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]
 Don Vesco with Silver Bird at Bonneville Speedway | |
| Manufacturer | Don Vesco |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | "Big Red" streamliner |
| Successor | "Lightning Bolt" streamliner |
| Class | Streamliner |
| Engine | 2×Inline-4 two-stroke, 1,389.8 cc total displacement |
| Bore / stroke | 64 mm×54 mm |
| Top speed | 303.812 mph (488.938 km/h)[1] |
| Power | 240 hp (180 kW) |
| Dimensions | L: 21 ft (6.4 m) H: 32 in (810 mm) |
| Weight | 900 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]
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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