Hi all,
I am interested in building a 1000cc motorcycle streamliner, and intend on making one that is basically a standard motorcycle with a fully enclosed shell. I would be laying forward to decrease frontal area but otherwise would use a fairly stock motorcycle frame. For a better idea of what I want to do, think Charly Perethian and his "Rifle" high-mileage motorcycle, or Bert Munro's LSR efforts. However, from reading the streamliner rules the SCTA expects the vehicle to be more like a 2-wheeled car than a motorcycle, and the rules are crafted around this configuration. I am confident that I could make my streamliner meet the letter of the rules but do y'all think that the SCTA would allow it to compete?
OK, as an aerodynamicist I believe this would be an interesting way to go. Granted the SCTA and BUB are very experienced in what to and not to do in fully enclosed 2-wheeled vehicles. The question is how far can we reduce drag in a "sit-on" legal two-wheeler (I use that phrase very specifically) without incurring all the mechanical penalties of a streamliner or the safety issues that the sanctioning bodies are honestly trying to protect the rider from?
I believe, (granted, looking at nothing more than historical LSR and my own opinion...), that we can go MUCH faster with a "sit-on" than the current records. I actually believe that we can exceed the current streamliner records (~350 mph) with a "sit-on".
Never mind how. The question I have is whether it would be allowed. I'm not going to put the work into it unless it's legal.