200-MPH Club Member What Is The Next Logical Step?

[Racetrack14]

JR - sorta understand what your saying - at the Texas Mile all the emphasis is running 200MPH and once you accomplish that what do you do next. Naturally if you have the resources then you can keep building and go faster and faster. I wish the Texas Mile folks would get back to the vision they had in the beginning and add the races back with the season points championship. A four race winter series would be great with more emphasis on classes. You don't have to go 200 to have fun if class wins and records are recognized and documented.
Wayne Robertson is restoring his 100cc flat track bike to go after around 5 records at Maxton this fall with a record breaking speed of over 85MPH as the target. There would be no point for cousin Wayne to come to Texas and run because there would be no recognition for the record runs.

JR - you could run naked - I don't think anybody has done that and run 200 at the Texas Mile yet. That could be a first for Texas.

Racetrack

[DahMurf]

Y'all in TX might be good candidates for some speed clubs. We've talked about doing it at Maxton for some time. If you look at Guthrie's bikes he has speed stickers and I think Yancy has one on his bike as well. The idea was for incremental steps with a sticker for each. ie: 50 mph, 75mph, 100mph, 125mph, 150mph, 175mph, 200mph, 225mph, 250mph. There are so many different kinds of bikes that can run and each one has that golden ring of a speed where making one of these clubs is an extreme accomplishment. And for some, just for the rider to make the speed is an accomplishment regardless of bike.

Of course as usual you're going to need someone to run it, supply the stickers, track the recipients blah blah blah. But at least for TX where you don't have classes & records it would be something to shoot for!

Deb

[isiahstites]

(or should I say once John & Jason get done running up all of the records us mere mortals are going to be forced to build unique machines to chase their legacy!  )

Deb,

        This is why I am going to build a one off bike. I know on a stock Busa I will never be faster than those two and many others who have gone fast on stock chassis busa's. If I want to hang with them or beat them I am going to have to build on awesome machine to be competitive.

Scott

[hayaboosta]

I have seen VERY ill affects on the ability of a Busa to handle correctly with a few 25lbs bags of shot thrown under "the hump" or even under the tank.  I can imagine what a two up would do on shut down. 

I have been about the same speed as Deb and Todd two up (150ish) "back in the day" on my GS1150e hot rod.  If I gained alittle more weight I could weigh as much as Todd and Deb together, would that count?

[DahMurf]

Scott, we're looking forward to watching your build evolve!

If I gained alittle more weight I could weigh as much as Todd and Deb together, would that count?

Only if you put your junk in the trunk! 

I would imagine significantly increasing speeds two up would require some trial & error on the way up in regards to ride position to maintain the rider grip as well as bike stability. Although with a rider on back they do have the ability to shift their weight onto the foot pegs which will shift the weight lower then just sitting on the seat. You never know, having live ballast could be a good thing. The weight could be shifted to increase stability and traction!  You might want to hook up the rider to rider headsets and hope the heck you can hear at 200!  But actually that's why I would ride with Todd. We're very in tune with each others riding styles so we ride very well together be it two up or on two bikes!

Deb

[SRADkneedragger]

wish we could take our "side car" rig to the mile but thats not happening anytime soon. Early 70's GT750 Suzuki WaterBuffalo! Sidehack PLATFORM no sissy side car bassani chambers slammed and UGLY! Maybe next time
SRAD
Heavy Bus Racing

[isiahstites]

I have seen VERY ill affects on the ability of a Busa to handle correctly with a few 25lbs bags of shot thrown under "the hump" or even under the tank.  I can imagine what a two up would do on shut down. 

Scott maybe it is because I am sleep deprived right now, but are you saying the handling was not good with the weight in the hump?

Scott

[jasontmc]

I have seen VERY ill affects on the ability of a Busa to handle correctly with a few 25lbs bags of shot thrown under "the hump" or even under the tank.  I can imagine what a two up would do on shut down. 

Scott maybe it is because I am sleep deprived right now, but are you saying the handling was not good with the weight in the hump?

Scott

Scott,

a turbo busa will wag it's tail all the way down the course. Now put 30-50lbs two feet rearward and one foot above the c of g and you will find  yourself changing your shorts on the return road!

[isiahstites]

I have seen VERY ill affects on the ability of a Busa to handle correctly with a few 25lbs bags of shot thrown under "the hump" or even under the tank.  I can imagine what a two up would do on shut down. 

