Land Speed Record ('LSR') motorcycle racing is a niche sport that is governed by the AMA and FIM, with both organizations using their own specific 'division,' 'type,' and 'class' nomenclatures assigned to each type of motorcycle.
The racing criteria and regulations are based on chassis configuration, body design, engine displacement, and safety requirments (see racing classifications below).
Suzuki 'ACK Attack' 2006 Bonneville Land-Speed Record - ACK Attack Photos & Details
Bonneville Salt Flats & Bonneville Speedway
Utah's Salt Flats is one of the flattest, smoothest, and hardest places on planet earth, encompassing over 30,000 acres. Its lack physical features is unique in all the world, making it a prime location to conduct Land Speed Record racing.
Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway - Photo: Drax Felton
The smoothness of the natural salt surface is attributed to the 6-foot-deep salt pan, which is naturally re-surfaced with each annual rainfall. The Bonneville Salt Flats were created 15,000 years ago, during the end of the last Ice Age, when Lake Bonneville (roughly the size of Lake Michigan) was created as the earth warmed. When the water evaporated, only the salt deposits were left behind.
The Bonneville Salt Flats, named after Captain B.L.E. Bonneville who discovered the area in the 1830's. In 1896, W.D. Rishel first proposed the idea of using the Salt Flats to attempt automobile speed record, and by 1914, Teddy Tezlaff set the first 'unofficial' recorded land-speed record of 141.73 mph, driving a Blitzen Benz. The Salt Flats are now under the control of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
El Mirage Dry Lake
The El Mirage 'Off-Highway Vehicle' (OHV) area is another BLM-managed park, located at the western edge of San Bernardino County, in the Mojave Desert, California. Unlike Bonneville, the six-mile-long El Mirage dry-lake bed is composed of compacted clay and silt. During heavy rain seasons, silt is deposited onto the lake-bed, forming a uniformly flat 'hard pan' in the undrained basin.
El Mirage Dry Lake OHV Raceway
The 1.3 Mile Course El Mirage is used as a proving-ground for LSR vehicles that will ultimately attack the AMA and FIM-sanctioned speed trial records at Bonneville.
Southern California Timing Association (SCTA)
The SCTA, formed in 1938 oversees twelve LSR member clubs, such as the Land Speed Racers of So. Cal., who sponsor events like Bonneville 'Speed Week' in mid August, and the Bonneville 'World Finals' in early October.
International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB
The International Motorcycle Speed Trials are held each year in September, hosted by BUB Enterprises. The Speed Trials by BUB are the premier event in Streamlined land-speed racing.
Buddfab 50cc Streamliner
Denis Manning of BUB Enterprises in Grass Valley, California, is the current LSR holder, breaking the briefly-held record set on September 02, 2006 by Mike Akatiff's ACK Attack. Manning's BUB Streamliner Seven, piloted by AMA flat-track champion Chris Carr, set a new world LSR of 350.884 mph on September 05, 2006.
