Bonneville '66
BONNEVILLE '66
It Was A Very Good Year.
BONNEVILLE '66 will be a memorable week in motorcycling for several reasons. Stacked up against the ’65 running with its disappointing “bad salt,” it has given the speed merchants welcome encouragement in the form of 15 new records and 15 broken old ones. The goal for the uncontested number one spot — the fastest motorcycle ever — has been raised by nearly 20 miles per hour. And, an old pro discovered that the third time is truly the charm.
The big news, of course, was Bob Leppan’s new motorcycle world speed record of 245.667 mph. His Gyronaut X-l clearly reflects the collective effort of a group of dedicated experts bent on doing something better than anyone else. The machine is a highly refined, very sophisticated piece of equipment, and has accomplished what its builders intended it to do.
If Burt Munro’s run lacks the sophistication of the Leppan effort (and this point is debatable), he makes up for it with persistence, enthusiasm and ingenuity. It is highly unlikely that anyone, other than Burt, would select a 1920 Indian-V-twin as a power source for a bid at the l,000cc altered streamliner record. And it is even more unlikely that anyone, other than Bert, would succeed at setting a record that would be a credit to any large displacement motorcycle, regardless of its year of manufacture. But Bert has a leg up on the game; he doesn’t abide by the rules. We’re not speaking of those in the AMA rule book. We’re talking about the overall rules of the game — rules that tell us that when we need a set of pistons for that powerplant we’re building, we find a firm that specializes in piston manufacture and buy a set. Bert’s line of attack was a bit different. He dug a couple of holes in the ground, filled them with molten aluminum, and when the slugs had cooled, he chucked them up in his lathe and turned out a set of pistons for a 46-year-old engine that powered his little streamliner to a two-way average record of 168.066 mph!
In the total view, this year’s running came off well, owing in great part to the competent guidance of Earl Flanders, ably assisted by Rich Richards. But, to say the event came off without a hitch would be inaccurate. There was only one major complaint, but it was sufficiently important to call attention to a ruling that is both unfair and absurd. The rule in question deals with qualifying for a record run and reads to the effect that if you succeed in qualifying for a record run by turning a speed greater than the existing record in a one-way run, you may make your record attempt on the following day. However, if you fail to break the existing record at the appointed time, or if you are unable to run at that time, you must requalify before you can try again on the following day! Now, isn’t it reasonable to assume that a machine that qualifies for a record attempt on one day and is felt to be worthy of a record attempt the next, will also be similarly capable on the third day or the fourth? This is why we feel the ruling is absurd. And, we feel that it is unfair to require a contending machine to establish proof of its ability more than once at a meeting. To be in contention in its class, a machine must be tuned and refined to such a degree that it does not have a large margin for repeated runs.
Currently, the rule stands and one of the competitors was forced to abide by it this year. He failed to show at the time appointed for his record attempt and was therefore in the wrong, but this does not acquit the rule from being dumb.
