Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ . ' ~ 00 0') ...... 0 eo ~ V ,.0 0 .... u 0 (A bove) Tena cious leaves the starting area . (Above. right ) Dan Kinsey gets strapped into Tenacious. (Below. left) A record for for everything? You bet. This one's the World Car Top Ski Record. set at 162 mph. (Below. r ight) A 1425cc trike went 161 mph. Streamliner Tenacious becomes world's fas test single-enginedbike By Dorde Woodruff W ENDOVE R, UT, SEPT. 28-29 O vercoming a h igh-speed handling problem on its third r u n o f the fin a l Utah Salt Fla ts Racing Associati o n m eet of the season, the streamliner T enacious was clocked a t 276.87 mph iri the mile and 278.63 in th e i m med i a tel y-fo llo w i n g quarter mil e. This , despite a fading Harley-Davidson engine , 18 wh ich b roke o n the n ex t run . A n ew s t ra ig h ta way o n h ig h er g-rou nd . o rigina lly prepa red for a n Ita lia n bi cycl e at tempt. a vo ide d th e damp area in the m idd le of the fam ed Bonn evill e Sal t Fla ts co u rse w h ich ca me to pl a gu e hi g h -speed vehicles d u ri ng Speed Week in Au gust as ruts de veloped . C ha nges to rh e S&S/ Bu b Ent er pri ses T enacio us fo llo wi n g th e "lin er ' s Ju ly cra s h i n a sid ew in d moved up the s peed a t w h ic h th e len d ency to ro ll a p pea red . Because o f the ro ugh part of th e co urse, th e ' lin er co uld n 't gobSoi eno Ig h d u ri ng Speed Week. a fter its co u n tersh a ft br ea kdow n a n d repair, to fin d th e ro ll. But i t did sho w u p a g-ain durin g Sa turda y's 263 mph run . Motorcycl e speed kin g- Don Vesco . looking- [i t aga in a fte r his Au gus t crash d ue to th e sa me bad spo t. co n su lted with T en a cious' crew o n th e handl in g prob lem . T hey co u ld fi n d n o a p pa ren t ca use . Bu t aft er Deni s Man n in g in s tall ed rhe ta il. a fi ber g la ss o ne bui lt for that co n tin g en cy, a n d a d de d m o re tra il. th e pro blem went a wa y, mu ch to d riv er Da n Kin sey 's d eli gh t. T he. o n ly dra wb a ck o f runni n g a ta il is tha t it w ill ma ke a ' line r m ore sensit ive 10 cross w i nd s. T ena ci ous' th ird ru n o n S u n day m ay have been even fa st er, but fo r the fi r Ioi m II () USIiR. WI. ' l:MJl!il"" . problem w ith thei r cl ock s. th e sa me kind as u sed at Speed Week, a n d n o tim e wa s o b ta ined o n th is ru n . T he engine, after th e whol e su m m er's ru ns o n nitro w ith a n o n ly partiall y reb u ilt top en d , a n d with many orig ina l pa rt s dating ba ck before a ll the ru ns a t G erl a ch , Nevada , (d uring the t im e th a t the sa lt was 100 wet ) was found a fte r Sa turda y's run to be wea ke n ing, leak ing n itro p ast the ri n g s, a n d it fi na ll y broke. Wit h a n average of 276 .5 1 for th e fir st a n d secon d ru n s S u nday, T en a cio us set a US F R A record in th e S-AF2000 cla ss. USFR A classes a re the sa m e as Bonnevill e Speed Week 's Sou thern C aliforni a Ti m in g Associ ati o n cl ass es. USFR A reco rds d iffer o n ly in tha t the sma ller clu b is n ot se t up for two -wa y runs, w hich co u ld m a ke a d iffere nce in th e ca se o f co n sis te nt ta i lw i n ds (a n d i t is not unkno wn for especia lly fortunat e riders to ha ve a ta ilw in d both wa ys o n th e SCTA reco rd fun s). The SCTA record in th a t cl ass is th e 1970 o ne o f 265 .492 set by Cal Ra yb orn in a H a rley streamli ner a lso bu ilt by Man nin g. Ten a cious wa s fas ter nOI o n ly wi th a ti r ing e n gi ne down in power, but a lso despite th e Iact th a t thi s weeke n d's co u rse ha d o n ly a three-mile a p p roac h, versu s t h e f i ve -rn i le a p p roach used by th e la te Ra ybo rn . T enacious' learn was happy, in ad d ilion , th at th eir m a rk exceed ed th e SCTA S-AF-3000 reco rd of th e do u blee n g ine Har ley J am m er o f 276.376 , se t in 1978. 'Th e o n ly fas ter reco rd remai ning- in theSCTA book is Vesco 's M otorcycl e Land Speed Reco rd o f 3 18.598 . T ha t o ne, fo r a sing le engine ; will be to ug-h - hut nex t yea r. g-i ven good sa lt , T enacio us a n d irs crew w ill g-ive ir. rhei r. bcsr ., : ., T hanks to the m ember s o f th e new . U ta h Sport Bik e Asso cia tion , a grou p form ed p r im a rily fo r road raci n g , for th e firs t t ime a USFR A me et feat ured as m an y bik es as ca rs. As h a ve man y before th em , th e grou p di scov ered a t the Sa lt F la ts tha t speedom et ers lie. H o wever, so me respecta ble times were ach ieved. especia ll y in vi ew o f Bo nnevill e 's h igh e leva ti o n . Fas t ru n s fo r th e th ree '84 H ond a 1000cc I n tercep tors o f Ni ck Po levo v, La ird Whi te, and J oe Vea rer were f48 .5 14, 145.867, a n d 140.180. respectiv ely . The first o n e had a S up er'Tra p p ex ha ust sys tem , th e seco n d a Yoshimura , a n d th e th ird was stock. Mon te Rock 's Kawasaki 600cc Ninj a we nt 132.158 , Doug H effern an 's '83 Suzuki GS 750ES 133.330, SCOllCh ristensen 's '83 H on da 750 Intercepto r 131. 771, a n d Jim Bill in gsley's '83 H on da C B 1100 138.248 . Best run for th e severa l Yam aha RZ350s was Trov L ew ill 's 119.200 - fast er th an th i~ yea r 's new SCTA record in the Pro du cli on -350 cl as s o f 115.327, al so by a n RZ. Three of the US BA m em bers got int o th e USF R A 130 m p h Cl u b, w hi ch m eans th ey qua lifi ed by a run over 130, th en m ade two s ta n d in g -sta r t m ile runs rerm ina ring in trap spe eds a ve ra g in g o ver 130. So me co n tern pora ry stock m otorcycl es a re no w do in g th is eas ily; th e accel era tion requ ir ed m a kes it m ore difficult fo r ca rs. H effern an 's GS750, a n d Veater 's a n d P o levo v' s 1000cc Int er cep to rs m a d e it, Po levo y's w ith a n a verage o f /4 5.572. S ince th e US FR A is a fai rl y libera l o rg a niz a tio n , it seem s 10 ha ve become th e h ome of od d- ba ll speed a uern p ts. Du r in g th e Ju ly meet it was the Worl d Mo tor Pa ced> Bioyc lo Record.

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