12/27/2023 0 Comments Mike langy tumblrNot spectacular but about as fast as an E-Type Jag was, at that time. I managed to do the job although it looked a bit like pigeon-s-t ! The bike did a standing 1/4 mile in about 13 seconds on methanol fuel. As the welder was a fixed output, I had to strike the rod on and off so as not to blow holes in the thin tubing. Soft as s-t stuff really but it did the job. ![]() I scrounged some welder-leads and electrode holder from the fitting shop and did some test welds with my home-made welder on some steel electrical-type conduit. There were some superfluous ones lying around in a dismantled state, so I obtained the transformer from one and mounted it in a wooden box. There periodically had to be charged up by large battery-chargers. At Rylands there were electric stacatrucks powered by a series of batteries connected together. So I had an idea of what was inside an electric-arc welder basically a transformer, so when you effectively short-circuit the secondary output supply, via the welding electrode, it passes so much current that it melts the elctrode much like a household fuse would melt under short-circuit conditions. I was working as an electrician then in my early twenties (served my apprenticeship at Rylands in Warrington). All I had to do was offer them up together and fill in the gaps with steel tubing. I bolted another engine into the front saw-off part, with the original engine left in the rear part, along with the gearbox. I bought an old 500cc Triumph in 1963 and cut the frame in half. That's also on YouTube along with my double-engined Triumph. In September of 2012 at Elvington and in remission and just 4 days before my 71st birthday, I managed four runs over the 1.4 mile (one point four mile) course, all over 190 mph with a best of 196.6mph. It also destroyed engines-hence the 'bike's name! I bought a second hand (used) '99 Hayabusa in 2006 and started to convert it for drag-racing and also decided to have a go at top speeds! However, things were rudely interrupted in 2010 when I was diagnosed with cancer and spent some time going back and forth to Clatterbridge hospital, for chemo and radiotherapy but I got back on the bike thro' 2011 even with other medical issues. It's only as I got older that I wanted to try some top speed runs but the double-engined Triumph was a bit outdated and costly to run on nitromethane fuel. I never did any flyers (top speed runs) I always said 1/4 mile was fast enough for me! I was in my mid twenties then. My best 1/4 mile terminal speed was 140.8 mph (the bike is unblown-i.e. In 1968 I set a new course record at Topcliffe in Yorkshire (UK) of 10.21 seconds for the standing start 1/4 mile. ![]() I started off straight away with a double-engined Triumph in 1964 and just developed it from there. I can't really make a comment re: the comparison between a single-engined bike and double, coz I never rode a single on the track. I'll dig some pics out of my archives and post some of the double-engined bike soon.
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