Jim takes up the story...
Hi Lorcan,
The following text and pictures describe our 2012 efforts at the World of Speed venue at the Bonneville Salt Flats. I was a bit embarrassed over the whole fiasco so didn’t post it to the site. Please forgive the manner in which it is written. It was directed to my family that is scattered over the US. None understand my LSR efforts and none of them are mechanically inclined but they all enjoy hearing about my efforts. So, bear with me please.
Hello Everyone!
We’re back from Bonneville and I’ve gotten back into the daily routine here. Some of you have asked how things went so I thought I’d compile a “quick” synopsis of our experiences complete with pictures and fire it off to all of you. Here you go.
We actually got started two days late due to problems with the bike. Of Course!! The last bit of mechanical difficulties was taken care of late Thursday so it was elected to leave early the next morning before 6:00 am and drive straight through to Wendover.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed (If you believe that, I’ve got 5lbs. of sand I can sell you real cheap!), we left Friday morning right on time about an hour late from our preplanned strategy. It proved to be a very easy, even enjoyable trip. I led out with our truck pulling the bike on its little trailer and Ky & Zach followed in a rental Corolla. I’ve forgotten the town we stopped at for a Starbucks coffee and a spot of breakfast. It was east of Reno in a god-forsaken landscape of high desert with no vegetation to be seen save for the small patch of grass at Starbucks. I mused about how the inhabitants could live in such surroundings and from where their income was generated. Ky suggested it was mining. A different kind of people to be sure. We continued on to Wendover with our coffee, arriving at the Peppermill Rainbow Hotel in the late afternoon.
I did a quick check-in at the Hotel’s registration desk while the boys waited outside. Check-in completed, we drove the remaining five miles to the Bonneville Salt Flats exit off Highway 80. A mile from the exit we arrived at the Bend in the Road. The Bend in the Road in all prior trips has been our destination. We would set up camp there, base camp really, and travel to the race course each morning. We didn’t stop at the Bend today and continued on another five miles to the End of the Road. The End of the Road is the location of the large Bonneville Salt Flats sign that denotes the entrance to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Today, as in every other racing venue at the flats, a check point was set up at the entrance.
We we’re waved through the check point and immediately found ourselves in axel deep water on the salt. We slogged through water for almost a mile before we reached dry salt. The race course was located about four miles into the salt flats with the pit area another two miles further. We picked a spot and hurriedly sat up our pit area. First was to build the floor on the salt. No race vehicles can sit directly on the salt and must have a covering on the salt at all times. What I do is lay out two 12’ x 16’ foot tarps and then literally mount them to the salt surface. That’s done with three-inch deck screws and large fender washers. The screw is inserted through a fender washer and the combo is then screwed through the tarp and into the salt surface using my DeWalt 18V drill/driver. About 50 of those holds down the two tarps. Ky took care of that tedious chore this year. Ky then set about setting up the 10’ x 10’ screen room over the tarps. We then hustled off to Tech and Registration.
Guess who the Tech Inspector was this year?! Yep, the guy that had wrote the rules for LSR(Land Speed Racing) motorcycles, Tom Evans. Now I’d heard from fellow racers and many blogs that Tom Evans was a real hard case when it came to the rules. I found him to be thorough in his job and humble to an extreme. A very pleasant fellow. He said my bike was the safest bike he’d seen out there. That didn’t help as I failed inspection. Two reasons. My super expensive Arai helmet was outdated and couldn’t be used. One of the safety items that has to be proven to be functioning during the inspection is a lanyard switch that is connected to the bike’s ignition and the rider’s suit. This is to insure the motor is killed instantly in case the rider is separated from the bike. (crash) That was the second fail point. Tom asked me to start the bike so he could pull the lanyard switch to verify it actually functioned. Bike wouldn’t start. Incredible! Wouldn’t start. Starter spinning merrily. Wouldn’t start. Tom checked off everything else on a very long list as perfect and we put the bike back on the trailer and headed to our pit area.
Here’s a shot of our small encampment that sufficed as our pit area. Ky is sweeping salt from the screen room and Zach is sitting up a large beach umbrella to be used to cover the bike when not inside the screen room. We also used it to deflect exhaust from a small portable H*nda genset Ky rented. Note the bike in in the screen room. My hand tools are to the left in the room and a fan is in the back corner of the room on the left. Several cases of portable power tools are still in the truck bed.
A little tighter shot of the screen room.
We completed unloading the truck of the rest of the tools and support equipment and readied the area for overnight. Ky dropped the screen room over the bike after placing a tarp on it and battened down the room’s base using heavy objects. That has to be done every night as winds pickup after sundown and reach upwards of 50 knots as a matter of course. Any shades, coverings, etc., not taken down or secured in such a way to withstand those nightly winds, can be located 20 miles or more away from the pit area in the morning!
