Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126286
0') M Q) Jack Wilson , of Big 0 Triump h, put his supercharged Triump h into the record books three times. The 1060cc machine ran trouble free . ..c This very unusual creation by Gary Alvers uses a two-stroke crank case with reed valves to supercharge the valved four -stroke top end. e Q) > o Z Too bad they don't have a class for street legal mach inery . Scott Guthr ie's Harley turned 162.82 mph complete w ith Florida inspection tag . Eriksen rode his Yamaha RD -350 at 160 _000 mph. Bonneville Backdrop Unique in na tu re and u n ique as a race course, th e Bon neville Sal t Fla ts are j ust tha t: Sal t. At on e time most of western Uta h was covered by an in land sa lty lak e . This lak e ex tended fro m Nevada to Salt Lake Cit y, in th e eas t a nd fro m Id aho a lmost to Ari zon a in th e sou th . As the area' s clim a te cha nged a nd th e yea rs passed , th e lak e evapora ted lea ving behind th e p rese nt Salt Flat s. T he salt , wh ich had been disolved in th e wat er of th e lak e was deposit ed in a level layer on th e mud floor of th e former lake , In recent times, th e d ry lak e bed has been used for ra cin g for several reaso ns: The surface is self renewing, it is coo l a nd th e straight ' line course can , in good yea rs, be up to 14 mil es long. In th e win ter and sp ring, rain and snow fall on th e sa lt flat s so that part of the salt is dissolved . In th e su m mer, much of th e water ' evapora tes . The salt , so deposited . "he a ls" th e course by filling in th e im per fecti ons left by th e previous year's racin g . The same wat er that heals can a lso destroy. This year too much water from August ra ins res u lted in a wet course. Cars , m any with lots of HP and not much tra ct ion on t he wet sa lt made things tough for th e fast bik es since both use th e same course. How records are estab lished In order to run for record on th e super-accurate timing cloc ks, a rider must qualify by runni ng at lea st .00 1 mph faster th a n the existing record in his class . Qua lifying times are made th rough a quarter - m ile trap with a light a t ea ch end a nd the elapsed tim e IS computed into mph . Each rider has two m iles from the starting lin e to reach top speed befor e th e tr a ps. If the rider is fast er than th e ex isting record . th en he has th e pri viled ge of a ppeari ng at 7:00 a .m . the next mornin g for reco rd runs . The ru n begins a t th e sta rti ng lin e, wit h two m iles to build u p speed . The rid er is cloc ked as he pa ssed through a one mil e sec tio n fro m th e two mil e to the three m ile mark . A return ru n begin s a t th e five mil e m ark with th e time taken fro m th e three m ile to th e two mil e m ark . This is th e sa me mile , b ut run from th e revers e d irect ion . AMA rul es sta te th at t he same m ile mu st be run in both d irecti on s with in two hours, so th at any effec t of wind will be ca ncele d . Thus a ride r with a tail wind on th e first fun will ha ve a head wind on th e return run . An average of th e speed of th e two runs gi ves the fin al time. If the speed is at least .00 1 mph fast er tha t th e existing reco rd, a new record is establishe d . Relia bility is o f su preme importa nce , since th ere are no repai rs or gear changes all owed betw ee n reco rd ru ns . Chains may be oiled, bu t not replaced . By the end of a full week on t he sa lt , if you don 't have you r act together, it becomes readily a p pa re nt . • When it rains on the flats , it pours. Weather like th is cut two days off the Bonneville Speed Week schedu le. Brian Eriksen's Yamaha RD-350 was pure dynamite. The potent machine took class records at an unbelievable 156.226 and 159.893 mph . Tom Elrod Aust in, Texas M ike Bruso Freemont . Calif . Jack W ilson Dallas, Texas Harry Fair Lakewood, Calif. J ack Wilson Dallas, Texas Charley Machado Austin, Texas Mike Bruso Freemont, Calif . Jack Wilson Dallas, Texas Roger Swim Phoenix. Ariz. Doug M eyer Elk Grove, lII Bob Tomrose Santa Rosa, Calif . John Cunn ingham Sparks, Nev. Kaw(2) A-AF-3000 188.006 M-AG-l300 161.761 APS-AB-l300 178.359 Kaw A·AB- l300 165.193 Tri A -AB-l300 175.406 Kaw A-AG-l300 163.675 Kaw P-I300 147.814 5-AB-l300 183.957 H-D AP5-AF-I 300 182.400 Kaw APS·AG-I 300 165.117 H-D A P5-A B-2000 167.520 Hon P-750 138.223 Tri 5-AB-750 163.122 Kaw A-AG-650 132.694 Kaw APS-AG-650 152.474 Kaw M-AG-650 128.001 Hon APS-AB-500 128.538 Yam P-350 108.933 Yam APS-AG-350 159.893 Yam MPS-C-350 156.266 Yam MPS-AG-250 140.699 Yam M ·AG-250 109.217 Yam M -AG-175 106.023 Yam M-AF-175 104.529 C-A MPS-C-175 104.333 Mer MPS-AG-125 125.876 Mor MPS-AF-l25 126.455 Mor M-AF-l25 116_0n Mo r M-AG-125 113.425 Mo r 5-AG-l 25 125_ 594 Yam A-AG-l 25 105_ 928 Hon APS-AF-l oo 104.395 Pen P-loo 74.012 Kre M PS-AG-SO Bl .986 Kaw Tri Tri Jon M inonno Dallas, Texas Harry Fair Lakewood, Calif . Elvin Goveia Leandro, Calif. Harry Fai.. Lakewood, Calif. AI Ferris Novato, Calif. Dennis Robertson Burley,ld. Brian Eriksen W . M ilford, N.J . Brian Eriksen W . Milford, N.J. Shari Vickery Denver , Col. Jack Dolan San Diego, Calif . Dale Ebersole Denver , Col. Dale Ebersole Denver , Col. Henry Brigham IV Houston , Texas Peter Grufstedt N. Sto ningto n, Conn. Peter Grufsted t N. Stoningto n, Conn , Peter Grufstedt N_Sto ning ton, Conn. Peter Grufstedt N. Ston ington, Conn. Peter Grufstedt N. Ston ingto n, Conn . Peter Breed Bellfl ower, Calif, BrianDowns Citrus Heights, Cal. E. " Doc" M urdo ck Wendover. Nv. J im Ahrens Arcadia , Calif. 9