Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

the head, g etting good increases. in airflow . H e used 12% nitro . wh ich did seem to h elp the power wh en o ff boo st. Ludiker's second engine, th e o ne he tr ies things out on, like Guthrie's, has a slight ov erbore to ge t i t into th e n ext big ger class. W ith it , h e se t a record of 158.998 in the A-AB- 500cc cl ass o n Monda y. T his was fo llowed by on e o f 156.92 1 i n the A-AB- 350cc cl ass o n T uesday , a n d 166.721 in the . fairing class, APS-AB-350cc, o n T h u rsday . Choos ing a sm a lle r dis pl acement m o tor cycl e so h e d idn 't hav e to g o to o fast, he's fo u nd himself going fast a ny way. Unlik e a ll o f the abov e, m o st o f th e S&S/BubEnter p ri ses team had o n ly last yea r 's h alf-week ex perience o n th e Salt , p l us th e three-da y USFR A m eet th is Jul y. (Bub En terp r ises' Den is Mann in g does ha ve co nsid er-a b le - ex perie nce w ith stream l i n ers from from th e lat e '60s a nd early ' 70s.) T he strea m liner Tenacious, frame checke d a n d shell rebui lt by Mann ing in Ca lifornia after last mont h's fas t cras h, a nd engine checked by S&S in Wi sconsin, we nt well in its first run . W ei ght added to th e front , t? e back, a nd in th e for m o f a h eavier sh ell seemed to be what was need ed for th e handl ing. T hen, it broke a co u n tersh aft. This was fixed , a nd pilot Dan Kinsey tried aga in, but still couldn't get it into fourth gear which is direct drive. So Manning had to go into Salt Lake City for bigger, better bearings and the machine work needed to house them. The need le bearing a t on e end of the shaft was destructing, allowing th e sh aft to heat up and break. On Friday, with th is fixed, Ki nsey fou nd the course was to o cut u p to a llow him to go really fast. However, th e 'liner did get fast motorcycl e time of the meet at 230 mph. Th e modified Sportst er-style tra n sm ission in th e ' lin er is wh at S&S uses in a ll th eir ho t bikes. They theorized th a t th e much h eavi er wei ght o f Tenacious was th e ca use of th e bearing failure. On th e other hand, th e 115/ 116in ch fu el en gi ne in T enaci ous is exactlv th e sa m e kind as th e one they ran inTra mp a t the en d of the week , a n d a problem d eveloped in th e bike not seen in th e ' li ner, that is,the front piston was destroyed. They tri ed every remedy . J e tt in g was r ic he r, a d ifferent ca r buretor was us ed with more effi ci en t fuel d e livery, spark was delayed, the ca rb was angled 2° toward th e front cylinder, and in ca se th e gas ta n k wasn't venting properl y, a breather was put on with an inta ke in front by the headlight (t his is a specialbuilt motorcycle which looks li ke a street bike and ca n be rid d en there). Another piston m elted . Next time. S&S 's George Smith angled the carb 4° toward the front cylinder and took out the spacer bloc k, saying, " Ma ybe this is o verkill." Kinsey h ad to quit because the ti re shredded. If he hadn 't, the back piston wou ld have m elted . Motorcycle speed king Don Vesco had a spectacular d isappointment whi ch , knowing him , won't se t him back very long . Last yea r th e m an ytim es-r ew ork ed World L and Speed Record motorcycle wa s rew o rk ed o nce a ga in to accom moda te m ore wh eel s a n d a turbocharg ed Offy engine w ith a n unbe lieva ble 100 in ch es of bo ost a nd 1000 bhp. On Friday afternoo n, Vesco , see king good sa lt a t th e very 'edg e o f th e co urse, wa s blown or so me how wen t off it into th e lo ose stu ff a n d lost it a t an estim a ted 350 mph . The s hock o f th e parach ute 's openi ng (w ith whi ch Vesco had n't been enti re ly sa tis fie d ), apparent ly tore th e veh icl e in ha lf, bet ween th e transmissi on a n d th e en gi ne. T he fron t half co n ta ini n g th e co ck p it a n d eh g in e ll ~w up 'in ' the- air' a nd 'ca rrte down hard o n th e nos e co ne, th en tum bl ed . T here was a long tr ai l o f de b ris o n th e co u rse . One wheel was found a half-mile furth er. Vesco emerge d from thi s m ess wi th though tful co m me nts su ch as . " Ma ybe we o ug h t to cha ng e th e cock~ i t .a li ttl e," as he was rolled round 111 It some. He was bruised from th e safety ha rn ess, ha d a slight co ncus sion , h an d s were sore fro m ha ng in g onto the steering du ring the crash, faceshi eld an d g la sses broken , a nd a n in j ured foo t required a cas t. Vesco was ph il o so phical about the des tr uc tio n of Sky tr acker. "It was b ui lt to go fas t, nott o crash ." That is, m o torcycl e s tream li ne rs w ith their thi n sha pes a re prone to tumble, not spi n o ut lik e ca rs. Iro n icall y, h e qual if ied fo r record runs, clocked at 318 befo re the cras h w hich ha p pe ned wh ile accelera ti ng th rough th e course. T imes fo r lo ng-course veh icl es, th ose whi ch go o ver 175, are taken a t th .. two a n d a quarter, th e three, th e fou r and the five mi le ma rks. Before this, the Vesco clan enjoyed driving Ri ck 's new car, a class ic strea m l in er b uilt bv th ei r fath er th e lat e J ohn Vesco, w'h ich has been p ro pelled by se ve r a l differ ent po werp lants i ncl udi ng tw in T Z700s. Den's wi fe, st uruworna n Ma rcia H olley-Vesco, set a re cord o f 272.0 I 4 giving h er a m ember ship in the Bonnevill e 200 MPH Club for ca rs as well as bikes. Holl ey-Vesco sa id th e car was ea sier th a n th e bike (Sk ytracker when it was a m otorcycl e). Contemp o rary m otor cy cl es achi eved some records in Production cl ass es . These have to look stock . But some have considerabl e engine work. Gerry Whitehouse. ret ired pro ro ad racer who is th e owner of The Mean Green, a n Eddi e Law son r epl ica KZIOOO R, chose it for i ts four-into -' on e Kerker racing pipes and small fai ring. But h e a lso we ld ed th e cr a n k, used heavy duty ca se studs, a nd a 1260 cc kit from Van ce & Hin es . (Accord i ng to cu rre n t ru les, Producti on bik es ca n run in la rger d is p lacem ent cl a sses th an st o ck .) T he p is ton s wer e gas ported , th e cy li nde r h ead ported a nd th e bike got new va lves . M a chin e w ork w a s b y H arr y 's Mach in e P arts, own ed by Ri ck Stetson the Pro Comp drag racer. Cam is a Megacycle 465 , a nd ca m' sp r ing s and retainers are from Vance & Hines. Whitehouse used underbuck et shims from a KZ650 in stead o f th e stock o ne s on top , so they, wouldn't spi t out. H e raised the P-1300cc record, form erly held by a Honda CBX, to 157.845. . RZ Yamah a two-strokes accounted for two records. Mark Dees ch ecked out his 350 a t th e Ju ly U ta h Salt Flats Ra cing Association m eet. B~t h~lf of its black box went away and It seized. Wa yn e Hamre. of th e Cen~ra l R~a d Raci ng Cl u b headquartered 111Austin, Texas, brought a n o th er R Z350, midweek , and set a record of 115.327. H amre had to put ba ck all th e pieces he had off for road ra cing. Could .have probabl y gone fast er but found h e didn 't hav e eno ug h j ets or gearing - tw o th in gs esse nti a l a t Bonn evill e. W ill iam Cat erino brought h is street bik e from th e N orthea st, a Ya m a ha RZ50 0 obtai ne d in Canada. W ith th e head mill ed fo r more co mpress io n to co mpensa te for th e elevat ion at Bo n nevill e, Ca teri no set a record o f 139.894 in the P -500cc class o n Mo nda y. S urpr ised ho w we ll th e bi ke p ulled, he se nt ho m e for gearing, a nd bu m p ed it to 145.377 o n ·Sa turda y. T his was o n a n o ld Ka w tri pl e record belonging to " C heese" Lc hm berg. a USFRA mem ber, set in 1973. DeWa yn e Stark raised the P -1000cc record a co up le of mph to 149.389 with a Kawasak i Ninja . , 'A 'new ki nd '01 motor'cYttc' rhuy J im l.udiker set tw o 350cc records on the Salt Flats.' His fastest run established the new APS -AB -350cc at 166.721 mph. showe d up in the three-wheel er drag bikes built by Clupper