[mutley]

Does anyone have any recollection of my fathers bike called - " REVELATION 1 " that ran for approximately 3 years at Santa Pod roughly between 1969 - 71 , possibly number DCS 12 . These pictures were taken at Desborough airfield Northamptonshire on its very first outing .It did all he thought it would do until he lost his nerve to ride it at over 110 mph at the pod !. As far as I know only Dragwaye came close in the scary rider stakes. Dad said it was exceptional in the 1/8 but scared the hell out of him in the 1/4 however he lived to tell the tale & continued racing upto 1975 tuning and building many other contraptions ( including Revelation 2 & 3 ).

Revelation 1 Desborough
revelation .jpg (314.98 KiB) Viewed 13157 times

Revelation Engine Detail
revelation pic 2.jpg (420.51 KiB) Viewed 13157 times

[ukdrn]

Hi Mutley and welcome.

I don't know anything about your dads bike but I have to say what an amazing creation that is
I'm sure someone on here will be able to help.

[kal]

I am slightly bemused by the pictures posted above.
There is a picture of mine of this bike in my book, but with the engine in front of the back wheel.
I am positive it is the same machine basically, but find it hard to believe it would have run at a proper drag race as shown in these pictures. Then again, I might well be proved wrong.
The rider's face is not clear - but I am assuming it is Irvine Laughton.

[jaytee]

What scary looking ride,anymore photo's,I'd say you're right Keith the front of the bike and the engine with the Wal Philips injectors are the same as the bike in your book,it also featured on the cover of an early National Drag Racer

[mutley]

Hello Playmates
The engine in front of the back wheel bike was in fact "Revelation 2". The one shown in the pictures came first and ran at the pod for almost 2 seasons .There was alot of rain then and loads of meetings were a washout but infact this strange contraption was rideable .It did over 90 mph at it's very first meeting & proved very reliable and finally achieved an ET of 13.4 . Most terminal speeds were around 105 mph . This tuned Triumph ran straight methanol with modified Wal Phillips . I am not sure whether anyone else was ever crazy enough to try this layout .It was based on certain engineering principles and a dream .The quest for knowledge .The pod has always been bumpy at the top end with the wind mostly from the right side ( Westerly ) . 110 mph was possible but only on a good day ( underpants willing ! ) . Thanks for taking an interest . I have never seen a picture of it smoking away from the line with wheelspin in 2nd gear . My dad never thought he was infamous ! .But now looks forward to checking out the Kal book .

[jaytee]

Revelation 2 viewtopic.php?f=13&t=247&p=1848&hilit=s ... ides#p1848

[peteyrs]

I recon that would be a very brave man..

[mutley]

The originator of the concept rear engine type of bike was new to me when I built Revelation 1 .Thousands of people must have seen this run at the pod but yet no one seems to believe it did ,well before anyone built a two wheel project like this some 3 wheeled drag machines did exist namely Angus McP's 3 wheeler It appeared about the same time .Go karts with triumphs were popular. THEN I build Revelation 2 in 1969 a proper SENSIBLE rear engine project this bike is featured on scary rides and on the introduction page of Roger Phillips collection (acceleration archive) .I can remember many people eyeing up the plot and trying to take measurements afterwards better powered concepts were spawned .I know the yanks made a V8 ( similar layout ). As far as I know REV 2 was the first bike in Britain to look like that and until I hear otherwise ( FACT not pubtalk ). This was the first, low powered REAR ENGINE cheap budget bike engined dragster in the UK . Yours for the sssssport . Mutley

[jaytee]

Mutley did you base the front end of the frame on the Norton Featherbed design

[mutley]

Hello Jaytee
Dead right with that one, the top part bearing cup and a short piece of frame came from a D1 bantam the bottom cup retainer I made from mild steel billet to take a tapered roller bearing not the usual practice but possibly used on the manx TT Nortons ,a bit over engineered for the requirement .A steering damper was also added which was in fact an early hagon fork damper which I took to bits and converted to a steering lock damper by altering various viscosities of jack oils ? .Wheel trail to track surface is also an interesting subject so I did loads of drawings on the shed wall ,there was'nt much to go on at the time as most bikes in the pits were average to varying degrees of ridiculous ! .Most people now aim somewhere around the 4 inch mark . Rev 1 had the most trail but the unsprung weight to front end ratio which was only 90 Ibs ( rider on bike ) was far from ideal . I had better ideas but lack of funding meant keeping to the usual "monkey on a stick" layout . Nuff f now Mutley