Scott maybe it is because I am sleep deprived right now, but are you saying the handling was not good with the weight in the hump?

Scott

Scott,

a turbo busa will wag it's tail all the way down the course. Now put 30-50lbs two feet rearward and one foot above the c of g and you will find  yourself changing your shorts on the return road!

Thats what I thought.........

[DahMurf]

I haven't found the video but I have found a few pics




I'm hoping that last one is right after launch. I would think that they both need to be further down & forward. 

John, did they give any feedback on the ride & shut down handling after the run?

Deb

[isiahstites]

I would be curious to hear back about the handling as well. Looking at the picture it really looks like the front end is not loaded and the bikes headlights are pointing upwards a bit instead of on the track.........on a lakebed, no thanks.

Scott

[Oz Booster]

I get the impression the centre of pressure changes may be greater than the centre of gravity change as a handling issue just looking at the side on pic..
be interesting to get the riders perspective of that run,

[JR Killiany]

I have been in contact with Andy Sills.  He is currently participating in the BUB at Bonneville.

He agreed to answer any and probably all questions you might have concerning his 2 Up ridng at Bonneville.

He wanted me to pass on to you that he rides a lot and does not have much time for emailing.  Any that his email responses will probably have many typos which he hopes you will excuse.

He is very interested in someone providing a high power motorcycle so he can run 200-mph 2 Up.  He used the term 222 meaning 2-Up, 2-miles, 200-mph.

His 2-Up run at Bonneville was a one time deal.  He does not think that the opportunity will present itself again at Bonneville.

JR Killiany

The following was his email respone to my inquire just before he left for Bonneville:

John-

nice to hear from you. Shiva is a good friend of mine. a couple of years ago, erin hunter and i made an unofficial (but authorized) 2up pass at the Bub International Motorcycle Speed Trials/ Bonneville, Ut. As far as I know, there is no sanctioned (FIM, Bub,AMA,or SCTA) 2up speed trial or even speed record. Erin and I were able to make our pass as a one time only, special dispensation worked out between me and the Bub organizers... it has not been allowed since.
My understanding is that the event insurance would not cover such an activity so on and so forth, blah blah and as such, it is frowned upon officially. Erin and I have been riding for years together, both separately and 2up. Of the 35,000 miles a year that I ride (no day job), at least 15,000 miles are accumulate in the high desert of nevada, southern utah and northern arizona where we can be relatively safe and under the radar of thoes who would not like our cruising speeds of 140-170 mph, hour after hour, day after day etc. the 169 at bville was virtually spontaneous, unplanned and a total no brainer. we were limited on the top speed by the fact that our ride was a stock, factory sponsored bmw k1200. as a result of our unique riding patterns over the past ten years i think i can say that we have more experience than anyone at 150-170 (both 2up and tip to tail) but have not been able to enjoy higher speeds because we dont own Busas or Kawasakis (I have ridden a Hbusa 196 @ bville) . Erin and I would both like to take our two up riding over the 200+ threshold if we could find someone to offer us the machine to do it. For now, our arsenal consists of a Honda F4i, HD Duce, BMW R1200s, BMW K1200s and an BMW HP2Sport (on which i have managed to accumulate 9200 miles since picking it up in Las Vegas 6 weeks ago). I have been racing at Bonneville for the past eight years. Erin started a solo land speed career last year. I would be happy to be involved in helping to get a 2up event off the ground and i would be even more excited about someone building a two up busa or zx14 which erin and i could pilot to an eventual record. hmmmm???
On saturday, erin and i are riding to bonneville for this years Bub event wherein i will be riding a 50cc sled -see photo below-(http://www.speedtrialsbybub.com/2008_event/index-2008.html also http://www.50cc-land-speed-racing.com/ ). i am currently involved in a 4 year project with Eric Manning, son of dennis manning (worlds fastest motorcycle streamliner/350mph), on a 50cc project which will ultimately break a 35 year old still standing record for a 50cc streamliner set in the early 80's (140 mph) . Five years ago I set a world record in the 100cc motorcycle streamliner class at 141 mph in the Jack Costella creation "Nebulous Theorum IV 50/50". That record has not been eclipsed but next week, Erin will be trying to up my record in the same vehicle at the Bub speed trials. We are leaving on saturday and will be gone for a week. as i said, i would love to participate in a 2x2x2 (two up, two mile, two hundred) effort.

Here is Andy Sills email address: andysills@mac.com

JR Killiany