Crap article

[Paul in NZ]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9089455/Burt-Munros-world-speed-record-celebrated

Oh I'm sure BD will be along in a moment to tell me what a grumpy old Hinkley hater I am. I'm not - quite the opposite I LOVE Triumphs and their history but this got my goat...

FFS - to start with the picture is a shocker.... Its great you want to act all James Dean and moody like if you can pull it off (I sure cant) but this looks silly. More like Mr Bean channeling the Fonz... They should have got BD to take the snaps.

Then a picture of Burt Munros Indian on the tank of a Triumph Bonneville? WTF??? Why for goodness sake? I'm pretty sure Burt didnt like Triumphs very much although he did ride one and I think was a salesman at one point...

But my big gripe is that its getting the legends all muddled. Triumph's own Bonneville story is just as interesting as Burts and stands alone as a great story. A picture of the Texas Cigar with Jack Wilson (engine builder), Stormy Maughin (owner and chassis guy) and Johnny Allen (rider) would be far more interesting. Jack Wilson built winning Triumphs for 50 years and was every bit the character Burt was... It seems a damn shame....

End of the day the mans an accomplished rider and has a nice bike so credit where its due and I'm probably being picky. It just gauls me when this kind of wierdness happens....

[unstuck]

YEEHAA.....Fuck the ANTI smoking lobby.:Punk::Punk:

[avgas]

Meh - typical small town article. Nothing special. Not worth slamming, just not worth reading.

"Man rides motorbike to celebrate another man whom broke world record on motorbike" would be better heading is all.

Burts a Legend.
Bonnie's are legend.

The rest is just filler or bog if your prefer.

[Grubber]

Ya being picky!!:violin:

[Drew]

The top comment on the page of the article gives me the fucken shits. Other than that, I'm not moved in any direction by the article.

[Danger Dave]

What they fail to mention in the article is that he done the trip as part of a Triumph NZ competition in which they got all of (at least a great number of) their dealers to customize a late model Bonnie and ride it to Wellington to be judged, Moto south (the bike in the article) was the winning bike.

[Paul in NZ]

What they fail to mention in the article is that he done the trip as part of a Triumph NZ competition in which they got all of (at least a great number of) their dealers to customize a late model Bonnie and ride it to Wellington to be judged, Moto south (the bike in the article) was the winning bike.

That makes it better and worse....

Nice that they are doing custom Bonnies and while is a bit same same HD. A new Bonnie is about as burt munro as my aunties morris minor with the air cleaner removed...

[Drew]

morris minor with the air cleaner removed...
Pointless without shaving 40 thou off the dipstick.:yes:

[Paul in NZ]

Pointless without shaving 40 thou off the dipstick.:yes:

Hey - I'm short enough as it is thanks.....

[granstar]

I'm with Dangerdave, needed context explained better, has nothing to do with Burt Munro and Triumphs in same sentence, other than that nothing wrong. Mr Bayne even modestly defends Munro with the stupid reporters comment first paragraph, obviously the reporter knows FA about reality motorcycling likely the target audience DP readers the same.

Go buy a bike mag to read.

[Big Dave]

I got as far as the smoke and switched off.

[Big Dave]

286935

And I corresponded with Stormy's family regarding a Bonneville article in 2001. And the Texas Dealership.

[Big Dave]

And the dude can steer 'em.

286943

[Paul in NZ]

286935

I corresponded with Stormy's family regarding a Bonneville article in 2001. And the Texas Dealership.

I'd love to read that Dave...

I was lucky enough to work in Dallas once and visited Big D cycles and met Jack Wilson and they were amazingly kind to me. Went out the back and they still had the dyno they used to develop the engines and all sorts of stuff.. It was one of the high points of my life (sad I know) as I always kind of idolised those guys and the whole story. It really should have been made into a movie and I've always thought Triumph (the modern one) is missing out on a huge opportunity as those guys did such amazing things with everything from Tiger Cubs to Tridents...

"After Allen set the iconic 1956 world record with the Thunderbird engine, Wilson built up a 200cc Tiger Cub single using the same streamliner chassis and shell with similar tuning. In this configuration the machine ran 136 mph at the Salt Flats. In 1958 Jack then installed a very trick 500cc Triumph twin and with 18-year-old Jess Thomas (another Texan) at the controls, the machine clocked an average of 212.28 mph-a new world record for unblown, streamlined 500cc motorcycles running on nitro. That record stood for 50 years. "

I mean 136mph from a tiger cub.....

