Balancing everything isn’t going to be a problem. It’s a case of jiggling it all in. Trucks will always be my main job. What else would I do?
But I’m going to take the racing a lot more seriously, because I’m going to take Honda’s money. Take the money, maximum preparation. I’m going to get over there in plenty of time, not be tuning engines the day before the boat sails, like I have done in the past. By the end of January 2017 I’d started watching footage of fast laps again.
I had a few days’ testing in Spain in March, then two tests at Castle Combe, then I’m testing the Mugen Shinden in Japan, and that’ll be great. The Mugen has always been the best electric bike. Anstey won on it last year. I have done one TT Zero before, in 2015 on the Victory, when I stood in for William Dunlop, who was my teammate with TAS but had spannered himself. The TT Zero race is for bikes ‘powered without the use of carbon-based fuels and have zero toxic/noxious emissions’. Don’t get me started on that, because you’ve got to wonder where the power is coming from to charge the batteries for the race bikes, but you’ve got to start somewhere to improve and develop the technology as part of a bigger picture. I came fourth and I’ve just looked it up: I did a 109.7 mph lap. McGuinness has done a 119 mph lap on a Mugen Shinden, in 2015 and that’s the speed Fogarty and Hislop were doing in their 1990–91 battles when they were on the HRC RVF750s. The RVFs were doing it for six laps, where the electric bikes only race for one, but still, they’re pressing on. My race on the Victory wasn’t that memorable, because you’re not going as quickly as you are on the regular bikes, but I love the technology and it’ll be an honour to be involved with that Mugen team.
The main contenders for the TT are the same as they have been for the last few years: McGuinness; Michael Dunlop; Ian Hutchinson; Peter Hickman will go well; James Hillier’s a pedaller, he can press on. I haven’t been interested in what’s been going on in the motorbike world and so I haven’t been kept abreast of the news, so there might be more.
The target is to do the best I can. Of course I want to win, but I just want to go back and ride. What would be a failure? Killing myself, that would be a failure. Anything other than that is a result. Win, lose or draw, I want to be getting off the bike and saying, I couldn’t have done any more, I had control for the whole race.
That’s a Vulcan’s landing gear. It’s the one I taxied up and down a runway at Wellesbourne Airfield. I took this photo because it had a trick mechanical ABS system.
These are the Latvians who re-enacted Second World War battles. Some were German and some were Russians. The Latvians hated both sides, but they hated the Russians more.
That’s the Lada that Kaspars gave a once-over with his expert eyes. It’s parked outside my granddad’s granddad’s house. Great-great-granddad’s? That’s right, isn’t it?
Some of the extended Kidals family I met in Latvia. Lovely people. They said I looked like a Kidals. You can see it, can’t you?
At the Strathpuffer on an Orange Gyro.
In the back of the van eating some of my mate Tim’s special-recipe broth that he’s perfected over years.
I’m taking off the fuel filter housing there.
Handfuls of snacks to keep me going, supplied by Sharon.
More tea, vicar?
In the pit at work.
The Indian Scout wall of death bike that Curly at Krazy Horse built.
My Rob North triple. This must have been the first day I turned up with it, because it doesn’t have the cover over the clutch that they made me fit.
In Ken Fox’s wall of death. Ken is on one of the Honda 200s I learned to ride the wall on.
This photo shows the scale of the wall we used to break the record. Directly below the folk on the viewing platform is the door in and out.
Being interviewed at the wall of death while Nigel looks on.
Looking down on the Rob North while stood next to Steve Jones, who presented the live programme.
My mum says I’m special.
Me quizzing David Coulthard and his team to death while a cameraman rigs up the car.
That’s Andy Spellman taking a photo of me snoring like a fog horn, or so he says. I didn’t hear anything.
Paul from Krazy Horse with an Elvis impersonator on Fremont Street, Las Vegas.
You see Mustangs if not every day, then a lot, but the attention to detail on this one was something else.
