Carl and I have been building specialized motorcycles for 20+ years and landspeed racing at Bonneville for the past 5 years (...). We both contribute a lot of effort into each other's racing program and capitalize on the dual effort. -says Mark Bjorklund for xsgear
Mark and his brother Cal are the men behind the custom bike shop Super Rat.
Mark Bjorklund set his first landspeed record in 2012 on their shops 1000cc Ducati racer at 166 mph in the class 1000cc A-AG motorcycles (altered frame, normally aspirated engine, pump gas). That bike is pictured below. The bike was based on a crashed Ducati Monster S4RS they found on Ebay. In 2014, the Salt Fever caught up with Mark again but instead of using a single engine bike, he decided that two engines are better. And in this way his 1000cc record will stay intact.
The engines came off of two Monster S4RS that were bought brand new back in 2014. So you have a total of 128hp's x2. That also means two batteries, two fuel pumps, two radiators, two oil coolers and two ECU units. But four gauges to keep an eye on both engines. The extended gearbox output shaft, chain driven, made it possible to use both gearboxes at the same time.
From axle to axle, the bike is 3.35m long. But since rapid turning wasn't a big deal in setting a Bonneville land speed record... Double cradle frame was TIG welded, for strenght and durability. It took eight months to build and it was a team effort of Mark, his brother Carl Bjorklund, Jason Omer and Tim Clossey. The bike was ready three days before Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trails in 2014. The Double Duck and Mark managed to take on at that time's current record in the 2000 A-AG class of 159mph with their 194mph. But he was still 5mph short from the 200mph Bonneville Hall Of Fame List. Fast forwarding to 2016, the Duble Duck Ducati was ready for another attempt at Bonneville. Nothing was changed, except the bike chains.
I was entering Mile 3, and I finally had the Double Duck pinned. Around 190 miles per hour, it pitched sideways. I backed off the throttle a hair. By the time I saw the flying-mile markers, my helmet was shaking so violently I just tried to tuck behind the front tire.
I pulled off the course and waited for the crew to pick me up. A lad pulled up in a truck and said, ‘You did 205.’ I threw my arms into his open window and gave him a big hug. Then I pointed up to the sky and said, ‘Thank you, Jesus! I’m still alive and I’m in the 200 mph Club! (via Motorcyclist on line / Funny I found this article released yesterday; I was searching for sources and info for almost 3 weeks by now).
Fist time I remember seeing this bike, a few years ago, it was while watching the ''Out of Nothing'' documentary that shows us the Rat Bike crew's journey to Bonneville in 2014. Btw, it was rated 7.8/10 at Imdb so it's a good watch.
Instantly, because of the way the rider sits in the bike I thought of Angus MacPhail's Jade Warrior (just click here for details).
It's funny and weird really how one single photo determined me to finally do a write up about this amazing motorcycle. In fact the cover of a bike magazine from Norway. As you can go figure, I don't know any norwegian so the magazine wasn't of ''much'' help. The inches-away-from the salt-(literally)-wheel in the face-superman pose got me thinking ''get to work you lazy SOB!'' And so I did. It took me almost half a day (like all the articles I do) but I hope you enjoyed it !
It takes a ton of passion and thousands of hours to achieve the goals we set but the value is expressed in the effort. There's nothing we'd rather be doing than this! -the same Mark Bjorklund for xsgear
Photo credit : Phil Hawkins, ISFTH, Mark Bjorklund, DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival, Super Rat, British Customs.
Links St George Utah / British Customs / Super Rat / Out of Nothing Kickstarter / Motorcyclist online / Imdb .
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