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For
Immediate Release
Contact: Jody Meacham, 408 / 288-2934, jody@sjsa.org
SAN JOSE (Oct. 7, 2004) – Beat
322 miles per hour on a motorcycle.
That’s the goal of Mike Akatiff, the San Jose
man who designed and built the bullet-shaped Ack Attack
motorcycle, and Jimmy Odom, the former motorcycle racer
from Tracy who hopes to drive the projectile into history
next week on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
Breaking
the record, set in 1991, means ``I can stick a plaque
on the wall saying `Been there, done that,’ and
then I can move on,’’ said 59-year-old Akatiff,
who manufactured motorcycle parts and did some racing
earlier in his career before going into business for
himself making precision aircraft instruments. He spent
about $100,000 of his own money and two years in design
and construction of the Ack Attack.
Odom, 56, a former
national champion who now works for the California
Department of Water Resources, said the
opportunity to drive the Ack Attack gives him about
12-15 seconds of the kind of thrill he once experienced
as
a competitor. "For me it’s just about the
accomplishment, just being part of it."
The team leaves
Friday for Utah and is scheduled to make its first
record attempt Wednesday on the salt flats
just east of Wendover, Nev.
In August Odom tested the
machine – powered by
a pair of four-cylinder Suzuki motorcycle engines, which
produce a combined 700-plus horsepower – in Utah
and crashed it at more than 300 mph.
"As soon as I saw
the horizon start to tilt inside my windscreen, I thought
'Oh no, this is a bad one,' " Odom
said, recalling the mishap in which his machine skipped
more than 1,000 feet on its first bounce across the desert
floor. It was upset by a tiny gust of wind. A pair of
parachutes, normally used to brake the motorcycle at
the finish of a speed run, deployed automatically, perhaps
saving Odom’s life.
Fortunately he was not injured
and the motorcycle, built of tubular metal inside an
aerodynamic carbon fiber shroud,
needed only minor repairs to be ready for a new record
attempt. Two rival efforts – one by a team in Arcata
and another from Grass Valley – also will be
going for the record.
"Our data showed him at 316 mph
when he crashed," Akatiff
said.
The team
Owner, designer and builder
- Mike Akatiff, 59, of San Jose
- President of ACK Technologies,
downtown San Jose, manufacturer of general aviation
avionics
- Former motorcycle mechanic and parts manufacturer
Rider / driver
- Jimmy Odom, 56, of Tracy
- Works for California Department
of Water Resources
- Former motorcycle racer for
factory-backed teams Bultaco, Triumph, Honda, Suzuki
and Yamaha
The machine
Ack Attack
- Two stock Suzuki Hayabusa 1299cc turbo-charged engines,
700-plus horsepower
- Chain drive
- Cromoly tubular frame covered
by carbon fiber skin with driver’s cockpit
- In-cockpit
video and data acquisition system
- Handlebar throttle
- Foot pedals for gear shift and
brake
- Twin parachutes for stopping
- Maximum speed 350+ mph
(estimated)
- Estimated value $100,000 in materials
only
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