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/127157
, , By Do rde Woodruff WENDOVER, UT, SEPT. 30 - ocr. 3 Asmall but interesting group of.motorcycles ran the Bonneville World of Speed invitational late-season meet designed for long-course vehicles. All streamliners are invited. 16 ars a re su ppose d to be 'in th e 200 mph ca tegory o r over, a nd bik es should be ca pable of 175 mp h o r more. Bu t thi s wo n 't be strictly enforced unti l the meet reaches its lim it of 75 vehicles, This year th ere were a lmos t 60. You. might say th e most successfu l motorcycl e o f th e meet was th e' Becker-Lyon-BMW strea m li ner. It lived up to its potential with a 203.908 run and three others over 200, running as at Speed Week with only the front two pieces of its she ll as yet finished and installed. Top speed with th e tu rboch arged ,KIOO four- cylinder, lOoocc, watercooled eng ine is lim it ed by th e gearing. A very few custom sets were made in Germany wit h 'a ra tio of ' 2.62, and driv er Ken Lyon figures th e fastest gearing that would fit in the box would be about 2.45. Thefactory earns on the Kloo limit RPM to 10,500, and no other carns are yet available; this engine can go only 188 with stock gearin~ of 2.81. This was a continuation of Lyon's campaign with the bike begun at Speed Week in August, when th e bike was sufficiently finished to run, well ahead of schedule. At Speed Week he set a record of 182.733 in the S-AB-750 class with th e K75 engine, then burnt rod bearings on the Kloo because of modifications to the crank that didn't work. c Lyon reports that the 'liner, made for Coloradoan and veteran Bonneville ra cer Mik e Becker by a Pike's Peak race car bu ilder, handles very well. With 18 ru ns by th e end of this meet, the veh icl e required little maintenance and showed no serio us problems, though Lyon was unabl e to back up th e 203 and had to settl e for a record of 197.121 in th e S-AB1000 class. H eart-breakingl y clos e to a coveted 200 recor d, whic h gets th e rider or driver into th e prestigious Bonnevill e 200 Club. L yon is sponsore d by L uftrn eister and Brown Moto r Works: R.B. Racing bu ilt th e turbo. Bob George, who like Lyon lives in Los Angel es, bu ilt the bike which has th e fastest no n-streamliner Bonnevill e record yet, a H arl ey-Davidson ridden by Dave Campos in 1974. George was at the meet helping L yon , an d is in vol ved with th e buildin g of th e 'liner to the extent th at L yon used George's molds for the sh ell. G eorge originally developed th e she ll for a 'liner in 1976. The molds were used for the Harley-engined Jammer streamliner which has been parked for severa l years now. The Don Vesco-built, turbocharged, double-engined Kawasaki KZI300 streamliner was originally a two-wheel er de signed to exceed Vesco's own Motorcycle Land Speed Record of 318, and if successful, even th e wh eel -driv en car record of 109, Still cla ssed with bikes now that it has th ree wheels, it had top speed of 222 and so me cha nge in th e m otorcycle category . The in novative 'l in er ran at Bonneville Speed Week in 1981, with prob lems and not very fast. Vesco p lan ned to brin g it back in the fall for a meet wh ich was rai ned o u t, He had ti me on th e Fla ts srh erlul ed for the nex t summer, bu t wi th a cha nge in man agement at Kawasak i and co nseq uent de-emphasis o n' racing, he was not funded aga in by them . Not securing any o ther money, he parked the vehi cle, which had not handled particularly well as a twowheeler. In fact, Vesco 's lat e fath er J ohn, an old Bonnevill e hand and trul y an oracle on matters relating to the Salt. never liked the bi ke. Last sum mer Vesco let .Nick Pappas try th e 'liner as a three-wheeler, after the race car for which Pappas had saved over a period of years was demolished. So far we've heard no complaints on th e 'liner 's handling in its pres ent form. But this pretty bike still seem s to be a hard-luck vehicle. Vesco and Pap pas did a quick installation on a two-wheel rear axle, aiming for a 215 minimum. However, the Bo nnevill e National s boo k this year had several mistakes and this was one of them. Durin g Speed Week in August the mo torcycling