50 Years at Bonneville - Scott Guthrie Remembers

[Beef Stew]

Hi, Old-n-Slow I've never seen a Sporster head that looked like this.


I've seen the single carb Iron Head Class C


And the later XR750 aluminum heards with 2 carbs on the right 2 exhaust pipes on the left.


Do you have any info, or more photos, of the your heads? Or do you know of any H-D book that has info on these heads? They must have been originally made for the AMA TT bikes?right?

[Old-N-Slow]

BS:

The customer-issue 1970 Harley XR750 engines were very much like the iron-head Sportsters of the day, but were MORE like the XLR, which was the (VERY rare) competition model of the sportster, with different crankcases.

It looks like Mert Lawwill, in the photo, has one of the very first XR750 bikes with the "standard" single Tillotson carbs.  Mert's #1 plate dates the photo.

Very quickly, for the Factory Race Team members, the side-by-side dual carburetor heads were developed.  The dual carb heads provided more power, and the ability to set each cylinder's carburetion separately.

That's what I did.

The all-aluminum engine, introduced in 1972 (NOT in time for the March Daytona 200 race) immediately made anything "Iron" useless, which is no doubt how I was able to induce the Race Team to issue stuff to me ..............

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

Chapter #25


ELLEN GUTHRIEs Big Adventure

I was not the member of the family to be sought after as a rider. 

My wife Ellen, a lithe and beautiful 29 years old in 1976, was recruited to ride for Gordon ?Gordy? Seim of Salinas CA.  Gordy had seen Ellen assisting me, and was impressed with her motorcycle racing potential.  He was also impressed by her four foot, twelve inch stature and 90 pound trim physique.

 
Photo - Ellen Guthrie Collection.  Ellen reduced her weight from 105 pounds down to only 90 (dressed in leathers) for Bonneville.  I was covering the racing for CYCLE NEWS, and trying to look like a photographer.  As long as I was nowhere near GLEN FREUDENBERGER, I might have pulled it off. In those days, wearing TWO Nikon cameras around my neck was HIGH status!


Humans come in a limited range of specific gravity.  Lighter is usually smaller.  Lighter means less rolling friction.  Smaller also means less aerodynamic drag.

Ellen was perfect !

Gordy offered Ellen a sweetheart deal:  IF she would ride his Suzuki TS50 in the P/P-50cc production class, Gordy would provide the race bike, a practice bike, the spare parts, and a mechanic in support.
 
Photo - Gordon Seim with one of his three Brigham-sponsored (3) record-setting Can-Am Motorcycles at Bonneville in 1975.  Gordie would set records on all three bikes in a single met ? something of a high water mark.  Owner Brigham flanks Gordie, Son Henry would eventually take over the riding.

Seim was an experienced bike rider and builder who already held three Bonneville records on small two-strokes.  He seemed quite knowledgeable and very willing to help put Ellen into the record book.



 
Photo -  Production Suzuki TS50 as ridden by Ellen Guthrie to 49.93mph against a minimum of 50 mph

Ellen happily accepted the offer in late 1974, and immediately began strength and endurance training.  We had custom racing leathers made.  SHOEI, impressed with her promise, supplied special-for-her smaller helmets.

MINIMUMS?

At that time, Bonneville had minimums in many classes.  The reasons for the minimums were obscure, and I never quite understood why they existed, but they did.  Twenty bikes could run against a minimum, but if nobody broke the minimum, NOBODY ?got? the record.  (What year did the minimums go away ? was it also for cars ?)

Ellen?s minimum for what should have been the slowest class in the books was set at a whopping 50 mph.

Digest that. 

At the time, NOBODY in 25 years had ever exceeded 50 mph in Production 50cc, so the minimum was stout !  My memory is that the Suzuki TS50 ?Gaucho? was listed by the factory at an impressive 4.9 horsepower, and so would be hard pressed to hit 50mph, even at sea level, let alone at Bonneville on a hot afternoon with 7,500 feet of Density-altitude.

In fact, the MPS/C-50 record, which included full-on factory 12 horsepower road racers with fairings, 12-speed gearboxes, expansion chambers and conversion to water cooling had a minimum of only 55 mph, only 5 mph faster??...The INJUSTICE !

Ellen would have to race VERY well to overcome what I thought was an unkind and unnecessary handicap.

 
Photo - Suzuki TS50 engine in factory trim 
The iron cylinder did not shed heat well
Rotary valve fed carbureted air to the crank cases

 

Glory moment for the family!  Just before leaving for Ellen?s chance for her own Bonneville glory.  Van painted in Harley white, orange and black to match the #8 bike.  #8 proudly also on the back of the van.  1967 Sportster and 1917 Harley on left.  Ellen?s bike not yet delivered.  Photo by Ellie Dean Slade.


As of this writing in 2020, there are seven (7) records in just the 50cc class that are now UNDER 50 mph.  The slowest 50cc record is 34 mph?.The slowest overall motorcycle record in the SCTA Bonneville record book is 17.972 mph, set by a 72-year old man who could barely see the track ahead of him.

Ellen had her work cut out !


I put my own program on hold to support Ellen?s racing.  This was OK for me, since in the fall, after Speed Week 1975, some guys had rented the Bonneville track privately, and had broken all my standing records.  I was ?out of the book? again, just like I had never been there??..I was beginning to see that the days of the Harley Sportster as competitive (in my hands at least) were over without DRASTIC changes. 

I just kept going back, ?cause I loved Bonneville !

One advantage of a top speed in the 50mph range with a street legal and tagged bike was that Ellen could practice anywhere anytime.  When not busy, she could ride on the long paved road leading out to the ?boat ramp? onto the salt.  We could drive a car beside her yelling riding tips and encouragement. 

