350 mph Bike (pics)

[hellcat]

Currently speed record holder for motorcycles:

http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_001_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_004_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_004_1_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_005_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_006_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_007_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_008_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_009_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_010_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_010_1_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_011_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_013_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_015_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_016_0_.jpg
http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/2007_01_12_fastest_021_0_.jpg

[Rajin Cajun]

Simply amazing!:drool I admire the amount of engineering that goes into a project of this caliber.

[twowheelcossack]

I was filming a commercial on the salt in early July with Dennis Hopper and while there a call came over the radio to "have someone go over and see if the motorcycle racing team could maybe hold it down for an hour or so." I naturally volunteered to drive over with a production assistant... The bike [I]at idle[I] could be heard in our sound guy's mic 2 miles away... When I got there I immediately recognized the Bub logo and while talking to Dennis Manning, the owner (shown in the photos as the blurry guy next to the Yamaha sign), he looks over and says "There's the little f@cker that's gonna pilot this thing..." and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was: Chris Carr. I spent a half hour with them talking about the bike and taking pictures with them, and they asked me about Dennis Hopper and Easy Rider and the whole bit. I naturally was ecstatic when I saw they broke the record a few weeks later. Recently saw them (Dennis and Chris) at the motorcycle show and they remembered who I was and I congratulated them. Very cool experience in my life and made missing the MotoGP worth it...

[Rajin Cajun]

I was filming a commercial on the salt in early July with Dennis Hopper and while there a call came over the radio to "have someone go over and see if the motorcycle racing team could maybe hold it down for an hour or so." I naturally volunteered to drive over with a production assistant... The bike [i]at idle[i] could be heard in our sound guy's mic 2 miles away... When I got there I immediately recognized the Bub logo and while talking to Dennis Manning, the owner (shown in the photos as the blurry guy next to the Yamaha sign), he looks over and says "There's the little f@cker that's gonna pilot this thing..." and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was: Chris Carr. I spent a half hour with them talking about the bike and taking pictures with them, and they asked me about Dennis Hopper and Easy Rider and the whole bit. I naturally was ecstatic when I saw they broke the record a few weeks later. Recently saw them (Dennis and Chris) at the motorcycle show and they remembered who I was and I congratulated them. Very cool experience in my life and made missing the MotoGP worth it...

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I fly into Salt Lake every two weeks. I really need to plan on taking a drive out one time for the experience.

[DUCATISTA999]

I was filming a commercial on the salt in early July with Dennis Hopper and while there a call came over the radio to "have someone go over and see if the motorcycle racing team could maybe hold it down for an hour or so." I naturally volunteered to drive over with a production assistant... The bike [i]at idle[i] could be heard in our sound guy's mic 2 miles away... When I got there I immediately recognized the Bub logo and while talking to Dennis Manning, the owner (shown in the photos as the blurry guy next to the Yamaha sign), he looks over and says "There's the little f@cker that's gonna pilot this thing..." and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was: Chris Carr. I spent a half hour with them talking about the bike and taking pictures with them, and they asked me about Dennis Hopper and Easy Rider and the whole bit. I naturally was ecstatic when I saw they broke the record a few weeks later. Recently saw them (Dennis and Chris) at the motorcycle show and they remembered who I was and I congratulated them. Very cool experience in my life and made missing the MotoGP worth it...

how kool is that ...! :cool

[spalding12]

that must have been SOME RIDE...

thanks for the thread and pictures
we all appreciate it

[Zombi]

Imagine pulling up to the red light and seeing that!:owned

Cool bike, excellent pictures!

Thanks for sharing...

