50 Years at Bonneville - Scott Guthrie Remembers

[Old-N-Slow]

EAST INTO THE SUN

Chapter six.

My very first record run

The pre-dawn cold brought welcome
shivers from the small Gypsy band
moving slowly in the dim twilight.

Soon the sun would appear, and
with it the triple digit solar pounding
of a day in the salt desert.

No ordinary desert, this salt pan
could suck the life from unprepared
visitors and experienced old hands alike.

For now, the unnatural quiet presaged
an explosive moment that could
come unexpectedly at any moment.
The crowd, a mix of young and old,
mostly men, went knowledgeably
about their work, almost wordlessly.
Old hands did the work they knew so well,
light almost unnecessary.

There was a reverential hush over
the small roped-off area,of Impound
that, many years later, would
become known as Warnerville.

Drowning out all voice and thought,
an engine fired next to me; the harsh,
almost unbearably loud bark
of Les Leggitt?s AA blown fuel car.
One of the most satisfying sounds
when pushing 300 MPH, the sound now
at such close range was almost irritating.

A gentle breeze carried the pungent smell of the
special fuel throughout the impound area.
Nervous men remarked: ?Nothing like the
smell of nitro before breakfast.?

We sat on the starting line, watching the starter,
Bob Higbe, trying to anticipate his demeanor.
Would he soon give us the sign?
Would I speed down the still pre-dawn track,
or would there be another ?full course hold?
while the last sleepy volunteer returned to
long course shutdown, and announced
his semi readiness on the hand held FM radio.

My Harley engine was warmed up, and I was
fully suited in leather from collar to toe,
helmet and gloves in place. My wife Ellen
was at my side, but behind the wheel of
our humble 1969 Dodge A-100 van.
The van quietly idled, and I leaned the bike
against the van?s left flank. I was astride
the bike, with my right hand firmly
gripping the door handle.

My bike, an 883cc Harley Davidson of
ridiculous 1957 vintage, had been rebuilt
with such high compression that it was
virtually impossible to push or kick start,
even with several folks pushing.

The unusually high first gear was good
for almost 90MPH. The only effective
starting routine was for me to hold tight
to the van?s door handle, and have Ellen
?tow? me up to about 40 MPH, and then
I would release from the truck,
drop the clutch, and power away.

As the August 1973 sun first peaked
over the eastern mountains,
on my first record morning, the starter,
Mr. Bob Higbee turned to me.

Bob was a fixture at Bonneville,
and Bonneville had never known
any other starter. He knew the
?race face? of every competitor,
and he knew who was ready
and who was not.

Ready at history?s doorstep.
Bob looked me over intently enough
that his usual smile was forgotten for a moment.
At a glance, he could see the bike and
Ellen were ready. My riding gear looked fine.

Seeming to be checking my helmet strap,
he looked into my eyes, and I was convinced he
could see how nervous I was,
and would not release me.

Quickly. his confidant smile reappeared,
and he gently said in a voice surely
only I could hear,

? You are all set; the course is yours.?

[rgdavid]

Go.....this made me smile big time.  Oh more more more.

[Old-N-Slow]

Redemption and peanut butter

Chapter #7  - Redemption.

The world will little note,
nor long remember....

All through my life, short as it was at that point, I had wanted to be part of something larger than myself.  Something with the status of the SCTA?s Bonneville Speed Week, and all that meant.

Also, I wanted to do something a little crazy, with some risk taking.  Swimming in a pool, and ballroom dancing somehow did not fit the requirement.  That ?something? had to involve danger, and doing it on my own.


Building a motorcycle from scratch and riding it at crazy speeds ? AND setting an SCTA World speed record ? now THAT would be an adventure !

That cool August morning in 1973, the returns runs started about 9:00 am. We were required to return in the order that we went down so Dale would run ahead of me.

As Dale Alexander?s number was called for him to start his return run, he was adjusting his Yoshimura Kawasaki carburetors with a long screw driver, and looked to the starter and said: ??send the Harley, I?m not quite ready yet?.?

The record-return starter turned to me, and gestured toward the far end.  Off I went, not aware of the significance of what had just happened.