FT13 AFK at the Radical Ventures garage in Vegas. They helped us out loads when we had to fit a new clutch.
The rally computer that my navigator used is on the passenger side. In the middle is the tyre-temperature gauge. The dash is the same as the one I have in the Volvo and in the land speed record Triumph.
Busy: 3.5-litre, V6 twin turbo.
The rear wing is a work of art, designed by Wirth Research for an LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype) car.
Dan from Krazy Horse, who built the van. Don’t know why he’s biting his nails – what could possibly go wrong?
A right rare John Deere that I saw when I went out for a pushbike ride in Nevada.
The poster for the Hookers’ Choice award before the Nevada Open Road Challenge. The Transit won.
My bike leaning against the official start of the Tour Divide. There’s a bicycle pump and a multitool attached to the sign for people to use in an emergency. You don’t see that in Britain.
Just after I stopped here, in Ovando, it started heshing it down, so I camped out in a wigwam and then moved to a covered wagon when the wigwam leaked. That was my shortest day of the Tour Divide.
Mick the Paddy, a lucky charm Sharon gave me that I carried on the Tour Divide.
This is fairly early on. Only about 5 per cent of the whole 2,745-mile route was on road like this.
Home-cooked grub near Butte, I think.
These are all at the top of Togwotee Pass. I slept in someone’s log shed for an hour near here.
The Basin, on the border of Montana and Wyoming. This was the day I missed Atlantic City so had to do without supplies, and I rode for well over a hundred miles with no food and not much water until I got to Wamsutter.
One of the nodding donkey oil pumps out in the desert.
Supply stop in Columbine, Colorado. I liked places like this, friendly and different, but they didn’t have the range of supplies the petrol stations had. They wouldn’t take my card and I was out of money, so I had to pay in Canadian dollars.
It’s a 15-mile climb to get to the top of Marshall Pass. Hard going.
An ice cream in Salida, Colorado, and my titanium spork with something healthy to eat, for a change.
I crossed Route 66 the day after I slept on the Indian reservation.
A pie in Pie Town, New Mexico.
I’ll have everything on the blackboard, please.
The Toaster House, the hostel where I spent the night in Pie Town.
The map on the wall of the Toaster House. By now I knew my GPS map was out of date, so I took this photo in case I needed to zoom in and refer to it. You can see the Gila Wilderness, which lay ahead of me.
At the end of the Tour Divide, looking a bit the worse for wear.
Nigel the dog trying on a Nigel the dog hat.
Dave, one of the Foxes’ ducks that Nigel got a grip on.
That’s not my van.
At Dirt Quake on the Krazy Horse Harley chopper.
Having a quick word with Carl Fogarty before the racing started.
Bonneville, what a place.
Matt Markstaller is in the blue T-shirt, James the MoTeC man is in the black shirt and Ed the engine man (with the grey beard) is stood next to me.
Me and Sal talking to Mike Cook, the father of Bonneville, in Carmen’s Black and White Bar, Wendover.
At Bonneville, Triumph laid on some camper vans for their photographers, sponsors, the team and the TV lot to use. Some guests of Triumph turned up and broke the golden rule of no number twos in the camper van, so someone put up a sign on the camper van saying MEDIA ONLY. It was only a mat
ter of time before I made my own for the TV lot’s camper van door.
We took the Transit to Bonneville to see what it could do, but it didn’t get up to the speeds that the TV lot hoped it would.
My sticker, and a lot of bullet holes on the famous sign that tells visitors the history of the salt flats.
Index
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
Page references in italics indicate illustrations.
