One Old Man's Quest.........for 250 Mph.

While driving back and forth from Sarasota FL in the 196o's,
I found myself sharing rides with Reese Wynans,
younger brother of my good friend "Bud" Wynans.

Reese had started FSU in Classic Piano, but soon switched
to popular music, and later moved on to play with
a number of popular groups, such as Stevie Ray Vaughn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reese_Wynans

He currently backs up Joe Bonamassa.............
 
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I wonder if TZ750d Is going to turn out to be a famous person too.!!!:shocked:
 
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I was able to listen to a full concert last year,
and have dinner with the band beforehand, backstage.

Loud but wonderful music, and at least two (2)
avid motorcycle riders in the group !..........
 
Official speed week results
have been posted at the SCTA Website

http://www.scta-bni.org/sw-race-results.html.

A few observations:

The cars set 71 records, with a fast speed of 416 mph
by George Poteet a nd the slowest at 73 mph.

The median record (half faster and half slower)
was about 175mph.

The Fast bike was John Levie (GUTHRIE LEVIE RACING)
at 238MPH, and the slowest was Yours Truly at 18.9mph.

Total bike records set was 81 (more than the cars !)
and the median speed was about 125 mph.
 
OK: I neglected to point out that I had digressed (again)
to last week's SCTA Speed Week. which is current news.

A casual reading of the results will offer that my team
GUTHRIE LEVIE RACING set twelve(12) world records,
that my friend JOHN LEVIE was the fast bike of the event,
with an exit speed of 242 mph, while setting four (4) records.

John's dad Allen set two (2) good records, and that I sort-of
trailed the group on a 175cc LIFAN going MAYBE 65 mph.
 
Well, we had gone there to set records,
and I was the Caboose.

Having drawn the short straw...I was assigned
to the team's slo-poke...a Chinese Communist
Lifan motorcycle, of dubious origin.

The engine was a FULL 175cc of push rod-operated
Communist power, with basically a 1970 design.

Even the manual was in Chinese, so tuning was chancy.

I had ridden this bike 5 years ago, and it made me swear
off Bonneville riding almost forever,
and after my first run on Saturday,
I almost quit again..............
 
The bike wobbled, weaved and bucked
like an un-broken pony for three(3) miles,
and I couldn't have kept it on my side
of the road if I was on the highway...........

Yes, it was that bad..........

BUT, it was, at a magnificent 65 mph,
good for the first 1/2 of a record........
 
Just endured Hurricane Hermine.

Eye of the storm went directly over our house.

Not my first hurricane, and everything OK now,
with full utilities and internet
back up after only 3 1/2 days...............
 
We had four(4) bikes to run at speed week,
and I was dragged into service to run the little bike.

In the middle of preparing for the first runs
of the week - always a flail with 650 teams lining up,
and this year the pressure of having missed two full seasons
adding to the "itching sensation" to get in the first run.

I had paid little attention to the preparation of this,
our smallest bike.

That decision would come back to haunt me........
 
To try to get the most out of our bikes
at Bonneville, I usually have special leathers
hand-made to fit my “substantial” frame.

This can be a lengthy “in person” process,
since I must approximate (for the maker)
a riding position that is used
in no other motorsport.
 
The hamster died and a special ported, high compression replacement with high speed ceramic ball bearings had to be ordered from Singapore?
 
You are very fortunate! I have to feed my 2 legged hamsters slop and they shake a lot when running . My fast hamster eats rice, Coke and candy. :thumbsup:
 

Another factor is that the SCTA,

who runs Speed Week at Bonneville,

requires special leathers,

calling for NO cooling vents, and NO

cloth panels – which means that

modern, “off-the-rack” road-race leathers

may not pass inspection.





It also means that I sometimes must spend the

whole last day in a “fitting,” where I show my “special”

riding position to the “leathersmith” and he makes

the leathers fit “tight,” for least wind resistance.

This year, the fit was a BIG problem……
 
My Leathers fit VERY tight,
and I am sure the wind resistance was minimal.

On the other hand, I could NOT change
my position on the bike.

AND, the position I had was WAY to far forward,
putting too much weight on the front forks.

The immediate result was that the bike was all over the track,
and I could hardly get the bike to go straight !

The other situation was that I spent three (3) miles
at about 65mph wondering if the next bump was
going to put me on the salt
 
Later, in impound after the first run, I
noticed that my partner John had dropped the
front forks to suit his smaller and 50 pounds lighter build.

With me on the bike, it looked to have NO rake or trail……………….

The next morning, with GREAT trepidation, I
donned my back-up (NOT custom made, and a lucky-eBay – find)
leathers and tamed that bike to a howling 64 mph return run,
and set my FIRST EVER Bonneville record below the national speed limit.

(Friday morning, it is back to the salt
for the next race.

Your service may be interrupted......)
 
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