The 1957 Harley pulled away from the northern impound, and bellowed for the interstate highway to the west, running the full course miles without a single note off-song. Smooth and powerful.

Bang on the red-line the whole run, and going VERY fast for a ?Class C? (stock) Harley Davidson.  What a pleasure to run AWAY from the morning sun, and see Bonneville through the windscreen of a world-class on-record-run motorcycle !

The bike was running so well that I forgot for a few minutes what a hopeless exercise this was !  The fresh main bearings (roller) and rod bearings (also roller) turned with almost frictionless smoothness.  The new, very-straight shafts and new gears in the transmission had been treated to an application of hard chrome, to reduce friction, as had the entire primary drive assembly. 

I could almost FEEL the smoothness in the primary case and in the transmission from all the hard chrome.  If anything, I thought the bike might be maybe a little faster today; maybe a good, hard, long run had seated the rings and valves, and ?polished down? the rough parts in the engine and drive train. 

I flew through the measured mile at almost 6,700 rpm, against a slight headwind.  Faultless run; down about 100 rpm, but couldn?t have been better !

I eased off the throttle, but kept the bike running in gear to let the morning air cool the engine and the oil.

Rolling slowly up to the finish area - the original start line - I found myself AGAIN ?over? the record, but  with returning against a slight headwind, I clocked a slightly slower 141.95 mph.

The average of the two runs 143.817, was over the record, but it would mean little, since Dale was right behind me, and he would SURELY better my time !

I pulled off my hand-painted helmet and aviator-style goggles, unzipped my white leathers, and allowed relaxation to sweep over me.  A rare moment of extreme satisfaction !

I had beaten the record !

[manta22]

Re your second paragraph:

Remember what Ernest Hemingway said, "There are only three sports- mountain climbing, bull fighting, and motor racing. All the others are just games."

[Old-N-Slow]

That's an excellent point Neil, and I have
that in my rough drafts for later.

At the time of Hemingway's remark, I
think he had climbed Mt. Kilimanjoro.

He had also run with the bulls in Pamplona. 

Hemingway, in his time, might have known more
about bull fighting than any other American.

However, he never got to motor racing.....

[Old-N-Slow]

Redemption and Peanut Butter

Chapter #8 ? Peanut Butter

I had beaten the World Record !

As my awareness expanded to include the rest of the world, I heard the insane howling of Dale?s 4-cylinder Kawasaki at red line; coming my way. Power personified, and up-to-the-minute technology.

With a sudden echoing silence when he clicked the engine off, Dale drifted to a stop beside me; we exchanged satisfied glances. We had done our jobs, and done them well !

We were politely directed to take the bikes ?to impound.? I wasn?t sure why for me, since I had been surely beaten by about 15 or 20mph.

The steward remarked: ?Well, you never now??.That Kawasaki might not pass the fuel test, and maybe his engine might not pass tech???

Factory team, so fat chance, that !

Side by side, we tore our bikes down for inspection in what would become ?Warnerville.? I concentrated on cleaning the salt off my pushrod covers and from around the heads before opening things up. With no air filters, I sure there was enough salt inside the engine already, without dropping extra directly into the oil system.

I was trying hard not to stare in too-much awe as the Yoshimura ?crowd? of mechanics, all smiling at each other and murmuring quietly in Japanese, effortlessly and confidently performed each step of their disassembly in perfect synchronization; picking up the correct tool for each bolt, hardly glancing in the tool box, all with no manual or questions.

The riders, hands clean, stood at ease, chatting with ?Pops,? about which class to destroy next??

YOSHIMURA PHOTO-ULRICH

I took consolation that the Harley had made five runs perfectly, with no repairs, and three of the runs over the existing record. The rings looked good, the pistons perfect, no clutch slip, chain still wet and usable, no bent pushrods, and the carburation close to right ? at least from my amateur view of the spark plugs.

Dale and I both passed tech, and Ellen and I stepped over to congratulate Dale and Pops Yoshimura.

Smiling as ever, Pops gave a small bow.


Pops?..

Dale, extending a friendly hand, shyly said: ?Sorry to be the guy to break your record so quickly.?

My record ?

