Looking more like a long, blurred, red flash than a motorcycle, the BUB 7 Streamliner is now the fastest motorcycle on earth (pending FIM verification) after Chris Carr set a new FIM world record and AMA national record at 367.382mph (591.244kmh) through the mile - and an exit speed of 372.534mph (599.534kmh) - at the Cook Private Meet at the Bonneville Salt Flats Utah. It probably also makes Carr one of the bravest men on the planet. BUB 7 beat the previous record of 360.913mph (580.833kmh), set by Team Ack Attack last year. We originally covered the BUB 7 when it broke through the 350mph (563km) barrier back in 2006.
To achieve this new incredible speed, the BUB 7 was powered by a 3-liter, turbocharged, 16-valve V4 that generated an estimated 500hp in a package the size of a 1-liter V-twin, because the maximum limit for this land speed racing is 3000cc. This purpose-built motor was designed with one thing in mind – breaking the motorcycle world record. Mission accomplished!
The engine is a big bang type, so it must gain traction, then relax and then transfer power with the next power pulse. Unlike drag racing, one of the challenges all teams competing in land speed record racing face is that their motorcycles have to make two runs; a down and a return that are combined for an overall average, so the engine has to survive for both runs without any modifications.
But power isn’t everything … this winter, the 'Seven' underwent further streamlining using A2 Wind Tunnel (A2WT) facility in South Carolina, where it scored the lowest coefficient of drag (CoD) that the A2WT has ever recorded - a CoD 0.09.
Denis Manning, designer and builder of the Seven, has been in LSR (Land Speed Racing) for the better part of 40 years, and first got the record in 1970 with a Harley-powered Streamliner with rider Cal Rayborn at 265.492mph. This is his seventh Streamliner. He has held the fastest motorcycle record with two of them (twice with the Seven).
Not much more information at this stage, but watch the video below to show how fast 350mph is when the BUB 7 Streamliner broke that record. The team is now aiming for the 400mph record.
