Well, it's that time of year again and this photo about says it all. And this year I've got the fever bad. There's only one thing more fun than riding a Harley-Davidson and that's riding one wide open. This photo was taken at Bonneville Speedweek August of 1997. 1997 was the year we set the record at 162.807 mph in the push rod gas 1650cc class. Dave Rivera, who builds all my bikes is standing on the right. We have come a long ways since our first trip in 1996!
At the time this photo was taken we were watching a car going down the track spinning out. It had rained earlier that week and spinning is something cars do often. Fortunately motorcycles don't have that problem because they don't get air under them. Try as hard as you can but you cannot see the car spinning out in this photo. It is 3 miles to the last timing light and another 3 miles to the end of the shutdown area. The best I can recall the car was barely visible to us at the time we were standing there.
Bonneville Speedweek will run from Aug 12th through Aug 17th and we plan to be there all week. For more information, check out www.scta-bni.org. Check back at this web site during the week for updates.
We just got back from another exciting year at Bonneville Speedweek. Exciting and humbling. We had mechanical problems with our 96 cubic inch Sportster. It began with repetitive blown head gaskets. High compression combined with fiber gaskets instead of copper contributed to the problem. Then, just when we thought we were going to get in a pass, an oil line ruptured resulting in a stuck piston. Add two more items to our list of mistakes not to repeat.
Two days prior to leaving I was asked to test ride a new single cylinder 500 cc Buell Blast!. We entered it in the "production push rod" class. J. White set the record in 1998 on a Triumph at 98.574 mph. There are not many modern day push rod motorcycles in the 500 cc class. However, the Blast! is not a timid motorcycle. To establish a baseline, we intentionally made no performance modifications to the bike. The "production" classification restricts only the physical outward appearance of the motorcycle which leaves many performace opportunties. The exact terminology in the rulebook is "stock external appearance". Often times competitors will do everything possible internally to squeeze out more power, but in order for us to set a baseline we choose to leave it bone stock. We even left the stock air cleaner installed. The following items were necessary to comply with land speed racing safety requirements.
The production class has fuel restrictions. After filling up with ERC fuel (provided at the event) and getting the tank sealed, we headed up to the starting line. Storms were on the horizon and we had a 10 mph tail wind for our first pass. The late afternoon temperature was still hot (90 degrees). Before running the course, Bill Taylor, the starting line official, gave his final three key instructions:
The bike felt a little tall with a soft suspension. We weren't certain what speed the transmission was so I counted them as I shifted through the gears. At the top of each shift the rev-limiter kicked in very abruptly. After shifting into 4th, I moved my right foot to the rear peg and went into a full tuck. At 86 mph I shifted into 5th gear, which I discovered to be the last gear. I moved my left foot to the rear peg and watched the 1-mile marker go by.
The seat was comfortable but the handlebars felt a little on the tall side. I raised my elbows a little higher to keep them out of the wind. I glanced frequently at the kill switch tether to see if it was at risk of being pulled to the off position by the wind. After 95 mph the climb was slow. The Blast! tracked good and the wind did not buck me around. I kept peaking over the top of the small fairing to check track conditions ahead. Earlier while I was standing in line I overheard another racer remark that most of the cars were following each side of the track and the center now seemed to be the best place to avoid loose salt pebbles. So that is where I stayed.
The 2-mile marker went by. The engine, while hard to hear at this speed, sounded content. I pressed the front bottom edge of my helmet against the tank and rotated glances between the left track line, the speedometer and the right track line. The speed now appeared to have stopped climbing at 102 mph. The speedometer, although max'd at 100 mph has a little more room before pegging. The Blast! had reached its limits. Through the final mile it never tired. When I passed the 3-mile marker I kept the throttle on a few more seconds and sat up to get a good straight-on view of the speedometer. It was right at 102, which turned out to be very accurate.
First Pass Official Time:
| 2 - 1/4 mile time: | 102.338 | |
| 3 mile time: | 102.596 |
When I came to a stop the wind was blowing harder and I could see rain in the distance. Two passes must be averaged to set a land speed record and the second pass is made first thing the next morning under close supervision of the officials. At the impound area where the bike had to be left for the night it was beginning to sprinkle. The Buell Brothers racing team also in impound, offered to tie the Blast! down on their trailer and we accepted.
Morning came early and we were back out on the salt at 6:30am. Fortunately, it had not rained substantially during the night and the salt conditions were still excellent. The air was cool (mid 70's) but there was a small breeze that couldn't seem to make up its mind which direction to come from. Mostly, it seemed to be a head wind.
The starting line is a great place to be because you see lots of friends; lots of beautiful machines and lots of photo opportunities. Great shots of teams, family and drivers suited up; all in one photo. And it's also the last chance to bench race! In a matter of moments the timeclocks will tell the story. It was time for my second ride on the Blast! and it performed consistent with the previous day.
Second Pass Official Time:
| 2 - 1/4 mile time: | 95.905 | |
| 3 mile time: | 96.382 |
Now it was time to tear the bike down and validate the displacement. This was a bit of a gamble for us because we were not 100% certain that the bike was indeed 500 cc or less. We opted for the fluid method, which is only acceptable if it is 3% or more under the class limit. First the valve train is disabled which Dave accomplished by removing the rocker arm pin. Then a fitting is screwed into the spark plug hole and a calibrated glass tube with a rubber hose is attached. Transmission fluid is poured in the tube and it flows into the combustion chamber. As the engine is turned over by hand, the fluid flows in and out of the calibrated tube. The result was 486 cc. The record at 99.489 (two pass average) was now official.
We will be back next year, although our plans for what classes we will enter in is still open. For more great pictures and results check out Landracing.com. Many thanks go to Bartels' Harley-Davidson for their support.
