A TRIUMPH Daytona 675 powered by biofuel made from windfall apples has reached 159mph at an official test.
The cider-powered 675 was created by industrious A-level students who turned their chemistry lab into a makeshift tuning garage.
Dr Anton McAleese, Head of Chemistry at Prince William School, Oundle said: “This is a really interesting project for our students to get involved in. It’s important that industry recognises the skills and creativity that our students can offer. Further, it’s often young people today who are the most concerned about the future of our environment, so it’s a topic close to their hearts.”
Triumph backed the students’ project and even provided a brand new Daytona 675. Six thousand crushed apples later (and after some tuning modification courtesy of Bike magazine’s Rupert Paul) and ‘Project Fast Fruit’ was ready for its first test ride at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground where it achieved a top-speed of 158.7mph through the timing beams.
Andrea Friggi, Communications Manager at Triumph said there might be a future for cider-powered superbikes: “At the moment all Triumph motorcycles are designed for optimum performance with non-ethanol fuel but are compatible with E10 (10 per cent ethanol). We’re currently investigating making all models compatible with E25 fuel so while this is a fun experiment it does have a serious side and we’re looking forward to reviewing the results.”