Hardly traditional Bonneville Speed Trials stuff??.
After Ellen made a number of familiarization runs, we gradually discovered that if she hammered the bike from the start, it overheated the iron cylinder and the engine lost some power by the time it got to the timing traps, miles from the start. Ellen eventually decided to try easing out to the one mile mark, and then give it more throttle.

The TS50 was a simple motorcycle:  A single-cylinder 2-stroke engine with no poppet valves.  Exhaust was controlled by holes in the engine cylinder wall.  Intake was by rotary valve in the crankcase. 

Two-stroke tuning is often thought to be faith-based.

There was a tune-up kit available from Suzuki that increased the power to a mind-bending eight (8.0!)horsepower, but that was not legal for a production class.

Ellen made a number of familiarizations runs at reduced speeds; finding the power band ? if you can apply that concept to something with less horsepower than many lawn mowers.                 
 


SCOTT GUTHRIE RACING TEAM PHOTO.  Ellen was waved off on a preliminary run by Bob Higbee ? the beloved Bonneville starter of many years.  Is that the Ermie Immerso turbine streamliner to her right ?  It that a cloud of 2-stroke smoke behind her ?


Gradually working into ?Bonneville mode? as the week advanced, Ellen found the best ways to tuck in, the best time to shift gears, and the best carburetor tuning parts.

Finally, she was ready to go all out.

As Ellen set out for her first full power run, she and the bike both were as prepared as well as we could. 

Off she went with Starter Bob Higbee?s blessing, with a small crowd of well-wishers at the start line.  She eased out to the one mile, singing along in 3rd gear.   We could hear when she put ?her foot to the wood,? and leaped forward.

The bike was CRISP, and she soon shifted into 4th gear.  5th gear went on and on??..but we could hear she was still accelerating !

Best run ever at a whopping 49.93mph, only 0.07mph from qualifying. 

BUT, she seized the piston exiting the lights. 

Ellen had been relentlessly schooled by the 2-stroke guys to ALWAYS keep her hand over the clutch lever, and to disengage if there was even a hint of ?engine slowing down? at speed.  She did that, and never even skidded the tire.


Scott Guthrie photo.  Brian Eriksen, with beautiful Diane Eriksen clasped by that rogue, Burt Munro !  Burt spend some time with us, and retold many stories, all of which were true.  Burt still fancied himself the ladies man !  This would be  the last time we saw Burt at Bonneville.  Brian would go on to incredible success in 1977 and 1978. In 1976, he notched a record of 151.901 and took the crown for fastest sit-on 350cc rider in the world; faster than Don Vesco.


PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[manta22]

How do I see the photos that accompany the story? Neat history!

[Old-N-Slow]

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[manta22]

Thanks, Scott.

[Old-N-Slow]

Thanks, Scott.

Let me know if that works,
and if you have any problems ................

[Beef Stew]

BS:

The customer-issue 1970 Harley XR750 engines were very much like the iron-head Sportsters of the day, but were MORE like the XLR, which was the (VERY rare) competition model of the sportster, with different crankcases.

It looks like Mert Lawwill, in the photo, has one of the very first XR750 bikes with the "standard" single Tillotson carbs.  Mert's #1 plate dates the photo.

Very quickly, for the Factory Race Team members, the side-by-side dual carburetor heads were developed.  The dual carb heads provided more power, and the ability to set each cylinder's carburetion separately.

That's what I did.

The all-aluminum engine, introduced in 1972 (NOT in time for the March Daytona 200 race) immediately made anything "Iron" useless, which is no doubt how I was able to induce the Race Team to issue stuff to me ..............

Thanks! In the early 70s I didn't pay much attention to AMA racing.

Later on I met Bill Bartels, who ran a XR750 for Jay Springsteen.

I took a quick look and found 3 sets of heads. Some good, some not so good, lots of cracks. Every thing "Iron" may be useless, but the collectors sure have made the prices climb.

[Old-N-Slow]

BS:

The customer-issue 1970 Harley XR750 engines were very much like the iron-head Sportsters of the day, but were MORE like the XLR, which was the (VERY rare) competition model of the sportster, with different crankcases.

It looks like Mert Lawwill, in the photo, has one of the very first XR750 bikes with the "standard" single Tillotson carbs.  Mert's #1 plate dates the photo.

Very quickly, for the Factory Race Team members, the side-by-side dual carburetor heads were developed.  The dual carb heads provided more power, and the ability to set each cylinder's carburetion separately.

That's what I did.

The all-aluminum engine, introduced in 1972 (NOT in time for the March Daytona 200 race) immediately made anything "Iron" useless, which is no doubt how I was able to induce the Race Team to issue stuff to me ..............

Thanks! In the early 70s I didn't pay much attention to AMA racing.

Later on I met Bill Bartels, who ran a XR750 for Jay Springsteen.

I took a quick look and found 3 sets of heads. Some good, some not so good, lots of cracks. Every thing "Iron" may be useless, but the collectors sure have made the prices climb.

All true, BS.

The iron xr750 bikes are collectable, but not as much as the alloy versions, as you show in this picture.

I just sold a 1972 Harley XRTT - which is the rare road racing version of the bike - for an astounding $76,950 ....................

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

ELLEN GUTHRIE?s Big Adventure, Part 2



Disappointed by the Suzuki?s apparent seizure, we removed the head, and confirmed the problem: overheated piston aluminum had been transferred to the iron cylinder wall.  The top end of the engine would have to come apart !  Being good motorbike guys, we snuck the bike into our ground-floor room at the State Line Hotel, and tore down the engine.  Plastic tarp protected the hotel carpet.

Ellen had made numerous friends, and people wanted to see her set a good record.  The friends gradually found our little room, and wandered in, anxious to help out.