Dale explained: ?Well, even though I was
fastest down, you were first back, and your
average speed broke the old record.

That means YOU held the record that I just broke.
I am proud to have broken YOUR record !?

My first Bonneville record ? My ONLY Bonneville record - the dream of years ? had lasted 10 minutes??.

AND??.only through the kindness of a fellow racer??

? * * * *

AND, THEY DID EAT LIKE KINGS??

After setting the record - such as it was - we needed a celebratory dinner somewhere. Since we were camping out, we could afford as much as $15 for the both of us. So, we headed off to the traditional place for celebration, The Hideaway !

In the 1950?s and 60?s, the HIDEWAY in Wendover had developed a reputation as the place to go to celebrate ? or just to have a good meal in a friendly atmosphere. So, it was understood, that if you set a record ? or just wanted to see those who had ? you went to the Hideaway for dinner.

After being seated, our drink orders filled, the waitress asked about our main courses. ?Steak? I said with assurance. ?Biggest one you have. We just set a world record today on the flats, and we want the best steak you have !?

The whole Hideaway suddenly got very quiet, in the way that saloons in western movies get silent when the gunslinger drifts in.

Our waitress slowly asked: ?Have you been in here earlier this week, and ordered that steak ??

Dumbfound, I said, ?No. I just set the record this morning, and we want to celebrate in just the right way, at just the right place. Here, with a big steak.?

There was an embarrassed silence all around. Our waitress replied: ?There is a huge national shortage of beef right now. We have to order from Salt Lake City at least 2 days early, to see if we can even get one. Sorry, I can?t help with the steak.?

So, after setting a record that lasted 10 minutes, we celebrated with peanut butter sandwiches???

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

50 Years at Bonneville:

Scott Guthrie Remembers

WEAK SOUP;
all you want,
same price !

Chapter #9


Not surprisingly, having held a record for only 10 minutes was pretty weak soup for me.  I wanted to return to Bonneville and regain my honor, small as it might be.

In the heat of competition, it is often hard to step back and both analyze progress (or lack of it) and assess future goals.  Once home, I realized that without being quite aware of it at the time, I had actually learned a lot about racing at Bonneville. 

In my case, I saw that even without a record ?in the book,? we had done almost everything right !  We had gotten to Bonneville on time, and we were ready to race the first day.  With the exception of the first-day SNAFU in the clocks (NOT  our fault), every run was a good one.  Three of the five runs were over the record, and we in fact made it into impound and safely through tech.

My biggest mistake was to assume that the class I had entered in 1972 would be there for me in 1973.

On balance, we thought it would be fun to continue with Bonneville,  IF I could learn to read AND understand the rule book.AND maybe build a competitive motorcycle !

After Bonneville in August of 1973, I had spent more than a week in LA, going from shop to shop, getting to know folks personally that had a proven hand in racing.  I asked their opinions, and listened carefully to what they had to say.  I digested all that for about 6 months before changing the bike for August of 1974, and Speed Week.

Anxious to continue development, and to get more riding experience after Bonneville 1973, I fit new Morris cast wheels and dual-disc front brakes to the ancient Harley and went road-racing.  Both of these mechanical items were ?firsts? for a non-factory-team Harley race bike.  After running in maybe three races, I found myself mysteriously ranked 3rd place nationally by the AMA, surely a mistake, since I could barely ride around corners..


The 883cc Class C (AMA class C = stock) engine had proved powerful, and the chassis handling was now GREAT.  This was suddenly a REAL race bike.  With a stock bore of 3.0 inches, and stroke of a plodding 3 13/16 inches, the engine displaced 883cc.  At the redline of 6,800 RPM, that was an average piston speed of 4,300 feet per minute, and a maximum piston speed of 6,800 ft/min.  Certainly not Formula One numbers, but that?s what I had to work with.

If only the rider had some talent.

(photo)

Scott Guthrie, racing his factory Harley Davidson XRTT at Gainesville FL in late 1973, after Bonneville Speed Week  Cycle paint by David Burley, Helmet design by Phil Hunt, Photo by Virginia Miller




Over the fall and winter of 1973-74, I considered my sins.

