Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - ----, u.. u.. ::l a:: o o o ~ w c a:: o c >- '" 8 ,..-- """"1 0 J: lJ) Q.. Dan Kinsey rode Tramp II I to a new APS-AG-200cc record of 19 2 .3 7 6 mph. Floridian Scott Guth rie logged a new record each da y abo ar d either a Yamaha TZ750 or TZ500. His top run was a 178.790 m ph blast. Bonneville Slleed Week Good salt and great racing By Dorde Woodruff WEN DOVE R. UT. A UG . 17-24 The 37th ann ual Bo n n eville Sal t Fl ats Speed Week was characterized b y good sa lt a nd a lm ost fla wless weather. This m ea nt fast times and then a chewed-up co urse from a ll the hal a nd heavy run ni ng in th e e ven t , R u n for the first time since 1982, c o ntes ta n ts pat ien tIy end ured two ca nce led me ets a nd o ne short one with wet salt. Honda dea ler Ted Gansberger, part o f a no rthern California group, first brought hi s H o nda to the Salt in 1980, a str iki ng high -tech, turbo cha rged , red -framed 750. Initiall y. th e bi ke proved to be just a little to o tric k. The int ercooler didn 't help, a nd neith er did th e fla shy fra m e. Wi th th e firs t rem o ved and the second replaced wi th som ethi ng m o re co nserva tive, Gansbe rg er a nd crew set tled d own to sho wing what a 750cc bike co u ld d o . T hey ran at th e Southern Ca lifornia T im ing Associ atio n's dry lak e site, EI Mirage, as a n a ltern a tive to Bon nevill e duri ng th e time the Salt Flats wer e tr ying to become a la ke, then G an sb erger su r p r ise d everyo n e by g o ing 218 mph o n the d i rt su rfac e, a time which is ve ry fast. H e al readv ha d th e A-ABF-750cc class record ~t th e Salt , bu t th is yea r with th e best su r face in 35 vea rs (a cco rd in g to o ne o ld B onn ~\'i ll e hand ), he outdid h im self , qualifying eac h d a y with o ne ru n , a nd sett ing three impressiv e records. Sunday's qu al ifyin g with a fa iring in th e APS-AB F-750cc class wa s Io llowed by a record , a ver agi ng 20 1.752 m ph du ri ng Monda y m orn in g's down a nd return-record runs. T h is got Gansberger into th e much -soug ht-after Bo n n evil le 200 mph Club. L at er Monday, h e qualified at 204 o n h is record o f th at m orn in g wi th th e fairing, a n d with ou t i t a t 197 on h is 1984 record o f 183 in th e A-ABF-750cc cl ass. Bu t he d est ro yed a tire in T ues d a y m orning reco rd ru n s. T ir es wer e a problem for several of the fastest lqe~. S9~ i Q ~o~ !IJ~ p.o.i~ ~s. ~~c~ ..t.? e~~ .• •.•.•.•~.i¥~~· ~\~i ;h! ~~e~s.~.~ ~ ~~i:~ .~~~ ~:~~ 1; . tracti on was bett er, a nd if ti res sta rted to go, th e sa lt rea lly tore the m u p . It 's d ifficult 10 find s u ita ble motorcycl e ti res [or th ese speeds. . G an sb erger req ua lified [or th e u n fa ired class o n Tuesd ay , th en suecessfu lly p egged th e new m ark a t 200.6 24 Wedn esda y m orning. The g ro u p had built a new.I arger en g ine, a C B900 F bored o u t to 1150cc [or th e 1300cc class; th ey switched to it [or Wedn esda y qual ifying. Q ua lifyi ng a t 208 , G a nsb er ger th en upped th e record in th e A-A B-1300cc class 10 199.293. He q ua lified again Thursday a t 224, but bothered during th e reco rd run by wind and h earing a cru nc h, he turned out (th is is a sca ry speed a t whi ch 10 be h ea r ing no ises yo u do n 't under sta nd ). The la st day o f qual ifying , Fri da y, th ey we nt for it with th e fai r ing in the APS-A B-1300cc class, qual ifi ed a t 224 a ga in , bu t th e next m orning sp u n a rod bearing a t 229 due to a n oi l p ress u r e p ro b le