ELECTRIC bike makes history with 235mph+ land speed record run

The US land speed line in Bonneville — Photo: © IMAGO

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ELECTRIC bike makes history with 235mph+ land speed record run

Bonneville Speed Week record

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson Chief Editor

Monday 2 September 2024 15:00

An electric-powered bike has become the first electric vehicle to set the fastest motorcycle speed at the Bonneville Speed Week across the Salt Flats in Utah.

The record was broken by 30-year-old British California transplant Matthew Deeley and his Revolt Systems team at the event in August, a yearly, week-long event hosted by the Bonneville Nationals Inc (BNI).

The event, which runs from Saturday through to Friday (weather permitting) is the highlight of the land speed racing season, with entrants traveling from across the globe to participate.

The 2024 Speed Week took place between August 3rd and August 9th and naturally took place at the Bonneville Salt Flats, which are located approximately 88 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

It is claimed that the 'spectacular scenery and racing conditions at Bonneville make it one of the most popular areas in the world for speed'.

Records broken

Before breaking the record, Deeley, also known as 'The Wheeling Welshman', was first required to do a test run up to a speed of 175mph to prove that he could control his bike at that pace on the salt.

This was, of course, no problem, and the next day, The Wheeling Welshman embarked on his qualifying run, with staggering footage showing him reaching a colossal speed of 236.097mph.

After that run, the bike was impounded, with the team only able to work on it for up to four hours, with any work beyond this time limit resulting in a disqualification, despite some new-found issues with the rear tyre rubbing on the bodywork.

Deeley was forced to do the final run facing a borderline dangerous 8mph crosswind, and managed to reach a speed of 218.771mph which, whilst almost 20mph less than his previous run, was still enough for the record. The average speed of Deeley's runs was 227.434mph, with the previous record having stood at 215.960mph.

He told GPFans: "Thanks to Kent Riches and Randy Nelson, the original builders of the bike in 2009 before our overhaul. We're the first, but we definitely won't be the last. Right now it's not something that many people are diving into, but the more people realize the speed potential that electric motors have, the more competitive the EV classes will get."

Impressively, it transpired that this was also the fastest speed set of any motorbike throughout the entire week, winning the Hudson-Wheeler Memorial Trophy and becoming the first electric-powered vehicle to lead with the bike or car category in Speed Week history.

As one of Deeley's team explained: "There's two big trophies they give out at Bonneville.

"One of them is for the fastest car - The Hot Rod trophy - and then the other one's called The Hudson Wheeler Trophy and it's for the fastest bike, motorcycle. So you [Deeley] got that, which is the first EV to ever do that."

Written by

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - Chief Editor

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson is a motorsport journalist and editor specializing in NASCAR. He covers the sport across the Cup Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Truck Series, producing breaking news, live race reports, features, analysis, and opinion.

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