I had indeed set a record at Bonneville, but it had lasted only 10 minutes.  My name did NOT appear in the record books, and basically, only I knew that there had been any success at Bonneville.  NO press coverage !

I NOW understood the rule book much better, and had, with Dales and the Yoshimura team?s help - figured out changing classes.

With Dale Alexander and Pop Yoshimuras encouragement, I made a test run at 138mph one way, naked, (The bike naked, not me) without any streamlining.  Not a big number nowadays, but not bad for basically a stock 1957 Sportster on pump (Literally; from the Shell station) gas.

That 138 mph speed was right in the thick of 1973 Bonneville competition:  It was ALMOST as fast as Dr. Alan Abbott, riding a bicycle (140.5 mph), and at least a notch quicker  than Bob Barker on the 125cc Can Am motocross bike at 136.536 mph (2-way record)


(Photo)
Can Am 125cc dirt bike, 1973 ? Factory
bike partially funded by the Canadian military

(photo)
 
Dr. Alan Abbott?s 140 mph bicycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmabVbz0ys

So: After two YEARS of struggle, on an 883cc Harley,
I was ever-so slightly faster that a 125cc dirt bike,
but not quite as fast as a guy on a bicycle.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

50 YEARS AT BONNEVILLE;
Scott Guthrie Remembers

After the end of the 1973 Speed Week, we were slow to pack up and leave for Florida. I was afraid this would my one and only experience at the High Church of Speed-Bonneville, and I wanted it to last.  We helped the SCTA clean up and close down the course, and watch as another competitor arrived to run on ?private time,? having reserved the track for just himself.

https://www.si.com/vault/1973/12/17/618848/fastest-foot-in-the-west


The car was now in the livery of the sponsor ?ENGLISH LEATHER, a mens cologne.  The racer turned out to be non other than the famous Craig Breedlove, then still quite youthful in his mid 30?s.

Craigs car started life as a sprinter, or a car for acceleration, like drags, and he set a highest speed of 377.75 mph in a standing-start 1/4 mile at Bonneville.  It was this car he brought to Bonneville in 1973.

My impression was that Kitty ONeil would later go faster with a speed of over 412 mph in 1977.

Craig wandered over to our pit area to chat, and perhaps to borrow some tools?.We talked about getting into Land Speed Racing earlier in life, and realized that we had both read the HOT ROD issue with Mickey Thompson?s car at about the same time, almost 15 years before. 

We would meet again.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

August of 1974 had started on a high note !
 
I was confident that we could run on ?and set records in ? six different classes at Speed Week.  So, I sent the SCTA a check for my entry fee ? and for five class changes ? a total of SIX entries??...
 
We moved ahead, confident as always ? and as it would prove- frequently mistaken.
 
My wife Ellen and I would have a friend's help for speed week.   The Bike engine was ready, except for updated pistons ordered from Venolia and anticipated the week before departure.  The Van engine was fresh, and even the van body had a fresh paint job in Harley colors. We had (some) cash for the trip, and plenty of vacation time scheduled.
 
 
We were going to Bonneville, and looking for Blood !  With our winding route, this would be at least 2,500 miles, and at least 5 days of driving.  AND, we DID have an alarm clock !
 
If only we had those Venolia pistons??..

The morning we were scheduled to leave, the pistons finally arrived by UPS.  After work, into the engine they go. The engine turns over, but binds near TDC.
 
Modeling clay told us the valve pockets in the pistons were too small for the bigger 1974 spec. valves, and the valves were hitting the edges of the valve pockets in the pistons.
 
It is now late in the evening, and we have not packed.  I do NOT have immediate access to a milling machine, and I am NOT going to do this with a drill press.  Besides, I don?t have a jig to hold the piston in the drill press.
 
We carefully rolled the race bike into the van and strapped it down.  We then packed, and tossed everything quickly into our humble slant-six van, and off we went at dark-thirty in the morning.

As the 1960's band Steppenwolf said:

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
 

 
We are one the road, and heading to SCTA's Speed Week.  However, the bike is still incomplete in the back of the van.  The engine is in the frame, minus the heads, intake system and pushrod gear.  It has the new but interfering pistons in the bores of the special aluminum cylinders.  I have had 12 months to get this program working, and now a week before Bonneville, I am dead in the water.
 