Ae Forest trail centre, Scotland 91–2
Ack Attack 266, 267, 293
AGV helmet 128, 274, 291, 300
AIM Yamaha 144
Ainslie, Sir Ben 252, 254–5, 258
America’s Cup 254, 255, 258
Andrews, Jim 241
Anstey, Bruce 136, 210
Antelope Wells, U.S. 138–9, 153, 171, 203, 204–6
Apidura 165
Ash, Aaron 227
Asite, Latvia 18–19
Atco lawnmower 248
Baker Body Craft 104–5, 107
Baron Cohen, Sacha 217–18
Beamish, Paul 103, 104, 120, 125, 126, 128, 134, 224, 229, 234
Beltchenko, Neil 191
Belty 11, 58, 80, 214, 235
Bickerton, Ron 250–1, 256, 257, 258, 259
Bimota:
Tesi 278
VDue 246
Birtwistle, Alan 228
Bloodhound SSC 263–4
BMW S1000RR 7–8, 30, 31–2, 65, 269
Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, U.S. 74, 135, 243, 263–95, 296–303, 307, 309, 311
Bonney, Michael 91–2
Brayford Pool, Lincoln 259, 311
Brian the Chimp (GM’s inner chimp) 232, 252, 304–7
Brindley, Ollie 228
British dirt track championship 226
British Superbikes 60, 210
Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire 113–17, 118, 119, 124
BSA 750 triple (Rob North) 8, 40, 43, 48–9, 50, 51–2, 54, 61–4, 65, 68–9, 72, 73–4, 78–9, 133, 246
BUB Seven Streamliner 265, 266
BUB Speed Trials 268
BUB team 265, 266, 267, 269–70, 271, 273, 276
Burt Munro Classic hill climb, New Zealand 310
Burton Waters, Lincoln 251, 257–8, 259
Butte, U.S. 172, 173
Butts Cabin, U.S. 153, 154, 158
CAD (computer aided design) system 49
Cadwell Park Circuit, Lincolnshire 229, 236
Cammy (mechanic) 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 71, 76, 79, 137
Campbell, Donald 270
Campos, Dave 266
Cañon Plaza, U.S. 193–4
Capital FM 235–6
Carpenter Racing 272, 279, 309
Carr, Chris 266, 269
Carsington Water, Derbyshire 260
Carter, Adam 110–11
Caspian Sea Monster, The 257
Castle Combe, Wiltshire 212
Castlewellan trail centre, Northern Ireland 95
Catfight Candy 224
Chain Reaction Cycles 94
Channel 4 14, 28–9, 30, 75, 79, 230
Chevrolet:
LS1 V8 engine 243
NASCAR 132–3
V8 engine 132
Chihuahua Express 126
Chihuahuan Desert 204, 215
Chuck, Charlie 223, 224
Ciballi, Stuart 110–11
CNC machining 49–51, 144, 212, 272
Co-Built Rotax race bikes 224
‘coast to coast to coast’ (GM training ride) 82–100, 84
Coles, Tim 182, 244
Collins, Ade 228
Continental Divide of the Americas 144, 153, 179, 198, 201
Cook, Mike 270–1, 276, 280, 283, 286, 290, 298, 300–1, 302
Cosworth:
3-litre V6 engine 103
DFV V8 Formula One/Le Mans 24-hour engine 102, 298
HB V8 F1 engine 103
Coulthard, David 29, 30, 31–4, 36, 37, 45, 75, 76
Coulthard, Duncan 30
Crank Brothers pedals 162
Crazy Dave 272, 282
Croatia 14, 251
Cuba 14
Curonians 17
Cycling the Great Divide: From Canada to Mexico on North America’s Premier Long-Distance Mountain Bike Route (McCoy) 151, 153
Dainese 78, 242
Davagh Forest trails, Northern Ireland 96
Davida 232
Decavitator 251, 260
Demand Engineering 113
Dirt Quake 161
(2015) 227
(2016) 223, 225–36, 246
