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”
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
Flashback: Crew Chief to Rider
Looking back at these pictures, two things are clear: (1) The Red Baron has changed a lot, and (2) so have I I joined Smitty during the 2014 race season and a Red Baron Racing crew member and was immediately hooked on land speed racing! At this point, I was starting my master's degree in … Continue reading Flashback: Crew Chief to Rider
Recognition for the Race Support Vehicles
The Red Baron has been on many long drives across the US southwest. Based at UC Irvine in Orange County, The Red Baron has raced and set records at: El Mirage Dry Lake in Adelanto, California Edwards Air Force Base in Mojave, CaliforniaBonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, UtahFront Range Airport in Watkins, Colorado Behind the … Continue reading Recognition for the Race Support Vehicles
Getting the fit just right for the new rider
The 2020 race season will be my rookie season! While I have ridden the bike before in testing and practice, this will be my first time riding in competition. That means some changes are needed to adjust the fit of the The Red Baron to me -- a little lighter and a little taller than … Continue reading Getting the fit just right for the new rider
The Aftermath of the Dynamometer Disaster
The Aftermath of the Dynamometer Disaster The Red Baron was tied down, thrown on its side, and revved way beyond its limits when it was mistakenly shifted from 2nd gear into 1st, rather than 3rd, during an acceleration run on an inertial dynamometer in the post-season of 2017. In the aftermath, we stripped the motorcycle … Continue reading The Aftermath of the Dynamometer Disaster
The Red Baron is back at El Mirage!
It was a successful, fun, and exhausting day of practice at El Mirage! Smitty and I were "back home" at El Mirage Dry Lake with The Red Baron today! We had the nearly-pristine lakebed to ourselves, and there was a gusty cross-wind that rose with the heat. It was above 90-F by the time we … Continue reading The Red Baron is back at El Mirage!
Practice at El Mirage with the Mighty Mouse
Now that Smitty has achieved his land speed record at Bonneville, he is looking forward to being a crew chief as I become the primary rider for The Red Baron. It's my turn to wear a leather racing suit in the heat! We drove out to El Mirage Dry Lake on Monday with Smitty's other … Continue reading Practice at El Mirage with the Mighty Mouse
Reverse-Shift Pattern Dynamometer Disaster
For several years, we had been calculating horsepower and torque of The Red Baron based on engineering equations and results from race runs. The most direct way to get these numbers is using a dynamometer, but that gets complicated with our starting procedure and our reverse-shift pattern: push down to shift up, and lift up … Continue reading Reverse-Shift Pattern Dynamometer Disaster