(Photo provided by Paul Starkweather)
Paul got his first taste of land speed racing on a challenge from Aaron Wilson of Team Elves fame. At his first event the 2003 World of Speed he came within 2 MPH of breaking the stock production record. He would return to the World Finals in October and establish his first land speed record with an aftermarket exhaust in modified class. Salt fever had him by the balls. He continued to modify the bike including a huge 'Busa turbo unit, and an 6" swingarm extension and a seven degree rake to the frame. As a result the stock bodywork would no longer fit. Paul put a an inquiry out on a moto-board called SacBORG. I was still connected with land speed racing through Aaron but was out of the loop nonetheless. I e-mailed Mr. Wilson about Paul and he replied that he was the real deal. I pinged Paul and he agreed to meet me at Aaron's home in Berthoud, CO. We'd cross-country relay the bike to my shop in Indiana where I would undertake transforming the bike into the "Ophir Warrior".
(Photo by Aaron Wilson)
Paul and met I at Aaron's. We spent several hours going over the bike discussing all the problems with the stock pieces. At this point in the venture I still believed there were hopes in modifying the stock pieces to fit all the added hardware.
(Photo by Paul Starkweather)
Aaron Wilson (inspiration/conspirator of many land speed dreams) and myself just before the long trip back to Indiana.
Once home I started by establishing the ride height of the bike and trying to fit the stock bodywork. After several nights of fitting it became obvious there was no way to make the stock skins fit. The seven degree rake was done by re-angling the steering head. The front fairing bracket mounted to the steering head. The seven degree rake transferred to the bottom of the skins and would have them dragging the salt. Plan A was nixed. Plan B was to capture a set of AirTech racing skins. After locating and test fitting a set they wouldn't allow enough room for the turbo and the massive intercooler and again the rake was going to present another major hurtle. Plan B was nixed.
Then by chance I was talking to a friend who was a Suzuki rider. He had a GSXR 750 with a turbo and had purchased a set of skins that would mate to the stock fairing and were shaped to fit a turbo unit. Hotdog! We may have something usable off the shelf. Plan C was nixed too. Again the rake and the huge Busa turbo unit would mean a total/major reworking of all the pieces. At way late in the game and with only weeks ticking down to the Bub's Speed Trials I made the decision to build the bodywork from the ground up. I would build a wire form that was 5/32" smaller than the outer shape of the skins and stretch shaped aluminum panels over them for laminating the various contours. It might have been easier to have done it in fewer sections but I did not have an English wheel so I had to keep the individual panels to a size that could easily be hammered out on my favorite anvil. I was able to complete the first forms in time to deliver the bike back to Paul. The plan was to mold the halves over the winter without having the bike to test fit.
(Photo provided by Paul Starkweather)
Paul ran the bike without anything but a fender, tail-section and front fairing. Virtually no aerodynamics. From his stories it was one helluva rough ride. He finished one run with a lock-to-lock tank-slapper at nearly 200 MPH after a handle-bar dislodged itself from the fork!
(Photo by Paul Starkweather)
Paul doesn't go down easy; he ended up setting three class records and sat on the stage with the likes of Chris Carr in Las Vegas to collect this medal. The bike definitely needed bodywork and further emphasized the need for full steering left to right.
To get to this point from the beginning would require over 400 man-hours and skills in metal shaping, pattern making, welding, wood working, fiberglass laminating, shaping, finishing and painting and a little bit of magic. That doesn't include driving times and aerodynamic research on the Internet. It would also require the patience of saints from my wife and Paul. Great challenges are never easy.