OT - Bottlehead land speed bike on display

[Doc B.]

I have been invited to show my Bonneville land speed race bike Nitrogenous Zone at the Searching For Speed Show at The Shop in SoDo March 12th and 13th. If you are local and would like to see the bike I'm always yakking about please stop by and say hi.

[debk]

Very Cool!

Deb

[Clover]

Congrat!  Pretty cool.

[FS]

Pardon my ignorance, but on that poster, why does it look like the rider was given an atomic wedgie?  Kind of dangerous - having to ride like that...

[Doc B.]

I'm not quite sure how you're envisioning the poster. From top to bottom, the rider's head is behind a small fairing above the front wheel so you can't see it. His arms are on each side of the fairing and his hands are on down turned handlebars. Between them is the gas tank and the rider is sitting on a seat behind that. His legs and feet are the dark things on either side of the wheel.

Here's a side view of that bike - the famous Joe Petrale Harley Davidson land speed bike that set a record in 1937 that lasted for 11 years.

[FS]

Thanks for the explanation, Doc! So how did the rider see the road ahead? Or was that specifically made for the salt flats where nothing was expected to get in the rider's way? Plexiglass had been around for a few years already at that time...
Cheers,
FS

[Doc B.]

Back in the day they laid down a stripe of dirty oil that you could follow. That may be why no plexi.

[2wo]

I can't imagine going that fast, only able to see a couple of feet in front of you. That's hard enough on a bicycle at 20 mph...John

[Doc B.]

Land speed bike racers have a saying - if it doesn't hurt you're not tucking tight enough. Even without a fairing there is an aero advantage to keeping your head down. Doing the math for that the other day suggested the reduction in frontal area could be worth a mile or two an hour at 100mph. I just bought a new helmet with a taller visor opening so I can tip my head down more and still see down the track. The technique used by a lot of riders is head down for five seconds, look up for a second, head down for five, etc. down the track. This is frowned upon by the officials, but it's also pretty hard to enforce.  The bikes are also usually modified to maximize straightline stability, with longer wheelbase and increased rake angle.

[Tubegopher]

Hi Doc, I am local and would love to stop by while you are there. Is there a range of time that would be most promising for speaking with you?
Thanks,
Don Palmer
Tubegopher

[Doc B.]

I've never done a show like this so I can't say for sure beyond the hours listed on the poster. I would most likely be there most of the time, but for sure Saturday earlier in the day and probably Sunday later since I have to load out right when the show ends.

[Deluk]

Is there anywhere that you have posted up good pictures of the bike? Flickr or somewhere like that?

[Doc B.]

You can find current pics on my instagram - @bottleheadaudio. Top image here is from 2019. Bottom is from a couple months ago.

[Deluk]

Thanks Doc. I see you have shortened the exhaust and megas. Has that improved the power/rev band relationship? Don't know if you have a dyno available locally that caters for bikes.

[Doc B.]

I had issues on the salt last year with the engine cutting out at about 5000 rpm and only got in one poor run. But I did manage to get the motor to rev up to redline (10,000) in first gear just a couple of times. It does seem to have more top end power now at 250cc than it did at 305cc with the longer pipes. But I have not been on the dyno, as I still need to sort out the problem I was having last year. There is a new Axis dyno nearby that I am looking forward to using.