Seriously I would consider buying a Jack Wilson tribute bike... I'd DEFINATELY think Triumph NZ could run a Jack Wilson day

[Paul in NZ]

I got as far as the smoke and switched off.

Generally an unfortunate image fronting an unfortunate story..... They should have left it to you...

[Big Dave]

Triumph NZ could run a Jack Wilson day

And get Van Morrison to do the sound track.


Nothing you don't already know and that photo (that his daughter scanned and sent me) was the high point.

I have a thumbnail video of the run too, but that's all it is by today standards - a thumbnail.

And yeah - Even in writing they seemed like nice folks.


I can find a draft copy. It lead into a New Bonne article.


In 1956 Jack Wilson of 'Big D Cycles' in Dallas, Texas took a Thunderbird engine and a can of nitro-methane rocket fuel and 'started thinking about world records'.


Jack and his partner 'Stormy' Mangham shoehorned that engine and special chassis into an old aircraft drop tank and created a sensational looking machine designed to do just one thing - to go as fast as the Thunderbird engine would propel it across Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats


The rider was Texas Racer Johnny Allen and he covered the measured mile at 214 miles per hour (344kph). An amazing speed for 1956 and though this was 10mph faster than the current record of a supercharged NSU it was not recognised by motorcycling's international body - FIM as a world mark. Reportedly because only one pass was made - not the required 'return' run, or because no FIM official was present, or both. It was recognised as a North American record only, but it 'captured public imagination' world-wide


The record was set on a Triumph in September 1962 when Bill Johnston took another streamliner both ways through the Bonneville speed traps at 224mph (361.4kph) to make the official FIM speed record. The bike attracted huge crowds when put on display at the Earls Court Motorcycle show, It weighed 180kg (379lb), was over 5 metres (16'3") long and had a wheelbase of 240cm (94.5in). The Engine and transmission were behind the rider, who had to lay on his back in a device a little higher than a mans knee. The engine ran on Methanol and had a compression ratio of 11:1. It had a single, small, drum rear brake.


Triumphs exploits at Bonneville didn't end there. In 1966 Bob Lappan flew the Triumph flag even higher. Posting 245.6mph (395.24kph) in his twin Thunderbird engined Gyronaut X-1. Again this was not recognised as a world record because the bikes capacity exceeded the 1000cc limit required for a FIM mark. Leppan and his engineer Joe Blutfodt were big Triumph Dealers in Detroit. They later built a three engined version whose suspension collapsed at about 270mph (434kph).


The Bonneville Salt Flats were Triumph territory and the company made the most of its successes. So when a twin carburettor version of the 650 twin was introduced in 1959 - nobody had any difficulty in coming up for a name for it - the Triumph Bonneville was born, it stayed around for over 20 years, will always be one of the great names in motorcycling and is now in production again.

[pritch]

Then a picture of Burt Munros Indian on the tank of a Triumph Bonneville? WTF??? Why for goodness sake?

Presumably because Bonneville was the place Burt did the deed?

[granstar]

Local paper as always late, but better.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/9109503/The-Burt-Bonneville-scores-big-in-build-off

[T.W.R]

Triumphs exploits at Bonneville didn't end there. In 1966 Bob Lappan flew the Triumph flag even higher. Posting 245.6mph (395.24kph) in his twin Thunderbird engined Gyronaut X-1. Again this was not recognised as a world record because the bikes capacity exceeded the 1000cc limit required for a FIM mark. Leppan and his engineer Joe Blutfodt were big Triumph Dealers in Detroit. They later built a three engined version whose suspension collapsed at about 270mph (434kph).

Alex Tremulis designed & owned the body of the Gyronaut X-1



The Bonneville Salt Flats were Triumph territory and the company made the most of its successes. So when a twin carburettor version of the 650 twin was introduced in 1959 - nobody had any difficulty in coming up for a name for it - the Triumph Bonneville was born, it stayed around for over 20 years, will always be one of the great names in motorcycling and is now in production again.

The twin Carburettor head was a race fit extra offered by the factory for 1yr in 1958 for the single carb T110, then released as the factory built Bonneville in 59

[Robbo]

Great bit of Triumph history there Dave. Thanks for an interesting read.

Cheers:niceone: