2015 Bullett Benefit..Boise



9 May 2015: The Bonneville Bullett benefit was kicked into high gear. For extensive coverage check out the Bonneville Bullett Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/bonnevillebullett.raceteam

Diana Sterk who organized the event is a force to be reckoned with and one hell of a photographer. Herding a bunch of Bikers, getting everyone to alter their schedules, and pushing everyone so it all comes off is not a job for the timid...Diana's photo of the Bullett above.

Buttoning Up the Bullett




On with the bellypan, trying to remember where the Dzus fasteners go. The white jacks designed by Mike Geokan hold the bike in the air and off the Goodyear Landspeed Record Tires. A chain and a modified engine lift is used to lower the bike to the ground. 1000 lbs.



Mike Geokan buttoning up the Bullett for the benefit. Mike calls this his best head shot... 21 March 1967 he was in the middle of a Tank Battle at Suoi Tre that left over 700 ennemy soldiers dead. Mike still ducks when you try to shoot him. Combat Vet, purple heart, two Bronze Stars for Valor.

Bullett Back On It's Feet



Back on the ground after setting a 200 mph record in 2011. Rain cancelled the 2014 and 2014 events. 2015 is the year. The front tire was shaved after the Bullett's 2008 debut to make it easier to ride. Nate Jones Cowboy Tire in Signal Hill California shaves and balances all the Landspeed Record tires you see at Bonneville...In this case to make the tire a more rounded profile.



Race canopy. "Flyin Bryan" on the left side where the SCTA-BNI starter holds court on the start line at the Bonneville Salt Flats. "Original Mike" on the right side. Reinforced strip on the trailing edge of the canopy stiffens the structure for the potential 270 mph wind pressure. If Bryan keeps his head down he won't get peeled off the bike.

Bullett Back in Race Trailer



She probably is thinking it's another 300 mile ride to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Not this time. She'll get to sit in the sun this Saturday and have pretty girls warm her seat. She's a cruel mistress that does not like being fooled with nor handled by other than her makers. Mike has her heart but Bryan holds the throttle. Cold serious metal warming in the Benefit's sun surrounded by admirers trying to figure out what is hiding beneath her gleaming skin. Don't go there. Nothing is friendly inside there.



Famous Mike Geokan #226 Bonneville Record Holder



Bryan Stock restored (cleaned up) Mike Geokan's record holding #226 Blue Bike to take to the benefit.

"When you come to the fork in the road take it" Yogi Berra



Mike took Yogi's advice more than 40 years ago...building choppers, writing books about building choppers, over 40 years in Brother Speed... Untold thousands of hours building the #226 Blue Bike and the # 8228 Bullett..not to mention his dual Linkert, progressive linkage, Orange Bike, restoring a 1976 Shovelead for Dyan, building his Black and White Evil Twin FXR and untold numbers of stretched Choppers. Riding all over the country for over 15 years in his 21" over Panhead Long Bike. No TV show.


Ranch Club Boise Idaho...Bullett Benefit



Mike Geokan and Bryan Stock (L/R center) setting up the event for people to buy signed books and to sit on the Bullett. Bullett the center of attention.



Fred Wiley, owner of Big Twin BMW, founder of Brother Speed 46 years ago and 200mph Bonneville record holder talks to Mike and gets seat time on the Bullett.







Two days before it was drizzling. By Saturday it was blue skies and sunshine. Ed from the Burley Chapter of Brother Speed is responsible for the blue sky. Hundreds of people turned out for lots of beer, raffles, a bikini bike wash and a bike show with prizes. Multiple vendors supporting the effort and no cops...just a good time.



Big bike show with one category for Brother Speed Bikes and a second for all others..Voted on by everyone..just put your ticket in the cup on the bike you choose. Elaborate  waterjet cut stainless plaques were presented to the winners and runner-ups. Lots of beer and drinks and music.

Walt Henning's Knuckle



Mike Geokan built this Knuckle with Walt Henning, replacing the previous Pan motor. Walt insisted on a left side exit for the front stainless pipe (Farm Boys welding) which still irks Mike.

Wounded Warrior..Bo's New Ride



Gary (holding the chair) from The Burley Chapter of Brother Speed had known Bo for along time...way before Bo was wounded. A lifelong ambition to serve his country, to become a Special Forces Soldier, and to eventually to prospect into Brother Speed was altered in an instant. Gary, Bryan Stock of Bryan's Customs, Diana Sterk and all of those who helped get Bo back on the road and the road to recovery deserve our special thanks. Bo has further medical procedures to endure.