dirt track racing 60, 85, 161, 204, 223–36, 246, 269
DiSalvo, Jason 275, 277, 289
Dobby (GM’s friend) 114, 115, 146, 151, 180
Dodds, Ben 59
Double-Decker Lil (GM’s grandmother) 14, 15, 21, 72
Drela, Mark 250, 251, 261
DTRA (Dirt Track Riders Association) 226, 227, 228
Duncanson, Neil 29, 79
Dungait brothers 83, 247
Dunlop, Michael 176
Dunne, Bethany 147
E85 (fuel) 239, 240
Ekranoplan 256–7, 260
Ellwood, Nik 279–80, 293
Eureka, U.S. 122–3, 124, 159
Farquhar, Ryan 135, 136–7
Feigmanis, Dr Aleks 17, 18–19
Fendt tractor 244–5
Ferndale, U.S. 163, 164
FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) 294
Fogarty, Carl 232
Ford 59, 102–3, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 120, 122, 123, 130, 243, 244, 270, 298
Escort RS Cosworth 243
GB 105
GT40 102
Mustang 122, 130
Formula One 28–38, 74, 102, 103, 109, 110, 256, 291, 298, 301
Red Bull car vs BMW Superbike challenge 29–38
Fox suspension 248
Fox, Alex 42, 46, 71, 77, 78
Fox, Julie 46
Fox, Ken 42, 43–5, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53–4, 69, 70–1, 77, 230
Fox, Luke 42, 45–6, 71, 230
Freightliner trucks 126, 309
Frith, Freddy 232
Gila Wilderness, U.S. 199, 215
Goldenrod 270
Gordon, Bill 241
Grampian Transport Museum 247
Great Divide Basin, The, U.S. 181–2
Greenfield, Mark 53
Grimsby (film) 217–18
Grimsby, Lincolnshire 40, 50, 58, 59, 85, 125, 158, 191, 200, 216, 217–21, 229, 232
Gyronaut X-1 293
Hall, Mike 184–5, 186, 191, 199, 206
HANS systems 113, 290–1, 300
Harley Davidson 225–6, 229–30, 231, 233, 246–7, 266
Sportster 229
Streamliner 265
Hayter lawnmower 248
Hebb, John 59
Hodgson, Neil 213
Holland Lake, U.S. 168–9
Honda:
200 69
CB200 43
CR500 227–8
CRF450 226
RCV213 210–11
Hope 114, 117, 214, 248
Hoy, Sir Chris 252–4, 261
human-powered watercraft, world record attempt 249–61
Hunt, Dr Hugh 44, 74–5, 76, 77
hydrofoils 254, 256, 258, 259, 260
Hynes, Sally (sister) 60, 125, 146, 247, 264, 283, 292
Indian Scout 43, 51, 53–4, 64, 65–6, 71, 73, 78, 229
Inman, Gary 223, 224, 283
Isle of Man TT 11, 33, 54, 70, 72, 135, 136, 137, 140–1, 175, 176, 209, 210–13, 232, 241, 243, 245, 289, 310
John Deere 7310R tractor 244, 245
Johnston, Lee 137
Jones, Steve 75, 77–8
Karosta Prison, Latvia 21–3
Kato, Josh 143, 147
Kawasaki
:
AR50 237, 238, 245
Z1000 engines 266
Kawasaki Zed 225
Kelly, Chris 247
Keltruck 247
Kidals, Arvids (GM’s great-uncle) 24
Kidals, Janis Voldemars ‘Walter’ (GM’s grandfather) 14–15, 17, 18–21, 24–6
Kidals, John (GM’s uncle) 15, 19, 20, 25
Kidals, Rihards (GM’s great-uncle) 24
King’s Lynn speedway, Norfolk 225, 229, 231
Kirkistown, Northern Ireland 213
Kirmington, Lincolnshire 78
KM (ekranoplan) 256–7
Koenigsegg 238
Krazy Horse 42–4, 48, 51, 52, 54, 65, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 110, 113, 119, 120, 125, 126, 128, 134, 224, 225–6, 229, 230, 234
Kriega backpack 143, 176
KS Composites 111
KTM 450 60, 226–7, 229
Lada 1300 S 16, 17, 18