Bonneville Speed week, Sept 3-7, '06

[Deans BMW]

Just found out this morning that the fellow who flew Chris and Brian to Bonneville last Sept. has become a fully stoked Bonneville nut. He has given Chris a $30,000.00 budjet to set a record at Bonneville this comming Sept. He has a new Kawasaki ZX1400 comming and with Chrises years of experience at Bonneville, they plan to set a record in one of the many classes there. I won't tell the class yet, but Chris has a ton of tricks up his sleeve.

So for those of us in the Cafe that is planning to attend, we, that includes you guys, pit crew...you know, will be running the new R1200S ridden by Chris and my self, and the ZX1400 ridden by our pilot friend. By the way, he has a Cessna Turbo Centuran.

As time gets closer, I'll post via E-Mail your pit crew room code for the Nugget at $19.95 per nite.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/35572053-M.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36141693-M.jpg

Just a reminder, two up on a Remus equipped K1200S at 169 MPH

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/44293754-M.jpg

[BobFV1]

In

[jamming]

I'm in, I'm planning on leaving on the 31st of August. Thinking I might take the loneiest road in America up the east side of Nevada.

Bob, will you leave from Phoenix?

Roger

[BobFV1]

I'm in, I'm planning on leaving on the 31st of August. Thinking I might take the loneiest road in America up the east side of Nevada.

Bob, will you leave from Phoenix?

Roger

Rog - hard to say at this point....

[Deans BMW]

Click on this thread in the sport touring site for an insite into who this guy is, make sure you click on the link in the thread to see Brians pic, click on Biography to see who he is. Should be a blast.

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/685445/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD

[jamming]

Hijack..sorry Dean.

Let me know, maybe can park Odesses and Tessie next to each they'll mate and we'll get a really fast track bike you can ride in the dirt with an ugly headlight:) .

Roger

[Bones]

Dean,
May I ask one of what might be the stupidest question imaginable about the flats? Understand that this is coming from someone who knows nothing about the phenomenon that takes place there.

Is that salt slippery? I know it is flat and there is a lot of space. But what kind of traction is there and what would you compare it to, for those of us who watch this from afar?

Jeff

[Ed K]

Dean, Looking forward to being part of the pit crew. Appreciate the opportunity to lend a hand. Still IN!

[DarthRider]

Jeff -

Is the surface at Bonneville slippery?
Yes. And no.

The surface is comprised of a number of different salts, some mined commercially there by draining off the brine just below the surface, thus the shrinking & thinning of the surface from 5 ft. or so in the early 50's to several inches today. The brine beneath the surface is an ugly gray mud and is drained away in trenches cut into the surface well below the water (mud) level.
"Save the Salt" efforts have had limited success in adding salt back by pumping brine back onto the surface. This brine is the waste portion of the mined salt that is not commercially viable. It is just mixed with water and pumped back out onto the surface.
Save the Salt is a most excellant charity for gearheads who would like to see Land Speed Racing continue at Bonneville.

The salt is highly hygroscopic and is always wet from below and moisture pulled from the already very dry air. In our Team Texas Triumph pits I have seen the salt so hard it would take a sledge hammer to drive a spike into the surface, then the next day you could scoop up the salt and make "snowballs" on the same spot. It is not usually this variable but can be.

On the starting line many of the cars will leave black strips like on a concrete drag strip. Down course at speed these same cars can leave ruts in "wet" salt or just skate over the surface with minimal wheelspin in "dry" salt. Much of the condition of the salt depends on wet/dry conditions in the months before the meets. But when the salt is "hard, smooth and dry"...it is also always very wet. Sit on a "dry" spot for a few seconds and your pants are wet.

This is one of the many unique variables in racing there, salt condition & moisture content...traction. Or lack thereof!

Our big dual engine partial streamliner (blue No. 601 image in "Eye Candy" rotating images) has run 261 and change. At speeds above ~200 when air resistance & drag are high and increasing exponentially, and when the turbos are starting to make boost and power, wheelspin is a constant. Too much throttle and the rear wheel really spins up and the bike gets "sideways". Too little throttle and you do not qualify for, or set records. It's threading a needle and requires the utmost in precision throttle control.

It's better when the salt is "dry" and smooth, much more difficult when it's wet and you have to deal with pot holes and big ruts from the blown roadsters.

One absolutely beautiful attribute of the salt is that each day, just after dawn, if you look to the East the crystalline surface looks like it is strewn with sparkling diamonds and just takes your breath away!
For those going, please do not short change yourselves by strolling out to the flats mid-morning like a bunch of tourists...get there early, see this phenomenon, stay all day, get out of the shade and experience all you can. This will literally be one of your life experiences.

I really wish this small motorcycle meet was held during the big World of Speed meet in August when the cars are there...mind blowing!

While you're there be sure to go out to the airport, Wendover Field. This was, among other things, the WWII training base for the crews of the Enola Gay and Bocks Car, the A-bomb B-29s that triggered the end of WWII. Except for a small FBO and museum it is now pretty much a ghost field but the huge Enola Gay hangar is still there along with many other buildings. A really cool MiG 19 lives there too and you may catch him flying.

