BUB Norton streamliner

[thundair]

Did BUB set a record with his Norton liner?

How fast did he go?

Thanks in advance

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Bub -- who's Bub?  There's Denis Manning with the Bub's liner, but that name is (I think) from his company and the Bub's meet.  The Bub 'liner isn't a Norton, though, so I'm stumped.  Would you be so kind as top give me a little more information?

[fredvance]

Jon, in the late 60s or 70s Dennis had a Norton streamliner, it may have been his first liner. Not sure got a bad case of CRS today.

Fred

[thundair]

I knew the company from their exhaust systems
I wasn't sure whether Dennis built the thing or sponsored it, that is
why I referred to it as BUB (big ugly b***tard) Streamliner with Norton written on the side.

Thats about all I remember as I was into road racing at the time..

Cheers

[Eric_M]

Hello,
I’m Denis’s son Eric and I have a bit of info about the Triumph/Norton streamliner.
The bike first started out as a double engine Triumph with Boris Murray as the rider. The current record stood at 265mph which was set by Cal Raborn in Denis's Harley streamliner . On private time in 1972, their fastest one way pass was 272mph. After a high speed crash with the bike, Denis rebuilt the frame and installed two Norton engines. With this new setup the fastest one way pass was 279mph. They never did get the record with the bike due to mechanical problems (mainly transmission cases exploding), but the bike is the fastest recorded Norton.
Right now the bike is at Big “D” Cycle being restored for the British Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham England -Eric

[Eric_M]

Here are some more pictures - Eric

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Eric:

Cool, and thanks so much for not only setting me straight -- but joining this group of (unh, mmm, not sure what I should call us) devotees of land speed racing.  I hope you'll stick around and contribute as much as you can.  Seeing as how you have the opportunity to bring a different perspective on motorcycle land speed efforts -- welcome, and please come back often.

[Freud]

As I remember, that liner was the first time that Denis used a fiberglass body. If it was not the first time, it was at least an all new design. I remember of doing fotos of it in his garage before it was ever introduced to a frame or engines.
One more thing. It is possible that Al Teague's 'liner started with a section of that body when it was a lakester.
Maybe someday I'll stumble on those negs and see what I can document.

FREUD

[isiahstites]

Thanks for the great photos!

Scott

[Kansas Bad Man]

A couple of years ago Boris Murray stopped by the house.  Here's what he had to say.

The Norton engines were built by Cristman (sp?).  The guy who dominated drag racing for a couple of years with a twin engine Norton was the one who developed the slider clutch.  the engines were fuel injected.

Norton sponsored the project BIG TIME.  Boris had ridden the liner when Triumphs were in it the year before.  Denis took on the ride when the Nortons went in, but he couldn't get the hang of it, and it went on it's side a couple of times.  Boris was called in to take over the riding chores.  As I understand it, none of them knew much about fuel injection. 

The Nortons were running super, super, rich on a big load of nitro.  They installed a petcock valve in the riders compartment so the rider could manually lean it out.

Boris said as soon as he touched the thing it holed the pistons.  They took the engines to SLC and fixed the piston situation.  Boris suggested to Denis that he fly home and bring back the Amal fuel carbureators he had on his Triumphs.  He told Denis he was sure he could make it go, as he knew how to tune the Amals.  This never came to pass.  They were on the salt 6 or 7 weeks on private time, with Norton footing the bill.

Boris said the bike handled quite well.  He was able to shift his knees from side to side and keep it in a straight line without moving the handlebars.

I heard that the nose Al Teague used came off of the Brute.

                                             Max

[PorkPie]

Al used a mold from Dennis Manning for his streamliner.

[Sumner]

.....................

I heard that the nose Al Teague used came off of the Brute.............. Max

Al's lakester/streamliner,

Sum

[RP]

Eric,

Thanks for posting the great info and pics, the one with Boris and the ground down paint is a classic.

[Sumner]

Tom Burkland just sent me some pictures and info on Al's lakester with the BUB body on it.

I’ve noticed some discussion about the BUB Triumph/Norton streamliner on the land racing board. There are some early construction photos of Al’s lakester (later to become a streamliner) that make it very clear what happened here. Check out the Norton and Gulf lettering still on the mock up using the shell Denis Manning donated to Al’s project. The front tire bubble is also still there on the first photo before it was fully converted into probably the best lakester ever built (aerodynamic configuration and packaging efficiency wise).

...........you can get these posted if you think it would add any value to the discussion.

Great pictures,

Sum

[Uncle Jimbo]

Some great pictures and history there guys. You gotta love it. Thanks Eric - Jon - Sum - Kansas Bad Man -
The info, and people at Landracing .com are great, and thats what keeps me coming back to see whats up.