Sometimes you just need to have faith?.
 
Being a Harley guy, I had brought a bunch of hammers and a handful of chisels.  With the heads off, I used the engine cylinder, while mounted on the engine, in the frame, as a jig to hold the piston.  With the piston mounted normally on the rod, and at the top of the stroke (TDC), I chiseled away the valve pockets.  We?re going 65mph through Louisiana, and I was banging away with hammers in the back of the Van.  Our friend spelling Ellen behind the wheel, watched me bemusedly in the rear-view mirror.
 
This is NOT CNC, but it IS the will to race !
 
As we wondered west, we wound up going through a number of small towns.  Since I was lacking the HUGE carburetor jets we anticipated needing, we stopped at every Japanese bike shop looking for Mikuni parts.  No cell phones, no telephone books, no internet.
 
Good as we made it sound and look, we were still very much a shoestring operation, even if I didn?t let it on.  We had NO spare engine parts to speak of ? only one extra pair of pistons, a few sets of rings and some gaskets.  NO spare engine.  NO spare crank.  Not even spare cylinders (which would bite us later?.)  Not even a spare tire for the bike.
 
By Houston, pistons thoroughly ?chiseled,? the engine is now completely together.  The engine spins 360 degrees with no interference, and clay confirms valve clearance.  We will, however, be arriving at Bonneville with a new build, that we have never even fired up.
 
I am tired of sitting on the floorboards instead of a seat?
 
By the time we make Denver, we have all the jets, and we believe the Harley engine is ready to run ? and run fast !
 
Avoiding the steep climbs through the Rocky Mountains, we take the longer ? and flatter ? route north into Wyoming, and head west.  Near the Utah-Wyoming border, the van gradually develops a driveline vibration, so we reduce road speed and limp toward Salt Lake City, already behind schedule.  So near, but yet so far.
 
The now-100,000-mile Dodge driveshaft started making a fatal shudder just outside Salt Lake City, and we nursed ourselves into town.  I felt like I was driving a blender set on ?milk shake.?
 
We were directed to the independent drive-shaft shop of one Eldon Pugh, in the industrial area on the west side of town.  I avoided the Dodge dealer, afraid of the associated costs of a ?real? replacement part.
 
Eldon wandered out into the parking lot, peeked under the van, and remarks:  ?I don?t see what your problem is, but you sure have a LOT of weight in a ? ton rated van??might need a new u-joint AND shaft.?
 
I am now even MORE worried about costs??..
 
Eldon says:  ?We?ll just pop that thing out of there, and see what we can do???  I watch helplessly, while the van rises into the air on the lift.
 
Eldon?s men removed the driveshaft and put it into (what I now recognize as) a drive shaft balancer and aligner.
 
Elden reports:  ? Well, for whatever reason, your old shaft has a little hop in it??(I am momentarily stopped when he says ?your old shaft,? and I am refocused instantly on the cost side of the equation)

 Inline image
Trial balance weight in place
 
? I think what you really need is a new shaft, maybe with a little thicker wall to resist flexing.  We can weld a new U-joint on the one end, but heavier duty.  The new shaft will accept a more-sturdy CV joint replacement than what Dodge puts in the 100 series vans. ?
 
Inline image
   Old bottom, new top
 
?We will true the shaft after we tack-weld it, and balance it for 150mph.  Should be good for another 100,000 miles, and then you just being her back, and we?ll service it.?
 
Inline image
New shaft under construction
 
I am still thinking costs while I sit around in Elden?s modest office while the work takes place.  We are WAY behind schedule, and I cannot concentrate on the HOT ROD magazines available in the men?s room???
 
There is a dusty picture of the Summers Brothers 400 MPH car on the wall, in faded black and white.  Cheap plastic frame.
 
I asked Elden about the picture.  He replied: ?Those boys towed that heavy race car on a trailer all the way to Wendover from LA.  First time they drove it, the better-looking brother said it vibrated so bad he was afraid to go any faster that 200mph.  They brought it to me, thinking it was drive shafts.
 
Wasn?t the shafts.?
 
