donch@teklabs.UUCP (Don Chitwood) (10/02/85)
Now for something a little bit different. A friend of mine just returned from Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The condition of the Salt was reportedly the best in memory; something to do with the high water level helping to level things out during the winter. The record of interest to me was achieved on a Vincent (definitely not stock). The machine was constructed by Dave Matson of Detroit, a Speed Week participant for at least the past 25 years. The engine displaced 1700 cc, had fuel injection, and was massively modified. (my choice of past tense is deliberate). After numerous trial/qualifying runs, Dave finally got a record in his class of 202.* mph, UNFAIRED. Got that--no fairing. This speed is an average of two passes, down the course and back. His best one way speed was 212.* mph Even on the record run, his engine was not running as well as he knew it could. So the many runs were for tuning and sorting out other problems. Apparently after the record run, he put on a custom-built fairing to compete in another class. This one almost ended in disaster when a fire broke out where the exhaust pipe was contacting the fiberglass fairing. Dave was shouting for someone to extinguish the flames, particularly because he was still astride the bike and the tank still had lots of nitromethane fuel in it. Well, the fire got put out, but the bike blew its engine shortly thereafter. Apparently very little was salvagable. At least the Vincent name resides again among the record holders. The marque has a long and glorious history at the Salt Flats. I was there in l981 and was quite surprised to see the enthusiasm and respect people had for the Vins that ran that year. Word would pass back through the long line of competitors "Hey, there's a Vin about to make a run. Listen to this one, you won't hear it very often!" Watch for pictures in cycle publications; it is a very neat and exotic looking machine. Ah, nostalgia. Hope you enjoyed hearing something different on the net.