The RPS (Richard Peckett Special) Trident
Hi, I thought I would put pen to paper as I am one of the fortunate individuals that have had the pleasure to race an RPS Trident as well as a Rob North Trident so I can compare the two. First I’ll give a little bit of background on the man and motorcycle.
RPS stands for Richard Peckett Special – for those of you in the know he is one half of Peckett and McNab, better known for their giant killing F1 winning Z1 Kawasakis that stomped all over the factory teams back in 1978.
Richard, after experiencing the howling Rob North Triples at Crystal Palace, was so inspired he had to have one. Sadly for Richard, even if a North chassis had been available (which it wasn’t) there was no way he could afford one.
Unlike most of us, the trained carpenter set about building his own chassis. Having started racing himself in 1969 on a Triton which he sold to start his Trident project, he was a regular evening visitor to Dave Degen’s (of Triton fame), so much so that Mr Degen offered Richard a job there. So Richard suddenly had the use of the facilities to build a frame, and like most designers he drew on well proven designs, namely the featherbed frame and the Rob North frame. The RPS frame has a little of both although it is shorter and has the swinging arm pivot nearer to the gearbox sprocket and the head angle is slightly steeper.
So, for the anoraks amongst you who want to know, the specification of the bike is 750cc, the crankshaft has 13-14lbs removed, it’s balanced and cross drilled and is plasma nitrided - the same process used on Hinckley Triumphs. It runs 12.5-1 Omega pistons, hanging off Corrillo rods. It has Megacycle cams in needle roller bearings, the squish-head is beautifully ported with 34mm Amal Mark 2 carbs and to get round the poor combustion chamber shape, he has twin plugged the head with a Pason ignition igniting the whole lot. The lubricant is pumped round by a high volume pump. The lightened and polished rockers are now running in needle rollers. The
transmission is taken care of by Richard’s belt drive conversion to a Bob Newby clutch, driving a six speed Quaife box to Richard’s spec.
Having raced my 930cc Rob North for five seasons, I hope I can give a fair description of the difference between the two. The first impression of the RPS is when
you sit on it is how spacious it is. If you have ever sat on a Rob North and you are over 5ft tall you will know how squashed it is.
With the RPS, you definitely sit in it not on it, with a petrol tank that is a very nice shape for locking your knee in and hanging off the bike.
The first time I pulled away on the 750 compared to the 930 I had to rev it higher and slip the clutch for longer with the engine feeling very racy and willing, revving out to 9000rpm, the six speed gear box changing very cleanly and you never seem to be in-between gears on any of the bends. Peak torque is at 7000rpm and peak power is delivered at 8750rpm. The twin plug head makes it feel less peaky and more of a linear power curve.
The handling has quite a modern feel to it with much longer travel in the rear shock than the 930, coupled with a steeper steering head angle with 51/49% frontal weight bias makes the RPS run tighter lines than my Rob North.
I gave the RPS its first shake-down at last year’s Beezumph which was a great place to run it in; I also had it out for one race at Snetterton where sadly I overstepped the mark on my Rob North and flung it at the scenery at over 110mph, rolling the bike and breaking my collarbone in the process – pictures on the website.
The last round of racing, a month later at Silverstone, was the first full round the RPS was out for as the Rob North was too badly damaged to fix in a month.
There is still lots to learn about the bike which will take time but suffice to say it was good enough to win the CRMC Race of the Year in the Unlimited Multis.
Chris Chapman
RPS stands for Richard Peckett Special – for those of you in the know he is one half of Peckett and McNab, better known for their giant killing F1 winning Z1 Kawasakis that stomped all over the factory teams back in 1978.
Richard, after experiencing the howling Rob North Triples at Crystal Palace, was so inspired he had to have one. Sadly for Richard, even if a North chassis had been available (which it wasn’t) there was no way he could afford one.
