Nutter of the week: 207mph/333kph on a rocketbike.

[Andre Jute]

Sent to me by the American-Swiss engineer Dakota Franklin: 207mph/333kph on a rocketbike. If you're quick it will still be the top entry at https://www.facebook.com/andre.jute.5

I want one of those!

[Danneaux]

<nods> ...and it has proper pedals and a chain-driven drivetrain as well.

Fitted with racks and panniers, it would lend new meaning to high-speed touring.

Best,

Dan.

[energyman]

.....but you wouldn't see very much which I thought was the whole point of touring ?

[Danneaux]

...but you wouldn't see very much

Always a hitch in the plans! 

All the best,

Dan. (...who thinks you might see a lot, but awfully, awfully fast )

[Andre Jute]

(...who thinks you might see a lot, but awfully, awfully fast )

And not for long.

[Slammin Sammy]

The acceleration is what gets the juices flowing. It left one of the fastest cars in the world behind in a matter of a second or so! 

That'll push your teeth to the back of your mouth.

[Andre Jute]

The acceleration is what gets the juices flowing. It left one of the fastest cars in the world behind in a matter of a second or so! 

He won't be taking any forum member's record for max miles on a set of tyres!

[macspud]

Do you think that your Schwalbe Big Apple Liteskins would be rated to 333kph? 

[jimmer]

Dear Colleagues,

It's also on Andre's media feed of choice:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30007505

Yer man is quoted as saying "At the moment [of riding] it's very scary - there's no pleasure like you would get from a motorcycle. But when you stop, you think - yes, that was amazing." Amazing for who? I was left with a distinct "meh" sound ringing in my ears. The article supports this rather withering assessment by eliciting a comparison of the stunt with the 178mph attained by a Dutch cyclist. Now that did cause a mandibular thud.

I usually object to motor sport for environmental reasons (except in the case of Formula 1, where I also have issues with it's dreary repetition and the constant whining sound, sorry Murray) and this is, most assuredly, a motor sport story, with little connection to cycling, but he is, intentionally at least, emitting nothing more climatically compromising than steam, as the propellant is hydrogen peroxide.

It seems he's a 32-year-old former bus driver. I leave it for you to speculate as to why he no longer persues that noble calling.

Yours, James

[Andre Jute]

Do you think that your Schwalbe Big Apple Liteskins would be rated to 333kph? 

I'm not sacrificing a pair of Liteskins, no longer made, for a foolish thrill!

Seriously though, I reckon you'd require heavy input of both money and knowledge from the tyre company. Motorbike tyres rated for 207mph with a necessary safety margin are pretty specialized. And one has to wonder what sort of temperature the tyres on the rocket bike reach in the acceleration and braking phases, which appear to follow each other without a break for the airflow to cool anything. I was following the thread here about drag brakes on tandems, and that's already a problem at relatively modest weight and speed, though of course there are time and persistence factors to take into account.

It's also on Andre's media feed of choice:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30007505

Heh-heh. Despite my misgivings about the BBC's recent lack of scientific rigour, it still is my favourite broadcast house. I consider the Open University the greatest educational institution in the world so I'm big on Auntie's third and fourth channels.

[JWestland]

Imagine a chain break at that speed... 

Car drafting is where it's at http://www.fredrompelberg.com/en/html/algemeen/fredrompelberg/record.asp

[geocycle]

I'd be more impressed if he was riding fixed, would even have challenged Dan's cadence!

[John Saxby]

The south of France seems warm and far away just now, as we Northerners are preoccupied by the onset of winter, so accounts of strange doings in exotic places are serious distractions from the stuff outside the window.

That said, well, I dunno. Whatever turns your crank, I guess... I noticed that the rider's posture followed Rollie Free's example at Bonneville on his 1948 Vincent, though wearing a bit more than a bathing cap, swimsuit & sneakers. Maybe there's Just One Way to do such things?  Hard to see much, for sure:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollie_Free

[triaesthete]

 

See here at about 1min 40sec  for the old Burt Munro diy high speed tyre conversion.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Hn2XUYgzA

He really did this