Commando land speed record holder on the salts again

Randy Johnson is returning the salts this year in an attempt to boost his speed record to 130mph. Right now he holds the SCTA 750cc production pushrod motor record at 126 (his best is one way is 129+mph). He has a copy of Axtell ports and other goodies in this motor and the amazing thing is that he has also been driving it around as a street bike since 2012 when he set the record. The only difference he is making this year that I know of is a switch to a hotter cam.

Paul may also get a LSR if he has his way [edit note - there are more Norton LS records - see Kens post below].

That bike your showing was at sale flats to this year too and supposedly had some new mods also. Didn't read on FB that it broke its own record this year. I expect to see it at its shop this week when i go get my BSA as it was parked next to it last time i was up there.

Randy holds the SCTA record at Bonneville in the 750 P-PP class set in 2012 at 126.434 mph. That's the Production Pushrod class, which has to retain most of the stock bits and appearance, but does allow internal engine mods. I assume that's the record you are referring to.

Besides his records, there are still a few other current Norton records.

The late J. Smith's 161.093 mph record at El Mirage in the 1000 A-PBG class is still good. Set with an 850 Commando with turbo in 1999. That's the Special Construction Pushrod Blown Gas class (no streamlining).
His 148.981 mph record set with the same bike, but with a fairing, in the 1000 MPS-PBG class at Bonneville in 1999 is also still good. That's the Modified Partially Streamlined Pushrod Blown Gas class.

Those are SCTA records. There's also the embarrassing AMA record we set with our streamliner in 2006 in the 1000 S-PG class at 87.087 mph. That's the average of the first run where the chute deployed at the start, and we pulled it all the way through the traps with a speed in the '60s, and a second run just over 110 mph when we found the Pingel shifter didn't work at speed, and the bike was stuck in 2nd gear all the way. We tried several more times to bump the record up to something respectable, but never managed to do so, and finally gave up on it, but the record is still in the books. I went back to running a more conventional Norton, and did manage to collect a record with it in the 750 MPS-PG class, but it only lasted a year before someone broke it.

Ken

I just got a note from Randy. I didn't realize he already make his run. He thinks he had too much cam this time - it ran fine in the mornings but lost power later in the day when the air density went down. Altitude is a HP crippling factor at Bonneville and rules do not allow for airbox modifications in his class.

Ken - If you have any photos Smith's LS record bikes I'd like to see them.

jseng1 said:

I just got a note from Randy. I didn't realize he already make his run. He thinks he had too much cam this time - it ran fine in the mornings but lost power later in the day when the air density went down. Altitude is a HP crippling factor at Bonneville and rules do not allow for airbox modifications in his class.

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But the rules do allow changing jets, and that's really what you need to do when the air density changes significantly. I doubt if the stock airbox has much to do with affects of changing air density. As you said, the air density can be a really significant factor. The salt bed is at 4219 ft. elevation, but I've seen the density altitude change as much as 2000 ft. during the day as the temperature and barometric pressure change.

Ken - If you have any photos Smith's LS record bikes I'd like to see them.

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I wish I did, Jim. But I didn't take any pictures the day I looked the bike over at El Mirage, and I have never been able to find any on the net. As I recall, it was a stripped down Commando with a very basic turbo setup. No intercooler, and just a big carb on the turbo. I talked to him briefly that day, and he said the engine was pretty close to stock. Unfortunately, he decided to do a test run after the event was closed and the course taken down, and was killed when he crashed the bike. There are probably pictures somewhere in the SCTA archives, but I haven't managed to look into that yet.

Ken

lcrken said:

Set with an 850 Commando with turbo in 1999.

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Ken, was it an exhaust driven turbo or mechanically driven turbine (ex Drouin)?

It was a conventional turbocharger, i.e. a centrifugal supercharger powered by an exhaust-driven turbine.

Ken