The cast-iron cylinder looked unharmed except for the deposit of aluminum piston alloy of the air-cooled iron cylinder walls. 

A quick visit to the Hotel pool-maintenance folks gave us a small glass bottle of muriatic acid.  That would, with careful applications of the acid by Q-tip, dissolve the aluminum from the cylinder wall.  Hopefully, not too much iron from the cylinder wall had disappeared out the exhaust pipe.

Meanwhile, 2-stroke expert Brian Eriksen washed and sanded down the piston in the bathroom sink, so he could examine it more closely. Brian thought maybe it was reusable, and was not too badly damaged.  Suddenly, he stopped, looked at the piston top, and handed it to me.  I looked and stopped too.  My heart cold, I passed the piston around the room.  As others looked at the piston, all conversation in the room stopped.

The piston was marked ?oversize.? 

 
Photo - SERIOUS seizure shown here ! With no suitable replacement piston in the spares kit ? and no better cylinder, we had to reuse the damaged piston and one of the two damaged rings. Shades of 1974 !


The marking meant the piston was some oversize, but we didn?t know how much.  NOBODY in the room had micrometers or calipers, NOBODY in the group knew the proper bore and stroke for this bike. Gordy, who built the bike, had not yet made it to Speed Week. We had no owner?s manual or shop manual.

Gordy had not made it to the salt yet, and we had NO idea where things were.

We picked through the boxes of spares and found NO smaller bore cylinders ? or at least cylinders smaller than what we had.  Likewise, there was NO other piston, new or used, to fit this bore. 

We HAD to use this actual cylinder, and use the damaged piston !

The top piston ring had been destroyed by the seizure, but the 2nd ring looked usable.  Brian was a Bonneville record holding Yamaha 2-stroke  race guy, and he said:  ?Just stick the 2nd ring  in the top groove.  They are the same size, and the engine won?t care?Maybe less friction anyway.?

The Harley experience of 1974 and 1975 was coming in handy !


 
Debbie Dross photo left?..Ellen, at least, has kept her figure. Still racing out of the back of an old used van.  We bought Van#3 (Ford E-350) used in 2002.  Still in service in 2020! Three vans in 50 years ?

We buttoned up the dilapidated Suzuki engine, but with the head loose but all other parts in place, and drove to the track in the morning.

After record runs started for others, the inspectors were in place in impound, but not yet busy.  I asked if they would check our displacement while the engine was apart.  They had no factory paperwork on this engine, but they could measure bore and stroke, and give us a total displacement. 

WE were still clueless about displacement!

The un-official thinking was:  ?Well, your stroke is what it is?..The bore, combined with that stroke makes the bike just a little over 50cc, so you might have to run in the 100cc class?.?

We all knew Ellen was dead in the water in a displacement class twice as large as what we had, if we couldn?t break the 50cc minimum, there was NO WAY we could break the faster 100cc record. 

We were screwed !

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

ELLEN GUTHRIE?s Big Adventure, Part 3


We had to put on our thinking caps.

I asked the inspector: ?Can you seal the crank cases to preserve your measurement of the stroke?  We will leave the bike here in impound under your supervision.   Meanwhile we will see if we can find a cylinder with a smaller bore.?

They were good with that.

We made a quick trip into the ONLY store in town, and returned to impound a couple of hours later, with the same cylinder having somehow sunk itself all the way into a freezing 50 pound block of salted down ice.

The scrutineer looked down with a smile, and reached for his micrometer.  Dipping into the frosty cylinder without touching it, he made a quick measurement.  With a twinkle in his eye, he looked at Ellen and said: ? I must have been mistaken.  You seem to be good to go for 50cc?..?

The next year saw the introduction of Guthrie rule #2:  ?All displacement measurements will be made with the parts at ambient temperature.?

We were off to the starting line. After all the fooling around, we just made it into line a few minutes before the late-afternoon start-line cutoff. 

In those days, we quit running when ?the setting sun went behind the mountain? and not a specific time of day.

 
Photo by Todd Dross - 2008 Ellen Guthrie on left coaches Team rider Debbie Dross.  Debbie would eventually hold the title of World?s Fastest Woman Solo Motorcycle Rider on one of the team?s Turbo Hayabusa bikes ? the mark set on her first full-power run at over 213 mph!  Ellen was one of the first women to ride motorcycles at Bonneville, and has a distinguished place in history.

This late afternoon was a busy time period.  Many of the really fast cars had been in line for several hours.  They would wait until they were at the front of the line, and then sit to one side and wait for a chance at the track when the air was cooler and denser. 

This was the last chance to qualify for that day, and nerves were bare.

We passed time chatting with other racers also waiting in line.  Al Teague sat quietly waiting, possibly hoping for the long-elusive 400 mph run?


 
Photo- Al Teague?s team, with the car that would eventually carry Teague to an astounding 432 mph.  When Al was on the start line, EVERYBODY snapped to full alert, and a hush fell over the flats. People held their breath to hear the magnificent sound of the single full-on Blown Nitro Hemi running for five full miles.  Al covered ground in a HURRY ! Photo by Land Speed Louise.

Starter Bob Higbee would send a long-course car, and then, even before the long-course car had completed the first timed mile, would send a short course competitor.  We were so close to closing time that he had even started to launch long course guys before the short course folks were clear of the track. 

On Ellen?s last qualifying run of the week, off she trustingly raced. 

 
Ellen Guthrie Photo ? Legs of leathers taped to reduce drag from flapping, Ellen eases away toward potential glory.  Custom leathers and special SHOEI small helmet to fit.  Previous best was 49.93mph against a difficult minimum of 50.00mph.  Just needing an increase of 0.07 mph, this would be her last chance to set a record.


