NSU Delphin III
Type of motorcycle / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The NSU Delphin III streamliner motorcycle set the motorcycle land speed record in 1956. Wilhelm Herz rode the machine to 211.4 miles per hour (340.2 km/h) at Bonneville Speedway in Utah, to break 200 mph (320 km/h) for the first time.[5] Its fairing, designed in a wind tunnel at University of Stuttgart (then Stuttgart Technical College), gave it a drag coefficient of 0.19.[1] The same engine powered Herz to a 1951 world speed record, with a less efficient frame/fairing, the Delphin I.[3] The engine used an unusual rotary supercharger related to NSU's eventual development of the Wankel engine.[6][7] In the supercharger, both a trochoidal inner rotor and epitrochoidal outer rotor spun around a stationary shaft.[7]
Quick Facts Manufacturer, Also called ...
Manufacturer | NSU Motorenwerke |
---|---|
Also called | Dolphin III |
Predecessor | Delphin I/II |
Class | Streamliner |
Engine | 499 cc, 4-cycle supercharged parallel twin[1] |
Top speed | 210.64 mph (338.99 km/h)[2] |
Power | 110 hp @ 8,500 RPM[1][3] |
Dimensions | L: 3.7 m (12 ft)[4] H: 1.1 m (43 in)[4] |
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