Balance pipe and Dyno Hill

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I ended up back to megaphones on every Norton racebike I ever used. With the right megaphone the powerband is not narrow.
 
comnoz said:
I ended up back to megaphones on every Norton racebike I ever used. With the right megaphone the powerband is not narrow.
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The usable power band on most motors is about 5000 RPM wide. With my 500cc Triton it was from 5,500 RPM to 10,500 RPM. First gear at 5,500 was about 70 MPH. On Calder raceway, there were two corners which you could not get around while doing 70 MPH. So you back off. When you do that the revs fall through the bottom and you have got nothing to get you out of the corner. So you slip the clutch and go sideways when it comes back on. My 500cc Triton would have been a world beater if it had six gears properly spaced. With four gears close ratio, I used to choose where I would lose races.
Megaphones don't narrow the power band, they simply increase it's strength. A 2 into 1 increases the power ate lower revs and makes the power easier to control. Going fast on a race bike, is about being smooth, especially in corners. Megaphones make the whole thing very harsh - bad for the nerves. These days I can out-ride most guys in corners - simply due to my experience with that 500cc Triton. It forced me to ride extremely quickly in corners to avoid having to slip the clutch. In only once ever lowered to overall gearing. I led the race for most of a lap, but got passed at the end of a straight and was forced to run off to avoid hitting one of the guys who got past me. It was too dangerous to do regularly.
 
Bernhard said:
No, that was over xx years ago.
If your Triton was a pre unit why didn't you use a Norton box and changed gearbox gears to suit, like every other 500 Triton owner?
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Not sure what you are referring to, I dont have a Triton.
 
gortnipper said:
Not sure what you are referring to, I dont have a Triton.
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Most 500cc Tritons use the 5T or T100 81mm stroke engines which have a sensible power band. My Triton had a 63mm stroke engine derived from a 650. Percy Tait used the T100 A or 5TA , 65mm stroke engine and found it difficult to live with. With any classic racing bike, if you have not got the appropriate gearbox, you go nowhere. My Triton desperately needed 6 speeds close ratio. But in those days I used to race with almost no budget. In the end, I did the smart thing - I sold the Triton and built the Seeley 850. With a big torquey motor, you have fewer problems. However I believe the reason I race well these days is due to my experience with the Triton. The Seeley 850 is a soda to ride fast. If I race the Seeley, I have almost zero anxiety - my Triton was never like that.

I think Geoff Monty had a Tricati with the 65mm stroke unit Triumph engine. The gearbox would have cost a lot. But would have been very fast. Something like that is capable of beating the big stuff. But I would not do it.
 
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I think I read somewhere that Tom Phillis did a 100 MPH lap of the IOM on the Domiracer. Better him than me. The best featherbed bike has the motor for which it was designed. If you are into road racing, you should ride one - just to know what they are like. In the old days, if you wanted to be an A-grader, you bought a Manx and it would help you become one. When I first started racing, an old A-grade rider told me 'you need a lot of racing miles under your belt and the bike has to do something for you'.
When I was a kid, I bought what I thought was a good thing, but all it did was give me a hard time while teaching me how to crash safely. I ride well now, but I still have the memory of that pain. It shapes my thinking and buggers my enthusiasm. Whenever I think of racing, my right shoulder starts hurting.
 
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