We could hear every engine revolution and every shift in the cool of the early evening air.   With our binoculars, we could see her tucked in tight, almost under the paint.  She had decided to slowly turn out at the 2 ? mile, since that was all the distance she needed to qualify. 

 
Photo - That ?Wascally Wabbit? Burt Munro (world?s Fastest Indian) stands beside Bud Hare and Bud?s rider.  Bud was the first person to set an SCTA Bonneville record using the same power plant in both a motorcycle and a car.  Due in part to her 1976 success, my wife Ellen Guthrie would be offered a ride on this historic bike. Notice the interesting front suspension.  Bud?s series of twin-engine Triumph based motorcycles would be called ?Dubble Trubble? long before Stevie Ray Vaughn picked up a guitar.


This was to be the last day for us, and we were still unsure about the pitifully repaired engine, but it was time to put up or shut up.  We could only hope that the damaged piston would not seize again, and that the lack of one piston ring would not reduce compression pressure too much.  We also had to have faith in the damaged iron cylinder?..

 
Photo - Ellen?s sticker for 1976.  The 1976 rulebook,
including rules, records, el Mirage and bikes
was only 60 stapled pages, and weighed two ounces.

The previous year, 1975, the Bonneville 200 Club received only three (3) new members.  One was future Club president Larry Volk; no new members on motorcycles

In 1976, the Club again welcomed only three car winners, and no bike members.       

In typical Bonneville fashion, Ellen had been using long, slow turn outs to keep the bike steady, and to keep air moving around the engine, with part throttle worth of fuel flowing to help with cooling the engine.


 
Photo - Ellen Guthrie collection:  Ellen waits at the ?far end? with a dyke in the background, in the forlorn hope somebody has arrived to tell her she has qualified.


But THIS time, at the 2 ?, she turned off the track so quickly, I thought she had crashed and fallen over.  As we quickly and apprehensively drove down to recover her,  the CB radio squawked the disappointing news.  Ellen missed qualifying be less than 1 mph !

When we got to Ellen, safely upright beside her undamaged bike on the return road, we had to reveal the bad news.  I then asked what had happened with the turn-out. 

Ellen;  while giving me her
?what a dumb husband? look,  said:

?Did you see who was running right behind me ? 
It was Al Teague !?


PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

Chapter #27

All our pomp of Yesterday,
is Not Worth One Tomorrow
(could have been Rudyard Kipling).
 
40 runs in three years and no records.

Even in 1977, not all coast-to-coast driving was boring??.In a discussion while motoring to Bonneville,  Ellen and I projected what long-distance driving in the future might be like.  We supposed that cars could be put on a train, just like the Amtrak Auto Train, and the cars could sit on 2-decker flat cars while the occupants settled into Club Cars and Sleeping cars.  Batteries in electric cars could be charged while on the rails. Drivers could save money be staying in their own cars for short trips.
Why sit in a gas /charging station if you can travel while the battery is charging ?

 
Cars would be increasingly moved by electric motors, powered by rechargeable batteries that could be changed at gas stations as quickly as filling the fuel tank. Batteries could be topped off underway with an extra-cost generator that was dealer installed.  Maybe something like a 500cc turbo-diesel constant-speed engine spinning a rare-earth alternator, which would allow continuous operation.

We joked at the time how ludicrous this was;  Americans would never give up small-blocks???
Through all of this Bonneville racing ? and these were the days before the internet, a 20 minute long distance calls could cost more than I made in an hour of working ? I was woefully ignorant (as I still am) of some of the most basic parts of true Bonneville history. 
I knew Don Vesco ? but I barely knew Rick Vesco, and I certainly didn?t know who John Vesco was.  None of that ?since 1933? stuff.
 
 
 
 Photo: Seth Dorfler??Recently passed Marty Dickerson styling on his lightning-ized Rapide model Vincent 1,000cc twin.  My old Bonneville number 41A !  Still active with Vincents, Marty was one of the few remaining connections to Bonneville Vincent motorcycles in the 1950?s.  Is that a special LOW gas tank ?
 
 
 
I didn?t know who the fabulous Marty Dickerson was ? the guy who was faster on a Vincent that Rollie Free.  163mph unfaired in 1963 !  Here was a guy faster than I was, and I didn?t know who he was.  Poor way to plan a long term program???.
 
Some part of this was having a job, a family, a home to maintain, other interests.  The most part of it was plain ignorance about the sport.
 
I got most of my information from Magazines ? most of the books were about Crag Breedlove and Jess Thomas and others from the 1960?s.  I was STARVED for up-to-date information !
 
 
 
 
Photo?..Jess Thomas as a teenager in 1956, looking for 150mph at Bonneville, with no discernable number plate.  Another rider unconcerned with what happens to the fanny when the bike hits a bump on the salt.  Jess would later set the absolute motorcycle world speed record with a similar engine in a streamliner at 214.47mph.  After many years of deprivation, Jess recently returned to LSR ? on a similar motorcycle- and set an El Mirage record in 2017, more than 60 years after his novice Bonneville experiences
 
 
 
In 1977, I was reduced to putting magazine pictures on my drawing board, and measuring wheelbase, swingarm length and rake angle with drafting instruments .  Designing and building a bike for Bonneville was a struggle, and EVERYTHING required thought.
Part of the problem with lack of information was that in the 1970?s, by the time I started racing at the salt desert, Bonneville interest by the ?mainline? media had almost disappeared.  Current and historical information was VERY difficult to find before the internet.
In a ?one man? attempt to reverse that media trend, I started writing articles for magazines and newspapers ? with my ?home made? photographs attached.
 My theory was that many media outlets would be happy to publish articles on Land Speed Racing, but they didn?t want to pay their own staff to write or photograph the coverage ? and they CERTAINLY didn?t want to pay travel and hotel bills.
 
