DENIS MANNING HAS been
involved with motorcycle
land speed racing since
1970, when he ran 187mph
at Bonneville on his
own Sportster-powered
streamliner. Harley
then contracted him to
build the chassis for Cal
Rayborn’s streamliner,
which reset the world
record at 265mph later
that year.
This is Denis’s seventh
streamliner (hence the
Team 7 moniker) and his
second trip to Australia,
having been to Lake
Gairdner in 2000 with pilot
Rocky Robinson. Chasing
the then world record
of 322mph, they went
289mph, which was the
fastest motorcycle pass in
Australia until this year.
The engine is a
turbocharged 3.0-litre
16-valve DOHC V4
designed by Denis and
Joe Harralson. Denis says
the design process starts
with the rear sprocket,
which has to clear the rear
tyre. This in turn dictates
the position of the drive
sprocket, and hence the
width of the powertrain.
Not only is the engine
physically compact, the
power impulses of the
500hp ‘big-bang’ V4 were
thought to be ideal for
getting the torque to the
ground.
After his first Australian
trip, Denis and Joe
decided the old bike,
Tenacious II, was notaerodynamic enough
and also too heavy to
accelerate to record
speed in the distance
available. After watching
a TV documentary about
salmon migration, Denis
discovered salmon could
swim as fast as 50mph
in short bursts, which
he says is equal to about
400mph on land. This
provided the inspiration
for new monocoque
bodywork fashioned
from a composite of
carbon-fibre, kevlar and
aluminium.
Robinson, now on the
Ack Attack streamliner
powered by twin
turbocharged Hayabusa
engines, reset the world
record to 342mph at
Bonneville in 2006. Just a
few days later, Manning’s
new rider, Chris Carr,
responded with 350mph,
and then 367mph in 2009,
before Robinson set
376mph in 2010.
Now with Valerie
Thompson in the saddle,
Manning returned this
year to attack the record
at the FIM meeting at the
end of the week. Valerie
ran a lazy 328mph on the
DLR A course, despite
running on only three
cylinders and still in third
gear (of four), so the team
was confident of a world
record. However, Valerie
dramatically lost control
at 343mph on her first FIM
pass to bring the program
crashing to a halt.Anatomy of a
streamliner
Above and left. Peter
Mounsey, 1948 350
MAC Velocette
Below. Cory Buttigieg’s
was the fastest Harley
at 184mph
Below left. Stuart
Goldsworthy gets a ‘red
hat’ on his Kawasaki H2Susan Brander’s
souped-up (13hp!)
90mph Skyteam Ace
The three-litre turbo V6 powered Team 7 streamliner that came
from the US. Valerie Thompson survived a crash at 550km/h!