Congrats to Bill, but also congrats to the people and companies who built the bike. Judging by the number of stickers and the bike specs (that I can guess at), that is a $200,000 bike. He told me his "street bike" - the 273 mph one - cost $90,000. How can we compete with that?
It really is true "Speed costs money - how fast do you want to go?"
The LTA is very proud of Bill, the accomplishment, and his entire team. I generally bite my tongue on the forum but in this instance, I can not. I assume that the question of "How can we compete with that" was rhetorical, but I will answer it.
1) First and foremost, be a complete gentleman that EVERYONE believes in.
2) Take several years of your life.
3) Progress through speeds and records in a manner which shows you are a complete professional that is completely dedicated.
4) Get a tuner or a parts supplier to come to you and say, "Your the kind of guy (I mean as a person) that we want to align our company with; would you be interested in a little help next year?"
5) Prove yourself at every meet for several years and finally have a reputation and a pedigree that you can take to sponsors.
6) Work for months and months and months and months for hours and hours and hours and hours seven days a week.
7) Shut down your business because it is interfering with your 100 hour a week hobby.
8 ) Drive from Florida straight through to upstate New York in a truck that might not make the trip because cash is so tight you know that your mom won't charge you for the night's stay.
9) Go CRUSH the world record and make history.
10) Stand at the line to be presented your 300 hat and say how nervous you are because there are so many people around.
$200,000 or $2,000,000 can't buy that.
When I look back over my life, there are possible 10 events that are indelibly cast in my mind. The first space shuttle launch; a couple of births and a couple of deaths, etc. I carry those events to mark points and people to remind me that there is always a greater good and a better person in all of us. I hope that everyone present at the 2011 Maine event can say to their grand children that they were there when the first man went 300 on a bike. And that the memory of Bill's humility and dedication can help all of us be more like him, a class act.
