Where should I start? So much to report over the last three weeks. I doubt I'll be able to be all inclusive in this article.

The first thing I'd like to say is thanks to all who made possible the 2006 attempt with a Vincent on the World Land Speed Record-for Motorcycles--the crew, the pilots, the encouragers, and those who so generously contributed the necessary funding.

Second. My apologies to all supporters. As builder and Crew Chief, in the failure to post record setting numbers.

My congratulations to Steve Hamel, a true racer--for upping his record to 152+mph, and best of luck to the legendary Dave Matson in his upcoming attempt to up his own Vincent record at the World of Speed.

Last, but not least, a tribute to three Bonneville icons, Mike Akatiff, Denis Manning and Sam Wheeler--all designers/builders of magnificent LSR machines. Each in their own way have achieved great speeds. These speeds, to the uninitiated, might perhaps seem effortless; i.e., Mike Akatiff made 7 runs, all between 335mph and 349mph; Denis Manning made two runs averaging 350+mph; Sam Wheeler made one run at 355+mph. Again, to the novice, this display of speed might seem effortless.

How were these seemingly effortless feats accomplished?

Well, to put it bluntly: lots and lots of talent, lots and lots of dedication, and lots and lots of money.

There used to be a fellow on the radio, Paul Harvey, who would say, "Now for the rest of the story." During this year, it is my understanding that Denis, with his streamliner "Number 7", was on the salt (private time) no less than three times. This year's engine spent 80 hours on the dyno. The engine was in and out of the machine more than once. There were various parts that proved faulty during 425hp run-ups, such as the turbo charger duct work, a valve keeper, which nearly "gave up the ghost", requiring more than one tear-down of the engine, and there were oil scavaging problems. Dialing in the fuel curve proved to be very difficult with the new turbo charger. Anything beyond 10 pounds boost at this time is not possible. Denis told me that they had to take 100hp out of the engine for assured longevity.

A campaign was initiated to select a professional rider to give the machine it's best chance. Chris Carr was eventually chosen over 40 other applicants. Chris, I understand, is a 5 time world champion flat tracker. His skills, I would say, are some of the "best of the best" on a sit-on bike. Chris, as I understand it, had never ridden a streamliner before, and his initiation to this new experience was not unlike many others. After being strapped in for the first time on the salt a few months ago, Chris was towed up dead stick. The tow up tether was released; the skids were retracted; and after a short distance the liner went on it's side. It's quite understandable that press releases somehow don't include these facts. Denis, fully understanding the corporate world, of which he is a part, receives large sponsorship from the likes of Ford Motor Company and others, and hence shies away from say, a movie stars attitude, that "bad press is better than no press".

Mike Akatiff during this last year has had his problems as well. As most of you are aware, Top 1 Oil sponsored the Ack Attack liner for a trip to Australia to attempt to break the LSR for Motorcycles. I was told by Ack that the cost to Top 1 Oil was in excess of $120,000.00 U.S. He said that he quit keeping track of the money at this figure. The result was a 250mph run. Weather was the primary Achilles heel for this attempt.

After the return to the states the Top 1 Ack Attack liner needed a "rethink" as to the HYVO coupler between the engines. Modifications were made and several hours of dyno time were needed to check out the modifications. During Speed Week this year the HYVO chain had given up the ghost. I think during dyno testing. The chain had jammed up in it's housing and unbeknownst to Ack, had cracked the front crankshaft. Speed Week produced 12 runs while trying to break his existing 329mph SCTA record. The crankshaft finally broke on his last run, taking out the valves and pretty much destroying the engine. In the time between Speed Week and the Bub Meet, which was merely days apart, Ack installed a new 450hp Huyabusa engine (one of his two spares); built an entirely new turbo charger intake system from stainless steel (the old one was made of mild steel, which failed also during Speed Week and on the dyno). During the Bub Meet, on Ack's last run, the coupler between the engines again failed, and destroyed itself. Rocky Robinson, the pilot of the Top 1 Ack Attack, said that they'd been talking over what had to be done to recapture the FIM record.

A third design of the coupler between the two engines is paramount and will have to be done. The Top 1 liner must improve it's acceleration. They have tremendous wheel spin in second, third and fourth gears. Rocky also said to dispel the myth that the liner is experiencing wheel spin at speed, i.e., 5th and 6th gear, as it isn't true. I myself, thought that this was a serious problem for the machine, but I'll have to take Rocky's word for it.

Sam Wheeler, who has big...uh...what's the word I'm searching for?...uh...gumption-- yeah, gumption-- :o) was strapped into his very aerodynamic green 1100cc Kawasaki streamliner, E-Z-Hook--knowing full well that the aged front tire would fail. Sam, who uses no tow up, slips the clutch several times to get it up to a speed where the skids can be retracted. The small engine is turbo charged, and has very little torque; as I understand it the power band of the turbo charged Kawasaki comes in at about 8000 rpm, and is red lined at 12,000 rpm. Sam, on this kamakazi run, shredded the front tire at around 340 mph, the onboard camcorder verifies this fact. The bike accelerated to 355 mph with no front tire, culminating in the fastest mile per hour speed ever achieved by a motorcycle.

wow.

Sam managed to keep the liner under control for most of the end of the run. It finally went over, disintegrating the carbon fiber body at it's widest point on the right side. Thankfully, Sam emerged from the liner unscathed, although his E-Z-Hook was somewhat worse for wear. There's a bit of a dilemma going on in the E-Z-Hook camp at this time. Due to the special nature of the design, and the fact that a high speed tire that would fit is not manufactured or available, makes the problem difficult, but not insurmountable. Sam said that it would be a major undertaking to modify the liner to accept a wider high speed tire, such as the ones used on Black Lightning and the Denis Manning special, which are one and the same.

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So, in assessing what I've just said, there can be only one final conclusion. The three proven fastest motorcycles in the world, having very different characteristics in their make-up, all achieved very fast speeds. There are three factors which determine the speed of a streamliner: aerodynamics, horsepower (torque), and traction.

The fastest doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with the most horsepower. The fastest doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with the most traction. The fastest DOES go hand in hand with aerodynamics, horsepower, and traction. All three of which the Vincent streamliner, Black Lightning has.