Wish I could be there...

Dave

[Sir Limpsalot]

I wish I could be there too...... :icon_cry:
Si

[Bones]

Dave,
Tanks so much for that explanation. It certainly is NOT just a "show up and open up the throttle all the way and go straight" type of endeavor. The concept of facing wheel spin when traveling at over 120 mph, let alone over 200 gives me chills just thinking about it.

Some day I would love to see this all take place. Have a good series of runs this year. Can't wait for reports and pics.

Jeff

[Bill]

Bill is still IN, need to get my supplies of water, sun screen, sun glasses and start saving up so I can afford the Hotel. It will be my once in a lifetime - might just get the bug and ride the R1100RS, would be nice to see what it can do.

[Deans BMW]

Roger, comming from the Phoenix area, why not ride to Flagstaff, then 89 to Kanab Utah then 89 up to close to Salt Lake and then west to Wendover. I would take 12 off of 89 in Utah and ride to Torrey and then to SLC. Too many great ways from Az. to Bonneville.

Daves excellent discription is right on the money. Wish you could show up also.

[DarthRider]

For anyone planning to ride your bike on the salt...you will have corrosion damage to some degree. It's a slam-dunk certainty.
The salt sticks to everything then spends the rest of it's life sucking water out of the air and running it all over & through the bike by capillary action.
No biggy on a racer as they're stripped down afterwards anyway, but on a street bike...I would not take any bike on the salt that I wanted to keep nice and/or keep a long time.
There are a couple of things you can do to mitigate it but that's about it.
I'll elaborate on that if you like.

Dave

[Deans BMW]

There is one of those quarter type car washes in Wendover and I think that I spent some $15 or $20 washing my ST. When I got home I stripped my bike down and washed it all over again.

[DarthRider]

If you want to see some Bonneville record setters/holders, check out our teams' website at:
http://www.teamtriumphtexas.com/index.htm

This will give you a bit of the flavor of racing really fast motorcycles there and some peeks at the incredible beauty of the pace.

All images were from various years at the big SCTA World of Speed meet in August. Temperature ranges from 95F - 106F are typical. A racer's day begins well before daylight and lasts until they close the course & pits before sundown. Or until you've blown up the last rebuildable engine parts and head home.
Then it continues in parking lots of various "racer motels" in Wendover and sometimes might involve cold, foamy beverages.

I can't go to Bonneville anymore due to having Vitiligo and I just can't take the sun. When I just saw the video on our Team Triumph Texas site for the first time, I have to admit to a lump in my throat and a tear or two...and lots of smiles. This place, this experience, really grows on you and the friendships you make there are of the lifelong variety.

I envy Dean-O and the other boys going this year...I'll be with you boys, although I'll be here.

Dave

[Deans BMW]

Someone once told me, that is if I remember correctly, that Kinky Sex causes Vitiligo.

[DarthRider]

"...There is one of those quarter type car washes in Wendover and I think that I spent some $15 or $20 washing my ST. When I got home I stripped my bike down and washed it all over again..."

Washing them certainly helps but it can even make certain areas worse. The water & pressure makes/allows brine to be drawn by capillary action into bearing races, behind fasteners, between parts with zero clearance where you can't see or get to without a FULL teardown. No prob on the race bikes since they come all apart anyway, but a street bike...

Many guys will not wash their trucks & trailers for that reason...they just drive them over rough roads to bang the salt out and not have brine inside everything. But that is far from 100% effective.

The SCTA guys from Cali use some stuff called (I think) "Salt-Away" and say it's pretty efective...but not 100%. I always soaked our bikes in S100 Anti-Corrosion spray and it helped too, but...like I said, I would not take a street bike I intended to keep very long out there. If I did I would ride it on the salt as little as possible and would not race it. Some years you have to drive/ride through 1 ft. deep brine to get to the pits!

There's a Moto Guzzi in there somewhere!
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/69521073-O.jpg

Chris Hodgson's fast airhead *before* it ran in 2004...I have some "salty" pics somewhere.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/69521035-O.jpg

Gotta run...the first Peckerhead of the evening just pulled up. His name is Moose and he looks thirsty-mean!

And Dean-O...kinky sex does not cause Vitiligo.
Vitiligo causes kinky sex!

Dave

[jamming]

Dean, that's another way. I don't why, but I read this ride report once in one of the major rags and they say your hanging your butt out on that road. Pretty desolate. I want to, I like the risk, life ain't worth living if your not risking it. I might take your advice on the trip up and take the lonely road home. Its my big riding vacation of the year, so by golly I'm riding.
I'm planning on MotoGP, but that's gonna be a sprint. I have to work until noon on the Friday before in July, I'm gonna hammer it to Laugna and then hammer it home on Monday.

Dave, your scareing me here, I had really planned on taking my precious Tessie out on the salt, now I'm not so sure. She for sure is a long term scoot. So I don't need no stinking corrision.
Thanks for all the pics and advice, I have a total woody about this. I'm planning on hitting the airport for sure. I'm looking forward to this.