My solution was simple.  Write a reasonably interesting article, and take pictures to illustrate the coverage.  Send the whole package to media outlets,  and let them publish the articles FOR FREE !
 That cost me very little, and Bonneville got coverage in amounts that the SCTA could not have afforded to buy on the advertising market.
 
 
With the fabulous cylinder heads I had received from the Harley Factory racing team for 1975, I revisited my choice of cams and carburation.  Tom Sifton and I had several phone conversations about what do about cams with what I hoped would be the better-flowing heads.  Chatting the porting-guru Jerry Branch made me conclude to run 44mm MIKUNI carbs.  Those carbs were the BIGGEST carbs I had ever seen ? and there were TWO of them.  Would I be ?over carbureted? and lose power? 
Bonneville would tell me.
As famous movie star and CYCLE MAGAZINE editor Cook Nielson may have said:  ?If you got go to Bonneville, and you can?t go fast in a week, it is painfully obvious you don?t know what you are doing.?
After 1974 and 75, I knew all about that ?painfully obvious? stuff !
After more than a dozen qualifying runs, I was faster than last year, with an onboard-data speed of 175 mph ? maybe 185mph at sea level, so I was feeling confident.  I assumed that the increased speed came from the new heads ? which had NOT shown their full potential in 1975 due to the funky cylinder and ring problems.  I hoped that with good cylinder sealing, and the straight-port heads, I could make at least one record in the 175mph range ? which would be almost 40 miles per hour faster than 1973, the beginning of this quixotic adventure.
A 40 mph increase in speed in three years is pretty good in a sport where records can change hands with less than a one mph speed difference!
The bike was running beautifully, with no mechanical or aerodynamic problems.  I felt like the true potential of the ?special? cylinder heads was appearing, now that I may have solved the cylinder and piston problems.
My last Bonneville runs racing in 1975 with this bike had ended with overpowering top-end problems.  THIS year, I was hoping those problems had been solved, and that I could unleash the awesome power of the 1957 Harley. 

Once again, dark spirits heard my pleas,
but gave me only half what I wanted.

 
Photo ? big kit ready to go.  I had fabricated two different lengths of inlet tubes to mount the carburetors.  Rocker boxes held slightly different ratio rockers.  Different length carb ?bells? allowed changes in inlet tract length. I even had a spare motor (less special heads) in the truck.  Oddly, that would lead to more misery !

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

Chapter #28

Helping Harley
 
Photo - Leading edge Promotions.  HOW could ANY Harley Davidson owner and rider NOT recognize the intrinsic connection between a thundering V-twin motorcycle and a Bowling ball ?................nope, me neither.
 
In 1969, Harley Davidson Racing was in a bind.

The overall motorcycle sales business was not doing well, and Harley had been sold to AMF; ?the Bowling Pin Company.?  Detractors said that the new owners brought all the forward-looking technology of bowling pin manufacture to one of ? what had been - America?s most iconic brands.
The Harley factory racing motorcycles were still winning races and national championships, but the handwriting was on the wall.  The little bikes, like the 250cc sprint, a pushrod operated single cylinder, had to compete increasingly with Japanese multi-cylinder 2-strokes, but with diminishing success.  The Iconic KR750 racer was a flathead, which would soon have to compete with equal-displacement overhead cam and 2-strokes.

It was NOT a path to continued glory.

 In the late 1960?s, I had started converting a 900cc Harley Sportster from iron to aluminum heads and cylinders, using European parts.  This conversion offered a better bore-to-stroke ratio, and the cooling ability of the aluminum alloy.  Also, if used, replacing iron cylinders and iron heads should have resulted in a 35 pound weight savings.

My design, by varying bore and stroke, would allow any displacement from 750cc to 1,300 cc. Any length stroke from around three inches to five inches could be installed, and any bore from as little as two and one half inches to almost four inches ? Chevy small block numbers.

That would allow the design to be used from 750cc racing up to full road-going touring bikes. The result looked a little like a combination of a Vincent Black Lighting and a Sportster.

In 1969, I showed the work to the Harley racing department, and they liked the basic concept. By 1972, - three years later - the new Harley XR750 embodied many of those concepts, and it was immediately a race winner, and it remained so for 40 years.

I had considered using my ?special engine? for my Bonneville efforts, but it would put me in a ?tougher? engine class; something I was unwilling to do at the time.  However, the overriding reason for not using my ?special? engine was that Harley was unwilling to sponsor me if I used ?too many visible? non-Harley parts.

Photo -Brian Eriksen  would power his modified Yamaha RD350 street bike to a 350cc record on gasoline of 159.895 mph ? which still stands, and is faster than any record set be a factory 350cc RACE bike !  Racing pal Ron Acers helped out for many years.    My Harley ? borrowing Ellen?s low bike number five (5)-  with 1250cc never set a faster record than Eriksen on the 350cc Yamaha.

Is there a lesson in that ?
 
Through the years, I had grown closer to Brian Eriksen, who had a sharp wit, insightful mind, and a true gift for running 2-stroke bikes at Bonneville He had helped us with all the engine problems that Ellen had experienced last year?...  His success with racing pal Ron Acers with not without it?s low moments, however???
 
2-stroke tuning at Bonneville in the 1970?s was never easy, what with changing air density, temperature and humidity.  After good success in prior years, Brian was a little befuddled with his tuning questions in 1977, and was NOT setting records.
 
For the first time in my memory, SPEED WEEK was NOT being run in August, but in October.  Tuning notes from prior speed weeks were almost useless.

Brian was also without the help of his school-teacher wife, Diane.    Since Bonneville fell during the school year, Diane stayed home, and sent Brian off with Ron to fend for themselves.
 
After my crankshaft failure, I devoted my time and meager tuning skills to helping Brian with the Yamaha RD350 street bike.

