FEATURE
DUCATI DOUBLE-DUCK
P60
was so engrossed in the build
and consumed by every detail
of it, it's as if I completely forgot
that this thing was supposed to
be speeding down the salt flats
with me aboard it! So anyway,
I rode it 30 yards up the park-
ing lot and didn't fall over, so
then we packed it on the flatbed
trailer and off to Bonneville we
went.
"The current record in 2000
A-AG at the time was around
159 mph, so not having ridden
it further than 30 yards before
my first run, I purely wanted to
test the machine and learn how
to ride it. It's very awkward and
uncomfortable to be laying down
on your front all stretched out,
with your feet above your head
and the chin of your helmet six
inches from the front tire. You
have zero input on anything; you
just hang on. So I decided to go
slow while I got used to this, and
'just' do a 100 mph test, so I kept
it at barely one-quarter throttle.
It seemed okay, so I completed
the run and then pulled off the
track to find out from the course
workers I'd done 169 mph. My
first pass trying to go slow I'd
smashed the record by 10 mph!
"So I kept running for five
days, and ended up with a top
speed of 197 mph with a return
of 191, which averaged out to
193 mph. Okay, hugely faster
than the old record, but not 200
mph, which was what I really
wanted. That 2014 season the
salt was very wet and sloppy.
Everyone struggled for trac-
tion, and the long course had
only two miles of run-up. I was
extremely happy with the results
of our efforts, but I had missed
the 200 mph mark that was the
whole goal of this project. But
then two more years went by
while I waited for a chance to run
on the salt flats again, because
2015 was rained out. I tried to go
to every single event that year,
and like everyone else, endured
the frustration and disappoint-
ment of weather cancelations.
But then finally, in 2016 we
could run again. For two years I
had dreamed and planned in my
head exactly how I would ride
this motorcycle with three miles
of run-up, and great track condi-