We we’re ready for the hotel after driving all day and the failed Tech Inspection. I decided we’d get right on the bike in the morning and after re-checking our pit for anything loose the wind could catch, we were off to the hotel. A so-so dinner in one of the hotel’s restaurants and we were done for the day.
Saturday morning. We had a driver’s/crew meeting at 8:00am which I elected not to attend. Couldn’t see the point. We arose late and had breakfast at the same restaurant in the hotel we’d had dinner in the night before. We arrived at the checkpoint at the End of the Road about 10:00am. We had no trouble getting through without our vehicle stickers as both the truck and car were caked with salt from the previous day. It was obvious we were involved with the race venue. Vehicle stickers would come with the registration packet once I passed Tech with the bike.
Leaving the End of the Road checkpoint, we drove the the mile of water again. Ky raised the screen room and we hooked up the truck to the trailer and pulled it out of the room. We then offloaded the bike from the trailer and pushed it back into the screen room to be worked on. A lot of salt had found its way onto the screen room floor from the winds over night and Ky set about sweeping it out.
It’s like the salt is alive with a brain allocated to the singular purpose of glomming on to anything remotely connected to something you don’t want it on!
Finished with this go-round.
I’ll have to ask him, but it appears that Zach is using his phone to capture me capturing him.
I then removed the gas tank, side covers, and seat to expose the innards of the bike. I knew it was electrical, but exactly what I didn’t have a clue. Here’s a shot of Ky searching the wiring for anything amiss. Turns out there was a multitude of problems.
Here’s what he found. That blue connector was smashed by something unknown and that grey wire that has been stripped on the end in preparation of repair was broken. That grey wire connects the boost sensor to the fuel computer. One other wire in the bundle was all but separated with only a couple of strands still hanging on. I didn’t bother to run down the whys and wherefores of the damage, just repaired it. Unfortunately, the problem seen in this picture can only cause the motor to run poorly. It had nothing to do with it not starting.
I’m about to start the electrical repairs in this shot.
Finishing up here. Not sure what Zach is doing.
So what is wrong? When we arrived in the morning Ky fired up the genset and we hooked up the battery charger to the bike. I completed the wiring repairs and just for the heck of it, attempted to start the bike. Started right up! ??? Didn’t question anything. We reinstalled the tank, hooked up the fuel lines, and placed the body side covers and seat back on. Then the bike was wheeled back on the trailer and off to Tech we went.
Placing the rear straps in this shot.
The Tech Inspection area in front of the truck. Ky captured the shot through the windshield of the Corolla.
I arrived at Tech and had to find the Inspector. Tech wasn’t very active as most of the racers had already been through it. Turned out Tom was on duty again and he told me I didn’t have to take the bike off the trailer as it only needed to have the lanyard switch activated with the motor running.
The bike is running in this shot and I’m about to reach over to pull the lanyard to kill the motor. This inspector isn't Tom. Since I’m in a class that runs over 200 mph, I have to have two inspectors sign the bike off. This guy was also a great person.
I think we’re simply yacking in this shot.
Zach and me waiting for an Inspector. Should have inserted this picture earlier I guess. Me bad.
If you don’t see this right-a-way, take another look at Zach’s glasses. He found he could see and have shaded eyes at the same time! He says he’s going to start a new trend!
Tech on the bike passed, we head back to the pits. We then pondered what to do about a helmet replacement. We reasoned it was too late to drive to Salt Lake for a new helmet so decided to drive to Salt Lake in the morning. Ky tarped the bike up on the trailer and we pushed it into the screen room. Ky then dropped the screen room on top the bike and trailer and secured the base as before. We then left the salt for lunch at the subway in Wendover. I’m fuzzy on my memory of what we did at that point but since it was late in the day, I believe we returned to the hotel.
Sunday morning. Up for breakfast in the same restaurant we’ve used before and on the road for Salt Lake by 10:00am. Seemed like it took forever to arrive at the Cycle Gear store in Draper, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Found a reasonably priced helmet that met the appropriate Snell certification and before I could get to the register to pay for it, Ky had already given the clerk a card and wouldn’t hear of me purchasing it. He had already supplied the cost of the H*nda genset, the rental car, and a lot of his camping equipment. He spent waaaay too much money and he repeatedly tried to make me feel better about his expenditures by telling me that he had a Bonneville budget. Still uncomfortable with that though.
