By IOL Motoring Staff
Hinckley, Leicestershire - Triumph is going back to the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats in August 2016, in an attempt to recapture the motorcycle world land speed record, with Isle of Man TT racer, multiple speed record holder and self-confessed speed freak Guy Martin in the hot seat.
The purpose-built Rocket Streamliner, backed by cloud applications provider Infor and Belstaff bikewear, is built on a carbon Kevlar monocoque 7770mm long, 610mm wide and 915mm high, and driven by two 2293cc, turbocharged three cylinder Rocket engines, running on methanol and producing about 370kW each at 9000rpm.
So steeped is Triumph's DNA in the salt of the legendary Utah salt flats that for many years its flagship model was named after the place, and one of its retro twins still is.
The original 1959 Triumph Bonneville was christened in commemoration of Johnny Allen's land-speed record run of 309.952km/h at the Salt Flats in September 1956; a succession of Triumph-engined streamliners with evocative names such as the Devil's Arrow, Texas Cee-gar, Dudek Streamliner and Gyronaut X1 held the title of 'world's fastest motorcycle' - with the exception of a brief 33 day period - from 1955 to 1970.
But the current record of 605.697 km/h, set in 2010 by Rocky Robinson, is held by Ack Attack, powered by two 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa engines running on methanol and fed by a Garrett turbocharger, cooled by dry ice and pushing 2.4 bar of boost - and that is going to take a lot of beating, as Martin is the first to admit.
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