I've mostly been lurking on this list, trying to learn a few things about
land speed racing and running at the Salt Flats. Let's see, my list of
occupations since college include: bread baker, computer programmer,
technical writer (mainly telecommunications user docs), white water river
guide, motorcycle courier, massage therapist, and facilities manager for an
apartment building. Right now I'm doing some contract technical writing and
looking for full-time employment as a technical writer.
My motor sports resume is a lot shorter. I raced a Honda CB160-based road
racer in the vintage class back in the mid-80s, and for the last three
years I've been involved with the National Electric Drag Racing Association
(NEDRA). This year I built an electric dragbike that holds the 120-volt
motorcycle record of 14.25 seconds and 92.5 mph. That was set on it's third
and last trip to a dragstrip in September, because right after that run I
had a little problem with the electrical controls on the return road and
ended up planting the bike in a fence and planting my face on the asphalt.
I'm okay but the bike's frame is a twisted mess which means I get to build
a new bike this winter, which I was planning to do anyway. The new bike
should be capable of running the quarter mile in the mid-nines, and it's a
bike I'd like to run at the Salt Flats next summer.
I know lots of you guys are into land speed racing because you like
internal combustion engines. I don't have anything against them, my car has
one and so does my scooter, and I'll be showing up at Bonneville with a
gasoline-powered generator, but I don't like working on them that much. The
cool thing about electric vehicles is that I still get to spin wrenches and
have lots of fun going too fast on bikes and the whole process is a lot
cleaner and quieter than when I was fooling with gasoline-powered machines.
Henry Deaton
San Francisco, CA
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