Oh and Dean, thanks for the invite. The first bourbon is on me, or whatever suits your fancy. If we can find a good looker, maybe she'll let you do a bellybutton shot:icon_redface: , if you don't know what that is ask Bob:037:

Roger

[DarthRider]

"...Dave, your scareing me here, I had really planned on taking my precious Tessie out on the salt, now I'm not so sure. She for sure is a long term scoot. So I don't need no stinking corrision.
Thanks for all the pics and advice, I have a total woody about this. I'm planning on hitting the airport for sure. I'm looking forward to this..."

Roger, there are alternatives.
Ride your bike from Wendover the 3-4 miles to the "end of the road" and walk in to the pits...that walk varies from a 3/4 of a mile or so to maybe 1 1/2. It varies with salt conditions & track layout.
Ditto but catch a ride with a racer from the end of the road. That's easy. Lots of vans.
Leave your bike in town and catch a racer-ride. Salt racers are a very friendly bunch!
Several of you go in on a rent car in Salt Lake City, ~80 miles to the East of Wendover and drive in each day. This is what I'd try to do. But when they ask you where you're going in the rent car, tell them Park Cities or something creative. Some agencies will not allow their cars to go to Bonneville at all and others require a signed statement, or even a deposit. They will charge you extra out the wazoo for the privelige if you come back with salt evidence. Put cardboard in the floor of the car and clean it up real good at the car wash in Wendover. Salt sticks to your feet like snow...but doesn't melt!

*If* the salt conditions are *very* dry (rare) you might ride on in...very slowly. But you *will* accumulate salt under/over/on/in the bike...a little or a lot, depending on speed & conditions. I would probably ride the bike home and get after it with pressurized air and maybe bristle brushes and no water until it was clean. I really wouldn't wash it there at Wendover with a pressure washer. Let it fall off and brush it off to avoid brine incursion.

Before you go, douche that puppy down good with the S100 spray I mentioned or something comparable. If any of you Cali boys know any Land Speed Racers, ask about "Salt Away" and see how that sounds.

The problem with catching a ride is...lack of transportation after you're there. Ideally you would watch the runs from the starting line, mid-track and at the "big end". When I was there in '04, we watched Ack Attack crash at mid-track at close to 300. You don't *want* to see that, but it's part of the experience. You will want to visit the impound area beyond the end of the track to see the bikes that have qualified for a record run. From starting line to impound area you are talking, maybe...10 miles or so, depending on track configuration.
I really would not want to be afoot out there but catching a ride back to Wendover would be easy & safe.

There are no bleachers, only a few Port-a-Pots and a few stands with typical track food. Better to bring in sandwich makings & drinks...lots of water! There is NO shade which you will be desperate for, other than what you bring with you or can scrounge. If anyone has an extra EZ-Up, bring it! It will rust later but at least your bones won't be bleaching in the sun.

DO NOT go off by yourself! Three years ago some bozo came by himself in a rent car. No one knew where he was. He decided to drive *way* down track past the end, several miles past where anyone was. His car broke through the salt in a thin spot and he had no choice but to try and walk out. He made it several miles from the car before he collapsed and died. Several weeks went by before they pieced it together and sent out a search party. When they found him he was face down in the salt and had sunken half-way in and became totally encrusted in the hard salt. They had to pull him to pieces to get him out.

I'm really not trying to be scary or discourage anyone from going to Bonneville. Quite the contrary, I want everyone to go and experience this amazing place. I love it more than any other thing I have done. But don't think it's a trip to Disney World. It's not for a lot of reasons. Go smart, prepared and with realistic expectations. I've been 8 or 9 times and I'm still a semi-novice at it. It is big time, laugh out loud fun but if you don't respect it, it will bite you, hard.

I'll be happy to answer any questions. I sure wish I was going to watch & help our Old Hoon go faster than anybody of his advanced years should go!
Give 'em Hell Dean-O!

Dave

[Dallara]

Here's the ticket...

Fly into Salt Lake City, then go here:


http://www.harley-davidsonslc.com/custompage.asp?pg=rentals


Scroll down the page and you'll get the idea...

:037: :037: :037:

Cheers!

Allan (Dallara - NAABSCD)

[Ed K]

Dean, Any additional info regarding Bonneville?

[jamming]

I'm riding up to Bonneville. Yes, its gonna be hot! But, its a ride.

I ain't renting a damn Harley when there's a BMW in the garage.

Dean...any more info?


Roger

[Deans BMW]

Everything is still go, the pilot that flew Chris to Bonneville last year has his Kaw ZX 14 and spent 2K on leathers(see #1 in this thread). Chris in removing the speed limiter....and doing some other stuff..... The R1200S that I road will become the San Jose BMW race bike and will compete in races similar to what Nate Kern is doing. That is the bike that Chris and I will ride on the Salt, might also ride the Power Cup bike as Chris has just finished increasing the RWHP some 30 HP...........