Speedweek 2023
Speedweek 2023 did not start out as planned. A week before SW the camshaft drive key on the Muell sheared while on the bike stand, bending two valves. Not the end of the world, but certainly didnt make for a easy next few days. I scavaged some old heads from my previous race engine that were in less than stellar shape. After a quick topend rebuild the Muell fired right up with the old ragged heads. Time to load for Bonneville!
We packed everything we could possibly need over the course of the next few days and headed out on a Thursday afternoon for the legendary Speedweek at the Bonneville Salt Flats. For us, thats about 6hrs towing trailers north from Las Vegas. When we arrive in Wendover NV where we stay during SW, we found the race trailer had decided it no longer liked its front right wheel and was trying to get rid of it by way of bearing failure. So…in true Bonneville fashion, we woke up early Friday to replace it…come to find out, it ate the spindle, the hub and the brakes! All good, I pack a spare spindle and the local parts house had a hub. Friday was also when we got the news…..Bonneville Salt Flats was flooded and racing was to be delayed until further notice.
During this delays we took the opportunity to change cams on the Muell to something a little softer, we wernt going to be needing huge power on a damp track and the less than stellar valves probably wernt going to be up to the task of what the gnarly big cams were going to throw at them. So, by 2pm on Friday, we had a rebuilt trailer and cams swapped….what do we do now?
Saturday rolled around and my good buddy John Levie calls and says hes having issues with his sit on Hayabusa. Electrical gremlins had been set loose in his harness. So, I told him to bring it by the KOA and Id have a look. A look turned into a complete re-wire right there under the EZ-UP. After about 4‐5hrs of wiring we had a MaxxECU Mini installed…bike still wouldnt start…wtf. Called my other good friend Jim Higgins and he brought the whole possy, Shane Stubbs, Jim Higgins, Dave Damon and Brandon…..Jim just happened to have a Gen2 cam sensor that we threw in and wired up….still no start. We all were baffled. I finally walked away, slept on it, next morning I came out, spun the sensor 180° and the bike fired right up! Super clean free revs, the whole bit! Sweet! By now its Sunday, weve got the Muell and the Busa running…still no racing. Around 11ish another customer/ friend calls and he needs some help doing an initial fire up of his awesome 40ft streamliner with a 638ci KB bigblock!
We wander over to the Redgarter parking lot and find Sid Gyde along with his liner hanging out in the shade. So, we go plug into the computer, verify all the inputs in about 30mins and its time to fire this bad thing up. First hit of the starter switch yields us a spectacular backfire….woops, cam sync setting backwards. Second hit, this thing doesnt just fire up, it flat freaking roars to life shaking the windows of the casino its next too. Few good wacks of the throttle and its a symphony of big block noise! Within 15-20mins people start to gather around this awesome, beautifully hand built streamliner. Sid has been working on this car 13 years, to say this Kiwi was grinning from ear to ear was a understatement. The more people came over the more he got to explain his built in greater depth. Cool moment for sure.
We left Sid with his crowd around noon thirty and headed back to KOA to grab the bike and head to tech inspection which they were holding at the Wendover airport. We cruised over and slid through tech, easy breezy. We’ve been through it enough times, we know what all ducks to have in what rows. The line we waited in took longer than the actual inspection haha.
Monday….at this point we were all chomping at th bit to race. To preoccupy our time we floated around the KOA helping the Brant/ Speranza team work on a little 90cc pushrod bike they were trying to get going for DeEtte Speranza to ride for her first time racing on the salt. After several hours they managed to combine two of these non running 90s into one running 90. Thursday she would finally get to make her run down the Great White Dyno.
Tuesday. Raceday. We arrived for drivers meeting at 6:45am…it was held in a shallow pond as there was still a decent amount of water on the salt. By 7:30am, we were in line ready to run. The course was cold, damp and a bit rough. John Levie with the Probe was first man down the course, I could see salt spray from a half mine away….not ideal. I rolled up to be number four off the line, I had been waiting for this for 3 years. It felt….different not having my father at the line with me. Having my wife and my friends there at the line with me helped though. The Muell fired up easily on its new MaxxECU. We sat and waited for Nick Arias to give me the sign. Nick pointed at me, and I dropped my visor. Go time. Or so I thought, bike tried to stall right off the line…doh! Few more bumps of the starter and we were off. I started off easy, rolling into the throttle to see what the course had for grip….nothing. The engine roared, the turbo spooled and the bike came completely unglued, it didnt wag its tail, it simply blew the back tire loose….through ALL FIVE GEARS! At about the 2.5 mile mark the bike coughed then started to loose power. Not good. So I tucked in as tight as possible and coasted the three at a 156mph. GPS had shown a best of over 162 at some point. I rolled out too the right and had a few puffs of smoke.
Going on a 110 record, the Muell blew through it…but, it also blew a hole through the front piston….oops. back to KOA! Breidyn VanderWoude, Rafe Cordell and I stayed up late rebuilding the top end. Somewhere around 9pm were were doing a valve job with a cordless drill and a file…not exactly precise but it worked. By 9am the next morning, the Muell was back to being fully clothed and breathing fire.
Back to the startline on Wednesday. Well…after a three hour wait in line. This time, I let the bike warm up a fair bit before making a run. This rewarded up, 129mph at the 2…but the bike shutoff…what now? Oh right, somewhere between 10pm the previous night and 9am the next morning, I put the battery cable on and never tightened it! Doh! All good, back to impound. The bike looks good this time, no broke parts, nothing injured. Just tuck it in for the night and race again tomorrow.
We arrived to the track Thursday morning to find a wind storm had absolutely destroyed almost every ezup, canopy and outhouse on the salt. The French scooter that was next to use in impound had been flipped completely upsidedown and bent their handle bars. We helped them get their scooter all back together in time for backup runs. Thats the cool thing about Bonneville, I dont speak French and the owner didnt speak English, yet we worked side by side to get him going again. Thursday I was #1 bike off the line. Slick, slimy, and rough…super rough. But we managed a 139 at the two and a 148 at the three despite traction control going nuts and boost being reduced to just 5psi. That sealed the deal for the MPS-PBF-1000 record. Bumping it from 110mph to 134mph two way average. Despite some lack luster speeds, and rather nasty salt conditions, the Muell did really well for being completely rebuilt with a whole bunch of new, untested stuff. I didnt even get to put it on a dyno before we left! The new intake, turbo, swingarm, forks, triple clamps, controls, electronics, almost EVERYTHING just flat worked! Sure, we torched a piston, but thats racing! And anyone that says they’ve never hurt a part racing is either lying or losing….likely both. I know without an ounce of doubt this bike has WAYYYY more in it. We just gotta get through the teething problems that every new build has. Until next time, heres a recap video.
Sept 8‐11th we’ll be heading back for more….provided mother nature plays nice.
