Tom Tweed wrote:
>
> Shane I. noted that
>
> >Leon,(ex-Boy Racer) wrote:
> >
> > >Does anyone else out there have any
> > >more TRUE figures of maximum velocities obtained in their Triumphs?
> >
>
> [snip]
>
> and as for the TRUE part, it's hard to say, but back when I was young
> and foolish and immortal, I had my '74 T-150 V in good tune one warm
> summer night in '78 or '79, and decided to twist on some throttle.
> The speedo was labeled up to 150 mph, and in an amazingly short dis-
> tance, maybe 1/2 mile or a little more, I was approaching 130, the
> telephone poles were going past like a picket fence, I thought, tho
> I could hardly see them, as the wind was making my eyes water so much.
> I had pulled the headlamp up a bit to see farther, and was hanging on
> in a crouch, with my head down just behind the headlamp, and the wind
> noise almost drowned out the roar of the 3-cyl; at this point, it
> occurred to me that a rabbit running out in front of me would likely
> turn me into a very long red streak on the pavement, so I backed down
> the throttle, held on, and sat up a little, and soon was back down to
> legal speed. What was most amazing, to me, was that I still had some
> throttle left - with the undersize sprocket on the rear, the engine
> was not yet at red-line, even at that speed.
>
> And as much as I like the big twin engines, the triple was much smoother-
> running, no vibrating handle-bars at 4-5,000 rpm. Now you know why
> I wanted another one, even if it needs re-assembly !
>
> Best regards,
> Tom Tweed
> SW Ohio
> '72 Trident 750cc basket case (6,000 miles from new)
>
> p.s. the New Triumphs are in the M.C. dealers, all water-cooled triples,
> and in-line 4s, 750cc on up to 1180; 69 h.p. on up to 145 !
> Bring your wallet though, they start around $8,000., another
> reason I wanted to buy the `kit' version of an old original.
Tom,
While you were on your way to 130mph, do you remember the feeling of
utter fearlessness you had and then that feeling of "what the Hell am I
doing" Just about the time a small cross wind moved you across the
lane?
My old Yamaha TX750 (vintage '73) has a speedo that says it will do 160
mph. I had it set up for touring(fairing,saddle bags,tail rack and
sissy bar), and I was riding with a friend who was riding a Harley
Sportster, and he was going to show me what "American Iron" could do to
that damn rice grinder. Well as we hit about 120 he was having to back
off as I got the rest of the trottle and walked away from him at about
140 mph. We all have done some stupid things and I will admit this was
probably one of the dumbest. But I admit it was exilerating.
Larry Zink
'64 Spitfire4
and various other vehicles
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