Graham Sykes’ Steam Powered Rocket Bike
‘Force of Nature’ is a steam powered ‘Rocket’ motorcycle built by Graham Sykes for drag racing, record breaking, exhibitions and events. Three years ago Graham brought along this amazing bike and told members about the project. Graham, a precision engineer from North Yorkshire, designed his rocket bike in his garden shed with his wife, Diane, over the course of a decade.
A few weeks ago council member Andrew Kibler went along to watch racing of bikes and cars at Elvington in North Yorkshire. Here is Andrew’s account of the day…..
.
“My brother and a friend decided to go to Elvington where they were holding a speed meeting for cars and bikes. Turned out to be a fabulous day. But guess who I ran into ? Our friend and speed freak Graham Sykes, who had his steam bike in one of the presentation tents. Luckily Graham remembered me, so I had a little chat only to find he was actually going to race it. After a brief walk around we took up positions on the 1/8 mile drag straight to watch all and sundry trying to set the fastest time. What was surprising was the ages of those willing to have a go. From about 10 up to maybe 60’s. The fastest car had to be a fully electric Porsche. Just a pity there’s no sound. Only tyres screeching… The other stand out cars were a Porsche GT turbo and a Mitsubishi Evolution. But for us our interest was mainly in bikes. No high octane fuel here, just longer rear swing arms and lots of power.
However, the star of the day was definitely the steam bike. I managed to get some pictures. We chose the wrong place to stand and got soaked. I also got to speak to Graham after his run, who was over the moon with how it went. He informed me he clocked 187mph in 3.3 seconds. Believe me it was over before we knew it. Brilliant !
