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 9/3/2007 We made our first pass, and to be honest, it was the first pass I'd made at speed in a year. (we made a partial pass at Speed Week but lost the rear motor at a little over 200 mph) The bike worked pretty good, but we had raised the shifting point to 10,200 rpm, and it took too long to get the bike in high gear. I remember shifting right before the measured mile. I usually like to be in high gear a half mile or more before the lights. The bike got a little squirrelly through the measured mile, which we attributed to hitting a wet, soft patch of salt.
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At the other end of the course, we downloaded the data. I'd gone 299.79mph, just a click under 300. The data showed I had trouble getting her opened up, and that we needed to lower the shift points to move the rpms into the peak power range. I told Mike about the wet salt, but that I was ready to run her hard on the return run. I felt even with only 9 miles,(last year we had 11) the bike had it in it to top the record if things went our way. |
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We turned her around and prepared for a return run down the salt. We backed the bike up about a 1/4 mile from the start so we could take advantage of a little run up speed since the salt was groomed past the starting area. I remember the guys strapping me in. Later on, Buzzy would tell me that he saw it in my eyes—that I was going to go for it. I can’t remember when I was strapped in any tighter. |
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Mike pushed me off, and this time I ran her hard right from the start. I could hear Mike talking to the guys in the chase vehicle (through my earphones) and shouting en-couraging reports that I was really on the gas and pushing hard. Denis Manning watched from the sidelines, concerned his record might be in jeopardy—rumor has it he didn’t look too happy. The last time he watched us run before him we set a new world land speed record. He was legitimately concerned, because as he watched, we were hauling ass. We might have bumped up the record on this pass had things gone our way. |
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Instead, at about a little over a half mile from the timing lights (I was already in high gear and over 300 mph with still another mile and half to accelerate) the bike began to fishtail, only much more violently than on the first run. I backed off the throttle and she straightened right out. I hadn't reached the measured mile yet and still had a pretty good head of steam going so I got right back in the throttle and decided to drag race through the lights with everything we had. It started to fishtail again. |
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At first I stayed in the throttle, thinking if I could just make it through the lights this
might be our shot. The wobble got considerably worse, the rear end now swapping back and forth way more than I was comfortable with. There came a point when I realized I wasn't going to be able to save it. It was a horrible feeling, because I knew I was going down and at the speed I was traveling, who knew what would happen. |
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By now the tail was swapping back and forth violently. I reached up and flipped the toggle to open the rear tail doors and quickly deployed the parachute. I hoped that it would yank the bike straight and I could somehow get her settled down. By the time the chute actually opened, the bike was completely 90 degrees to the direction of travel. It opened and yanked the rear of the bike in the air as it shot the tail in the opposite direction. The bike be-gan to tumble, actually flipping sideways twice. At some point, the canopy flew off and shot nearly a hundred feet into the air. I tucked in as best I could and squeezed the bars with all my might—determined to keep my limbs inside the open cockpit and out of harms way. |
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I closed my eyes, fearing that the incoming salt that was quickly packing inside my helmet might be a problem. The whole time the bike was tumbling I remember thinking to myself, don’t pencil roll, please don’t pencil roll. When a vehicle crashes at high speed and pencil rolls, that’s when you’re at the most vulnerable state. The body can only take so much of this before it’s lights out. I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind… |
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The parachute did its job and straightened out the bike, which then slid straight for what felt like an eternity. There was over a mile of debris on the salt from the bike, but when it came to rest, other than some minor salt abrasion on my face from salt packing inside my helmet, and a sore neck, I was fine. Mike designed a safe machine. It was put to the test and passed with flying colors. |
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California Fritz ran his Harley Davidson streamliner shortly after us. He hit the same bad patch of salt and he commented that his bike also fishtailed and scared the hell out of him. He'd been running the same bike for a dozen years or more and never experienced anything like it. This was useful information to us, as we were trying to figure out if it was our machine or the course conditions. In the end, we think it was a little of both. This was our first pass with our new tail design. The rear of the bike now ends in a point like the rear of an airplane wing. On top of it is a large cone that the exhaust runs through. It's an extractor of sorts. We were concerned that maybe the new shape made the tail light at speed. The MoTec didn't show it lifting, but there was less down force on the rear than we would like to see. Had the salt been good, we don't think the tail shape would have been a factor. |
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There were several more crashes during the meet, and more injuries than normal. The staff that created the course actually gave a valiant effort, but Mother Nature was the deter-mining factor. I hope to one day run again on a course like we had in 2006. Those conditions are rare, but when they come, the big records fall... |
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