Stuff I had not seen done before. I think it went 159 and change unfaired and around 180 with full bodywork. Not bad for a seven fiftyish pushrod bike. Honestly I am not sure of the exact displacement but I can not imagine it was even a thousand cc.

[NRHS Sales]

that triumph is the most aero sit-on bike I have ever seen. the guy is some sort or engineer who is a genius with bodywork and yes it is incredibly fast. I think the tridents are 3 cylinder 1,000 cc engines though.

[maru]

I grew up around some highly developed Brithish stuff from that era and there is only so much power to be had from them. Based on my deductions a big part of the speed has to come from aero.

Check out the wheels on that bike very carefully. There are some things about them that are noteworthy. I can see some disadvantages to what he is doing there but have no way of knowing for sure how significant the advantages are for that venue. My gut tells me there might be something in it.

[NRHS Sales]

He runs very narrow tires front and rear which definately help as long as he can keep it hooked up. he is not a very forthcoming guy when you talk with him though which I can understand.

[maru]

Originally Posted by NRHS Sales

He runs very narrow tires front and rear which definately help as long as he can keep it hooked up. he is not a very forthcoming guy when you talk with him though which I can understand.

Exactly where I was going. I only saw two photos of the bike and have never seen it in person. I am not certain, but he might also be running larger diameter rims than is common today. The trend since the early eighties has been to reduce rim diameter and increase tire width. There are several theoretical benefits, primarily reduced gyroscopic influence, presumed aero advantage, and presumed larger contact patch.

Back in the fifties, the Vincent's ran big wheels. The wide tire thing had not happened yet and the minds from that era claimed that a 21 inch tire, for example, had a longer and hence bigger contact patch. The bigger diameter wheels also have increased gyro influence which hurts maneuverability but helps stability. in road racing, tire width and even fork tube diameter affects top speed at the top of the food chain. It is no secret that larger diameter tires deal with irregular surfaces quite well.

Some of my thoughts are speculation because I am not sure what that diameter of his rear wheel is, but it looked quite a bit larger than the currently in vogue seventeen inch wheels.

In any event the bike has some features that I found noteworthy and no doubt some of them he would like to keep to himself. I would pay attention to the wheels, front and rear next time you see it. Pay attention to everything about them. The guy is no dummy, that much I am sure of. Steve

[NRHS Sales]

yes they are large diameter wheels and tires