Wannabe's wild ride - Bonneville

[wannabe]

So, I just got back home from checking off another item from my 'things to do before I die' list. This week, I drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats to run in the 3rd annual all-motorcycle land-speed event sponsored by BUB. (www.speedtrialsbybub.com)

Yahoo maps said that it would be a hair under a 9-hour drive. It turned out to be about 14 hours each way, but it was totally worth it. It's going to take me a few days to post up everything that I saw and did this past week. So much happened that it felt like I was there for a whole month.

I can honestly say that it was the best time that I've had in years. I am so going again next year. :thumbup

Let me start off with a picture of the magic sign just before you get onto the salt.

 

[wannabe]

I arrived a day early as I usually do to a new event so that I could get my bearings. This is me with my bike on Saturday. Notice how clean the bike is. This would be the last time that my bike would be that clean.

You can't tell, but I'm sporting some serious wood right now just being on the salt and thinking about all the history that was made there. The pictures can't help you understand how absolutely breathtaking it is on the salt.

 

[wannabe]

I ended up getting to the salt before dawn every morning, and I was lucky enough to get out there and take this picture on the only morning without any real cloud cover. There was a system that came in the rest of the week.

 

[wannabe]

I'm tired, so I'll go ahead with the 'long story short' post and fill in the rest of the details little by little over the weekend. Unfortunately, the printers were broken, so the organizers ended up hand-writing your best time on a card and certifying it with two official signatures. Here is mine.

(Yes, I really did go that fast.)

 

[wazzuFreddo]

I was there this summer too :teeth
The place is amazing :cool

I didn't go out on the flats on the bike though, the bike I was riding wasn't mine :x
I wasn't on a sportbike anyhow

 

[wannabe]

Here's the last one for tonight. This is what I looked like going over 180 mph. Everyone thought that it was a great pic, but I couldn't help but look at it and think, "Man, I really need to work on my tuck." :teeth

 

[cbrf3]

damn.. that looks like lot of fun...

 

[machete]

very nice man. exhilirating to be able to top out on your machine. look forward to the other photos.

 

[Duc996Girl]

Dude Aris...that last photo is so fucking sweet! Congrats man! :thumbup Super fookin' cool!

 

[Junkie]

i take it the speed limiter on your bike has been disabled?

 

[zefflyn]

That's kinda ironic that you were going for speed trials, and it took you 14 hours to get there. How often did you stop?

 

[wannabe]

OK, so I know that I said that I was going to bed, but I need to start telling my story. ...

This was my first time on the salt. For those of you who don't know me, I have been running at the NHRA (drag racing) Division-level for the past 3 years. I thought that it would feel the same, but all my friends who run on the salt told me that it would be a totally different experience.

The goal for the week was just to have fun and not fall off at any time. (But, in the back of my mind, I also wanted to break a record.) I tried to keep my expectations really low. "Just be safe and have fun." That's was my mantra going in.

I ended up pitting next to a couple of other newbies who brought their Hayabusas to the salt to see what they could do. Who knew that I would end up being their ad-hoc coach for the week? Even though I was new, some things that I learned at the dragstrip actually helped on the salt.

 

[wannabe]

The mindset before the first pass

The mind-set for the first run was a mad combination of emotions for me. My stomach was in knots with a combination of discomfort, excitement, fear, and dread. Here are a small list of things that I heard or read that added to my mindset:

1. All the salt-guru's kept saying that the existing salt conditions were the best that they had been in over 20 years. This is supposed to mean that there was going to be a butt-load of traction out on the course. I was used to a nice flat dragstrip surface that was prepared with gallons and gallons of traction compound, so I was not putting too much stock in this comment.

2. I read a story about a guy who rode his busa from Los Angeles to Bonneville then decided to make some passes. He ended up skulking back home because he could only manage a 150-mph pass on a bike that supposedly could go 200 mph according to all the magazine articles. I knew enough not to believe that magazine articles, but I knew that there was a strong possibility that I was not going to break 150 mph on the first pass.

3. I spoke to one guy who has been running on the salt for well over 25 years. He told me that the first time out, 130mph was a very good run. So, this was about what I was expecting.

4. The AMA record in my class (MPS-P 1350 - Modified Partial Streamlining - Production motor 1350cc) was only around 164 mph. I thought that this would be a good goal before the end of the week, but I was not expecting to get there.

So, all of these things were going through my mind as I went up to the line and waited for them to give me the green flag....

 

[Mrwoo]

Awesome bro. Thats up there on my to do list!!