Racing of C oa ch ella. Th ey 've enj o yed co n sid era ble success a t sand d rags in th e Southwest, running with big paddl e tires in the back. The design o f th ese lo n g crea tions was a fter a sketch by R u ss Collins, a friend o f the Clupper fath er and son; they utilize th e pron e riding position whi ch is th e m o st efficient ae ro d yna m ica lly . Two of th e three-wheelers ran , a n d a sim i lar two-wh eel er whi ch is a new p av em ent drag ster. En g in es are SuzukiI 100-based Vance & H ines, a n d are p laced between th e rid er a nd th e rear wh eel(s}. Th e C luppers nev er before h a ving run a t high e leva tio ns, were h a ving trouble with j ettin g, but in '.their best cl as s wer e o n ly a co u p le o f mph o ff th e record by week 's en d. The m ost uncommon type of motor cycle entra nt was th e BMW KIOOI EML sidecar outfit of Sid ecar Re storations in St. Louis, pil oted by Br ian Cas ey. Few sideca rs have run a t Bonn eville, and n ot m an y of th em st reet . bikes. Ra cing sidec a rs a re uns table without a passenger, so the road ra cers co n vi n ced th e SCTA to allow sid eca rs to be th e onl y vehicles at th e Salt ca rry ing pass enger s. Officials, fearful of a passeng er being tr a p ped in th e ch a ir i n ca se of a n acci d en t, . wanted to limit touring sidecars to 100 mph . T his was not what Sidecar Restorations had in mind . T h e minimum in th e sol e sidecar class n ow is 120, and th e fastest time for a sid ecar a t Bonneville that I've been a ble to find in old Bo n neville results is Bob Braverman 's 126 in 1972, with a Kawasaki en g ine. Lengthy co n versa tio ns with a SCTA official spell ed out tha t th is bike could run as fast as it wou ld , i f th e passen ger were prot ected by ca r strea m liner rules, that is, by a SEMA ro ll ca ge , fire suit, safety harness , d ouble flo or a nd fir e ex ti ng u isher. Casey got a turbocharger setu p from Callawa y in New England , a n d gear ing from . G ermany. A nose was Iaired into the sidec r , and some of the angles filled a in A fter an initial iun o f 1' 3, for a 2 w hi le every th in g th ey did to th e bike m ade i t g o slower. Als o.it proved to be overgeared , not eas y to ch a nge in a sha ft drive bike. Th ey tri ed th e gears out o f a no the r KIOOth ey brought, but found the fastest was fourth gea r of th e sp ec ia l setup o n th e sidecar bike. A freon hookup co o led the interco o ler. And for th e final mil e o r two per ho ur , th ey inserted a motel.towel into th e very bad (aero d yn a m ica lly) h eadlight recess of th e RS' fairing , co vered th at wi th racer tape, a nd su cceed ed in going ov er 130 mph . RECORDS. BONNEVILLE SPEED WEEK. AUGUST .1 7~24. 1985 Class Old Record (m ph) P-500cc A-AB -500cc A PS-A BF-750cc MPS-AG - l000cc P-1300cc APS-AG-2000cc P-l 000cc APS-AG- l000cc A-AB-35OCc A-ABF-75OCc M-AG-l000cc P-350cc APS-AB-35OCc A-AG -l0C0ec , A-AB-l 300cc M-AF-2000cc P-500cc MPS -AF-65OCc A-AF-1300cc P-500cc APS-AG -650cc 118.909 141. 334 176.277 164.928 152.630 183.498 147 .331 168.13 9 144 .361 183 .879 158-483 110.997 142.923 150.502 184 .701 199.500 139 .894 137.773 174 .594 141.378 152.474 New Record (mph) Entry W ill iam Caterino Jim Ludiker Bickford & Gansberger Scan Guth rie The Mean Green S&S Cycle Tramp III FST Racing Scan Gut hrie J im Ludiker Bickford & Gansberger Scott Guthrie M its Motors Racing J im Ludiker Scan Guthrie Bickford & Gansberger Vincent 81ack Shadow William Caterino Scan Guthrie Shirlee's Folly William Caterino Scott Guthrie , " I t',' ., , Date 8/ 19 139 .984 · 8/19 158.998 8/ 19 20 1.75 2 8/19 ' 177 .235 8/ 19 157.84 5 8/19 192 .376 8/20 8/20 8/ 21 8/2 1 8/21 8/22 8/22 8/22 8/22 8/22 8/23 8/23 8/23 8/24 8/24 149.38 9 178.790 156.921 200 .624 169.464 115.327 166 .72 1 167 .50 5 199 .293 202. 93 6 141 .377 168.129 199 .954 145 .377 . 170.370 J 1 < " I : 1 J I '_ 1 1 ' J "" • I 2·3

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