 
Photo ? Brian and Diane Eriksen in 1976.  Primary sponsorship from Puerto Rican Anti-Defamation league with assistance from Bikers For Buddha.  Thoughtful streamlining of humble Yamaha RD350 street bike helped show almost 160mph from 350cc. and pump gas.  Chiavaroli supplied fairing and handle bars.  I loved the bars, and used them on a lot of bikes. Trick rear fender under seat MAY have also been forbidden streamlining.  Does the familiar #66 number plate partially conceal the rear wheel and tyre? Despite ordinary beginnings, under Brian?s hands, this became a VERY sophisticated Bonneville tool; even Don Vesco came over to compliment Brian. Rearward seating position no doubt helped avoid tire-spin on soft or loose salt - always a problem at Bonneville

 
 
In those days, making long distance calls from the hotel room was outrageously cumbersome and expensive, and cell-phones were not yet invented.  The most economical solution was to use the pay-phone booth near the Stateline hotel.
 
After a frustrating day at the track, Brian gathered a king?s ransom in quarters to call Diane at home in the evening after school.  Brian had cleverly gathered with him both carburetors, both spark plugs, and the spark timing numbers. To Brian, the speeds and the plug readings did not make sense.
 
In the cooling evening air, Brian explained to Diane the findings.  Diane had a good mechanical head, and actually had already patented several inventions.
 
She ?got? motorcycles.
 
Brian discussed how he had changed the running, and how the plug readings made no sense.  The plugs looked like he had made no changes, when he actually had made changes.  Actually, BOTH plugs looked ?off? by the same amount.
 
As Brian and I ?shared? the receiver, Diane thought through the problem.  We could actually hear her mind clicking??..
 
After about a minute she said:  ?THERMOSTAT !,? and hung up.
 
We stared at the dead receiver for a moment, and went to bed???..
 
The next morning, Brian heated a pan of water over a camp stove in impound, while waiting to be called to the start line to run for record.
 
As the water heated to boiling, the offending thermostat in the water NEVER opened !  The thermostat failure blocked 95% of the water circulation through the radiator, and the bike overheated on EVERY run.  No WONDER the plugs looked the same, the engine was NEVER running properly !
 
With the thermostat removed, Brian promptly ran almost 160mph with a little 350cc street bike, and set a record that STILL stands after 40+ years.
 
Afterwards, we referred to Diane as ?Dial-A-Tuner? ?
 
 
 
Ellen Guthrie Collection ? the Harley in inspection.  Grass in the foreground and cement surface tell this as one of the years inspection was at the Wendover airport.  This allowed teams to unload their trucks, pass inspection, load back up, drive to the track, and unload AGAIN !, all in 8 hours??Wire spoke rear wheel mounts the Firestone automotive rear tire.  Increased ?coverage? of fairing probably helped raise speeds.  My lowest entry number of the Harley years.  Later years would bring a number one to my bike.
 
Photo - Ellen Guthrie photo: The mysterious Firestone car tire on the back of the Harley XRTT.  I had taken a stock street hub and put a sprocket in place of the stock drum.  That required a disc brake on the other side.  Machine work was involved.  I found a narrow (3.5?) VW car wheel, and cut out the center section.  Banged it as straight as I could with a hammer and my primitive equipment.  Sent the rim and hub to Buchannan?s shop, who dimpled, drilled and chromed the rim, laced with special spokes, and returned the wheel with everything trued up.  Traction may have improved.  We know this photo is before passing inspection because there is no A, B etc. I had visited Parnelli Jones in LA, and bought (from him PERSONALLY) the LAST two ?roadster fronts? in existence, to use for this project.  Later, I would sell those tires to Gordon Hoyt for his successful campaign to` join the Bonneville 200 mph Club.
 
Photo - Ellen Guthrie collection:  Last year of the ?Door Handle Dangle? for me !.  Later model Dodge B250 replaced beloved but ?cancered? Dodge A100 van.  I liked the 318V8 and automatic ! Poor handling car tire on back of the Harley was later replaced with proper motorcycle racing tire, I am off to another (unsuccessful) run.  I had planned on going to turbocharging in the future, and had formed a company for the purpose.  Named it ?Inductive Energy.?

 
PHOTO ? Years later, my beloved old van ? painted in the Harley racing black and orange over white was reported in some desolate junk yard, rusting quietly from it?s incurable exposure to the salt of Bonneville.  From then on, no more time ?wasted? on fancy paint for either bike or vans !  Time and money better spent on going fast was dear !

I was finally able to accept that, for me at least, this bike was days of future past.  The bike, in that displacement, was as good as I would get on gas ? normally aspired.

I continued to think more about turbocharging.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

SCOTT GUTHRIE REMEMBERS:
50 Years at Bonneville

Chapter #29

?If Trouble Was Money,
 I?d Be a Rich Man? Albert Collins

 My biggest concern was actually with tires ? as it always is at Bonneville.  Planning for double the power, I assumed I would do better with a wider and faster-rated rear tire.  The existing motorcycle LSR Goodyear tire was pretty narrow, and I had questions about traction. 
 
As I would find over the next year, I was right about having questions, but I found I was asking the wrong questions !
 
As Rudyard Kipling might have said:  ?All our pomp of yesterday, is not worth one tomorrow.?  Maybe it was Janice Joplin.
 
Scott Guthrie 1975 photo. Over the winter I pursued better aerodynamics in my own primitive ways.  Posing on my 1975 bike in front of a piece of square-pattern bathroom Masonite, I could get an estimate of my height and width.  I could see (and count) the ?squares? and get a count for ?frontal area.?  I took calculus in college, but just ?counted the squares? to get a first-order approximation for Cd and A. Probably didn?t work, but it made me feel like I was doing something productive. Tuck is good, and air flow over my back is good.  Remember Banlon shirts?
 
