The history of the original Turbine motorbike
In 1999, MTT decided to put their expertise of Turbines to one of the most extreme uses
ever thought of….to power a motorbike.
RR 250 Series Turbine - C18 |
Turbine selection
Bell 206 Helicopter - Turbine donor |
MTT 'Y2K' Concept
The RR 250 Series Turbine that fits in the Bike |
The frame along with the swing arm was custom built and made
entirely out of 6 series aluminium by, while the engine was a Rolls Royce
Allison 250 C18, as used in the Bell 206 helicopter; the amazing fact was that the RR engine,
made from Magnesium and titanium weighed a mere 63kgs a great help for a motorbike.
Transmission and Braking
Reverse mounted turbine - exhausts face the floor |
Power
Without its fairing - Alloy box chasis |
Further ‘real life’ testing was done on the roads. Needless
to say, this machine was extreme in its power delivery to say the least. It’s power and weight combination achieved acceleration like that of of a pro-stock drag bike for the era (2000). The one big difference is the bike allowed for very smooth starts, due to the power curve of a turbine, but it also limited very fast drag style starts, as a turbine makes very little power at the idle speeds, but most of its power at the top end.
Road Legal
Bike laws are different in all countries and in Lousisana, USA, Guernsey - Channel Islands, Australia,
it complied with all such laws and is road legal, road registered and duly
taxed. Not your every day commute though!
Speeds
With top speeds designed to reach circa 200mph +, the way the power comes
in, can make for a fairly scary ride. With a single 250mph (theoretically) geared second speed,
there are no gear changes to worry about. It was literally twist and aim. Obviously
having your own private runway to practise on is useful and suits its totally
unique and addictive ‘Jet engine’ sound. The sound of this machine alone is
enough to send chills down the spines (excitement!) of the most seasoned bikers. But it’s a
sound that once heard, quickly becomes truly addictive.
Note to readers: There have been lots of speculation and 'guarantees' that the bike's top speed was 250mph. This was marketing hype, as the bike did not posses enough horse power to achieve a terminal speed of 250mph. Such high speeds have never been proven. The 250mph top speed, was based on a 'theoretical' top speed, based on the front and rear sprocket... in the absence of any wind resistance. Marketing videos from MTT on the net, of 227mph high speeds have not been authenticated or proven under ACU, FIA or FIM conditions. The highest authenticated top speeds using a Rolls Royce 250 C18 (317shp > 240 rear hp) turbine is 205mph in a standing mile by Zef Eisenberg in 2012 at Elvington runway 26, Yorkshire, UK. Higher speeds have been achieved on the MADMAX turbine bike (also by Zef Eisenberg), using a Rolls Royce 250 C20B (420shp + > 400 rear hp) of 225mph without a fairing in ACU competition in a standing mile, also at
Elvington runway 26, Yorkshire.
Note to readers: There have been lots of speculation and 'guarantees' that the bike's top speed was 250mph. This was marketing hype, as the bike did not posses enough horse power to achieve a terminal speed of 250mph. Such high speeds have never been proven. The 250mph top speed, was based on a 'theoretical' top speed, based on the front and rear sprocket... in the absence of any wind resistance. Marketing videos from MTT on the net, of 227mph high speeds have not been authenticated or proven under ACU, FIA or FIM conditions. The highest authenticated top speeds using a Rolls Royce 250 C18 (317shp > 240 rear hp) turbine is 205mph in a standing mile by Zef Eisenberg in 2012 at Elvington runway 26, Yorkshire, UK. Higher speeds have been achieved on the MADMAX turbine bike (also by Zef Eisenberg), using a Rolls Royce 250 C20B (420shp + > 400 rear hp) of 225mph without a fairing in ACU competition in a standing mile, also at
Elvington runway 26, Yorkshire.
Fuel economy
In terms of fuel economy, it’s actually more practical to
use time as the scale. In fact, a full tank of fuel would be approximately 32
litres. This would give you about 30 minutes on the highway at idle turbine speed. The turbine can safely run on basic pump diesel. It actually prefers and runs very clean on Jet-A or Kerosene (no smoke at all, due to no sulphur or additives), but that’s harder to get from the local garage. It is also possible to run them on good quality Biodiesel made from plant or recycled sources. It’s
actually fairly economic at 200mph, as the engine is spinning not much faster
than slow cruising speeds, and therefore the ‘Mpg’ is better. But the reality of this bike, is that owners are generally of the type that really don’t care
too much about these trivial matters.
Camera and looks
The Y2K bike came with some interesting options at the time. The first being a rear view camera into the main display which
also houses the turbine information, featuring; N1, N1, EGT, oil pressure,
temp, etc…it saved having to have mirrors, which made for a slightly more stream line bodywork.
2nd Generation Digital Dash |
2005 - Stage 2:
<update to follow>