[Biga]

Doesn't really look like a bike to me :badteeth

[phoenix]

Doesn't really look like a bike to me :badteeth

I have to agree... exactly what appart from it has two wheels gets it into a bike catigory.. take the wheels off you have a rocket or speed boat, im afraid it is not what i would class as a bike, it actualy takes the piss out of people like Rollie Free

On a cool Monday morning on Sept. 13, 1948, Rollie Free lifted from Harley Davidson the US national motorcycle speed record by riding the first Vincent HRD Black Lightning racing motorcycle to a speed of 150.313 m.p.h. When Rollie's leathers tore from early runs at 147 mph, he discarded them and made a final, heroic attempt without jacket, pants, gloves, boots or helmet. Aboard the motorcycle owned by the California sportsman, John Edgar, this final run resulted in the most famous photograph in motorcycling, the "bathing suit bike" shot taken from a speeding car on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Rollie lay flat out on the motorcycle wearing only a speedo bathing suit, shower cap and a pair of borrowed sneakers. The AMA certified Free's record. Special features included the first-ever Vincent use of a rear shock absorber, the first Mk II racing cams and horizontally mounted racing carbs.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/101502rolliefreesmall.jpg

[jamesmccain]

Doesn't really look like a bike to me :badteeth
:1


how do they define that as a bike? lol... all I see a lier jet w/o wings... I bet that would be fun as hell to drive tho!

[DesmoDog]

I have to agree... exactly what appart from it has two wheels gets it into a bike catigory.. take the wheels off you have a rocket or speed boat, im afraid it is not what i would class as a bike, it actualy takes the piss out of people like Rollie Free

... and is a logical progression from what Burt Munro was doing with his Indian.

They have a bunch of classes for various forms of motorcycles. Two wheels, in line, engine in between them, power goes to the rear wheel. What defines a "bike" to you?

[sosl0w]

That is NOT a bike, its a missile with wheels.

[hellcat]

That is NOT a bike, its a missile with wheels.

Let me shed some light on this ::)

This is a missle with wheels (flatbed below):

http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/rocketBike.jpg

This is a record setting bike (just like the 350mph bike above, just a different year and technology):

http://www.gsxrthousand.com/images/standalone/motorcycle/bike_350mph/ducatiRecord.jpg

[JATPOL]

:shock wow 350MPH ...... I need one ride to work !!!:)

[j sowa jr]

BUB doesn't hold the record any more. It always bothered me that it was classified as a motorcycle but didn't really have a 'motorcycle' engine in it as the new record holder does. BUB's engine was purposely made for the streamliner and had nothing to do with motorcycles other than it had two wheels so it technically it was ruled a motorcycle engine. If memory serves me, the new record holder ran twin turbo busa' engines. Still, 350 M.P.H. isn't for the faint of heart.

[lucky phil]

All that work and engineering and they still dont seem to understand aerodynamics.
The air for the radiator still has to exit through the engine compartment,just like an old 50's Chevy or something.
There's lost speed right there.
Caio

[kismetcapitan]

probably an engineering compromise. oftentimes, drag cars have the water jackets filled with cement, to strengthen the block. The car is at that point only oil-cooled. But for one-run sprints, with plenty of cool-off time between runs, you don't need to cool the engine. It just needs to hold out long enough to hit the target distance and/or speed.

What raised my eyebrows is why build an engine from scratch, and a 3 liter one at that, when several existing bike engines, especially running methanol, can easily produce 500+ horsepower from half the displacement. Perhaps they needed a lot of torque? Or maybe it goes back to the heat issue - maybe because aerodynamics was the first priority and they were limiting airflow to the radiator, they had to gain power through low RPMs and displacement.

Anyways, there must have been a reason (maybe block width?) and I'm curious to know; if I were building a streamliner, I'd start with a Hayabusa engine, add a turbo and run it on multiport nitrous oxide. Aerodynamics is certainly the principal design factor in a machine like this, but in a long torpedo body there's plenty of room for a lot of nitrous tanks.

[sethyy]

hmmm direction controlled by two joysticks. How would that look like on a 1098 :hung

[j sowa jr]

:violinThe BUB streamliner is indeed impressive but it no longer holds the record. On 9-26-08 the team of Top Oil-Ack Attack with Rocky Robinson set the new mark at 360.913 M.P.H.. Unlike BUB who built a one off engine and called it a motorcycle engine, the Ack Attack bike had a pair of Busa' turbo engines. Now that is a motorcycle engine !