Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ .. ~ ~ tn 00 0") --0 ~ '<:t' ,......; .... rJJ ~ bJJ ~ ~ u, bicycle record. Mo tor -p aced means that he rode in the wi nd shadow of a c large fa iring bui lt onto the rear of j 0 1 0 Rick Vesco 's stream li ner car. 3: Bicyclists have been m otor pa ci n~ w ever since " Mile-a -Min u te Murphy c a: astou nded the world aroun d th e turn 0 c of th e century by doi ng a m ile in 57.8 >seconds beh ind a Lon g Island train CD CIl engine. Mo tor-paci n g gives a bicyclist · 0 .... a trem endous adva nt age co m pa red to 0 rid ing in th e wind . For co mparison, :I: 0the regu la r bicycle speed recor d is o n ly 42 mph. With its ta ndem rear sprockets, th e bik e was gea red so h igh th at H ow ard had to be tow ed to 85 mph before he co u ld let go a nd ped al. To susta in th e spee d h e co u ld a tta in wa s a d ifficu lt fea t. H e had to sta y w ithin a very sma ll space behind th e car, not bum pin g it, not ge tt in g too far back , o u t o f th e wind shadow. Su ccess in doing this was dependent both on Vesco 's a bility to maintain as smooth and even a pace as p ossible, and H owa rd 's skill in co m pe nsa ting for any irregu larities in th e surface or in the ' shieldi ng ca r's motion . (A bov e) Kenny Lyon's four-cylinder Harl'!y was ready for some fast runs, bu t elect ric!!1 problems and a blown H owa rd warmed up , th en ra n a t gasket put it on the t rai le r. (Bel ow) Tenacious before It S 260 mph cras h at the Bonneville Salt Flats. • a bo u t 100 mph , 'then in the 130s. Then h e went Ioru, The ca r was consistent ly tach ing th e equivalent of marks to be just belore the timi ng eye 151to 152m ph th rough the m ile a nd a t the end of th e m ile. the tim ed quarter after it , safely a bo ve T h e bik e slo wed on ly to 26 1.627 th e desired goa l of 150 m p h. before the " q uarter" light 132 feet O n the firs t such run , Howar d ani! farth er, missi ng the ligh ts by a co u his large entourage lea rn ed wha t ot her p le of feet. Kinsey sent o ut th e large Salt Flats racers had before them. ch u te, whi ch accordi ng to observer Motorcycli sts have a rul ebook to gu ide Gregg Morgan ca used the bike to them to safe p ractices. Centrifu gal tumble. By th e time the tw o ch u tes force overca me th e sp ring holding stopped th e 'lin er, off the track sligh tly th e va lve stem closed, a nd th e ai r to th e left an d a h alf a mile do wn , leaked ou t of H oward 'srear tire halfmost of its fi berg lass shell was a l1 way th ro ug h th e timed mi le. " It took ove r the sa lt in lar ge and sma ll pieces. a ll I h ad ," he sa id, "to fight the bike Kin sey was n ' t hurt , in fact he was down from ISO with a fla t in th e rear. " ready to go aga in , But th e cras h was a On th e next run , with a metal ca p great di sappointment after th e a lmos ton the o ffen ding va lve, the ca r jerk ed flaw less mech an ica l performance of a littl e while H ow ard was sti ll under the motorcycl e, righ t o u t of th e trai ler tow , and he was released early. in its Bo nneville debut. On th e th ird ISO- pl us try, Howard T he last time Ma n n ing a nd S&S fi na lly made it th ro ugh th e li gh ts (then in th e p erson o f the la te George without a problem; culimin ation o f a Smi th , Sr.), coo pe ra ted o n a H arl ey five-year p roj ect. ' lin er, it was the o ne p ilo ted by Ca l Next fastest motorcycle afte r Tramp Ra yborn in 1970 to a motorcycle land was th e Suzuki GSI150E of R.E.V. sp eed record of 265 mph. In 1970, Competition T uning of Salt Lake that ki nd of spee d was ac h ieved with City, Steve Vin cent , br other of tuner grea t effort a nd about 32 runs, Th is Ri ch ard Vin cent, rode th e bik e o u t ti me it was done so easily (after all th e from Sa lt Lak e. Remov in g th e mir p relimi nary work), it was dou bly . rors a nd baffl e, h is first time ever shocki ng tha t the bike crashed : down th e co u rse he immedia tely went T h e group's two other bikes ra n 147 m p h, tached ou t just ove r 9000 wel1 . Tra mp ran for th e first time rp m . PUllin g in new p lu gs and cha ngwit h a fa ir in g, cus to m designed by ing o ne tooth o n th e co u ntershaft Charly Pereth