 

[wannabe]

Run #1

The staging area to get in line for a run was right in the middle of the 5-mile course. So, when they waved me off to ride to the starting area, I had to still ride 2.5 miles to get there. I cruised there at around 60-mph and practiced my tuck on the way.

A bit of background: They were running a long course (11-miles long) and a short course (5-miles long). You had to run a minimum of 175 mph on the short course in order to qualify to run on the long course. Both courses were layed out on the same stretch. The short course just started on Mile 3 of the long course.

I was waved to the start of Mile 3 and waited for them to give me the green flag. I was told that the timed mile went from Mile 5 to Mile 6 and that there would be 2 green flags to indicate the start and the finish of the timed mile with two red flags in between indicating the start and finish of the timed kilometer for the international sanctioning organization (FIM).

 

[wannabe]

Run #1 (continued)

So, now I'm at the line idling my motor waiting for the starter to give me the green flag. I go through the pre-run checklist:

kill lanyard connected - check
air shifter on - check
kickstand up - check
clean out motor - check (big revs with clutch pulled in)

I see the flag and gingerly take off. I try to gradually give the bike as much gas as I can without spinning the rear wheel. (No such luck) I get a little too excited with the throttle. The rear wheel spins, and my tach quickly heads towards the limiter.

I immediately hit the button and shift into the next gear to bring the revs down. This does the trick and I start accelerating hard. I go through the gears and hit my 11,500 rpm shift points all the while trying to go as straight as I can and maintain the best possible tuck. I can't believe how many things there are to do:

1. Hit my shift points.
2. Head down
3. Ass up.
4. Elbows in
5. Knees in
6. Feet in.
7. Keep the bike straight
8. Watch the flags.
9. Watch the tach for any signs of traction loss.
10. Remember what gear you're in.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite do everyting on the list. I ended up trying to shift from 6th to the non-existing 7th gear when I lost track of where I was in my gearbox. Hitting the shift button while I was in 6th gear made the bike hesitate enough for me to smack face-first into the windshield. (oops....)

I see the Mile 4 flag and think "Man, I am so not used to being in a tuck and full throttle for this long."

I pass a bunch of red flags and black flags. I am somewhat disoriented. They told me that the timing flags were green. I just passed the pits. I was thinking "Was that it? Did I pass them yet? Fuck it. It's a long course. I'll keep it pinned just in case."

The next thing I know. I see a flag that says Mile 7. "Oh shit!" Time to get off the gas.....but not too fast. Don't get up too early and get blown off the bike. Don't use the front brakes.

I ended up slowing down in time to turn off at Mile 8. I rode back the 3 miles to the pits to find out how I did.

 

[wannabe]

The Time Slip

So, I get back to the pits and start talking to the two other newbies on their Hayabusas. They ran before I did and both got their results. They both only ran about 155 mph and were shattered with their performance. One of their pit crew guys told me that the announcer said that I went 165 mph.

So, I expected 165 when I got to the time slip. I looked down and saw:

K: 183.018
M: 182.899

Holy shit! My first run ever on the salt resulted in me breaking the record in my class by almost 20 mph!!!

Needless to say, I was absolutely stoked. Then, dread crossed my mind as I thought about having to tear down my motor so that they could verify its displacement. I was actually happy to find out that another guy in my class ran 206 mph 5-minutes later. I knew that there was no way for me to get there, so the pressure of the record was off. From here on out, it was just for fun.

At least I can tell everyone that I had the record for 5 minutes. :teeth

 

[wannabe]

OK, now that's definitely it for tonight. I'll post up the remaining stories and pics later this weekend after I get a chance to take my bike apart and clean all the salt off of her. I'm gonna need to tear her down to the frame to get all the salt off.

This is what she looked like after only the first pass. The stuff was caked on even thicker later.

 

[oyabun]

Re: Run #1 (continued)

10. Remember what gear you're in.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite do everyting on the list. I ended up trying to shift from 6th to the non-existing 7th gear when I lost track of where I was in my gearbox. Hitting the shift butting while I was in 6th gear made the bike hesitate enough for me to smack face-first into the windshield. (oops....)

great story! i don't know how many times i've tried to shift to 7th on 880 every morning. i've finally resorted to saying each shift/gear out loud.

it seems to work for now.

:teeth

 

[ScottRNelson]

Thanks for sharing your experience. That is so cool.

I drove out on the Salt Flats once in 1996 about a week after the time trials. In a minivan. Had to go find a car wash, probably in Elko, to get the salt off of the bottom of it.

The salt was rougher than I had expected. The road heading out to that sign was a better place to check the minivan top speed than the salt, but it was only half as fast as your bike.

And congratulations on having the record for five minutes.