Leaving the motorcycle apparel store, we realized we’d get back too late to get back on the salt so elected to eat dinner in Draper. Ky and Zach were dueling with their smart phones looking for a place to eat. Zach was finding eateries near the helmet store and Ky was using a program on his phone that rated the ones Zach found. Ended up at a wonderful Mexican restaurant. Since I wasn’t driving, I ordered a popular Mexican beer to go with the meal. Boy was I surprised! It came in a large handled mug that held 24 oz. Fabulous dinner! We drove straight to the hotel, arriving just after dark. That was it for the day.
Monday morning. Last full day and no runs in yet. However, ducks all in a row finally. Just have to take the new helmet to Tech Inspection and then finish up the registration. Then, off to the starting line! We had not witnessed a sunrise this year from the salt and I wanted that. So, up we were while still dark and out to the course we went. Here’s a few shots from that experience.
Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. Although, in person, the colors are so much more intense. It is simply a stunning, beautiful experience to see this in person.
In each of the above sunrise pictures, a marker cone for the race course can be seen on the salt just below and left of the sun.
Okay, time to get the helmet to Tech to get it signed off so we can finish the registration process.
Sun’s still low on the eastern horizon but hidden behind the clouds. An ominous foretelling. Had to find Tom again as no one was around Tech Inspection. It was the last full day of racing after all. The gals hadn’t opened the registration trailer yet so we sat at the cantina and had coffee.
The gals finally opened for business at registration.
Whee! Everything done! All paperwork, stickers, wristbands, everything to satisfaction. Time to go racing!
Back to the pits to make ready to head for the start line. Bike won’t start. Starter spinning motor like crazy. Won’t start. Ah crap!!! I note 10.8 volts on the dash voltage gauge. What the dickens? I should be reading at least 20 volts. Usually read almost 22 volts while the starter is engaged.
I have a 24 volt starting system on the bike. I found the fully charged stock battery didn’t provide enough amps with the starting circuit engaged to adequately run the computers. The ignition computer would provide spark and at the correct time but there wasn’t enough current to run the fuel computers. I override the stock computer with an additional fuel computer to allow the motor to run much more fuel then it could normally. Low current into the secondary fuel computer screws with its brain and that causes it to send extreme mixed messages to the fuel injectors. So bad the motor can’t possibly start. That problem was discovered in 2010 at Bonneville and to rectify the problem then, the crew came up with a start cart that was comprised of a small genset connected to a battery charger that in turn was connected to a deep cell marine battery. Jumper cables extended from the battery to the starter relay on the bike. The whole assembly was mounted on a quad being used for a pit vehicle. That allowed enough current for everything to function as it should. The motor started with the start cart and wouldn’t without. Fast forward to present and my discovery of a 24 volt starting system designed for super high compression drag bikes. A stock battery could barely turn one of those monster motors over let alone start it. The 24 volt starting system was borne from that necessity. The system is made of two 12 volt batteries hooked in series to obtain the 24 volts. There’s much more to it then that but that’s another story. It works by coming online when the starting circuit is engaged and goes offline as soon as the starting circuit is disengaged. It then reverts to a float state wherein the second battery in addition to the stock battery can be charged with the normal alternator on the bike. Works like a champ. Now I don’t have a high compression engine. I actually have a very low compression engine by design to accommodate turbo charging. For me, the 24 volt system lessens by a huge margin, the need for amps the starter insists on from the stock system. It’s Ohm’s law if you’re curious. In a nutshell, I have a start cart onboard without any of the hassles created by a separate bulky start cart.
I tried starting the motor again. Started right up! It had been on the charger long enough to bring the secondary battery back online. I noted only 12.6 volts @ 4,000 rpm. Should have read at least 13.8. I was very concerned if I ran the bike in the obvious current drain condition, I would really mess up something expensive.
The discovery of the 24 volt system offline when it shouldn’t be led me to start pulling at straws. I brought with me the barest of electrical repair equipment. I called Mike Chestnut in Tennessee, the guru of this particular bike. I called Richard Sims, the designer of the 24 volt system. Together, over the phone, there was not a lot that could be done without test equipment. Richard Sims suggested I check current paths with an Ohm meter. (DMM – Digital Multi Meter) By my last count, I have at least four of these. And, I was at Bonneville and all of them were in the garage back at home. Went into town to the two places that could possibly have one. A Pilot gas station that caters to truckers was a possibility but no luck there. The only place left was a car parts store that had very little inventory of things to actually work on a car or bike with. Nope, they didn’t have one either.
