Going Home
Aaron Wilson, 09.26.2000

Just got home, spent 16+ hours in Rock Springs Wyoming (really) as I-80 was closed for white-out conditions and fog. We had to spend the night in a large conference room of a Holiday Inn that had been set up with cots.

It still really hasn't sunk in. I sure appreciate y'all's (in my best Louisiana accent) good wishes, though.

Jim, I'll get you for telling the Beemer boys about this!!! Now I HAVE to get off my butt and freshen the motor and go out there, all in 4 short weeks. It's the prudent thing to do anyway, the Guzzi team will be there too, with both barrels loaded. I'd really like to hold the records for more than a month, and I can't concede an event where they might get better conditions.

Speaking of which, we never really put it all together. I mean, early in the week the weather was good, but we were still sorting the jetting and the gearing and Richard was honing his technique. We kept getting faster. We were just getting there when the wind came up. We STILL got faster. In fact, we set our fastest speed, 161.6, into a pretty stiff headwind. I KNOW we could go a bunch faster in the absence of wind.

There are other areas where we have room for improvement, too. Like the motor. I know I can pull another 5 horse or so out of it. I just didn't have time to do as thorough of a job tuning as I'd like to. BTW, I still won't tell you how much it has, but the 80hp guess is way low.

Court's comments notwithstanding, all the credit for the durability of that motor goes to Joe George of Axtell, engine builder extraordinaire.

Let me tell a quick story about why we packed it up a little early on Saturday. First, on Friday afternoon, after breaking our own MPS-PG record we quickly configured the bike for our slowest record, APS-PF (the first one we had set) and got it back to the line, just in time for a course shutdown due to high wind. We waited patiently for an hour or so and the scheduled closing was coming near and the wind had only gotten stronger, so we packed it up.

Then Saturday morning we got up to the line early. It had rained and the course was not good, it had a slippery coating of soft salt over the concrete hard underlayment. The wind was calm and the weather cool, though, so we were hopeful. Richard took off and only went a couple miles and pulled off, complaining of loss of power. We later diagnosed it as the chin of his helmet pinching the breather hose. He had learned that climbing up the tank was helping his speeds and he climbed a little too far that time.

Third thing, back in the paddock, I took an 11/16" wrench to the breather fitting, attempted to turn it out of his way, and promptly twisted the little booger off. I said a bad word.

Fourth, by the time we fixed that and got it back to the line, we had a severe cross-wind. Folks, that's TOUGH to ride through, let me tell you (I tried). You basically have to put the bike in a slight slide to keep it on the course. At 150mph. It scrubs speed terribly and is very difficult to hang on to. I didn't really want Richard to go out in it but he insisted it was okay. He "only" ran 150, his slowest speed of the event (excluding his mandatory <150mph licensing run).

Everyone in the truck knew it was time to pack it in. We had set 4 new records and then gone back and raised 2 of them. We were getting greedy, and through a series of events, someone was trying to tell us it was time to go.

Richard is an amazing rider. There are no words to describe it. I took the bike out for two passes. Ran 146. I got off the bike and put him back on it. He ran 160. He's magic.

Brian was a HUGE help. It sure helps to have someone knowledgeable nearby to consult with, bounce ideas off of, discuss the data we were getting, etc.

On top of their value as racers, the Nallin brothers are an absolute RIOT to hang around with. These guys are terrific. Remind me to tell you about the "6 toes thing".

Much more to say, but I gotta get some sleep ... more later ... gotta save some for the Team Elves web site, too.

See ya,

AW

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