In October 2002, John Noonan piloted his APE equipped Suzuki Hayabusa to the fastest speed ever for a streetbike at 242.888 mph at the Bonneville salt flats. On his required return run he exceeded 246 mph. His record also exceeds the speed for any real "sit on it" motorcycle ever.

John tells the story in his own words.

Well as many of you know this year Michelle and I decided to sit out of the NMRA drag racing series, it is a small race series without the attendance of a good fan base and even less racers committed as we were in traveling to Arizona, Northern Calif, Nevada, Arizona etc. As the only Street Bike Shootout racer to attend all of the 9 West Coast races we came away with a number 2 plate and a best time of 8.50 @ 170 mph on the 2000 Suzuki Hayabusa. This last year Michelle and I decided that we would try something a little different and try to get a record in the Bonneville 200 mph club,this has been something I have wanted for about ten years, this is done by setting a land speed record over 200 mph or setting a record in a class that has an open record over 200 mph.

We went to Bonneville in August and were fortunate to get four records at over 200 mph and get in to the illustrious 200 mph club on our first try. Some people have tried to get in for over twenty years to finally make it and we were in on our first attempt!!

We did not think that the World finals at Bonneville would happen as the USFRA ( Utah Salt Flat Racers Association ) race was rained out the month before due to several inches of free-standing water on the 61 square mile Salt flat racing surface. Well here comes Sunday the 13th of October and I check the SCTA-BNI.org website and they state that the race is a go and that they have hard dry salt and with that we go to work on the bike, to back up a bit, after the last B-Ville race we have taken the bike out a few times to the races at El Mirage to find that we have several problems, one I don't have the cams degreed in and we have cam timing that is off and the bike will only run a top speed of 191 mph in the desert dirt raceway. We have been 196 mph while getting our B license needed prior to going to B-Ville trying to run at over 200 mph on our first try.

Well we go to work installing the beautiful and durable Frank Adams fully adjustable from 0-8 braced swing arm, as you may know Frank was the person that sent me a stock arm to run while I was having a hard time on the salt surface while at B-Ville in August.

Once the arm is installed I take a run up to NLR to see Sebastian, I wanted him to look over the MSBC-1 Turbo Boost controller to make sure that it was hooked up correctly and to pick up some of his heavy duty throttle body blades, some C-16 fuel as well as a heavier spring for the HKS waste-gate for the NLR Race kitted inner-cooled turbo system I have installed on the Busa.

This NLR Turbo system has made over 400hp with 19 pounds of boost on my 1,363 cc millennium bored and plated cylinders, The Bob Carpenter CNC ported has big valves. The head is fitted with APE springs, APE retainers, Web Cams, APE adjustable sprockets, the head is held down at maximum boost with APE studs and nuts. The bottom end has Carrillo Rods, TTS overdrive gears, APE clutch pack complete with Mc-Xpress Heavy Duty clutch springs. We have not needed a lock up clutch since switching to the heavier springs. Crankshaft has been lightened and balanced by APE as well.

Rear wheel is an RC Components spectrum wheel with a Sprocket Specialist aluminum rear sprocket ( Not Coated ) Chain is from AFAM chains and the size is 530,

I have front sprockets in 19 and 20 tooth to choose from they are also from Sprocket Specialist and are available from me.
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I tried to crawl under the paint and with the tach nearing 10,000 + rpm's I went through the lights at the last mile at 245.676 mph...
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Front end has been revalved from PPS in Calif, Ohlins rear shock has been revalved by NLR. All bodywork at the time of the 6 record runs have been dome with stock OEM bodywork and at the last event ( October 16-20 ) we did use the sloped gas tank from Airtech, it is a very nice piece that bolted right on all we had to do is install barbed fittings for the fuel lines.