Remember that ominous foretelling of the clouds over the rising sun? I was at the Pilot gas station when a major rainstorm hit. I swear the raindrops were a full inch in diameter while hitting the ground in a spread of about a foot between splats. This continued as I was on the way to the car parts store. Started to rain harder. Left the car parts store and hurried back to the salt, fearing we’d get the little rental Corolla stuck five miles out in the salt. It had quit raining by the time I got to the End of the Road checkpoint where the guys told me the course was still dry. This was the same thing they had told us when we were at the checkpoint that morning. I had asked then because it had rained overnight for a short while. Anyway, I drove from the checkpoint out on the salt on the way to the pits. The salt was totally under water for almost four miles. I was very concerned at this point and wondered if we really were going to be stuck in the pits.
Racers were leaving in droves and it appeared to me that the course had been closed when I reached the starting line. I was still driving through water overlying the salt at this point. I reached the outer edges of the pit area before the salt was dry under the tires. Ky had battened down everything while I was gone when he noticed the weather was taking a turn for the worse. He had wrapped a tarp on the bike and had secured everything under the dropped screen room. We immediately started back out with the little car. Zach remained with it at the End of the Road entrance while Ky and I drove back to the pit area to wrap up and leave.
The pit area was starting to look like a ghost town by the time we arrived to pack up. I also noted very few vehicles in the starting line. Most of them were course official cars and trucks. It took a while to pack up. Ky took on the job of unscrewing all those three-inch wood screws that were keeping the tarps in place on the salt. Winds had kicked up with enough force at that time to create a hassle in trying to fold the tarps. First one was a mess but we figured out how to use the wind to help fold the second and stored it quickly as a result. We were out of there in about an hour from when we started to pack. Think we set a record! Leaving the pit area, we were in water immediately and continued so all the way to the End of the Road entrance to the salt flats five miles away. I noted as we passed the starting line there was no cars left. Back in the pits, officials were dismantling everything. So, early afternoon of the last full day of racing, the venue was called. No runs.
Here’s a couple of shots Ky captured with his cell phone as we were leaving, driving through the water.
All of what we had gone through was still an incredible time for me personally. I hope Ky & Zach enjoyed it as well. Yes, I had a wonderful time with my boys. Turns out it was pretty darned easy to recognize that actually running the bike on the salt would have been simply icing on the cake of the experience. My boys made all the difference in the world for that trip to the salt. I will treasure the memories forever. My whole family sacrifices both monetarily and time to allow these Bonneville trips to happen and I’m eternally grateful.
We arose late the next morning and drove the short distance to the Wendover Airport. I wanted to take in the Enola Gay museum since we were right there. Pretty shoddy if you ask me. Seems to me with something so historically significant, there would be money available to properly do it up right. Paul Tibbits was the commander of the squadron that trained to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. He also was the pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima. The top secret base in Wendover was also the place where the atom bombs were built. In the main museum building an inert replica of “Little Boy” is displayed. It has the signatures of most of the responsible persons in the development and delivery of the atom bombs. Extremely sobering.
We left the museum and topped off our gas tanks at the Pilot gas station, loaded up on some snacks and drinks and headed west on Highway 80. We made it to Elko and decided it was time for eats. Found a sit-down in a hotel casino. We finished up and I had insisted on paying so Ky & Zach sauntered over to the in-house Starbucks while I paid the check. I had left my wallet in the truck so was stuck at the counter until the boys wondered where I was and returned with their coffees and one for me. Ky paid for our meal. He laughed but I didn’t find it so funny as once again, he was paying.
Ky had a request that we stop in Reno to visit a “Scheels” store. If you are unfamiliar with that as I was, it’s a gigantic multi level store that offers everything under the sun related to sporting goods. I mean everything and massive quantities of it!! He had decided he could only spend an hour there as he was anxious to get home to help put his little ones to bed. Didn’t happen. We spent considerably more then an hour there. I heard Ky tell Sarah on his phone that if they were to get remarried, they would get married in that store! I know I want to go back there. Ky says he wants to go back with a budget. Given his “Bonneville budget” I think that means massive expenditures!
Back on the road again and it’s dark now. We arrived in Carmichael almost exactly at 10:00pm. I backed the trailer on the ramp and left it for the night. I offloaded the bike the next day and haven’t touched it since. I think I’ve patted its butt and told it, “Soon,” however. Spent almost the entire next day cleaning salt from the truck and trailer. The day after I took the truck to a car wash that sprays the underside in the washing process. I’m still getting droppings of salt on the driveway under the truck.
Hope this makes it to your email box. It’s a bit long and contains 24 pictures. Oh my!
Besides the bike problems and the weather seems loke a good time. Are you planing another trip?
you'd be lucky to see a written down circuit diagram. I know that's crap and the new bike will have a different level of electric with a CD but back then it was all about getting It sorted.