 Inline image
JohnBaechtel.com
 
 
?We put the car up on some HEAVY jack stands, and ran it up in top gear, and you could just SEE the vibrations.  That vibration was road speed, NOT engine speed.  I put my hand on a fender and said: ?ain?t no drive shafts, gotta be something else.??
 
?They pulled the shafts out, and I pulled out a BIG old motor we used for ?in place? tire balancing on semi trucks.  We spun them tires really fast, and sure enough, it was the wheel bearings.  Them boys had trailered that heavy car all the way to Wendover without taking the weight off the wheels.  Brinelled the bearings REAL bad.  Had to replace ?em right here in the shop.?
 
They got some sort of record, and they sent me the picture saying on it, ?thanks for all the help?.  Been there ever since.?
 
 
I asked Elden how much all my driveshaft work was going to set me back, and he thought a minute:  ?I gotta have a bunch ?a money, ?cause of that heavy-duty CV replacement joint.  I reckon $55 will do it?
 
Greatly relieved, slightly poorer, and still a day behind schedule, we set off for Wendover.  Reminded by the heat and the (now former) vibration, we stopped at Leatherby?s Family Creamery on West North Temple and bought milkshakes for the road.
 
With no real problems, we passed inspection, and pick a promising spot in the pit area, a quiet spot a little further from the friendly and competent Les Leggitt operation, with a nice view of the track.
 
Happily taking my completed inspection form to the registration trailer, I was greeting "old? friends from last year, and anticipating being handed my inspection sticker, and heading off to the staging lanes.
 
The kindly lady with impressively long nails in the trailer smiled and said:

Oh, YOU are Scott Guthrie ! 

The SCTA has been trying to get in
touch with you for some reason.

They asked me to give your check back,
because they can?t accept your entry.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[jacksoni]

Somehow a lot of Scott's great story is strangely familiar after 25 or so trips to the salt over 40 years for me...?..

Keep it up, this is great!!!

[Old-N-Slow]

Somehow a lot of Scott's great story is strangely familiar after 25 or so trips to the salt over 40 years for me...?..

Keep it up, this is great!!!

Jack is (as I am) a MASTERS SWIMMER,
so we are some of the few people to set
speed records BOTH on land AND on water !

[jacksoni]

Thanks Scott- have a meet today and aiming at 3 Md State records. But my coach of 35years passed on Jan1, funeral yesterday which has cast a pall on all of the local (and national) swim community. 

[manta22]

Jack, my dad was a swimmer too. He went to the 1933 Olympic tryouts in Cincinnati but, unfortunately for him, that was also the year that Buster Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, and Duke Kahanamoku also tried out for the US Olympic swimming team.

[jacksoni]

Jack, my dad was a swimmer too. He went to the 1933 Olympic tryouts in Cincinnati but, unfortunately for him, that was also the year that Buster Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, and Duke Kahanamoku also tried out for the US Olympic swimming team.

What great history Neil. At my first YMCA Masters nationals  in 1987 I met a guy, then 70+ named Vanderweigh (not sure spelling) who went to the '36 games ( the "famous" ones in Berlin) and placed second in the  100 backstroke (said he should have won but coaching issue). I was really impressed with the times he was doing then at 70 (I've since beaten- ) Anyway, great memories for your Dad I am sure and he might have run into or known Vanderweigh. 

Ok, Back to cars and bikes.

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

?Emphasize process over results?
Nick Saban, Alabama Football coach

Still in a state of shock over the SCTA?s refusal of my entry form, I found my way to yet another trailer, where more paperwork was handled. Another kindly lady took one look, and said: ? We can handle this pretty easily?.? And she handed back my original registration form, with the five class change papers, and my check for six (6) record attempts.

?The SCTA has never had ANY vehicle ? car or bike ? attempt six records in one week with the same vehicle, and we are not even sure we know how to keep the paper work from getting confused. Just cancel your check, and go to registration and give them ONLY your initial entry, and a check for JUST that initial entry. If you want to run more classes, please do so, and pay for one class change at a time.?

Back to the lady with the imposing nails.

Relieved, paper work done, we concentrated on inspection; which we completed with NO demerits, and then continued setting up our pit. An interesting Saturday.