Prior to leaving California I posted that we were leaving for B-Ville and 240 mph was our goal that is a lot MPH since the fastest bike record is 238 mph set in 2001 by a twin engine motorcycle with a custom frame and bodywork to go along with it. We set out to make a run to qualify the bike against a record we already had at 219.550 mph, this record was set in August. After we qualified we put the bike in the impound yard and went to celebrate a potential higher record the next morning, after lining up we made the pass and as soon as we began to approach the 200 mph mark the front tire went flat and we were riding on the rim and tire, I reached up and turned the Hyperpro steering damper up all of the way and proceeded to make it up to 218 mph while crossing the finish line however we were a few miles an hour short of backing up the record, we went on to install another tire and rim combination that would prove to work!

We decided to leave it alone and make the return run in the morning as usual, well as I grabbed a beer to celebrate I was asked if I wanted to make the mandatory return run in less than 45 minutes while the FIA cars were running the long course, since this is my street-bike and we do very little between passes I said sure 240+ here we come. Well we line up and take off for the back up run and the bike is pulling hard to the right, I have to let off and turn left just to accelerate and find that the bike will only pull to the right and we can only muster up a top speed of 224 mph and change, this gave us an average speed of 232 mph plus and a new MPS 1,650 BG record! We found that the bodywork was bowing and needed reinforcement, we then went to work and with help from a few friends (MDR JOSH and Airtech Kent ) we reinforced the front end body-work and I left the Airtech pits confident that with more power I could get an even faster run in the Blown Gas class. We run our bike back to the shared pit of Smathers & Moreland to install some shims to the big spring in the wastegate, well after getting some washers we see that we need to layer them evenly in order to have the spring sit evenly in the HKS wastegate. Michelle and I grab some aluminum foil ( from our breakfast of ding dongs ) and proceed to wrap spacers in the bottom and with much needed assistance we re-installed the wastegate cap with the installed shims and went on to fill the tank with a mix of approved fuels.
One thing I need to mention is that the salt can be deadly on electrical components and the boost controller is acting weird so I disconnect it to make the attempt at the record run.

Michelle tows me to the starting line and after waiting hours we make a pass and I take off and the bike is running great however the boost controller is acting funny and we average over 240 mph in the fifth mile, we then take the bike to the impound hard and start to tape off and lube everything on the bike we can so that on the attempt at the return run in the morning the bike will be at it's best, the problem with running in the morning is that the salt can rob HP from you because is may be damp, however it may also help since the air is very dense, that will make the inner cooler work even better but then the more dense the air the more HP you need to get through it! Well the next morning (Sunday) we get the bike from impound and proceed to go to the starting line several vehicles back as I want the salt to dry out as much as possible prior to our back up attempt.

Well now the bad news, right before I am to make my pass I find out that Nolan White a ( 73 years old ) long time Bonneville competitor who had crashed his streamliner car after the chutes had come off of the back on a return pass a few days prior had died in the early morning, and here I was heading on the same course without chutes, roll bar, fire system etc, I attempted to mentally ready myself and when the my turn was ready I took off as well as I could.

The speeds were incredible as I was already running 244 mph at the first measured lights on the course, then about twelve seconds later I entered the second set of lights( one mile down the course ) and was running a top speed over 246 mph!! During that time I was starting to wonder things like, will the engine I built in my garage at home hold up? Will the APE clutch start to slip? Will the chain snap? Will the front tire come off of the bead again? And meanwhile I still had another mile to go!! I tried to crawl under the paint and with the tach nearing 10,000 + rpm's I went through the lights at the last mile at 245.676 mph, this would give me us average speed of 242.888 mph and a new record in the class. This was also the highest record for a non streamliner motorcycle in ANY class in over 50 years of Bonneville, and all of this in our first year!!

After this was done we could have pumped the boost up to around thirty pounds and tried for 250 mph however we needed to get on the road as we still had a 700 mile return trip that would have us driving right through Las Vegas yet one more time without the chance to stop and gamble in Sin City, however as Michelle said, haven't we gambled enough?

Last night was the weekly bike gathering at Bravo Burger in Huntington Beach about 5 miles from my house, I got home from work and cleaned off the salt and went on spraying WD-40 on everything.

Michelle and I then rode our bikes, me the on the front brakeless Busa and her on her own Suzuki GSXR-600 everybody was standing near it and taking pictures and before the night was over I swear I heard someone say, " I bet it isn't that fast. "