Bolivia

[tauruck]

So after all the hype and all the fanfair ack the fastest motorcycle streamliner in the world could not even put a decent speed number on the board and now they are done whats up with that.

Altitude maybe?. Everything else was perfect from what I read. If this game was easy I'd have a record already!!!!

[ggl205]

Maybe I got my wires crossed but wasn't the bike that earned an FIM record normally aspirated? Less horsepower but also less air resistance? Was nitrous used?

John

[joea]

all the records in Bolivia were FIM sanctioned and official once ratified

the NA Aprilia ran 6 mph faster in Bolivia that Bonneville normally aspirated,
so all the "experts" way off on their predictions about that...

the Aprilia then used nitrous to go a bit over 200 mph two way average...

[SPARKY]

RFWFO---you must be a couch potato racer or have a personal vendetta or some other nonsense---you have no knowledge of LSR

[kiwi belly tank]

Yeah!  What's up with that!

Don't they know that the faster they go the easier it gets?
I'm sure they went down there just to pisz you off.

There's our Stan! 
  Sid.

[jimmy six]

Racerfanwfo: normally I just think this but this time I'll say it "are you this much of an a--hole all the time."

[thawley]

From Mike Cook's facebook page:

The event is completed..... Unfortunately, the Ack Attack came up short. Details are still sketchy. ... Ralph's new record is now 284 and change for the mile and 285 for the kilo, pending final ratification by the AMA/FIM officials.

Man I hated to read that.  Mike, Rocky and that whole crew have given so much to this sport  They have been examples of true competitors that would do and have done anything they could to progress the sport and along the way help fellow competitors.

Mike and the crew have put in a lot of work and expense into the trips to the salt in Australia and now Bolivia and all the trips to Bonneville.  They have always been well prepared and this last trip just shows how hard it is to do what they are trying to accomplish.

I googled around last night looking for reports. The most detailed were all in Spanish. If Google translate is to be trusted, one story mentioned Ack Attack's turbo manifold "blew up." Compensating for altitude with more boost? Whatever. Perhaps the bigger issue the story mentioned was their shipping container arriving 3 days late, leaving them only 2 days to run.

Sad to hear. But all very believable.

[fastesthonda_jim]

Don't know about the "turbo blew up" story, because I had to leave early.  But I will definitely confirm the container arrived late, essentially the morning of the 5th.  Here is a pic of it being unloaded at 9:00 AM on that day.