THE W8LESS MASTER HEADS TO BONNEVILLE– After a long awaited front tire change Friday after the U P S truck arrived, I hauled ass from San Jose late Friday evening,
ADDICTION …. LIFE in the fast lane .
MORE ADRENALINE please. DESTINATION … Wendover , Utah , 644 miles one way .
DREAM…150 mph on a 2004 Dyna with 35,000 miles on a 124 inch motor .
Spent the night in Reno arriving at the track 3 o'clock Sat afternoon. Track closed due to wind .
Early Sunday morning the last day of the event .. track closed. At noon–perfect weather, adrenaline started to flow.
RACE READY? I hoped. Mirrors removed, lenses taped, hot rod and gear scrutinized by officials. Rode to the starters area to be cleared for a trip to the starting line.
STARTING LINE: Once the track cleared the starter waved a huge green flag, giving me the go ahead to HAUL ASS…your mind goes blank, your eyes are straight ahead it was time to ease into low gear (ADRENALINE IN HIGH GEAR ) and idle out. I had 2 miles to get up to speed. Around 120 or so my feet shifted to the rear pegs, head down, knees in tight and preparing for a hand shift into 5th gear. Then I held onto the front fork with my left hand and held the throttle wide open .Mile markers were flying past and my '04 Dyna hot rod purred like a sewing machine on a slot track, what- a – fukin – rush .
Run # 1 147.098 kilo
kilo 140.428 mile
Run # 2 98.036 WTF happened ?
run #3 145.248 kilo
145.143 mile
My last pass was made at 12:02 pm, the last pass of the 2008 Bubs Event. Next to the worlds fastest motorcycle.
Thanks B U B Racing Inc. & the AMA for the opportunity to attend and participate in your event.
Time to return to San Jose.
Hey Salt Flats wait until next year , I have got a surprise for you . In a mere day you too can accumulate a life time of memories .
Home again in San Jose .
Over 35,000 miles on a 124 in motor and runnin strong, thanks to :
Randy Torgenson
Hyperformance Motors
for building a near bullet proof motor .
Ron Williams , Jeff , Kevin & Ralph
Hardtailz
Santa Clara , Ca.
for the un-believable tune up .
R & R Motors , S & S Cycle , Horsepower Inc throttle body, Daytona Twin – Tec computer , R B Racing pipe , K & N , Storz (front end), Sputhe (motor isolators), Brembo Calipers, W8LESSROTORS and pads, Supermax Belt Drives ( Phil ), Corbin Saddle , Red Line fluids & Avon Venom tires .
With the support of these friends and products a 147.098 mph was made a reality .
Thanks a million ,
Ray c wheeler # 1944
w8lessrotors.com
GINA WOODS' BONNEVILLE EXPERIENCE–Bonneville 2008 was…UNBELIEVABLE! I really don’t have the words for the magnitude of feelings I felt at this event! Not only were the people the most righteous people you’d EVER want to meet but family, funny, brotherhood, SISTERHOOD, & so much more!
The first day I got there on the Flats after flyin into Salt Lake City and having the Wendover Casino realize that ‘NO there really was NO shuttle that was going to pick Gina up at the airport’….so I decided to get a rental car…thanks to Santa Claus’s big suggestion ( “no there is no one to pick you up 1 ½ hours away”) well of course they were out of compacts – in today’s economy – that’s all you want, so I was stuck with a Mountaineer… okay I am off… I drove and the anticipation got the better of me…..I rode with the air on windows up, air off windows down, air on windows down, everything off, everything on, wow I just couldn’t wait!
An hour and a half later looking at all the beautiful scenery – YES UTAH is gorgeous! I arrived at the “Flats” & I was immediately welcomed by some Brits (Peter & co) at registration that were not only friendly but very friendly…they asked me to take a picture with their Monkey after all…hee hee a little stuffed animal guy.. then I was off…. no time to diddle-daddle!
I found my crew with open arms.. and they were pretty much in the same mode as they seemed to have been in during periods of the day…hurry up and wait. Unfortunately a lot of stuff goes on at the Flats if you just wait for it!
I immediately got clued in with who’s who and what’s what by my wonderful friend Julie. She’s been a Buell Brother/Sister groupie for a year now & I think is officially now part of the “crew” team. So it was an afternoon of showing or at least telling Gina the “ropes”: Thursday was an eye opening experience of how much goes into all this…..WOW is the word that really sums it up. Met with a lot of old friends and was intrigued by the new ones! Met wonderful ladies that were out there for the first time as well!
Friday brought much anticipation but as always it’s “Wait your Turn”…that’s okay we had plenty to do to get Indian Joe to break a world record on his yellow banana Buell Brother Racing machine! You can’t believe the focus & concentration this man has to do what he has to do. What a great guy ….doesn’t socialite a lot before the races but afterwords..give that man a OLD STYLE and he’s stylin!
Never before have I met guys that can put serious and good times together and make it work right! These guys are focused by day and fun by nite..with a lot of responsibility always intact! The entire crew was able to hold their own speeds during the day – but due to high winds many were postponed until Saturday’s runs.
Saturday brought much anticipation amongst teams, individuals and die-hard “Run What You Brung” folks with last minute repairs, modifications, upgrades or whatever they needed to get out there & do it!
Listening to the many guys and gals all week was PRICELESS! So many of these people have been doing this for so long, to accomplish their dreams so hard.. It truly is a family type community that jokes, kids but nevertheless will lend you their tools or knowledge and then WATCHOUT… it’s run time!
Soooo I got to make two passes…both on the Buell Sister Racing Bike a 1995 Buell S2 #455, which I got 115.538 mph! Just 15 mph under the record! That probably doesn’t seem like much to some but to me – ‘getting into position’ at the start line was, was…was AMAZING! I felt pretty small out there with all that Salt, Sky and lots of room to just go! What a humbling feeling to know so many greats had come before me, some that made dreams come true and some that died trying. Yes it was very humbling….
The Saturday nite banquet was pretty neat. You certainly can tell most of these people know each other. They laugh at each other give awards to each other and really have a lot of pride for their fellow competitors. It really gives you a sense of wanting to be a part of something so cool. In that particular room was a lot of blood, sweat, tears and laughs! Dennis Manning and his crew do a top –notch job!
People come to Bonneville from all over the world – the Buell Brothers/ Buell Sisters Racing Team had the pleasure to sip a few cold ones last nite with the guys from New Zealand that ran 250 something mph (after 200 does it really matter..omg!) The stories and tales that you can hear by listening is incredible.
I plan to be a Bonneville storyteller myself someday…I’ll keep coming back…Thanks to the crew at DGY Motorsports in Downers Grove , IL for sponsoring me in awesome racing gear and a big special thanks to Santa Claus (whom everyone loves), for giving me the opportunity to accomplish something I would have never had the chance too do! You have great presence amongst us and I am proud to be on your team…so what kinda bike are we going to build me for next year?
–Gina Woods
gina@openroadradio.com
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