m i n th e un famil iar en g i ne. G a n sber g er sai d h e " fo u n d a new m eaning of [ear" when the rod went. H e tri ed 10 pu ll th e clu tch in , but with the stoc k pl at es swolle n [rom th e h eat it d idn 't fu nc tio n . Fortunat ely th e engi ne di dn ' t lock up. During th e wee k, p robabl y he ra n a t, nea r, o r over 200 mph speeds more th an a n y ri der a t Bonnevill e ever. Results don' t a lways lis t a ll th e ru ns made d uring th e da y, a n d o ld records a re b u r ied under newer ones, so it 's diffic u h 10 verify th is 100%. H e a lso rai sed th e records by a larger a m o u nt th an is usuall y done, especia ll y at this kind o f speed, by 15, 20 a nd 25 mph . And befo re thi s, no 1300cc or IOOOcc non-streamliner bike, m u ch less a 750cc, had go ne o ver 200 m ph a t Bo nnevil le. The o n ly nonstre a m l iner r ecord fa ster th a n C a nsberger's time of 229 when th e 1150cc en g ine broke is Da ve Campos' 231 of 1974 in the 3000cc class with a doubleengi ned H a r ley. . Gansb erger cred i ts m uch of h is success to bui ld er Jim Bick ford,who i n real li fe is a shop foreman at Pacifi c G as a n d Elec tr ic, a nd to th e h el p they ' ve gotte n [ro m H ilbo rn o n sell in g u p th e tu rbocha rg er sys tem a nd ca lc u la ting t he injector sett ings . T he n ex t t h ri ll was a 202.936 m ph record in th e M-AF-2000 cc cl ass set by Da ve Ma tso n on T h u rsday morni ng wi t h w ha t s u rely m ust be th e world's fa stest Vin cen t. T hough hi s return record ru n was un der 200, th e do wn ru n was a n impressive 2 12! Not bad [or a bi ke that's been o u t of prod uction [or 30 yea rs, i n co m pe titio n wi th th e la test in m o d ern techn ol o g y. Matson has been a t it for a w hi le, first co rni ng to Bo n nevi lle in 1959 and the n stea d ily si nce '76. Aft er h is fir st run o n Sunda y, it a ppea red Ma tson wou ld be o ut o f the m eet. H e bui ld s a new bike every yea r, in a success fu l sea rc h for ever stronger a nd bett er vers io ns, And un noti ced by him , thi s o ne po inted hot ex ha u st gas right a t th e top o f h is [oat. In th e exc ite m ent o f running , he didn't no tice h is foot was hot unt il the top o f it was cooked . La nguish in g in Sa lt Lake Cit y with th e b u rn , he [cit better o n Wed n esdav, drove o u t, a nd qual ified a t o ver 207 . In o rde r 10 ride, h e'd had a specia l boot m ad e to fit o ver the bandag es. T h en when th e foot got in fected a nd t hey had to ad d mo re ba ndages, he co u ntered b y put ting a n in ne r t u be ins ide the boo t a nd blowin g it up . to stre tch th e lea th er. Ma tso n's bik e was bu ilt [or rhe 1982 m eet , n ot h eld becau se i t rain ed bu ck ets between th e end o f Sat u rd ay ' reg istratio n a nd the begi n ni ng o f Su nda y qua li fyi ng. T h e '83 event was never eve n close, since th e Salt 's sha llow winter la ke persisted a ll year. And Matso n didn 't co me in '84 , as he d idn 't expec t e ven the ha lf wee k tha t happened bet') 't;en rain sto rms . Wh ile ..J l • I • .. I' • • ) th e bike was wa it ing fo r bett er sa lt.he cha n ge d on ly th e oi l tank fro m a Series C typ e, in w hi ch th e tank was part of th e frame, 10 a separa te Series D type th at he m ade, to let him ge t down lo wer o n th e bike. H e q ua lified th e next da y in the eq u ivale n t fa iring cl ass a t 206, m ade a fast down run Frida y m orning, but th e rin gs wer e 100 worn. The engine o n th e return run developed so me unp la nn ed venti lation in th e ca