Triumph Salt Racer: the final word

The Triumph Salt Racer project – one that Bikesales has followed from its inception – has just returned from a successful record-breaking outing at Lake Gairdner in South Australia.

The project, which began life as a 2008 model Triumph Thruxton with fuel injection, culminated with a 149.626mph pass on the 'short' four-mile track, but it could have been so much better had the speed gods not decided they'd had enough.

“The third day was our big one. After we were happy with our set-up, we went for it," said Nigel Harvey, the team's 'talking head'. "The ultimate run was as amazing as it was nerve-racking. Our GPS recorded a top speed of 157mph, which is 4mph over Alan Cathcart’s world record set at Bonneville in the same class.
"But then the… parallel twin engine gave up the ghost, belching a cloud of whitish blue engine oil turned to smoke down the length of the course. Game over. The best we can tell, it either couldn’t get enough oil or it couldn’t get enough fuel. We did a quick rip-down afterwards, but a full analysis will tell all.

"The final speed through the traps was 149.626mph, a new Australian record for the Modified Fuel 1000cc class.

“When we’ve told people that our top speed was 157mph, some say ‘157! That’s only 57 more than the ton!’ But what they don’t get is that to set a record on the salt, the bike’s engine will be revving flat-out at top speed for 60 seconds.

"That’s a mammoth task for any bike, even ones as modified as ours. To recreate it, try this. Go outside. Start your bike. Run it at full throttle for 60 seconds. Let us know how that turns out for you."

The Triumph Australia entry, supported by custom building business Supacustom, at least got to the business end of proceedings – the majority don't according to Nigel.

"The real challenge for the teams is just keeping things in one piece. Everyone wants to get out there on the first day. Then on the second day, the engines begin to pop. On day three 40 per cent of the field is gone, and by the fourth day there’s only a few teams on the salt. In fact, most people were just kicking back and drinking beer.”

Supacustom boss Ross Osbourne rode the Triumph Salt Racer at the Dry Lake Racers Australia event, which requires a mammoth effort just to get on the starting line. Nigel takes up the story: “It’s a two-day trip over 1500km, the last leg of which is on a red dirt road that rattles, cars, bikes and trailers to death.

"The red dust gets into absolutely everything. All trailers are taped up, all bikes are wrapped in plastic but it still gets in. And then once you hit the lake itself, the salt takes over. It’s a constant battle against nature, and one you’re bound to lose.”

Despite the trials and tribulations, the Triumph Salt Racer team is keen to continue.

“We’ll be back next year, no doubt about it," said Harvey. "And if that goes well, well who knows… the only way to set a FIM-ratified record is at Bonneville…

“After all the work we’d done, seeing the bike on the salt at 7:00am for the sunrise on the big day was a bit of a surreal experience. Easily the coolest thing I’ve ever been involved in. It was amazing."