 Jack Dolan, of San Diego, set a 109mph record on a 250cc Yamaha.

 Harry Fair, of Lakewood CO became the first SCTA Bonneville week competitor (car OR bike) to set six records in one week with one vehicle.  Fair?s Yamaha 250cc Factory racer offered speed, reliability and versatility to Fair?s huge ability to read and understand the rulebook.
 It was a tough year for EVERYBODY that year !  NO new Bonneville 200 mph Club members for motorcycles, and only four for cars; including future SCTA president Jim Lattin.

Late in the week, while on a very fast run, maybe my best at 175mph, I felt the engine vibrating excessively.
 
I was using the very special, chrome-moly 4130 super-heavy flywheels that Rick Bray had made for me.  My theory was that ? even at 6000rpm, I was losing a little speed between engine pulses.  I also assumed that is was far easier to LOSE the speed than it was at gain it back?..
Another factor was the valve train.  Using the high lift cams with the quick valve opening ramps, I was worried about setting up harmonics that could make the valves float, or make the pushrods bend.  With the heavy flywheels, the harmonics would be greatly dampened because the change in speed of the flywheels would be much slower.
Shutting down before the lights, I coasted over to the return road, where Ellen picked me up in the van.  In the pits, I diagnosed the problem as crankshaft failure!  I was lucky to catch the failure so quickly, and prevent a catastrophic engine failure.  Lucky to not oil down me, the bike, and the track.
My spares kit was limited, but included another crank ? in the spare engine - but that crank was built with the same failure mode, so a risky bet.  Rather than risk another failure, I concentrated on finishing my magazine article.

A whole year of planning, a 5,000mile round trip with a spare engine, and the only part I needed was one I didn?t have !
 
 
Tired beyond belief after the flailing of another unsuccessful Speed Week, we were somewhat relieved to start the start the trip of 2,500 miles back to Tallahassee Florida.
 
I felt like a 12-volt car with a 6-volt battery!
 
Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas disappeared slowly in the rear view mirrors.  Oklahoma became Texas, and we turned left in Houston, heading east for home.  Somewhere in the dark, we passed through Lake Charles, Louisiana.  We were hoping to make New Orleans in time for a good dinner.
 
Somewhere around Lafayette, I knew we must be in ?oil country? because I could smell the sulfur of the cracking plants.  Surprisingly, the smell became stronger the closer we got to The Big Easy. 
 
Stopping to fill up a little west of New Orleans, we eased into an independent gas station, drawn by lower gas prices.  By this time, the sulfur smell was overpowering, and we wondered if we wanted to eat outside if that was what we were going to smell while we had crawfish pie and fille gumbo.
 
As soon as I opened the driver?s door, the smell started to dissipate. The smell was non-existent near the gas pumps beside the truck.  The sulfur smell was coming from INSIDE the van.
 
Detective work with our noses located the source of the smell:  The battery box INSIDE the cab, behind the driver?s seat !
 
The voltage regulator was failing, and the battery was over-charging.  The excess charge was boiling the water in the battery, and stinking us out with sulfuric acid.
 
The battery was so hot, we couldn?t add water without it spitting out and boiling over.  We had to let the van and battery cool for an hour before we could top off the water.
 
As he was closing the station and turning off the lights, the friendly gas station master suggested, since we would be too late to eat in ?The French Quarter,? we could dine at the vending machines and sit on the curb to eat.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........

[Old-N-Slow]

50 Years at Bonneville
Scott Guthrie Remembers


Chapter #30

WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A HOLE;
QUIT DIGGING ? WILL ROGERS

Up on a tightrope ? Leon Russell

For some years, I had been walking a tightrope with Harley Davidson as a sponsor??. and with the AMA supervising my racing.

My main Harley sponsorship came through Dick O?Brien and the Harley Davidson racing department.  Beginning in 1976, I was also receiving additional help from the HD Skunkworks that planned for future models and did Harley?s R&D. Two totally separate operations, and not always on good terms with each other.


Mr. O?Brian ran the racing department very tightly.  My recollection is that he did NOT play favorites with who won races or championships, but he expected all the factory racers, supported racers, and anybody expecting any kind of help from the factory to tell him all the speed secrets that allowed the racer to win.  That might have including ?reporting? to the factory in Milwaukee to have their engine torn down and examined by the factory team !

The R&D department made me promise to keep their help secret from the racing department, so the racing department would not steal the ideas and get credit for them. 

IF I had to report to the factory with some secret R&D stuff on the bike, then the R&D secret would be out, and BOTH R&D and the race team would make my name mud !.

Such is corporate gamesmanship !

I was indeed walking a tightrope ? Cue ?up on a tightrope? by Leon Russell !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Z9qN8R9Bg

Among many other things, my stinging 1973 Bonneville defeat by Dale Alexander, Pop Yoshimura, the Flanders family and the Kawasaki team three years before had helped open eyes in the marketing department at ?the factory.? The R&D department questioned how ANY then-current Harley product could ?beat? the Japanese in the high-speed performance arena.  With the ?horsepower deficit? looming, the Harley R&D department became a ?early adopter? of turbocharging !

A radical concept in the mid 1970?s, turbocharging V-twin cylinder bikes became mainstream only a few years later in the early 1980?s when Honda produced their ground-breaking CX500T and CX650T twin cylinder, water cooled, 4-valve head, pushrod powered bikes with electronic fuel injection produced in vast numbers. 

Harley had been on to something !

 
Honda 1982 CX500 turbo motorcycle compact power unit.   A larger 674cc version was available in 1983.  Electronic fuel injection, turbocharged, 4-valve pushrod heads, water cooling twin cylinder.  VERY complicated compared to Harley.. It would take me more than 30 years to get my slow brain around the value of these odd bikes ? in 495cc and 674cc displacements ? to race them at Bonneville ! 


