England's 200-Mph Streetbike

ENGLAND'S 200-MPH STREETBIKE

JUDGED BY THE NUMBERS alone, Europe’s new motorcycle speed recordset this past spring in England at 209 mph-seems pretty tame. That is, until you realize that the nearest thing England has to the Bonneville Salt Flats offers a mere ¾-mile run to the timing lights. And, even more remarkably, that the record-setting motorcycle was completely street-legal.

The previous record, set by a very illegal ex-works Norton Rotary streamliner, was set at 200.08 mph in 1991. That stood until earlier this year, when a lunatic named Mike Grainger hurtled his turbocharged Kawasaki ZX-11 through the fog at Elvington Airfield near York at a two-way average speed of 209.05 mph.

According to Grainger, the standard 175-mph Kawasaki ZX-l l “just wasn't quick enough.”

Enter Mr. Turbo, whose Garret-built unit sits in front of the overbored l I08cc engine. During the record run, the tiny impeller crammed mixture in to the tune of 21 psi. The engine was carefully blueprinted to cope, with lots of special metal treatments, special pistons and conrods, fuel injection, a centrifugal lock-up clutch and improved oiling.

For full-boost running, the big Ninja runs on 116-octane race gas, producing the Chanel No. 5 of exhaust aromas.

Then there’s the 50/50 water/ methanol mixture dispensed from a tank behind the license plate. This does almost nothing for power, but gives the pistons a fighting chance of surviving.

“Why?” you might ask, and Grainger often is. “Why not?” is his usual reaction. “I use it quite a lot on the road. When I need a fix, I take it for a spin.”

I had a brief ride on the record-breaker. Ease it up to 150 mph at quarter-throttle, crack open the gas, watch the boost gauge blur, and hang on as it delivers a kick in the ass like Robocop’s bigger brother. “I suppose Em used to it,” observes Grainger casually, “but after this, standard ZX-l Is feel flat as a fart.”

Mac McDiarmid