In an effort not to approach the 2006 attempt in a willy-nilly manner, I had a game plan, and my game plan was about to be tested. Hartmut and Don were scheduled to alternate in the cockpit for those six mile trips from the long course starting line to the final trap timing light. Hartmut was the first to take a ride in the all new 2006 Vincent streamlner. I was fully aware that the engines were not "on song", but still had enough HP to propel the liner down the salt on my scheduled 200 mph first run. Hartmut had gone over 150 mph last year and so had qualified himself to go to the next plateau according to the official AMA Rules, which would be 200 mph.

My main criteria for the run was to check out the handling, as last year's handling, due to the crash which bent the frame, was horrible. Many other things contributed to the bad handling of 2005, which I corrected when I built the new liner. Another criteria was to get a handle on the roughness of the engines. I needed a plug check reading. Two other points I asked Hartmut to give feedback on after the run, was parachute deployment and shifting.

Information gained after Hartmut's first run, was good--very good, and some was not so good. Hartmut had to abort under power, part of the run after only a couple of miles, as the vibration in the roll cage became intolerable, shaking his helmet and head to a degree of extreme discomfort. His visability of the track became non-existent. I assume Hartmut felt that in order to continue the run, it might be a good idea to see where he was going at 200 mph. :o)

Hartmut took the liner to the end of the course to ascertain chute deployment. The chutes came out and worked flawlessly. The larger diameter of both the high speed and low speed chutes initiated a feeling of the rider's positive control in the ever so important "D" acceleration of the liner.

Steve Doherty, again this year, was in charge of the pick up detail, and the liner was soon back in the pits.

A glance at the plugs revealed that two different heat ranges of plugs had been inadvertantly installed for the run, which confused the reading as to what was going on a great deal. The only report from Hartmut was that the engines wouldn't accelerate over 4500 rpm. A check to see if the idler gears were where they were supposed to be, revealed they weren't. The roughness of the engines had been giving those three idler gears a real working over. So it was back to the drawing board on a better fix. John and Jesse went at it again, and the only thing I could come up with was to add additional bolts to hold the idler gear unit in place. I told Hartmut what I was looking for and he commenced drilling and tapping 5 additional bolts to affix the outer robust primary cover to the outboard plate of the idler gear support. John tapped the remaining threaded bolt holes for helicoil installation.

It was also discovered that the drive side rear wheel adjusting slide had broken the weld at it's screwed boss. The axle shifted forward under power, loosening the drive chain and removing the paint work wherever it came in contact. Sheared one of the bolts on the chain guard and eliminated a portion of the fender between the swing arm pivot and the swing arm spring perch. The fix for this was simple. A spacer was made to fit between the axle and the swing arm. The fix for next year will be more permanent and made bullet proof.

All of the primary drive train was put back together. All of the safety checks were made and the liner was ready for it's second run, with Don Angel in the cockpit. The headrest area was opened up by removing some fire proof foam padding on both sides of the helmet area. I wanted to get a second opinion of visability, as the new liner now sported a tinted windscreen, which was different than last year's clear one. Hartmut had left the liner in low gear in his run, so I had no input as to shifting. As the liner would not achieve the desired rev, a logical conclusion on my part was, "It's running too rich". With no plug reading to back this opinion up, I acted upon my educated guess by increasing the main can jet of the fuel system from a 114 to 116 main pill. Remember, this pill returns more fuel back to the tank and less fuel to the engines, thereby leaning the mixture.

Don and the liner were taken to the line. He was strapped in and sent on his way. Steve picked him up and he was back in the pits. I was very anxious to hear his report.

Don said that he got it up to around 5000 rpm, but spent most of the run trying to get it to shift gears. He finally managed to get it into second gear after I think, the third attempt, by holding the momentary toggle switch in it's on position, thereby allowing a maintained air pressure on the shifter piston. He then reported that it was impossible to see out of the liner due to vibration, and the extreme distortion in the polycarbonate tinted wind screen.

So. What did I have here? I had two pilots that seemed to protest a bit about going fast due to their inability to see where they were going fast to.

Picky. Picky. Picky.

It was apparent that I was going to have to do something about this visibility problem or the next thing you know they'd be asking me for hazardous duty pay. :o)