The Glory days When Rockets went racing

*****Mann was a STUD!
Watching this sure makes you see how tire compounds and frame geometry has improved. Today's average racer cuts those lean angles near in half!
Thanks for sharing DUK!
 
Those motors were so exotic compared to the standard road bikes ( as most racing engines are). An example is the ignition timing. The ignition was driven off the end of the camshaft in the timing chest. because of the high lift and long duration with heavy valve springs the longish cam had a tendency to twist so there was quite a variation in timing from the number one and number three cylinders. Their answer to that was to hollow out the cam and drive the points from the middle of the cam via a quill shaft!!!
 
I remember watching Rockets race at Brands hatch in the early 70s and watching Ray Pickrell breaking lap records. A friend of mine had one of the first Triumph Tridents in the area. I had a go on it and was amazed by the "feel" of the triple. A first of its kind and a trend setter.
 
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