1970 Don Sliger 1500cc Twin Royal Enfield Engined Record Bike

Nature provided the best 'speed Bowl' in the world when a vast salt water lake dried out in Utah, USA. It left twenty miles of smooth dead level salt to make Bonneville the ultimate track for speed on wheels. Apart frm the pulicised World Record aspirants hundreds of drivers and riders trek t Bonneville to aim for class records or milestone achievements.

Don Sliger's aim when he built this machine was a class record which stood at 191.302mph, the milestone he was secretly after was to be first to top 200mph on an unstreamed bike. Streamlinging can add one third to a bike's maximum). One of the best ways to add straight line speed is to add an extra engine (good for straight line speed but not cornering).

Sliger knew from experience that chains were not strong enough to link the two engines so had hefty straight cut gears made. Surprisingly the standard Royal Enfield gearbox and clutch designed for one engine can take the strain of two. Biggest surprise of all is the engines fire up on the kick start. The frame is simple but strong. Early high speed runds were mined by tank slapper speed wobbles until Sliger altered the steering geometry.

With that sorted, Sliger got his class record with a two way average of 194.724mph. A chain broke when he went for the 200 mph record but not before he had doen 203.16 mph. The first time an unstreanmed bikd has topped 200 mph.