El Mirage on a Guzzi

The first El Mirage dry lake landspeed meet of the year was held this past weekend. Since I didn't have the new engine ready for my Norton, my friend offered me his street Moto Guzzi to ride so we could pick up some points anyhow. It's a stock 1979 1000 SP with 46,000 miles on it. We had a great time at the event, and ran 108 mph on Saturday and 111 on Sunday. The pictures below show me on the bike right after the start, and then further down the track, with a bit of mirage and a nice dust cloud. If anyone wonders why I'm not tucked in, the windscreen is so opaque from age that I couldn't see the course makers through it, so I had to sit up enough that I could see over the top. At the speed I was going, it probably didn't make much difference. The weather was pretty good, and we had a great time. This was my first time running a bike there since 2007, and it was fun to meet some old friends again. The course condition was OK, but not great. The bike was a little loose at speed, but not bad. I'm hoping to have the short stroke (75 mm) Commando motor ready for my featherbed racer in time for the June meet. It should be good for something in the 130s on gas and 140+ on nitrous. That's the theory at least.





Ken

onya Ken, nothin like havin a go.

There's some truth in the saying "You don't quit riding because you get old, you get old because you quit riding."

Ken

Hot Diggity !

You look great, sittin up, and a good run too.

Did you feel wheel spin?

I don't think I had any wheel spin. The tach was pretty smooth, and at the end it was steady at about 7500 rpm, and I didn't hear any changes in the exhaust note. If I had wheel spin, I think I would have seen it on the tach and heard it. Traction on the dirt doesn't seem to be a real problem until you start making more horsepower than I had. For the turbo Busas that run over 200 mph on the dirt, being able to feel for traction is the key to setting records.

I've only experienced high speed wheel spin once, on the nitrous 920 at Bonneville, and it was REAL obvious! The bike was fishtailing like crazy at about 130, so I shut it down.

Ken

Yes, I asked because I recall spectating at Bonneville and it was actually an aural experience.
That is, I was listening into the distance, the car a dot on the horizon, and hearing the engines changing RPM as the drivers gently lift and re-apply throttle while they chase traction.

Which is worse, the traction on the dirt of El Mirage or on the salt of Bonneville?

In a good year at Bonneville, the salt is like concrete. The last time I've seen it that way was in 2001. In a bad year, it's slush. Compared to slush, the El Mirage dirt is better, even when it's not so good. Compared to perfect salt, the best dirt still has less traction. Lots of variation in conditions at both. For me, the big deal for El Mirage is that it's only two hours away, and is only a weekend event. Plus, it's just cool to go fast on the dirt. Bonneville is cool because it's like another planet ("racing on the moon", according to Hot Rod Magazine back in the day), and the wide variety of people and machines that show up, plus being a place where you get to run flat out for miles. Both are also really fun because of the great people that show up.

Ken