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Bonneville Land Speed Record Update #6
NEW AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION RECORD 191.642MPH (308.417KPH)
Today was filled with all kinds of surprises and some were better than others. Rather than get ahead of myself let me just tell you how they played out.
We were on the salt at 6:00AM as JeanRichard wanted to have a sunrise breakfast at our pits. Seeing the sunrise on the salt is almost a religious event. As the sun comes up everyone pauses to watch that fireball rise over the mountains in the east.
Then it was on to omelets and coffee.
About 9:00 AM I suited up and it was my turn to take a run on the salt. I qualified at 184mph (96kph) last year, but by any definition I am a total rookie compared to Rosey who has been coming to Bonneville since the 60’s. Yet, I figured I had a chance at the record. I felt good and pointed the bike down the track and launched. The timing lights are between the 4.5 and 5.5 mile marker. At the 3 3/4 mile I had my head down, and in sixth gear at 13,000 rpm. I figured I was in the high 180’s when all of a sudden I went into a high-speed wobble. The rear of the bike went from left to right in very quick succession throwing the bike left and right to the steering stops. To stay at this speed with this condition escalating faster than I could respond I had to back off to stabilize the situation and not crash.
Once back at the pits we heard that several bikes had the same problem because the track was wet and this was supported by the fact that few if any bikes were on the course for several hours after that. I was very disappointed that I couldn’t stay in the run and went through the traps at 157mph (252kph), but even happier that I did the right thing and had gained some valuable experience. I figured I’d wait until the afternoon when the track dried out.
At noon there was a driver’s meeting for FIM drivers. It was at this meeting that we learned that Rosey’s world record time yesterday also gave him the AMA record. So now we hold both records and we plan to protect them in the days to come.
About 2:00PM I decided to "get back on the horse" and give it another go. I was a bit tentative from the morning adventure and with that I went full throttle again. At the same point I felt some wobble again and back out slightly to stabilize, but then right back into it. With a 4mph headwind I turned essentially 184mph, the same speed I qualified at last year. That was fine with me...I had more knowledge and experience and was still willing to go as fast as I could. It tells you a lot about yourself.
At that point I decided to get Rosey back on the bike to see if he could bump his records upwards. By virtue of making one run and getting two records our strategy had changed. Focus on making Rosey go as fast as he can. My time will have to come later and this is the way it should be.
Unfortunately as we sat in the third spot to run, there was a major crash on the course and this shut racing down for the day. The crash was bad and it just brings home the potential danger of this place. The salt is so very unpredictable and you never take it for granted. No two runs are ever the same and at these speeds you are along for whatever happens unless you get lucky and do the right thing in time....as I did the morning. No risk...no reward!
Tonight we had dinner with the crew and the JeanRichard people and Ron Jackson, North American Director for JeanRichard took the opportunity to present JeanRichard watches to Rosey, Ken Sperry our crew chief and myself. What a great gesture and very much appreciated.
So tonight we get some sleep and we’ll get Rosey rolling again by 9:00AM. We fully expect to raise our record further tomorrow and the 200mph threshold is very much in focus
Gary Kohs
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