Now increasingly confident, but still apprehensive about the un-tried motor, early Sunday morning we towed to the starting area, and waited some hours for our turn on the single course. I warmed the bike on the quite-hot warm-up spark plugs, which were just normal ?street? plugs.

The engine had never been fired before, and I was worried about the lack of break in. I had installed hard chrome piston rings as part of my low-internal-friction plan, and I wasn?t sure how long it would take the rings to fully seat. It would turn out that I was right to be concerned, but for different reasons.

When the engine was toasty, I installed the quite-cool ?race? plugs. Which, as per factory race team instructions, were Champion N-60R ?cartridge fire? (recessed tip) racing items.


(photo) Typical of the Harley factory-recommended racing plugs, like mu N-60R.
The R meant Retracted, not Racing.

My first run was a creditable 148 mph, but did not qualify. We were able to get in another run, and I put larger jets in the twin carbs, thinking the bike was running lean at top speed. I had fit cylinder-head temperature gauges over the winter, hoping to understand the combustion temperatures. No help;
the erratic information from the new gauges was of no help. The huge engine vibration was shaking the bejesus out of the needles, and the readings were worthless.

After the second run the resulting 146 mph hand-written timing slip told me I had guessed in the wrong direction. Even smaller jets than original produced a first-day qualification of 153mph. Picked up seven (7) mph with a simple jet change !

Not bad for a bike that started the trip still partially in boxes !

This was in the old 3-run-for-record period, where the qualification run just got you to record runs; nothing else. Without the need to impound the bike, we could go in town and worry all night about whether we were ready for records the next day.

My memory is that we missed Monday for weather, and record runs came to us on Tuesday.

We all marshaled up at about 6:30 am at the starting line; slapping our arms trying to keep warm. We had learned the year before, 1973, than services on the salt were primitive, no ice, no coffee, no food, no electricity. There was NO gas station at the interstate intersection, and NO fast food outlets in town. But, there was plenty of salt?..

Well prepared after last year, my wife Ellen started fixing breakfast around 6:45. You will recall from photo?s that our van had double doors on BOTH sides; an unusual feature in a 1969 Dodge A-100. As I prepared the bike on the right side, Ellen catered on the left side. A large metal table was placed beside the van, with folding chairs ; a red-and-white table cloth was lofted to cover the metal. We fired up our two burner Coleman. Within minutes, Ellen spread the welcome smell of drip-brewed coffee in cups for an appreciative record-run crowd, and she and began making cheese blintzes with raspberry sauce for any hungry friend.

Ellen?s Land Speed Racing catering
career had begun to rave reviews.

Our time to run came, and Bob Higby gesturing to us. We towed off the start line in our usual fashion, me clutching nervously to Ellen?s door handle until we reach the ?drop-off? speed of about 40 mph.

Freud Foto
Ellen Guthrie tows her husband Scott up to a ?drop off? speed of 40 mph, and the bike fires up. Yes this is the 1970?s, and yes, his hair is longer than hers.

Released from the van, I released the clutch in second gear, and was satisfied by an immediate bark from the two straight pipes. After warming the engine for about an eighth of a mile, I quickly accelerated through the four gears to a ?down pass,? into the eastern early morning sun, of 156.744mph. A nice improvement over yesterday?s 153mph. Probably cool weather, and not my riding or tuning skills. This was fast enough for us to be pretty upbeat anticipating the return run within the hour.


Photo - Warner Riley at the start. I had learned my tow-start trick from watching Warner, but he did it much better. Custom handle at the back of the van (safer), and one window open for the mechanic to relay commands, and to watch out.

In the old 3-run days, one did not have to be over the record on the first record run, but the AVERGAGE of the two runs had to be over the old record in order to set a new record. With the old method, there had to be two runs made over the record to put a new line in the book. The first had to be the qualifying run, and one of the two following record runs also had to be ?over.?

The Harley came home southwest, away from floating mountain in the increasingly warm morning air, with a 147.26 mph, to a new record average of 152.002 mph. We were un-opposed, so all I had to do was pass inspection, change classes, and return to the start line for the next record qualification.

The bike was feeling a little off song in the final mile. Another clue I missed.