Unlike most of us, the trained carpenter set about building his own chassis. Having started racing himself in 1969 on a Triton which he sold to start his Trident project, he was a regular evening visitor to Dave Degen’s (of Triton fame), so much so that Mr Degen offered Richard a job there. So Richard suddenly had the use of the facilities to build a frame, and like most designers he drew on well proven designs, namely the featherbed frame and the Rob North frame. The RPS frame has a little of both although it is shorter and has the swinging arm pivot nearer to the gearbox sprocket and the head angle is slightly steeper.
So, for the anoraks amongst you who want to know, the specification of the bike is 750cc, the crankshaft has 13-14lbs removed, it’s balanced and cross drilled and is plasma nitrided - the same process used on Hinckley Triumphs. It runs 12.5-1 Omega pistons, hanging off Corrillo rods. It has Megacycle cams in needle roller bearings, the squish-head is beautifully ported with 34mm Amal Mark 2 carbs and to get round the poor combustion chamber shape, he has twin plugged the head with a Pason ignition igniting the whole lot. The lubricant is pumped round by a high volume pump. The lightened and polished rockers are now running in needle rollers. The
transmission is taken care of by Richard’s belt drive conversion to a Bob Newby clutch, driving a six speed Quaife box to Richard’s spec.
Having raced my 930cc Rob North for five seasons, I hope I can give a fair description of the difference between the two. The first impression of the RPS is when
you sit on it is how spacious it is. If you have ever sat on a Rob North and you are over 5ft tall you will know how squashed it is.
With the RPS, you definitely sit in it not on it, with a petrol tank that is a very nice shape for locking your knee in and hanging off the bike.
The first time I pulled away on the 750 compared to the 930 I had to rev it higher and slip the clutch for longer with the engine feeling very racy and willing, revving out to 9000rpm, the six speed gear box changing very cleanly and you never seem to be in-between gears on any of the bends. Peak torque is at 7000rpm and peak power is delivered at 8750rpm. The twin plug head makes it feel less peaky and more of a linear power curve.
The handling has quite a modern feel to it with much longer travel in the rear shock than the 930, coupled with a steeper steering head angle with 51/49% frontal weight bias makes the RPS run tighter lines than my Rob North.
I gave the RPS its first shake-down at last year’s Beezumph which was a great place to run it in; I also had it out for one race at Snetterton where sadly I overstepped the mark on my Rob North and flung it at the scenery at over 110mph, rolling the bike and breaking my collarbone in the process – pictures on the website.
The last round of racing, a month later at Silverstone, was the first full round the RPS was out for as the Rob North was too badly damaged to fix in a month.
There is still lots to learn about the bike which will take time but suffice to say it was good enough to win the CRMC Race of the Year in the Unlimited Multis.
Chris Chapman
Rob North Trident Specification
Crank: 77mm Stroke, Lightened by 13lbs, Cross Drilled, Balanced & Tuftrided
Camshafts: Mega Cycle, Inlet TCB & Exhaust 51B
Lightened Tappets
Lightened Cam Wheels
Carrillo Rods
Omega Pistons
P&M 930 Cylinder Barrels
Gas Flowed Head / 33mm Ports
Black Diamond Valves with Lash Caps
Titanium Collars
Tuftrided Rocker Spindles
Lightened & Polished Rockers (Shimmed)
High Flow Oil Pump 34mm
Mk 2 Amals 6 Speed Quaife Gearbox
P&M Belt Drive Pazon Ignition
Camshafts: Mega Cycle, Inlet TCB & Exhaust 51B
Lightened Tappets
Lightened Cam Wheels
Carrillo Rods
Omega Pistons
P&M 930 Cylinder Barrels
Gas Flowed Head / 33mm Ports
Black Diamond Valves with Lash Caps
Titanium Collars
Tuftrided Rocker Spindles
Lightened & Polished Rockers (Shimmed)
High Flow Oil Pump 34mm
Mk 2 Amals 6 Speed Quaife Gearbox
P&M Belt Drive Pazon Ignition