Autobahn Skunkwerks

BUB 2009 Final Results

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:16:57 +0000

2009 Speed Trials by BUB at the Bonneville salt flats in Wendover, UT.

After much work, lots of salt, sun and several cases of bottled water the runs are in and the records from last year have fallen.

Day	Time	Rider	Class	Mile	Direction	Comments
Mon	11:49AM	Len	500-APS-VG	0	down	Turn Out, Loose Ground Wire
Mon	1:28PM	Len	500-APS-VG	98.071	down	Wrong gearing, too rich
Tue	9:00AM	Len	500-APS-VG	97.79	down	Better jetting, but still wrong gearing
Tue	1:21PM	Len	500-APS-VG	107.438	down	Back to the 7/25 gear, much better
Tue	2:55PM	Len	500-APS-VG	0	return	Turn Out, Oops
Tue	5:08PM	Len	500-APS-VG	105.537	down	Good run, this broke last years record
Tue	5:28PM	Len	500-APS-VG	106.234	return	Better run, submitted for a record
Wed	11:22AM	Eric	500-A-VG	109.573	down	Fastest so far,
Wed	12:34PM	Eric	500-A-VG	108.184	return	Fastest so far, submitted for a record
Wed	2:54PM	Jessie	500-A-VG	106.055	down	Good run by Jessie
Wed	3:20PM	Jessie	500-A-VG	111.807	return	HOLY SMOKES, Fastest run yet
Wed	4:18PM	Jessie	500-A-VG	105.826	down	Okay return, submitted for a record
Thur	8:20AM	Len	500-APS-VG	107.617	down	Len made a good run in the cool morning air
Thur	10:01AM	Len	500-APS-VG	106.043	return	Return is good too, submitted for a record
Thur	11:55AM	Jessie	500-A-VG	0	down	No Start, Dead batter, salt bears got us.

To break a record at BUB, you must first beat last year record on your “down” course run. If you do that, you have to “back up” the run with a successful “return run” in the opposite direction. This removes headwind/tailwind or any other environmental advantages.

After a couple of tuning runs on the first day, the records started to fall. On the second day Len broke our 500cc, Altered Frame, Partially Streamlined, Vintage Gasoline engine record from last year. His two-way average was 105.88mph. The next day Eric turned in two, excellent back to back runs in the “no streamlining” class, 500-A-VG, at 108mph and 109mph for a two way average of 108.876mph (remember that number).

Later in the day, Jessie turned in a solid 106mph on her first run also in the 500-A-VG class. We all, Jessie included, thought it might take a few runs to “get up to speed”. She hasn’t spent much time the machine since last year; not so. Since this broke last year’s record, Jessie was eligible for a return run. With my 108/109 combo yesterday, I thought my record was safe. On Jessie’s return run she posted our fastest single run ever at 111.807mph for a two-way average of 108.931mph, taking the record.

Everyone rode well and safely, last year’s records were soundly beaten and the motorcycle ran flawlessly. A very successful trip.

Stay Tuned!

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:58:04 +0000

We will be out running this morning. First we need to finish registrations, next scrutineering and then out for a run.

Will Len set his record on the first day?

The Glamerous Life

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:56:14 +0000

The glamerous life of a salts-flat racer. Wendover is on Mountain time, two hours earlier than home in Ohio, but I keep my watch on Cincinnati time. That way I can get up at 6:30AM, by my watch, same as at home. Get ready and be out on the salt at 8:30AM. The course opens at 6:30AM local – see how that works out perfectly. Confused? The time change messes with me too. The hard part is to not stay up to late.

Onward and Upward

admin — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:58:30 +0000

It is an uphill journey, yes racing a 50 year old motorcycle isn’t exactly easy either, but I mean the drive. From Cincinnati to Omaha we only climbed about 600 feet. From 1200 feet above sea level in Omaha, we are now in eastern Wyoming at over 6000 feet. We have been driving mostly uphill all day.
I am looking forward to Elk Mountain ahead. Click on the picture for a larger view. It is one of the scenic treats of the trip.

Like backpacking trips, dinner is not a time it is place. Tonight it is Rock Springs, Wyoming near the Utah border.

Driving…

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:02:41 +0000

Mark Gardner in One Man’s Island comments, as so many racer before have, that for every one hour of racing there is 10 times or more of driving. Indiana and Illinois have been covered, Iowa is next. Today is the “I” state day. Tomorrow is Nebraska and Wyoming.

We’re back for 2009

admin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:55:02 +0000

Thank you for tuning back in, hopefully it will be worth the wait because we are tuned back up to run better than ever this year. The carvan leaves Friday morning, August 25th for the Speed Trials by BUB at the Bonneville Salt Flats. We have have building, tuning, thinking, tuning some more and are ready to break last year records.

Here is a picture showing the new fairing.

The master tuner at work dialing everything in precisely.

It’s Official!

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:47:07 +0000

With many thanks to our sponsors, Autobahn Craftwerks and Acculube, the support of our friends and family, we are proud to announce two LAND SPEED RECORDS. The official posting is on the Speed Trials by BUB website here. The records are in order by our assigned numbers which are 1362 and 9242.

The two records are:

Rider	Number	Displacement	Frame Type	Engine	Fuel	Speed
Len Kerkhoff	1362	500cc	Altered	Vintage	Gasoline	91.737
Eric Ratermann	9242	500cc	Altered/Partial Streamline	Vintage	Gasoline	104.117

We’re famous!

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:15:30 +0000

For a minute at least. City Beat, our local independent newspaper, published a story about the teams efforts. You can see the article here.

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16014-speed-racers.html

Thank you to City Beat for being interested in our project.

More results

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:17:28 +0000

Official record results have not been published by BUB at this time. I do, however, have a copy of the raw run logs from the timing tower which show some impressive results for the team. Thanks to www.landracing.com and Seldom Seen Slim for making them available Note these results reflect entries that registered for a record eligible class.

The top speed recorded for Autobahn Skunkwerks was 105.102 recorded by Len on a tuning run, followed closely by a run of 105.014 by Eric on his downstream record run.

Autobahn Skunkwerks recorded the second fastest 500cc vintage motorcycle speed in attendance. One of the two Royal Enfields from Classic Motorworks\Classic Motorcycle Association team recorded a very impressive 110.384 MPH.

Autobahn Skunkwerks attained the 5th highest speed out of the 13 vintage motorcycles of any displacement at the meet. Every faster vintage machine than our BMW and the Enfield was 1000cc or over.

09/02/08 Down 1362 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 A VG 98.795
09/03/08 Down 9242 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 APS VG 101.257
09/03/08 Down 9242 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 APS VG 104.486
09/04/08 Down 1362 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 A VG 105.102
09/05/08 Down 1362 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 A VG 91.432
09/05/08 Return 1362 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 A VG 92.042
09/05/08 Down 9242 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 APS VG 105.014
09/05/08 Return 9242 Autobahn Skunkworks 500 APS VG 103.221
09/05/08 Down 9344 Jessie Baublitz 17:26:52 93.906
09/05/08 Down 9344 Jessie Baublitz 17:56:57 96.453

Bold entries represent our record runs.

Thank You

admin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:28:56 +0000

It took many, many people to make Bonneville 2008 possible. Please see our Thank You page here.