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The UK's premier poo-powered bus, the "Bus Hound," has broken the land speed record for a regular service bus. The bus, which is operated by Reading Buses, hit a confirmed top speed of 76.785 mph (123.5 kph) around the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.
The bus, which is powered by biomethane derived from cow manure, would usually be limited to 56 mph. Reading Buses performed some "minor tweaks" to allow for the higher top speed (presumably some suspension tweaks and removal of the speed limiter), but otherwise it's a standard bus that would normally putter around the streets of Reading. The bus is painted black and white in a pattern that is reminiscent of the Friesian cows used for milk production in the UK.
"It was an impressive sight as it swept by on the track," Reading Buses' chief engineer John Bickerton told the BBC. "It sounded like a Vulcan bomber—the aerodynamics aren't designed for going 80 mph."
http://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2015/05/british-poo-powered-bus-sets-speed-record/
(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Sunday May 24 2015, @06:31AM
Huh? The miles are the same it is the trade good measures like for instance gallons that the Americans messed with to restrict the trading between the two that are different.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday May 24 2015, @07:06AM
Hence, my final question: "Reading bus didn't diddle with the numbers, did they?"
For information, I ride a rather ancient motorcycle, a Honda GL 500 Interstate. That twisted twin engine is somewhat famous among motorcycle riders, partly for the sweet sound it produces, partly for it's relatively high power (relative to similarly sized engines at the time of production), and partly for it's reliability and longevity. It never was considered a real speed bike, it occupies a niche.
Only two years ago, a sister bike set a new land speed record at Bonneville. Modified, yes, but still, it's not a really fast machine. Many production bikes today approach 200 mph top speeds, and some exceed 200.
So, one has to examine the claim of a land speed record carefully to see exactly what the claim is.
First, all of these CX/GL Twisted Twins have run in the 500 cc pushrod classes. Second, there are classes within the 500 cc pushrod class - changing the fairing puts you into a different class, among other things. Changing the air flow can put you into a different class. And, of course, a turbo puts you into yet another class.
http://home.earthlink.net/~leinfam/id2.html [earthlink.net]
http://cx500forum.com/forum/cx500-cx650-turbo-forum/19954-cx500-turbo-bonneville-salt-flats.html [cx500forum.com]
http://cx500forum.com/forum/cx-customization-modifications/4510-prepping-bonneville-speed-week-2011-a.html [cx500forum.com]
So, if you read my post again, you should see that I am questioning what the claim is. I specifically mentioned "regular service bus", and questioned whether Greyhound qualifies as "regular service".
And, finally, the miles may NOT be the same after all. Maybe Reading Bus uses it's own specialized speedometers for some reason? Yes - I'm being facetious.
Bottom line, the article isn't specific enough. All we know is that Reading claims a land speed record, based on some criteria which was not made clear in the article.