ian a t Rifle, Its seco nd sp rocke t, he turned ISO mph, a lilli e run was 186.72 1, already faster th an overgeared, T he bik e uses a Kerker th e Bon nevill e Na tio na l (Speed Week) road race p ip e and 33mm smoothrecord of 183.498. Next run was By Dorde W o odruff bo re Miku ni ca r bs. Go in g for the 193,751. Th e bike's record at Speed USF RA 130 MPH C lu b, as requ ired , Week last year, un fa ired. was 171. WEN DOVE R, UT, JULY 19-21 Vince nt started o n ly amil e before th e T hey wer e p leased with Pererh ian 's quarter lights in stead o f back at th e fairi ng. regul a r sta rti ng lin e, a n d turned T o coo l th e en gine, Pereth ian a lso exactly 147.299 o n each of the man da made up o n the spot from card boa rd tory two ru ns. and fib erglass co m ponents two sma ll The sa lt was fas ter a t th is meet vanes using a lready- tu r bu lent a ir, to tha n at a ny in recent mem ory, Riders fi t in the center open in g of th e fairreported no wheelspin, that is, tach ing. Cy lin der head temperatures on figures were eq uiva lent to tim ed speed. bo th bi kes were kep t to less tha n 300°, Us ua lly th e sa lt is we lle r a nd th e tac h any action, it was the first time 175 mph range. o ne of their goals, to promote longeindicates a highe r speed, sometimes a trials of the s hor t summer-fall Weight was added to th e nose. Th e vi ty. T hey decided Tramp was ready lo t h igher. And w ith conti n uing for Speed Week after the th ree runs. season a t the Bo nneville Sail wheels were rea lign ed. T h.e secon~ deplet ion because of ex traction of . run Saturda y was made with a ta d The third bik e was a n FXRS with a br in e by the potash p lant on th e o ther Fla ts. Fas t bik e o f th e meet wa s ad ded , fabricated aft er the mo rni ng p rot otype S&SSide winde r kit. Its fastside o f th e h ighway, th e surface crust run from sheet a lu m in u m. H andl ing est run was 141.263. A respe cta ble the S&S P rod u cts/B u b Enterprisesl h as in recent yea rs been th in and kept improving with thes e cha nges time for a street bike with h igh bars Harle y-Davidson strea m line r T enarough over th e un derl yin g m ud of until th e group figured th ey wer e wh ich ho ld the rider's ha nds up lik e cious , which went 205 mph o n gasothe Flats. T he details of Sa lt Fl a ts ready to run . on 60% nitro Sunday sails; remember tha t th e thi n ner ai r lin e its first ru n Friday. hydrology remain a mystery; perh aps, morning. . of Bo n n evill e's elevation of over 4200 A co u p le of Saturda y runs were with a n exce p tio na lly dr y spring after feet ro bs a n ormally-aspirat ed engine kept in th e sa me ra nge, whil e the th e two-yea r lak e evapora ted , wh at T he we ll-tes ted , meiicu lo us lyof 20% of its power compared to sea gro u p so lved a hang-up in th e consa lt rem ains was co nce ntrated into a constructed engine ea sily achieved level. trol s w h ich kept th e p arachutes fro m smaller a rea , Or p erh aps salt was 264.069 in th e mi le. Bu t rider Dan releasing on runs, and they did mi nor A land speed record of a nothe r brought up fro m belo w by th e longer Kin sey was leaned over against one tuning . Also, arou nd 200 .m p h the ' period o f flood in g. of Bo nn evill e 's tric k crosswi nds. kind was succes sfu lly. co ncl uded a t bike showed a tenden cy to roll a lillie. th e meet. Bicycl ist John H ow a rd, exWith th e wind push in g him, he no ted Brian Do ver got in th e 130 MPH R uns on the dirt surface at Ger lach , he was head ed too close to th e timing road racer a nd triathlon cha mp io n, Club o n an '83 900 Seca, a bike which Nevada, during th e time the sa lt wa s . rode h is special1y-designed bicycle to ligh ts. Kin sey pulled th e small ch ute, actually measures 85Occ. A tribute. too wet , had been mostl y in th e 150 to at a point obse rved la ter from skid 152.284 mph for a new motor-paced perhaps, to Don McCarley 'S tu ning u, :J a: Bonn'eville: USFRA meet opens speed season Good salt and a pent-up .desire . to race brought an unprecedented amount of action to the 'U ta h Salt Flats Racin g Association 's J u ly meet. After two wet years with hardly 12

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