Record Seeker

Even parked in a photo studio, the Castrol Rocket exudes speed, looking every bit ready to reclaim for Triumph the title of "World's Fastest Motorcycle," the honor held by the British marque for all but 33 days between 1955 and 1970. Problem is, when the Rocket streamliner went to Bonneville last August to test and participate in the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials, bad weather and an assortment of typical tuning/teething issues kept rider Jason DiSalvo from making any serious speed runs.

End of story? On the contrary. It’s still early in the three-year program, says Matt Markstaller, a Bonneville veteran whose company, Hot Rod Conspiracy, built the Castrol Rocket in Portland, Oregon, in conjunction with Carpenter Racing Engines. “We’ll go fast in 2014,” promises Markstaller, an engineer/aerodynamicist who designed the Rocket for one reason: to beat the 376.156- mph record set in 2010 by Rocky Robinson in the Ack Attack streamliner (and possibly become the first motorcycle to break the 400-mph barrier in the process).

With a strong carbon-fiber/Kevlar monocoque structure honed in the wind tunnel, the Rocket certainly looks the part, a 25-foot-long land missile powered by a pair of Carpenter-built Rocket III engines de-stroked from 2.3 liters to 1.5 to meet the Streamliner-Blown Fuel class displacement limit of 3,000cc. Turbocharged and burning methanol, the tandem-mounted engines—which retain their stock blocks, head castings, and valves—rev to 9,000 rpm while producing more than 500 hp apiece.

WICKEDLY SLEEK: Twin Rocket III engines send 1,000 hp to the rear wheel via outdrive gears from the marine industry. Parachute tubes are carbon fiber—not aluminum.

Swingarm suspension with Öhlins TTX36 shocks is employed front and rear. In front, a twin-stick, hub-centric steering arrangement features two dampers and only 6 degrees of lock, while a boatload of caster (50 degrees) is used to enhance stability at speed. In back, the single-sided billet swingarm can range from 2.5 to 4.5 feet in length, depending on desired wheelbase. “The farther forward the rear wheel gets, the more it’s loaded,” explains Markstaller, who says it’s important to get the center of gravity ahead of the center of pressure to make the axle loading right. Too much weight on the rear, he says, will cause the bike to wander at speed.

DiSalvo—a Daytona 200 winner who rode a Rocket III to a speed of 175 mph at Bonneville in 2012—sits fairly upright toward the front of the 2,000-pound Rocket, inside a protective cell and peering over the front wheel through a Lexan canopy. There’s a clutch pedal on his left (used only to get the push-button-shifter Rocket in gear and moving) and a brake on his right, controlling a giant, aviation-sourced carbon rear disc. Besides individual push-pull steering controls, DiSalvo also has releases for the high-speed and low-speed chutes—the latter intended for speeds below 250 mph. “If you go over on your side, you want your chutes coming out because they’ll keep you going straight,” explains Markstaller, who says the Rocket’s chutes deploy automatically whenever the chassis leans more than 45 degrees.

Although the initial visit to Bonneville was frustrating because of the weather, a freak broken cam chain (that led to a small fire), and a lack of any runs without the specially fabricated “training wheels” in place, Markstaller remains optimistic and focused long term, buoyed by the belief that he has the best chassis, the best engines, and the best aerodynamics. “All the architectural stuff looks good,” he says. “It’s an airplane-like vehicle with chopper steering geometry, but Jason said it feels like a bike. He’s starting to get a feel for it. He’s ready to go fast.”