After the Arab oil embargo of 1974 California began experimenting with Gasahol ? which in today?s interpretation- would be Gasoline with ethanol.  Although introduced at 10% alcohol, plans were made to use as much alcohol as today?s E85 -  a WONDERFUL blend for extreme supercharging.  Sure, it would have to run in the fuel classes, but it would be widely available in public gas stations, and so a possibility for street bike use.

I had already been considering the same thinking, and had begun in 1975 to explore the possibility of adding a turbocharger to my bike; calculating that I could make at least 100% more power on alcohol and turbo.  With about 100 hp on gas only (NO blower), this could mean maybe 170-200hp on turbo with gas; possibly 200-240hp on methanol; and 190-220hp on E85. The Harley R&D department was already working through that same questions, and we came together to try to make that happen.

I had been thinking seriously enough about the Harley Turbo thing that I formed a company in 1976 called INDUCTIVE ENERGY to take advantage of the sales possibilities of what I was learning from the Harley R&D development folks.  Might have been selfish, but if Harley made turbocharging V-twins viable, than maybe there was a place for me in the aftermarket ???Could Bonneville racing be done profitably ?....Would Harley sponsor me to one of their all-out factory engines ?  Would I be the first Bonneville 200 Club member aboard a turbo Harley ?  Did I have the ability to build it and ride it ?

Bonneville tells the truth.

If power could be made by forcing air into the engine, than that would be energy obtained by inducing air (thus energy) into the engine. 

Coulda? bin a Contenda?..

So, in the fall 1977, after returning home from Speed Week, I started to convert my Harley to turbocharging.  If I could have had the Harley-based streamlining I was to have in 1990, I might have seen 220mph. 

IF my engine lived, which was a BIG assumption?.

I had enough doubts about my future success that I stopped asking my sponsors for any money or help.  I felt like I had nothing left to offer them.  If I couldn?t even get down the track successfully; let alone qualify or set a record, what possible value was I to them??.

The 1977 crankshaft failure made me address the short comings of the Harley crankshaft as designed by the factory. 

The biggest problems with the Harley design of lower ends is that the crank is made of numerous parts, which have to be assembled with great care, and have a tendency in racing to unexpectedly come apart at inopportune times.

 
Photo - As any Bonneville racer knows, things that bolt together are a problem.  It it?s inside the engine, it is protected from corrosion, but can be loosened up by vibration.  If it?s outside the engine, repeated exposure to salt will prevent loosening up ? which makes service an ordeal.  Harley used a roller-bearing design, which functions acceptable well with a street-specification of maybe eight pounds (!) oil pressure, and an ?accidental? distribution system.  This Harley crank for just two cylinders has more than sixty separate parts, most just bolted together.

 

Photo - Other manufacturers used more modern designs.  Ducati utilized a one-piece forged crank with just a dozen basic parts, with conventional sleeve bearings and bolt-together rods.  Could that be my ?Bonneville Answer?? Was I willing to risk ?ruining? a set of exotic racing crankcases ?  Was I willing to do the work ?  As A J Foyt is quoted: ?If you can?t afford to blow it up, you can?t afford to race it !?



 
Photo - Ellen Guthrie collection:  Planning on turbocharging in the future, I  formed a company for the purpose.  Named it ?Inductive Energy.)



S&S Cycle, under the management of George and Marge Smith, ran one of the most respected and most successful motorcycle programs on the Salt.  George Senior had been a Bonneville competitor, and their open-bike rider Warner Riley had been chosen to build the engines for the successful Harley / Cal Rayborn Harley Factory Bonneville speed attempt.  That team, took the overall motorcycle record from Don Vesco.  George Smith himself ?tipped the can? for the record runs.

 
Photo - Insouciant Streamliner builder Denis Manning is flanked by rider Cal Rayborn and engine-man Warner Riley in sunglasses.  Nitro man George Smith stands next to Harley Racing honcho Richard ?OB? O?Brien on right in clear glasses. 266 mph one way in the 1960?s, with two air-cooled cylinders. Liner looks impossibly small by today?s standards.  After initial ?teething problems? for both bike and rider, Rayborn took Don Vesco?s 251mph record in his first attempt week.

 
Photo - Compare Manning?s 1960?s bike with the newest Manning liner and record holder.  100 mph faster with four cylinders, 3000cc  and turbo, but look how much bigger!  World record holder Chris Carr seems dwarfed by the BUB 7.  Ridden by Valerie Thompson, the #7 crashed heavily at nearly 350mph last year, and all of the bodywork is being replaced for 2020 attempts.

 
Earlier, S&S team Harley rider Warner Riley had announced his retirement from riding 200 mph at Bonneville, and that left the ?seat? with George Smith and the S&S Cycle team open??..


George had been watching my riding, thinking and building for several years.  So, with Warner retiring, George offered me the ride. 200mph guaranteed, and with possibly the best LSR team in the world at that time!

Foolishly, I declined the offer; thinking I wanted to do it ?my way,? meaning design and build my own bike??.and run gas.

Was this to be the opportunity of a lifetime,
just squandered by bad decision making ? 

Sure looked like it !

After blowing the S&S dream away,
then of course then my turbo dreams
turned into a nightmare?.

PHOTOS:  In the original articles, lovingly published by Wendy at the BONNEVILLE RACING NEWS, there were PICTURES !...It is a little too cumbersome for me with my 75 year old pre digital brain to post those here since it involves photobucket and things like that.  IF you go to my facebook account, the pictures are attached to THAT version of these articles..........https://www.facebook.com/scott.guthrie.3154.........