We went to the Texas Mile in October 2007 and ran 199.647. Which I guess I should have been happy with as I have always been a drag racer and until 2008 with this bike in Real Street it had been mostly on a car tire wheelie bar top gas type bike. 2007 was my first time at a land speed event and the first time to ride a turbo charged motorcycle of any kind. It was truly amazing! After about 4 passes I really wanted try and get into the 200 mph club there. About the 3/4 mile mark on my 4Th pass I had an oil fitting that had been cracked when the tip over switch was tested in tech, which was my fault for not having the lanyard already on the bike? Anyway it dumped 3 quarts of oil right on the rear tire so kinda coasted/slid through the mile at 199.647 mph. So I left thinking OK I had planned to drag race the bike and this was fun but not for me? Well for 2 years now it has just continued to eat at me. I keep remembering how much fun I had and how wonderful everyone was, so finally I decided I was going back. I did with all I had learned drag racing in Real Street during the 2008 season and was extremely confident I would easily, with what I had learned, be able to run 200,,,, Boy was I wrong! There is a big difference between the two and I had one of the best to set the bike up for me the first time "Terry Kizer". He is great, but being I had thought I had this bike figured out running a best of 8.48 at 172 1/4 mile. I left it the way I had it for the first day Friday. Well it did not handle at all I soon found out with crosswind of 18 mph, gusting up to 30 mph, if I leaned the bike at all it would not hold the track. Though I was able to squeeze a 200.474 my fourth pass on Friday and make the club. I gained a whole new respect for how hard it is to get past that point for a newbie anyway. The first pass Friday I ran 155 and did not think there was anyway I could do 200 with that much cross wind. But I am not one for giving up and there were a few others going just over 200 Friday. So our second pass we ran 177 mph. On our third pass I decided to try and ride it the way you would a car tire back and see how it reacted 188. Then Terry Kizer "Mr Turbo" came to me in the staging lanes, he was already aware of how much trouble I was having with the wind, he told me how they were getting down the track at the speeds the bike he had prepped to break the track record and possible the world LSR record in the standing mile for that weekend. (they went 259.9 breaking the track record and missing the world record by less than 1 mph in not great conditions) First he told me to just run to the half and wait till tomorrow,, then he looked at me and obviously saw I was not going to be able to do that, He then proceeded to coach me on how to do it resulting in a much easier to control pass at 200.474. I still was not able to run it all the way out the back anywhere near full power with 16 pounds of boost!
Later Friday evening Mr Turbo had a Texas cookout that they had for several of the racers and friends.
That evening I got to talk with Shane Stubbs and Joey Whilhite they were quick to point out the way I had my shock setup to drag race was not what I wanted for LSR. Joey and his wife went with me to look at how I had it and explained what I needed to do. I got most of what he told me but he is so much more knowledgeable on how these type of bikes work than I am it is unreal. After he left I made the changes and Shane came up to have me set on it just to see how it reacted to the changes. Well I had it off even worse than I realized so I continued to worked on it until about 1 am Saturday morning. Thinking I had it, I grabbed a few hours sleep and was ready Saturday Morning. The wind had died down and I was feeling really good. Good enough to think maybe I had a shot at being the Fastest ZX14 in the world 233?
So being concerned the wind was going to come back up I decided to go ahead and adjust the waste gate to 17 maybe 18 pounds. Well,,,,,,,, I went a little to far making about 22 pounds of boost with single injectors, no inter-cooler or secondary injectors, well the pistons did not like that being I was mapped for 17 to 18 pounds max! It left the starting line like it meant business and went through the first three gears like I was at the drag strip. When I shifted to fourth gear I know I was on a pass and was already tucked waiting for the shift light to fifth which would be nearing 200. It came on shortly before the 1/2 mile mark and I shifted to fifth at that point I realized I may have went to far on the waste gate?? Actually I knew I had, but I was thinking just 10 more seconds, because I was moving and everything felt perfect otherwise. Then there was just to much heat for the pistons, the shift light had came on for 6Th and I let it rev just a little more just before I pushed the button for 6Th it felt like I hit the kill switch. I knew what had happened, one or more of those wonderful pistons had given its all. I was done! Just got greedy and wanted it to bad. Again it was my fault Terry had told me to put the secondary injectors in just in case I was not satisfied with just getting in the 200 mph club? I had not because of hoping to rules would be adjusted in the drag racing sanction I had raced in so we could become competitive again, but at this point I don't think that is going to happen.
You would think I would realize as much as I love doing this it is better to be prepared and what better person to listen to than Mr Turbo himself?
One of the fastest people I have seen ride street bike has always told me "it only takes a nickel more to do it right!" "H.L.J."
Well I am hooked and ready to start making repairs for March or it may be October again depending on what all I find wrong. This is the way it use to be when I first started drag racing. Just good people, good racing and a love of the sport. Everybody just wants everybody to do the best they can, and setting records would be great but just doing your personal best is rewarding to all. It doesn't matter how you make your power or if you aren't going with the status quo, it is just good racing for all! This is likely why I am finding so many people I have drag raced with and had wondered where they went!
This has been an achievement that I was unsure if I would accomplish and after reflecting on it a little I have to step back and realize that though I felt I should have done better. I had looked at it as anyone could do it, but very few have and even fewer have done it on 2 wheels. When I began looking through the names of those members of the 200 mph club and am very honored to have my name among them.
There is no way I could thank everyone who has supported me, helped me and just told me I could do it, whether they believed it or not. My wife Marceline who has endured my passion or sickness depending how you look at it, My boy's Hunter and Walker, Mr Turbo and so many, many others. Some who are still here to see it and some who have moved on to the greatest race track in the sky.
I just want to say thanks to everyone and I will keep you posted as we began this new part of our passion!
Eric T Williams
1820
P.S. I have attached some pictures and I will have some more better quality pictures to send out sometime next month.
