:) i remember this one very very well, its been at least 17-18 years since ive heard that engine sound and my god it sound's great, just like i remember it and i have not forgotton the sound either - i used to ride on these in nottingham back in the late 80's early 90's and damn they wear fast! keep it close to you my friend, they are becoming rare these days which im sure you know!
We used to have these same Lynx's here at First Southampton. I never got to drive a Lynx but I hear from other drivers that they used to be air throttle and they were 'all or nothing' acceleration. Unfortunately I never got to drive any of the old stuff I mainly drive Volvo B7 RLE buses with a Wright Eclipse body and not much else. I did my training on a Volvo B10M Plaxton body Coach to gain my PCV. The oldest stuff I drive are ALX 400's with a Volvo B7TL engine, Dennis Dart SLF's with a standard 10 metre body, and that's about it really. Otherwise its all wright Streetlites with a 3.9 4cyl ISB cummins engine or Enviro 200 buses.
I USED TO DRIVE FROM LAUCESTON TO EXETER WITH A LYNX ONCE I HAD JENNINGS TRY TO OVERTAKE ME IN A COACH AND THE GOOD OLD LYNX WAS HOLDING 60 UP A STEEP HILL ON THE A30 JENNING HAD TO PULL IN AGAIN BEHIND ME LOL ! GREAT BUS THAT ! AND IT LOVES SPEED BUT VERY NOISY IN CAB THE GEAR CHANGES WOULD SLAM YOU IN THE BACK ! BUT ECONOMY WAS GOOD !
C920 FMP will take quite a while as she has a broken back and severe corrosion to the bodyframe, which is being taken care of. Mat Southart sent me photos of your Lynx, it looks supberb. Sadly, I've not had the opportunity to see it up close. C920 FMP will go back into West Riding green, it would've been nice to complement this with G324 NUM in Yorkshire Buses red but needs must and all that and the parts are needed.
I had thought of this Peter, the Lynx group is quite active and we share info, photos, videos, sound recordings and other Lynx bits. Plenty of Lynx owners on there plus an owner who has converted his into a disco bus with multicoloured flashing lights and what looks like laminate flooring.
@LaminaDieWills: Thanks for your comment. These Lynx buses were the biz in their day, fast, comfortable and a clean modern design. I too remember these buses from my childhood around the West Riding of Yorkshire, then when they were used as my school buses. Funny how buses can evoke such wonderful memories... which is why I bought one, helps keep those memories alive... plus I like buses which is a bonus :)
In which case it'll be a clutch for manual transmission. Unless it's that I-shift on a Volvo B12B which can be changed between automatic and manual. Fully automatic you have 2 pedals and an electronic brain changes the gears automatically. Semi automatic also has 2 pedals but you have control over the gear selection, the clutch is done electronically and bands in the gearbox shift the gears as per selection. That's how i understand it anyway.
If the whine is characteristic I could be all wrong about the whole rear axle thing. The Gardner/semi-auto combination might be easier on the driveline when driven properly. ZF box is quite noisy, too.
I'm afraid it isn't, however much I'd like to preserve another Yorkshire Lynx this one is being used for spare parts for my Lynx (C920 FMP) and a pals Lynx (G38 YHJ) both in preservation.
Great Video. Spent a few years driving some ex Cynon Valley examples with Red & White. Didn't like them at first because I found the brakes a bit sharp but I'd much rather have a Lynx now than the likes of the ADL Enviro and such.
They don't... If the third pedal is on the far left, it'll be a door control pedal. Some buses are fitted with these so the doors can be opened using the foot. I'm not sure why though.
As I say, if you go on most Lynx, the rear axle emits whining noises which is pretty much the signature of a Lynx, though whines are more prominent on a Cummins engined Lynx with ZF gearbox, this one is ZF. My semi-auto Gardner Lynx doesn't really whine like other Lynx, you get the whines at 30-40 mph but that's about it.
There not bad buses the Leyland Jinx, Just the body frames have a habit of falling to bits, especially over the rear wheel arches. I think some of the later versions were Volvo engined.
Yeah, she'll have some good miles on the clock. Started life out with Yorkshire Buses in the early 90's, then Arriva Yorkshire and then onto Arriva Midlands. The rear axle on a Lynx tends to sound like this, does the pitch change when they're about to knacker up?
It did sound nice, was quite nice to drive too even though the engine was a bit flat, not quite as jumpy as the Cummins should be. The engine does have quite a bad oil problem, there seems to be more oil outside the engine than the inside, the oil filters were caked. The gearbox has a fault too, a few times when Simon was driving it dropped out of gear for a second and re-engaged.
C920 FMP has a Gardner engine and a semi-auto gearbox so doesn't build up speed quite as fast as a Cummins Lynx. C920 FMP's body sloped towards the rear end, a cracked interior panel and an emergency door that proved harder to open and close. She's at LTT at the moment receiving the rebuild.
I'm not exactly an expert on rear axles used by Leyland. I think they bought Eaton axles at some point, but they shouldn't whine like that. If it were a Scania, I'd drive it straight to the pit and have the axle changed. Or does she have a Voith box? That would explain the screaming.
hopefully ill pass my PCV this year, then save up and buy myself a Lynx - fantastic buses, just wish i could drive one now (if only First Glasgow has a training lynx instead of the PS, horrible to drive)
The entire front of this bus was removed as a source of spares for mine. The front panels shouldn't fall off when in service, no matter what the gradient. Would be interested to hear more though.
You don't need to wait till you're 21. I don't know where you live, but most large bus companies like First, or Stagecoach, or Arriva will take you on at 18, and train you for a PCV test. Smaller private bus companies will not touch you till you're 25 though, for insurance reasons. Large companies insure themselves, so can get away with it. Good luck.
Oh and I'm not sure if you're interested but I run the Leyland Lynx Google Group - not sure if you're a member or not. Would be nice to have you join. Cheers. Adam
Quite a number of Mk2 Lynx were built with the Volvo THD0102 engine. My Lynx had severe corrosion, pretty much all over, especially over the rear wheel arches. The frame had holes in it. Check out my site at c920fmp (dot) fotopic (dot) net which shows photos of it's condition before it was replaced.