FIM LSR Divisions, Types, & Classes
Division A - Non-Streamlined | |
 |
Type |
Description |
Class / Displacement |
 |
Type I
Type II |
I/C Spark Ignition - Naturally Aspirated
I/C Spark Ignition - Forced Induction
I/C = Internal Combustion |
(1) Up To 50 cc
(2) 50 cc to 80 cc
(3) 80 cc to 100 cc
(4) 100 cc to 125 cc
(5) 125 cc to 175 cc
(6) 175 cc to 250 cc
(7) 250 cc to 350 cc
(8) 350 cc to 500 cc
(9) 500 cc to 750 cc
(10) 750 cc to 1000 cc
(11) 1000 cc to 1350 cc
(12) 1350 cc to 2000 cc
(13) 2000 cc to 3000 cc
|
|
Type III
Type IV |
I/C Compression Ignition - Naturally Aspirated
I/C Compression Ignition - Forced Induction |
(1) Up To 750 cc
(2) 750 cc to 1500 cc
(3) 2000 cc to 3000 cc
|
|
Type VII |
Solar/Electric |
(1) Up To 150 kg
(2) 150 kg to 300 kg
(3) Over 300 kg |
|
Type X |
Other Propulsion |
N/A |
|
| |
| |
Division B - Partially-Streamlined | |
|
Type |
Description |
Class / Displacement |
|
Type I
Type II |
I/C Spark Ignition - Naturally Aspirated
I/C Spark Ignition - Forced Induction
I/C = Internal Combustion |
(1) Up To 50 cc
(2) 50 cc to 80 cc
(3) 80 cc to 100 cc
(4) 100 cc to 125 cc
(5) 125 cc to 175 cc
(6) 175 cc to 250 cc
(7) 250 cc to 350 cc
(8) 350 cc to 500 cc
(9) 500 cc to 750 cc
(10) 750 cc to 1000 cc
(11) 1000 cc to 1350 cc
(12) 1350 cc to 2000 cc
(13) 2000 cc to 3000 cc
|
|
Type III
Type IV |
I/C Compression Ignition - Naturally Aspirated
I/C Compression Ignition - Forced Induction |
(1) Up To 750 cc
(2) 750 cc to 1500 cc
(3) 2000 cc to 3000 cc
|
|
Type VII |
Solar/Electric |
(1) Up To 150 kg
(2) 150 kg to 300 kg
(3) Over 300 kg |
|
Type X |
Other Propulsion |
N/A |
|
| |
| |
Division C - Streamlined | |
|
Type |
Description |
Class / Displacement |
|
Type V |
Internal Combustion - Spark Ignition |
(1) Up To 50 cc
(2) 50 cc to 80 cc
(3) 80 cc to 100 cc
(4) 100 cc to 125 cc
(5) 125 cc to 175 cc
(6) 175 cc to 250 cc
(7) 250 cc to 350 cc
(8) 350 cc to 500 cc
(9) 500 cc to 750 cc
(10) 750 cc to 1000 cc
(11) 1000 cc to 1350 cc
(12) 1350 cc to 2000 cc
(13) 2000 cc to 3000 cc
|
|
Type VI |
Internal Combustion - Compression Ignition |
(1) 50 cc to 750 cc
(2) 750 cc to 1500 cc
(3) 1500 cc 3000 cc |
|
Type VII |
Solar/Electric |
(1) Up To 150 kg
(2) 150 kg to 300 kg
(3) Over 300 kg |
|
Type X |
Other Propulsion |
N/A |
|
Full FIM 2006 List: LSR World Record Attempts
AMA Regulations - (S) Streamliner Class
A "Streamliner" LSR motorcycle is defined as an enclosed two-wheeled vehicle (leaving a single track) with an unlimited wheelbase length. The driver must be protected by a roll bar or trellised structure, and separated from the engine compartment by a firewall.
'ACK Attack' chassis & twin Suzuki Hayabusa engines - Photos
Burt Munro & 'The World's Fastest Indian'
The 2006 movie The World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins, told the story of New Zealander Herbert James 'Burt' Munro, who against all odds, set the Class S/A 883cc Class 'Flying One Mile' land-speed record (178.97) in 1962, piloting his garage-built "Munro Special" Indian streamliner. Munro went on to break the Class S/A 1000cc land-speed record (183.58 mph) in 1967.
Land-Speed Record Organization Links
BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials
FIM - 2007 World Records
AMA American Motorcyclist Association
Southern California Timing Association - El Mirage & Bonneville
Land Speed Racers of So. Cal.
AMA LSR Divisions & Classes
LSR Land-Speed Record Links
BUB - Land Speed Record Holder - Streamliner No. 7
Utah Salt Flats Racing Association
The Bonneville Salt Flats
BLM - El Mirage Dry Lake
The Munro Special & The Worlds Fastest Indian
The world's fastest Whizzer
