The triumph drag bike is pretty cool, especially as it happens to be the only trumpet I've seen with ground off barrell fins. I'm sure this wouldn't be practical for a street bike but it saves weight for the drags! (Article from a 1966 Modern Cycle Mag.)
It may be a cooling issue rather than a weight issue. There is a famous story dyno testing a JAP speedway engine in the 1930s and getting an instant power boost by knocking off a few cooling fins because on alcohol fuel the engine was not getting hot enough. On the flip side there is the equally famous story about Helmut Fath getting more power out of a Yamaha 2 Stroke by pouring water on the crankcase.
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