2014 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials

[ShutterPilot]

I head out next Tuesday to attempt a national record aboard my '81 R65.
Its my first time out on the salt, and I can't wait.
Thanks to everyone who helped me get this far.
We did a photo shoot for a story here at University, here's one of me and the bike in race trim:

[marcmax]

Awesome! Best wishes for a fast and safe run, Keep us posted.

[nhmaf]

Best of luck!  I am sure that it will be a great experience, world record or not!

[Luca]

It's almost painful to think that beautiful R65 will be getting a salt bath  

Oh well... get tucked in and don't forget to make offerings to the gods of speed!

Good luck and keep the shiny side up!

[steve hawkins]

Good luck and remember to wash it afterwards...

Rev Light

[montmil]

Is this the the AMA / FIM BUB Speed Trials?

Might you provide info on the P-PP class your plate designates? Production...? Plus, what's the record you're after?
I understand there's also a "run whatcha brung" category which sounds like it might attract some interesting bikes.

Good luck. Don't forget the sun screen.

[ShutterPilot]

Thanks for the good thoughts everyone!
I'll try to address several comments here:
The RWB (run whatcha brung) class is a great opportunity to do just that at (relative to racing) minimal expense. Here's a good overview of that experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u4u4m4K1oc

I've got some "ACF-50" to spray on all that porous aluminum to try to protect it from the salt. Looks grimy, but reports are it works wonders. Used primarily by the aircraft industry, its also being promoted for cycle use: http://www.acf-50.co.uk/motorcycle.htm

I got mine off Amazon from Gulf Coast Avionics for $20 + 4.95 ship

Monty - The plate designation is 650 cc Production fame-Production engine, Pushrod class. I really wanna win this, but it'd be ok if another R65 were out there with me - I wouldn't mind losing to one of you guys, so long as it was at least close!

The trick to this particular class is the bike must be 100% completely stock as matriculated to the US. that includes brakes, exhaust (completely intact), shocks, air pump - everything as it was 30 some odd years ago.

Salt traction is roughly 1/2 of asphalt (.70 asphalt, .30 or .34 for salt - like an icy patch of road), and as I'm still "bumping" the rear tire on my redline shifts (yeah - she's running REAL strong), I'm planning to just ease into getting up to speed over the course of the week.
Any tips on smoother shifts with a brand new dry clutch are appreciated.

I'll mostly be making updates here:
https://www.facebook.com/shutterpilotracing

[montmil]

Nice FB page, Derek. Gave you a "Like" on that.

Still the question is unanswered: What's the record in your race class? Are you going to set the benchmark for the class?

Do you have your Personal Flotation Device packed? Lake Bonneville is up a wee bit.  

[ShutterPilot]

Monty - if I read the rules correctly, the national 650 P-PP class is currently uncontested. So, depending on who shows up this year, there's a chance I'll actually be setting the bar for this.

Then next year, one of you lot can go out with an LS and top that!

[ShutterPilot]

...and BMST are being optimistic: the lake IS receding, and the pit area is at least dry now. With an extended forecast for dry weather, hopefully things will be set by the 23rd.
If not, plenty of national parks in the area to explore!
Updates here:
https://www.facebook.com/bonnevillespeedtrials

Keep yer collective fingers crossed...

[Luca]

Well hopefully you get this before you head out to the flats:

Having your clutch adjusted properly will give you the best mechanical advantage and give you the most control at the clutch arm.  As long as it's not way out of adjustment, probably best to just stick with what you've grown used to.  Grabbing the lever as far outboard as you can will also give you some more mechanical advantage over the clutch and give you more control over clutch engagement  ::side rant:: the lever is the radius of a circle.  The farther out it goes, the longer the arc for every degree it pivots, so the less precise your fingers need to be.  I use a long wrench to adjust the valves on this same principle

The best thing I've found for shifting these bikes is to preload the lever, pull the clutch, and hold the shift lever up until after the clutch has been let back out.  Those pesky false neutrals and having the bike pop out of gear under load are the product of the two stage dog design in our transmissions.  Popping out of gear is not only bad for speed, but the the dogs as well.

[ShutterPilot]

Hey Luca - thanks for the advice. I'd adjusted the clutch to 201mm from ball to stop at the throwout end, and about 4mm play up at the lever.
On my down course run yesterday, I found false neutral snicking up to 5th and buried the tach deep into redline for a looong time before I recovered. That was on my 97.7mph run, so it probably cost me the ton.
At teardown today, the piston/bore/valves all looked good, and head torque and valve clearances hadn't changed any, so it seems no harm done.
But even with my oops, 97.7 on salt ain't bad and its at least good enough for now for a record.
Too windy for racing today, so we just concentrated on the teardown for scrutineering and to at least get the record in the bag. Hopefully weather will improve soon and we'll see about shooting for 100.