For The Record Books
Posted by Ben Baker on Mar 8th 2016
| A wonder down under |
| The Thunder 400 drag race in Australia is a series of races Down Under that takes place on three different tracks. It is an International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) sanctioned series. |
| As drag series go, it generally offers all the lights, sounds and excitement fans expect. In late February, it offered something completely different, a push race. |
| Maurice Allen and Ryan Learmonth lined up. Their bikes thundered. They had the obligatory burnouts. The Christmas Tree lit up. Clutches popped, throttles ripped and both bikes pretty much stopped. |
| The announcers went ballistic as Allen rolled out to a 40-45 yard lead. That's when he leapt off the saddle. Learmonth’s ride died almost at the start. |
| The two riders pushed their $150,000 bikes all the way down the track. Learmonth tightened the gap, but it wasn’t enough to cover Allen’s lead off the line. |
| It may be the slowest time ever recorded in a drag race at over 10 seconds each. |
| Allen crossed the line and knelt by his ride. When his crew rolled it away, he leaned over the retaining wall for a few moments. |
| Stretch bikes and handstands |
| Most of the time cops take a dim view of people doing stunts on public roads on motorcycles. |
| In Pakistan that’s not the case for one rider. Ali Jigro is both a police officer and a rider. He’s also a mechanic and has built a 16-foot motorcycle. |
| He’s now set his sights on a new world record, longest time standing on the saddle while driving the bike. |
| “I have made this motorbike from scratch and I’ve worked really hard for it,” he told Caters News. “I made this motorbike for the world record.” |
| Check out his bike and some of the stunts so far here. |
| Haulin’ |
| So what’s the fastest anyone has ever ridden a two-wheeler? As of this writing, it’s Rocky Robinson, a two-time record holder. He hit 376.363 miles an hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats out west. |
| He was running Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner with 2,600 cc and twin Suzuki engines. That’s same make and model he used to set the record in 2008, doing 360.913 MPH. Chris Carr on a BUB Seven streamliner took the record away for a year and a day. His speed was 367.382 and was a BUB/Sierra Design V4. |
| The first official record was set in 1903 in Yonkers, NY, by Glenn Curtiss on Curtiss V-2. He hit 103 MPH, impressive at the time, but nothing unusual today. The bike was 1K cc. |
| Every record since 1956 was set in Bonneville. The flats are the world’s best location for land speed trials. Check out all the land speed records here. |
| Pushin’ the horses |
| For the biggest motorcycle engine out there, look at power plants made specifically for bikes. Cross breeds, dropping a car motor into the frame, shouldn’t count. Custom motors also shouldn’t count. Stock, commercially available motors is the criteria. |
| So the record-setter here is the Triumph Rocket III. At 2,294 cc, the Rocket III turns out 163 foot-pounds of thrust. Some cars come with engines less powerful than this. It comes with a six-gallon tank and highway mileage of around 25 miles per gallon. |
| Check out the Rocket II family line here. |