The Red Baron motorcycle sounds like an airplane, and that's no coincidence! https://videopress.com/v/TxLEKMG6?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata The Red Baron motorcycle, at El Mirage Dry Lake (Credit: John Wylie Media, full video) The Red Baron air racer, flying by the Grand Tetons Smitty was an airframe engineer and instrumental contributor to the development of the P-51D Mustang that became … Continue reading Homage to the RB-51 “Red Baron”
Nov. 2021: El Mirage *New Record*
The Red Baron competed unstreamlined - without it's fairing - for the final event of the 2021 season in the Modified, Pushrod Blown Gas (M-PBG) class. Smitty and The Red Baron had already set the record in this class at 108.476 mph in May 2018. The goal was to break the record, hopefully going around … Continue reading Nov. 2021: El Mirage *New Record*
Oct. 2021: El Mirage *New Record*
Competition Class: 350-cc MPS-PBGModified Partially-Streamlined ChassisPushrod Blown Gasoline EngineStarting Number: 47 (Group 2)First event with family! RUN OBJECTIVE: BREAK THE REOCRD The Red Baron was tuned up after September 2021, since the cylinder head temps were nice 'n' cool with new engine ducting providing ram-air cooling evenly to the front and rear cylinders. A thinner head gasket upped … Continue reading Oct. 2021: El Mirage *New Record*
Sept. 2021: El Mirage
The run wasn't perfect, but still reached a speed of 120.996 MPH, my personal fastest run ever!
New Seat Complete!
The seat has gone through a few iterations to it's current form. From the original, it was first extended by a few inches as a result of a longer swingarm, then raised another couple inches to improve ergonomics for Amy, the new (taller) rider. Seat Extension (2017) The seat extension was actually prompted by a … Continue reading New Seat Complete!
A season of mileage in a day
The El Mirage July race event was cancelled last weekend due to excessive heat, but we made lemonade out of that lemon by still having our own testing day.
Jun. 2021: El Mirage *Rookie Runs*
Last weekend was my rookie event as a rider at El Mirage Dry Lake, after 7 seasons as crew chief! The goal for the day was not top speed, but rather (1) break in the engine after getting the cylinders replated and installing new rings, and (2) evaluate the ergonomics of a new seat and … Continue reading Jun. 2021: El Mirage *Rookie Runs*
The Red Baron Comparison: Yamaha R3
I got myself a new Yamaha R3! It feels very similar in some ways, and very different in other ways to The Red Baron. The Yamaha has similar power, but delivered at much higher RPM, and less torque without The Red Baron's supercharger. The seat height gives me the same solid footing on both bikes. … Continue reading The Red Baron Comparison: Yamaha R3
Opening the new 125H engine
The Red Baron is a 1985 350-cc Moto Morini with significant engine modifications, along with other mods, which has achieved land speed records on dirt, salt, and tarmac over six seasons of refinement. Given its now the off-season in the midst of a pandemic, we are daydreaming about what comes next. Well, we are beyond … Continue reading Opening the new 125H engine
Overview of the Instruments
The Red Baron instruments tell the story of a land speed racing run from start to finish, if you know what you're looking for. Here's my first video introducing the different instruments and narrating our record-setting run from July 2017. https://youtu.be/Vgu2WjiFPk0 It wasn't a perfect run - the rear cylinder got uncomfortably hot, the engine … Continue reading Overview of the Instruments