ith 159 square miles of hard, flat, barren terrain and nine miles of measured and groomed surface to ride on, racers gathered from around the world ready to attempt record setting speeds on motorcycles of all types. Welcome to Bonneville… home of the 2004 Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties Presents International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB.
     The Great Salt Flats at Bonneville have drawn top speed seekers to it’s hallowed grounds for over a hundred years, all with the same goal in mind, to be faster than the one before. This year’s event was certainly no exception.
     The first annual International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB took place on September 6th-10th, 2004 at the Bonneville Speedway, on the Great Salt Flats in Eastern Utah. The event marked the first time ever that motorcycles ran on the speedway in their own event, usually having to share the speedway with their four wheeled brethren. Thanks to promoter Denis Manning of BUB Enterprises and all of the sponsors, the event was open to anyone who wanted to run, as long as it was on two wheels.
     The first few days of the Speed Trials were marred by remnants of the previous week’s rainstorm. It wasn’t until mid way through the event that Mother Nature cooperated, the track began to dry out, and officials deemed the track ready for racing.
     Vehicles of all sorts were on the roster for the event. Entrants varied from streamliners and purpose built vehicles to sport bikes and v-twins and everything in between. Perhaps the most entertaining were the 3.5cc model airplane engine powered-motorcycle and McLeish’s 49cc streamliner, both competing in the Top MPH/CC Ratio category. One of the most amazing runs was the “Ack Attack” twin-engine Suzuki Hyabusa-powered streamliner, piloted by motorcycle racing legend Jimmy Odom, crashing at speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour. Luckily, Odom walked away unscathed.
     Despite the weather delays, 8 world and 22 national records were set during the event. The highlight of the week was the 322.493-mile per hour run by Bonneville veteran Sam Wheeler in the E-Z Hook-sponsored Kawasaki streamliner. It turned out to be the top speed of the event and earned him the $10,000 cash prize. Due to high winds at that time, Wheeler was not able to back the run up, however, to get credit for an ultimate motorcycle world record (FIM rules require two runs to obtain an two-way average record speed). This was a great disappointment to Wheeler, especially with all the necessary FIM officials on hand to certify a record run. He will reportedly return to Bonneville for an assault on the record before the end of the year.
     For more information and up date race results, go to www.speedtrialsbybub.com.

Bonneville is an absolutely amazing place to see. If the wide-open skies and vast expanse of white terra firma doesn’t impress you, the motorcycles certainly will. The bike in the foreground is Broken Spoke Racing’s Indian, ridden by Dave Iverson, setting an AMA record of 105.643 MPH in the A-VG 1350 class.	Fred Fox, LeMans Corporation Chairman of the Board came out to watch some of the record setting runs.
Vintage race iron was on display along the backside of the pits. In 1991, “S&S Cycle’s ‘Tramp III’ held the record for fastest single engine conventional motorcycle with an average top speed of 226.148MPH.
This was about the only picture you could get of the Drag Specialties Fatbook Flyer II, ridden by Pete Davis. When the bike wasn’t out on the track, the pits were filled with people checking out the bike. Check out the Memphis Shades windshield…very nice!	BUB’s own Denis Manning could always be found in pits. Unfortunately, unfavorable track conditions and technical difficulties kept the #7 BUB streamliner from recording a complete pass on the salt.
Bennett’s Performance is one of Drag Specialties’ dealers that came in search of a speed record. Eric and Bob Bennett built this cool-looking Sportster and set the AMA record in the APG-1650 class with an average top speed of 141.187 MPH. Notice the custom Moto Guzzi gas tank and Air Tech tail section.	Gerald Rinehart, Wink Eller, and racing legend Jim Odom pose for a shot during the awards reception. Rinehart Racing, one of the event sponsors, paid $5,000 in prize money for the “Top Rinehart” award for top speed on a Rinehart Racing exhaust equipped motorcycle. The award went to Pete Davis on the Drag Specialties Fatbook Flyer with a top speed of 147.341 MPH.
The “Run-Whatcha-Brung” class offered anyone who wanted to race on the famed salt flats the opportunity to do so. The “Low Life chassis” on this custom v-twin was built and ridden by Jesse Jurrens of Legend Air Suspensions.	Sherm’s Cycle Kawasaki Mean Streak ridden by Butch Cook. Cook made a record setting run of 126.168 mph for his class.
Campaigned by NRHS V-Twin Performance and ridden by Timbo Horton, this Buell took the $5,000.00 prize money in the Top US V-Twin category with a top speed of 188.373 mph.	This entrant was campaigned by San Jose BMW with a fastest second run of 133.590 mph.
Purpose built Suzuki GSXR1300 Hyabusa making 3-mile long trek on the return road, heading into the pit area.	For safety purposes, photographers were not allowed too close to the track. Good thing, as Jim Odom crashed his twin-engine Suzuki “Ack Attack” streamliner shortly after this picture was taken. He was clocked at approximately 300 miles per hour when it went on its side. Jim walked away without a scratch and the bike fared quite well too.