The World's Fastest Triumph

[Hudson]

Like all of my recent adventures, it begins with a phone call.

"Dave, can you be in Bonneville the last week of August? We're going to try to set a few land speed records on a specially built Bonneville. Oh...and bring your trailer. The McQueen bikes are ready..."

And that's how, 800 miles later, I found myself at Bonneville today. Totally fun day today, but I got home late after washing the salt off the trailers, so not near enough time to edit pix. I am returning to the Salt Flats tomorrow and will have a whole bunch more fun to bring, and hopefully news about the second LSR attempt...

 

[Niehart]

And ...

 

[beemerdons]

And ...

Cut him some damn slack Niehart, Dave is from the Specific Northwet so he is probably still drunk or stoned or both!

 

[Auburn]

Dave, that is cool. I hate that I didn't have enough vacation to be there also...

 

[CAJW]

Green with envy doesn't EVEN begin to describe me! Enjoy and post up pics, times, back stories on the bikes, etc... when you have time.

Oh, BTW, I'll PM you my phone number so you can forward yours to mine. That will eliminate you getting all those late night/early morning calls that interrupt your beauty sleep. Don't worry though, I'll send pics!

 

[Fly Bye]

Looking forward to your future posts.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Niehart]

8/31 Head to Tooele, Utah, outside of Salt Lake City for the 7th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP at Miller Motorsports Park. The Motorcycle Classic bike show on Saturday will feature a dozen awards with registration starting at 8AM. Café Racers are the featured class and there will be AHRMA racing Saturday and Sunday, including the CB160 Races with Le Mans-style starts each day.

You just as well take that in and really piss me of ... :glare:

 

[Panman]

8/31 Head to Tooele, Utah, outside of Salt Lake City for the 7th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP at Miller Motorsports Park. The Motorcycle Classic bike show on Saturday will feature a dozen awards with registration starting at 8AM. Café Racers are the featured class and there will be AHRMA racing Saturday and Sunday, including the CB160 Races with Le Mans-style starts each day.

You just as well take that in and really piss me of ... :glare:

He does get to do all the fun stuff, so post the rest of the story!

 

[Old Michael]

Um, yeah.

Good job so far, Hudson.

• A few vague passages assuring us that you're enjoying yourself. (Of COURSE we're all very happy for you, Mr. Green.)
• A picture or two of some salt ....and a couple of freaky Triumphs.

And you call yourself a journalist?

A PNW moist blanket of disappointment settles over the Forum.

 

[Hudson]

A trip ending with land speed records started off rather slow. Heading to Boise for the first night took about 8 hours on I90 and I84. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Heading out of Boise the next morning, the air was thick with smoke from fires still burning in the mountains. After several hours of haze and burnt smell, I almost succumbed to this exit.

But the boys and me had a date with a certain river. Seems they really took to stories from my boyhood, watching Evel Knieval try to jump the Snake River in a rocket powered motorbike. Aside from the six million dollar man and maybe Mean Joe Green, nobody was as badass as Evel when I was a boy.

[media]

[
This was as close as I had come to seeing exactly how challenging the jump was.

I think the boys were pretty impressed.

We were about to leave when these guys walked up.

Hmm. Nylon tafetta dress. Go pro on their helmets. Mebbe we should stay awhile. A few short moments later, after they cross to the middle of the bridge, the first one starts his flight.

And the second one went, and finally the last one. We were whooping and hollering their bravado, and we were their only audience.

 

[Hudson]

We gassedandfedanddrankandpissed and started the last stretch into Wendover. It's pretty desolate scenery out there, long stretches of nothing leading to nowhere.

but at long last we pulled into Wendover.

I called Matt to see what was up. "We're just about to make a run. The Bonneville's had some issues, but I think she'd ready to sail now. Get out here as quick as you can if you don't want to miss our run."

Matt is the owner of South Bay Triumph. He's like Niehart, meaning old. About ten years ago, at age 60 on his birthday, he had nothing better to do than to set a land speed record for a modified Bonneville at 204mph. Yep, a genuine member of the 201 mph club. He's forgotten more about building bikes than I'll ever remember about riding them.

We blow past Wendover, hoping to make the Flats before the run.

We get past the front "gate" and they warn us about the standing water. It's like slime, it will splash up and stick to your car and everything else. They also warn us about the sharks...

Driving onto the flats, we see signs of racing activity immediately.

 

[Hudson]

We rolled into the pits just in time to see the "Storm" being pulled into the trailer.

We had dallied at the gate and missed the run, but the Storm was encountering challenges. The Storm was a beast of a bonnie, bored out to over 1000cc, and making north of 140hp at the crank (vs. the stock Bonnie's 65 hp). It dynoed at 174 mph, making Matt confident in its record setting capabilities. Matt had enlisted Alan Cathcart, a well known journalist and ex-racer, to run the Storm on the flats. Alan was rolling along just fine when the bike began to cut out at 130 mph. They quickly took it apart to try and figure out the problem. Alan pointed to the Storm's redline and offered his own perspectives.

Watching them trial and error the problem, I decided wisely to keep to myself the suggestion to check the blinker fluid.

They chased the problem to the ECU: seems that a stock rev limiter wasn't being bypassed by the PCV they had installed. They parked the Storm next to Chad McQueen's 0000 bike (more on the McQueen bike later)and began to strategize a solution.

Meanwhile, I took a look around to get my bearings.

(Alright OM, is that working for ya? It's late, and my brain is cooked from too much salt, heat, and Coronas. Give me a day to edit pix and catch up. There's so much more to come, so to whet your appetite, I offer the following

 

[ahchiu]

Great RR Dave, I can't wait to see and hear more about your trip!

 

[Niehart]

I likey that Vincent... and maybe the Triump. Keep it coming Brother Dave.

 

[Barabus]

I likey that Vincent... and maybe the Triump. Keep it coming Brother Dave.

Vincent's are the coolest bikes ever made. Just look at those castings and the fact they can still run with modern sport bikes. I like the flat black paint. Dave, do you have the fjr? Maybe there is a bagger record to be had? Have fun and report back.

 

[Auburn]

That is a sweet looking vincent, can't wait to hear the back stories

 

[John d]

The one with the yellow wheels is a 1600cc Thunderbird, And if it was bored out.........................

 

[Hudson]

Dave, do you have the fjr? Maybe there is a bagger record to be had?

No FJR this time, but I did bring along something that should make you smile. Remember this?

Well, it done growed up a bit.

Quite the perfect rig for tootling around the various tents taking pix.

 

[Hudson]

While we waited for the Storm to get fixed, I took the pit bike I had trailered down and set out in the pits to see what everyone else had brung. There was literally a bit of everything:

The owners of those Indians came back and had quite the time trying to kickstart them.

Look closely at the streamliner above and you'll see a nice Vincent twin in its belly.

The boys and Missus Hudson had come along for the trip, and were enjoying being on the "actual set of The World's Fastest Indian". We had started the movie about 90 minutes prior to arrival, and it just ended as we pulled up the flats, so needless to say, the boys were jazzed.

All around us, we could hear the roar of engines and see the riders coming right off their speed runs or roaring down the flats.

They told me the salt was incredibly corrosive, and to wash the car, trailer, and bikes every day. I think I saw how evil this substance can be.

A speed run would coat the whole bike with a sheen of salty muck.