Silver Bird (streamliner)

Silver Bird was a motorcycle land-speed record setting streamliner motorcycle. It was powered by two motors delivering 240 horsepower (180 kW).[1] It was the first motorcycle to set a speed record over 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), when ridden by Don Vesco at the Bonneville Speedway in 1975.[2][3]

Silver Bird
Don Vesco with Silver Bird at Bonneville Speedway
ManufacturerDon Vesco
Predecessor"Big Red" streamliner
Successor"Lightning Bolt" streamliner
ClassStreamliner
EngineInline-4 two-stroke, 1,389.8 cc total displacement
Bore / stroke64 mm×54 mm
Top speed303.812 mph (488.938 km/h)[1]
Power240 hp (180 kW)
DimensionsL: 21 ft (6.4 m)
H: 32 in (810 mm)
Weight900 lb (410 kg) (wet)

Construction

Silver Bird c. 1974 with shorter stabilizing fin than on the 1975 record setting run

The motorcycle was built by Don Vesco and sponsored by Yamaha.[4] It had two four-cylinder, 694.9 cc reed-valve two-stroke engines from the Yamaha TZ750 racebike.[1]

Specifications

  • Displacement: 1,389.8 cc total
  • Engine bore and stroke: 64mm×54mm[5][6]
  • Dimensions: 21 feet long, 32 inches high[7]
  • Weight: c. 900 pounds (410 kg)[8]

References

Notes

Sources

  • Motorcycle Hall of Fame: Don Vesco, American Motorcyclist Association, 1999
  • Cameron, Kevin (March 30, 2012), "Ask Kevin: Hard riding beasts – Yamaha TZ750", Cycle World
  • Williams, Evan (c. 2007), Yamaha's TZ750: Where Legends Began ..., Superbike Planet, archived from the original on 2010-12-21
  • Robinson, Rocky (2007), Flat Out: The Race for the Motorcycle Land Speed Record, Motorbooks, ISBN 9781610609296
  • "Don Vesco, 63, Record-Setting Motorcyclist", The New York Times, December 20, 2002
  • "Don Vesco Turbinator Streamliner Land-Speed Racer—Vesco's 300-MPH Bike", Hot Rod, July 2003
  • American Motorcyclist "Record runs a family affair with Don and Rick Vesco" Check |url= value (help), American Motorcyclist, American Motorcyclist Association: 86, April 1982
  • Phinizy, Coles (November 1975), "Flat out on the flats", Sports Illustrated, 43 (19): 38

Further reading

  • "Motorcycles - The Silver Bird - Don Vesco's 300-mph Yamaha streamliner", Hot Rod, December 1975


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