Last weekend's season opener at North Carolina's Maxton Monster Mile, home of the East Coast Timing Association's land-speed trials was history making. Bill Warner rode his turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa to an outrageous 272.34073 mph top speed, shattering the previous record by more than 12 mph. Our friend Don Smith was on the scene and sent us this brief report:
"This weekend at the newly updated Maxton course two different bikes broke Lee Shierts 260.288 mph record, which had stood since 2004. First, Scott Guthrie's machine called "Hammer" went 264.375, with rider Shane Stubbs in the saddle. As if that wasn't enough, less than 30 minutes later Bill Warner went 272 mph on his turbo 'Busa, which features some custom bodywork. Warner is the same rider that went 255 mph last year at Texas on a naked bike. Warner's record is now the fastest standing-mile motorcycle record in the world, and it makes it the second fastest "sit-on-the-motorcycle" record, just a few tenths shy of Joe Amo's number from Bonneville.
After the run Bill ran long and wide--as you might expect after going 272--and hit some cones in the shut down area, destroying his fender and part of the fairing. 'My timing was off because I was traveling so much faster,' Warner said. 'It caught me a little off guard. I went in at the wrong angle and hit the third traffic cone at 167 mph.' Luckily, Warner didn't go down, and the bodywork is repairable."