The whole show stopped to thank and salute Bo. There were may vets in the crowd including the Combat Wounded Mike Geokan.



Army Vet and double amputee Bo was presented his new ride by builders Bryan and Nick Stock. Go to the Bullet Facebook page to see Bo riding his new bike:







46 Years of Brother Speed...Enough Time for Grandkids.



Focused on the floating mountain..On Long Course and headed for a 230 mph record. We've got sunglasses, a tank of race gas, and racing sandals..We're good to go.

Bands and Beer





Two bands and lots of good music.. The event was a big success to support the Bonneville Bullett Race Team. You sure can't do this shit alone...And if you do it's not near as much fun.


Timing the Bullett



After the Benefit, when we recovered from way too much beer and one bottle of wine, we decided to check the Bullett's timing and do some tuning. The Bullett has a way, way, radical 139 Cubic Inch Evo-based engine with all sorts of stuff like water-cooled barrels, a radiator, and water pump...as well as a custom  32-2  crank paddle flywheel. Well, you can't see the timing inspection hole as it's buried beneath the aluminum skin and the radiator and who knows what all plumbing and wiring...So we made a test stand to run with the Bullett's Cosworth Pectel SQ6M simulator. Spin the crank up and run the simulator and check the TDC, 20 degree and 35 degree timing marks with the Pectel Caltool software.




We use an OEM Harley Variable Reluctance sensor (two wire) to send a crank sine wave signal to the Pectel SQ6M. On our simulator we are setup with a square wave 32-2 signal which mimmicks a Hall Effect sensor. We simply tell the SQ6M in Caltool software to read the VR sensor. When not using the physical wheel we tell the SQ6M it's a Hall Effect Sensor. Very flexible engine controller.




 Snap-On digital timing light to strobe the timing marks. After we verified the timing was as programmed we started the Bullett up and verified there were no oil, fuel or water leaks and that oil pressure, fuel pressure etc. were all as planned. Next up dyno testing. That wine does linger a bit. More beer is scheduled post dyno testing.

Front Wheel Speed Sensor


60 Tooth Hall Effect Gear Tooth Sensor to measure the Bullett's front wheel speed in Hz.  One turn of the wheel is 60 square wave pulses. We also read the rear wheel speed by looking at the Bullett's 4th Gear transmission sensor, also a Hall Effect sensor.

By the time the rear wheel turns once and working back through the rear sprocket to the jackshaft to the transmission mainshaft there are 49 square wave pulses. We need to know the engine rpm, the speed of the Bullett (front wheel) and the relative front and rear wheel speeds for traction control and to tell the Pectel SQ6M which gear we are in. These are all factored into programming boost by gear and for torque or traction control.


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Closed Loop Boost Lambda



Each of the four SQ6M fuel maps, each with a 25 x 25 matrix, or 625 sites on each map, can be controlled by the two L2H2 NTK/NGK Lambda Sensors. Here, in this map, Lambda control at peak rpm/boost region (upper right) is set at .85 Lambda (12.5:1 AFR). Running on race gas these maps are not the same as street maps running on pump gas. We can switch maps back and forth depending on the fuel used. The Bullett runs ERC Race Gas at Bonneville.

Mike's "Long Bike"... One That Did Not Make It To The 2015 Benefit



Left at the shop while the Benefit was in full swing, with her new engine ready, is Mike Geokan's famous "Long Bike".. a 21" over Panhead that Mike took out 21 fence posts with one day many years ago and ended up sitting in the shop after Mike escaped the hospital by having his Brothers wrap him up in a mattress and carried him home. No operations, no cutting, and no fused spine for the crushed vertebrae... Laying in his bed lacing up the wheels at home.



Come home from Viet Nam with two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart after being in some heavy shit...What to do? Build a 21 over Panhead and get lost running around the country. No Easy Rider, no film crew..Just Mike his Pan, not much money and a 45 ACP should the shit hit the fan. Ride till you're about out of money and have to decide if you buy food or gas. The Long Bike always made it home.



Years went by and Mike would never sell the Pan, no matter what the offer..He rode her for 15 years everywhere. There are 50 separate pieces in the frame dating from only Mike knows when. The engine is now rebuilt from the ground up and the bike is being resurrected with more details than you can imagine..like the heavy wall stainless "Snakehead" exhausts that Mike fabricated and, Dual Linkerts with a progressive linkage.

Things come and go but the Long Bike stays.