Kickstand--Taking on Bonneville Part II: Bike Prep, Gear and Competition

Once you’ve made the decision to participate in land speed racing, gathering your thoughts around your bike and your riding gear can start taking place with the rule book in hand.

For our purposes, we’ll focus on the most basic class of competition—production. The beauty of running in the production class is that bike preparation can focus on getting the thing to its optimal state of tune. Keep in mind that in most respects, the bike must be as originally produced. You don’t have to worry about spending big money on custom-made high performance modifications because they aren’t allowed anyway.

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The production class calls for the bike to be “as produced” but that actually applies to most respects of the bike’s design for consumer use. However, there are some alterations that you must make for the purposes of competition. For example (and in all cases go by what the rule book says—this is only an overview):

• Rear view mirrors must be removed unless an integral part of the standard equipment fairing—in that case, they must be taped;

• Passenger foot pegs must be removed;

• Flame proof sleeve material (Nomex, etc.) must enclose the fuel lines and no plastic fuel system components (filters, connectors, etc.) are allowed.

• Side/center stands must be safety wired or zip-tied in the up position before any run;

• Any bike with exposed drive chain must have a chain guard;

• Gauge faces, lights and ny other glass or lens materials must be taped;

• A kill switch that can be operated without the rider taking hands off the handlebar and a tether kill switch must be on the bike;

• A fuel supply shut-off valve must be within reach of the rider when in riding position;

• Every bike must be equipped with a steering damper (whether they came with one from the factory or not);

• Entry number and classification must be displayed on both sides of the bike and in letter/number sizes specified in the rules;

• Leather boots at least 8” high and leather gloves with gauntlets are required.

• One and two-piece full coverage leather suit is required. Non-leather materials are allowed in non-critical areas.

• Approved full face helmet is required—open face, modular or multi-piece helmets are not allowed.

• Crankcase, oil tank, transmission oil, coolant and other openable drain and filler cap points must be safety wired. Axle nuts (if not already secured with a castle nut and cotter pin) and pinch bolts must also be safety wired. Thread locking compounds are not allowed on items that require safety wire.

• Valve caps and stems ontires must be metal;

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Some things may be removed at the rider’s option, such as:

• Air filter (but not the air box);

• Tool box;

• License plate frame and bracket;

• Turn signals if not integrated into factory equipment fairing;

• Re-jetting cabureted bikes and changing final drive gear ratios is permissible. Re-jetting for the high altitude of Bonneville could be helpful, but Bonneville veterans I’ve talked to say the best way to do it is get out to a high altitude location well in advance and have access to a dyno to do it well. Re-jetting incorrectly can adversely affect performance in a big way.

The list of dos and don’ts gets much longer if running a modified or streamlined bike, so if that’s your aim, be able to do a dissertation on the rule book.

Make lists of the stuff you want to assure you have along and check them off as you load for the trip. Things like: