Motorcycle land speed record

The motorcycle land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by a motorcycle on land. It is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions.

First set, unofficially, by Glenn Curtiss in 1903, the first officially-sanctioned FIM record was not set until 1920. There was controversy over the 1930 record, when OEC claimed to be fastest, on the basis of a publicity photo taken before a Zenith went quicker. "It was quite a while before the controversy died down."

Jet-engine trike

The fastest record certified by the FIM is that set in 1964 by the jet-propelled tricycle Spirit of America. It set three absolute land speed records, the last at 526.277mi/h. While such records are usually validated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the FIA only certifies vehicles with at least four wheels, while the FIM certifies two- and three-wheelers.

Piston-engine bike

The holder of the absolute record for motorcycles is the "fastest man on two wheels". All such records have been with piston-engine machines.

Date	Location	Driver	Make	Engine (displacement in cc)	Speed		Comments
					mph	km/h
1903	Yonkers, New York	Glenn Curtiss	Curtiss	1000	64	103	over the mile, first (unofficial) World Speed Record, Hercules V-twin
January 24, 1907	Ormond Beach, Florida	Glenn Curtiss	Curtiss	4000	136.27	219.31	Unofficial record stood over 20 years
1920	Daytona Beach, USA	Gene Walker	Indian	994	104.12	165.67
1923	Brooklands, GB	Bert le Vack	Temple-Anzani	996	108.41	174.58
1924	Arpajon, Fr	Bert le Vack	Brough Superior	998	118.98	191.59
1926	Arpajon, Fr	Claude Temple	OEC-Temple	996	121.3	195.33
1928	Arpajon, Fr	Oliver M. Baldwin	Zenith-JAP	996	124.55	200.56
1929	Arpajon, Fr	Bert Le Vack	OEC-Temple	994	128.75	207.33
1930	Arpajon, Fr	Joe Wright	Indian	994	137.23	220.99	First official record to exceed Curtiss' pioneering effort
1930	Ingolstadt, Germany	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	735	137.58	221.54
1930	Cork, Ireland	Joe Wright	Zenith-JAP	998	150.65	242.59
1932	Tat, Hungary	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	736	151.77	244.40
1934	Gyon, Hungary	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	736	152.81	246.069
1935	Frankfurt, Germany	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	736	159.01	256.046	Tragatsch, caption p.304, credits this run as 256.06 with a supercharged 746 cc, while on the same page listing a table with displacement for the '32-'35 BMWs as 735 cc, and as 495 cc in 1936, rather than 493 cc. Then in 1936, BMW technicians decided to decrease the engine's displacement from 736 to 493. This might have seemed a backwards move, but there was a sound basis for this technical change. [..] The engine was was a 493 cc double-overhead-cam with a bore and stroke of 66 x 72 mm, a Zoller supercharger mounted on the front of the crankshaft [...] This supercharging technology had been under development since 1929, when a production R63 model had been fitted with a positive displacement blower...}}	First record over 250 km/h (155 mph)
1936	Frankfurt, Germany	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	493	168.92	272.006
1937	Gyon, Hungary	Eric Fernihough	Brough Superior	995	169.68	273.244	Fernihough was killed in a 1938 attempt JAP supercharged
1937	Brescia, Italy	Piero Taruffi	Gilera	492	170.27	274.181	Supercharged four-cylinder. Taruffi famous as Grand Prix driver.
1937	Frankfurt, Germany	Ernst Jakob Henne	BMW	495	173.68	279.503	Last prewar record
1951	Frankfurt, Germany	Wilhelm Herz	NSU	499	180.29	290.322	First postwar record
1955	Swannanoa, New Zealand	Russell Wright	Vincent-HRD	998	184.83	297.6406
1956	Bonneville, USA	John Allen	Triumph	649	193.730	311.778
1956	Bonneville, USA	Wilhelm Herz	NSU streamliner	499	211.4	338.092	First record over 200 mph (320 km/h)
1956	Bonneville, USA	Johnny Allen	Triumph	649	214.5	345.188	Unratified by FIM
1962	Bonneville, USA	Bill Johnson	Triumph	649	224.57	361.41
1966	Bonneville, USA	Bob Leppan	Gyronaut X-1	1298	245.60	395.28	Triumph Special twin-engined
1970	Bonneville, USA	Don Vesco	Yamaha	700	251.66	405.25	Turbocharged twin-engined First record over 250 mph (400 km/h)
1970	Bonneville, USA	Cal Rayborn	Harley-Davidson	1480	254.84	410.37	twin-engined
1975	Bonneville, USA	Cal Rayborn	Harley-Davidson	1480	265.49	426.40	twin-engined
1978	Bonneville, USA	Don Vesco	Kawasaki	2030	318.598	509.757	Turbocharged First record over 300 mph (480 km/h) twin-engined
1990	Bonneville, USA	Dave Campos	Ruxton Harley-Davidson	3000	322.150	518.450	twin-engined
3 September 2006	Bonneville, USA	Rocky Robinson	Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner	2600	342.797	551.678	twin Suzuki engines
5 September 2006	Bonneville, USA	Chris Carr	BUB - Lucky 7 streamliner	2997	350.884	564.693	BUB/Sierra Design V4
26 September 2008	Bonneville, USA	Rocky Robinson	Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner	2600	360.913	580.833	twin Suzuki engines

See also

• Land speed record
• List of vehicle speed records