ses a nd ca ugh t fire in th e process. Matson wasn't hu rt , o n ly disgusted th at h e hadn 't felt go o d eno ug h, wi th the hurt foot, to cha nge the rin gs. Another fast record wa s th e 199.954 of Shirlee's Foll y, ridden by road racer Va nce Breese, who's been coming to Bonnevill e si n ce ' 79 a nd like G ansberger 's grou p is [ro m northern Cal ifornia. T he h eart of Breese's bike is a 78-in ch H arl ey engi ne . S&S Products did th e m ach ine work o n th e engi ne, whi ch uses S&S p istons a nd co n nectin g ro ds . Du nca n Keller of San J ose assem bled it. S&S a lso did the fu el inj ecti on - a nd co n tri b u ted p arts w hen Breese's clutch q ui t o n Wednesd a y's record run . T herest o f the bike wa s assem bled from Breese' s large co llectio n o f assorted motorcycl e pans. Th e eng ine had m ade m any runs, but Breese suc ceeded in babying it lon g en o ug h to requalify faster . And th en o n Fr id a y m anag ed a down run o f 200. 848 - but th e return ru n wasn 't fast eno ugh to qu it e p u t h im into th e Two Club, a six-yea r g oa l o f h is. Bo n neville co ntesta nts o ften in vent go al s other th an just thi s record o r that , a nd Sa lt Fla ts vet eran Sco tt G uthr ie rea ch ed h is goal o f setti ng six reco rds duri ng th e week, th e m ost p ossibl e a t th e ra te or o ne a d a y. In each case h e qua lified wi th just o ne run. G u th rie cred its a ll this to m eticulous plann in g . For exa m p le, th e Flo ridia n wa s watchi ng th e U ta h wea ther rep orts for m o nt h s, a nd woul d ha ve co ncentra ted o n sma ller di splacem ents had th e sa lt been wet. Runn in g with o r without a [a iring is a n easy wa y to cha nge classes, a n d o f co u rse Guthr ie do es th is. H e also ha s a h o ard of Yamah a TZ pa ns , a n d works size cha ng es. T h is yea r h e stro ked hi s road ra ce r 's engine to j us t o ver 750cc fo r th e IOOOcc cl asses. As it h a p pen ed , o ne cra n k when del iver ed was d efective, so he a nd me cha ni c J on Nal on had to goo wi th j u st o n e side stro ked . They a lso d o n ' t a lways u sed m at ched cy linde r sizes. In th e 650cc class, th erefo re, one side o f th e en g i ne was stroked a nd th e o ther debored, So m e expressed ske p ticism a t this a rra ngement, Guth rie sa id, bu t it ran fin e, 10 12.500 rpm. It was n o ticed a t th e lin e, however , th a n o n sever a l run s it took h im so me time to g et started. T he bik e wa s esse nt ia lly the sa m e as last yea r, b u t with the su spen sio n tu ned [or the h ig her speeds of th e 1000cc classes. G ut hrie's fastest q u alifyin g r u n was 184. Not bad for a na tu ra lly-asp ira ted 752cc on gasoline. Aft er th a t sp ree, he j ett ed m ore co nserva tively [or records, not want in g to brea k. Form er Am er ica n T urbo Pak eng ineer J im Lud iker , who sta rte d a n n ua l vis its to the Sa lt in ' 78 a fter comi ng in ) 970 wi th a th e n -h o t-n ew-m odel H on da 750 , p roceeded in h is usua l co m pe tent j o b o f rai sin g th e records for a blo wn 350 as hi gh as possible, do in g a number o n hi s ow n fai red an d un faired tim es o f la st yea r. L udiker sa ys th e good tra ck was th e biggest Iacror . Slip pery sa lt is bad n ews fo r a sm a ll tu rb ocharged bike. Som etim es,last yea r, he even had to d o wns h i ft to ge t back o n th e boost after le tt in g o ff o n th e th ro tt le. H e a lso did, with Pa tr ick Racing , pani ng ilPP;{l?\i hi n g, ? b t th ur bp , ~nd

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