Some pics from our effort at Bonneville Speedweek 2018
- Thread starter Eldo
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One of my first runs; data told us .250 mains, but went with .260 instead, and ran rich. You can hear it stumble approaching WOT. Came back in and swapped to the recommended .250 jets and ran strong and hard. Lesson learned: don't second guess the Koso digital air density meter and Mikuni Relative Air Density gauge.
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Thanks for posting this, it is great to see that guys are still doing competitive stuff. I think If I was doing it, I would also have my main jets too big on the first run - that is not silly. Better to be safe than sorry. I have a theory that however fast you are prepared to ride, that is the speed you must be prepared to get off at.
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Great Stuff! 
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While the word "wonder" has lost its meaning, those are wonderful pics.
They convey some, just some, of the magic of being at a place where mountains float in the sky.
They convey some, just some, of the magic of being at a place where mountains float in the sky.
Deets55
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Wow.
Those are some great pictures along with a impressive story. Wish you guys luck in chasing the record(s). I have purchased from Lowbrow before but I will definitely pay more attention to their products seeing how they support the sport.
I never had an interest in going to Bonneville but this might have changed my mind.
Pete
Those are some great pictures along with a impressive story. Wish you guys luck in chasing the record(s). I have purchased from Lowbrow before but I will definitely pay more attention to their products seeing how they support the sport.
I never had an interest in going to Bonneville but this might have changed my mind.
Pete
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Anyone who wants to fast gets kudos. Anyone who wants to fast with a Norton gets HUGE kudos. Anyone who wants to go fast with a Norton at Bonneville gets an ice cream cone. Oh, and lots of kudos. Excellent!
Cheers, Martin
Cheers, Martin
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Andy - how much do you think the aero analysis and changes you made from that made a difference for your speed?
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Hard to say; we changed so much over the winter.
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The salt really changes day to day and even morning to afternoon. In the morning, the air is cool, but the salt is damp and has a loose surface texture that is hard to hook up on; the afternoon is much hotter, but the salt can be like perfect hard and flat concrete. By late afternoon the winds tended to pick up (15-20 mph side winds) and often closed the course. While our 154 run was as perfect as you could hope for, I had a 148 mph run that got pretty squirrelly at the 2.5 mile, as the course had been churned up by more powerful cars' wheel spin.
To my math, we only had about 2% wheel slip on our 154 run (tach showed 7200rpm which should have been 158); I'll have to calculate some of the other runs. I made notes on the runs that felt "loose". Only one run out of all ten felt really uncomfortably loose, with the bike following several ruts and the bars wanting to wobble. It was certainly unnerving at that speed. I just started gently arcing the bike to the left and right sides of the course as I went through the 3 mile marker and then slowly came off the throttle and very slowly sat up, and that seemed to smooth everything right out. I didn't remember if I had rolled off the throttle before the 3 mile, but rpm data shows pretty constant until the end.
In that picture, I was trying a different position on the bike. I experimented with position all week, moving forward and back as much as my flexibility would allow. The further back I was, the more difficult it was to see the course, and while "100 feet wide" sounds great in the driver's meeting, it gets pretty narrow over 140mph. In the pic I was sitting quite forward, with good vision of both the tach and the course, but as I got towards the 2 mile marker I pushed back a bit to try to get my head down more, and winding up just seeing the tach.
To be honest, on the 154 run, I was so focussed on increasing rpm, that I took my hand off the left bar and laid it alongside the gas tank in an effort to "get narrower". It wasn't until the run was over and I was awaiting pickup on the return road, that I realized how sketchy that move was, and it kind of gave me a shiver. I found it to be an interesting thing; the dichotomy of how nervous I get before a run, and how comfortable I feel once underway. It's hard to describe just how bad I want the tach to climb when sitting at full throttle and watching it just hover around 6800-7000rpm. I find I'm willing to do just about anything to make it climb, and everything else really melts away. I have 20+ years of both competetive and recreational mountain biking (cycling) behind me, and the best I can compare it to is a full tilt downhill mtb run somewhere like Whistler mountain, where it just feels like the bike is an extension of yourself and everything just comes together. I'm sure that sounds pretty sappy or cliche, but I don't know how else to put it. It really is the greatest feeling ever, and when it's over the only thing I can think of is how soon I can get out to do it again.
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Also, in the pick of me from behind, I am just leaving the line and a not even seated yet, but still getting into position on the bike. As the pegs are up quite high, it's difficult to just lift my feet straight up on them and I usually wind up kind of almost standing on the pegs until I get my feet where I want them, then sitting down into the position. On the 154 run, I wound up hooking my ankles over the pegs and pointing my toes straight back once I was in 4th gear.
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