The salt was a fickle partner.
(Lined up for the record pass)
I just want to let everyone know what happened.
Justdad rode like hell through the whole event. The salt was wet, slick, and difficult to read. Usually it's bright off-white and dry on course and the wet spots are visible as dark patches.
This year, the whole course was a dark patch, with a couple of scattered dry spots. 164 MPH is incredible given the conditions, and a testament to Justdad's finesse on a bike, keep in mind, this was his first time on the bike (and first time riding a rocket 3 fast, ever).
We did some analysis on the data and video after the qualifying pass, looking to see where we could adjust to gain some traction and speed. We came up with a strategy, and the salt the day of the record run was giving more speed.
I made some adjustments to the suspension to firm it up a touch, checked tire pressure due to temperature drop, and flashed a minor fueling change to get some more power in 5th gear. Mufasa was about 10% too rich in 5th, above 6500 on the 164 pass. Lamdas during the record run were around 0.81, too rich, so I adjusted to a 0.92 lamdas target.
(Just before the run, the last picture before the crash).
The first truck down the track gained 15 mph on his record pass over his qualifying run (150mph qualifying /165 record).
An Indian Chieftain factory team gained 4.xx mph on his record pass over the qualifying. (133 qualifying / 138 record).
DA was ~5200, 60f outside. Calm winds.
It's reasonable to expect given our strategy adjustments and the salt improvements that Justdad would have had a 170 to 175 mph pass on the record run. Matching what the other rocket 3 bikes had done, except we were on horrid salt and the standing 176 mph best R3 record was done in a year with phenomenal salt.
We were all upbeat because not only were set to put a record in the books, Justdad was about to match the best ever R3 pass with a massive handicap of bad salt.
Justdad lined up, preflight sequence went smooth and we were starting click as a team on the starting line.
He left nice and easy for the first 50 feet, held part throttle through 1st to around 7500 RPM, had a little wag of the rear tire at 4000 but it straightened out and he went for second gear, things went bad after that.
We are not totally sure yet, I'm still analyzing data, but it appears a hole was present on track and the bike struck the hole just as or after he completed the 1 - 2 shift. The rim bent, severely, instantly deflating the rear tire.
At this point, Justdad never had a chance and became a passenger to fate and bad luck. He did everything right, rolled into it a bit harder to get the bike to self correct, when that didn't work, he rolled off a bit in a desperate attempt to settle the bike.
By this point the deflated rear tire was wagging back and forth along a path about 6 feet wide swinging back and forth. Justdad rode it out like an absolute professional, trying to save it all the way until Mufasa spit him off. It ended up as a full tank slapper a little short of the 1/4 mile mark and the rotational inertia never allowing the flat rear tire to regain grip once it started spinning.
He came down hard on his left elbow, breaking it, and bumped his his head.
My best estimate based on data is an 80mph speed at point of impact with the salt The final info about speed, lies here, like a frozen watch, we know how fast he was going when he hit, thankfully he held on long enough to bleed about 15 mph in the last bit of time:
Justdad was lucky, he slid left, and the bike slid right, never hitting each other. Crew and first responders were on scene very quickly. Ambulance had him and he was evacuated via life flight to the hospital, from crash to moving in the ambulance was 9 minutes.
He is hurt, but whole and is recovering at home now. Thankfully this is not the end of Justdad.
Sadly, it is the end of Mufasa.
RIP Mufasa: Sep '14 - Aug '23. The angry bastard went out screaming and being it's rowdy self. I wouldn't have it any other way.
This is Mufasa's remains:
Current plans are undetermined. I'm still digesting it and trying to decide on my path forward.
What I will say, I will never build a bike/engine for anyone else again and I will never let someone else ride one of my rockets again.
It's not about the damage to the bike, it's about the sense of responsibility putting someone else on an exceptionally dangerous bike.