Who dared taunt such a beast? Only the same mad- man who did conjure him up, made living this unbelievably complex and powerful THING before us. Mad Max I'll call him for now, who, like some crazed Dr. Frankenstein goads his creature into a furious anger, while chuckling to himself and seemingly not in the least frightened.

Bill Jean, my very creative and talented machinist pal, and I had driven up to visit with Max Lambky, lured by tales of his fabulous dual Vincent twin powered Bonneville Record Contender. Four years and $100,000.00 in the making, its specifications leave nothing overlooked in his quest for the power and speed necessary to seize a new land speed record for motorcycles.

No more than twenty feet in length and 32 inches in height, with width of 19" and a total weight of about 1200 pounds, this dark bullet like device contains and supplies its two highly modified Vincent motors with all they need to attain here-to-fore undreamed of speeds.

Beneath its smooth skin lives a brace of original bore and stroke Vincents resulting, of course, in a total swept capacity of 122 cu. inches, but easily modified out to a whopping 183 inches or more if desired, big bore components being already in hand. Of full Black Lightening tune, the motors boast special Carrillo rods and big-end pieces, after market cams, as well as forged low compression pistons, all being lubricated by double speed oil pumps.

Atop the heavy duty thicker Tony Maughan cylinders, these cleverly water-cooled over their upper fin area, are bolted a pair, (each motor) of really special Don Godden produced cylinder heads, having heavily re-enforced combustion chambers and massive port flanges, both inlet and exhausts, to withstand the incredible cylinder pressures Max shall force feed into them. For the same reason an additional pair of head bolts are provided for, through each head, these screwing into those thicker cylinder top sections for additional top end strength.

Max has utilized ultra modern ignition conponents to reliably fire dual plugs each head, this made necessary by the formidable induction layoutwhich can deliver the really high boost pressures necessary for production of record contender power levels. This boost is provided by a Roots-type super charger originally dimensioned for a 350 cu. inch V-8 motor located behind the rear motor, and belt driven. Atop this "huffer" sits a single multi- nozzeled injector no less than 3 1/2" across, it's immense butterfly valve directly above the spinning rotors. Max has arranged to deliver 70% of the fuel directly via nozzles to each intake port directed towards the inlet valves, while the remaining 30% is pumped around that huge inject- or throat by multiple smaller nozzres. This split solves two things; first, this smaller volume of liquid fuel is less prone to ignite within the blower body and it's ducting, and second, that same quantity of fuel is sufficient to chill down the pressurized air, reducing the usual heading of the inducted mixture, thus ensuring a denser more oxygen rich delivery into the cylinders.

Also on board is a separate yet fully operational nitrous oxide system which can furnish an additional healthy kick in the rear should it prove necessary, sort of like an afterburner on a combat air craft!

Fuel during a "serious run" is a mixture of nitro- methane and methanol and power is estimated to be approximately 550 to 600 B.H.P. while using the blower system alone, while an instant boost to 700 PLUS B.H.P. is easily available during nitrous assisted operation. On-board security systems include a comprehensive fire extinguisher system and a shotgun shell deployed parachute set-up in the tail section, both available at the touch of a button.

Clever and substantial skid legs are pneumatically de-ployed, both sides, and serve also as secure parking props, instantly lowering or lifting to fit flush into the sides of the smooth shell, this also at the touch of a button.

First trials revealed a need for improved visibility through the flip forward canopy, so the addition of a bubble section is currently underway. Cleverly articulated, tha entire control and instrument pod folds upwards easing entry and exit for the rider; clearly much thought and pract ical planning was expended to secure workable controls and easy interface between man and machine, all of which quickens and reduces greatly the effort required to maintain control during moments of high stress.

A rarely found feature in a record machine is provision for an on-board electric starter which worked marvelously! No need for a tow or push start. Talk about getting lazy! Very substantially built front and rear suspension, incorporating hydralic damping, of course, the front end being of center point design while the rear end sports a clever yet simple and robust method of eliminating flexure and distortion by restraining rear wheel movement to a vertical path only, no easy task considering the immense chain pull at peak velocity.

While the forward motor has had it's gearbox section removed, the rear unit boasts Surtees type five speed gear box intervals, while the original and unique servo pattern clutch has been replaced by a modified Kawasaki Z-1 clutch having the addition of a dragster type slider pressure plate to increase its load capacity, this no small problem considering the immense torque generated.

Over the weekend of June 21-22, I once again traveled to Greenville Virginia to access the progress and modifications made to the Lambky Record machine. Max and his lovely wife Patty had one other house guest, Stu Rogers, a well-known Brit vintage racer, who shall be at the liner's controls during the upcoming Salt Flats runs. I had last seen Stu racing to winning effect in a recent meet at Taledaga, so it was marvelous renewing our friendship. Of late Stu has been pitching in--up to his armpits--helping Lambky with the streamliner, an act not so surprising considering it will be his neck on the line during those bullet like runs across the salt.

Max greeted us warmly and looked after our needs in splendid fashion, inviting us to feast on a fine spread--topped off with four huge cakes and pies, no less!--all prepared by Patty. So while savoring slices of chocolate fudge cake, interspersed with a bit of deep-dish lemon meringue, I wandered out to the garage where I could inspect the Record contender, now thoroughly rethought in order to retain and when possible enhance the strong points in addition to addressing any details in need of improvement. As there had been some criticism of the size and disposition of some of the mainframe members a full redesign was decided upon rather than attempt any makeshift repairs or corrections. At the same time, Max reevaluated the size, capacity, and shape of every fuel, oil, and water tank, its location, and that relation to the mass and center of gravity. Where possible all tanks were now crafted in light alloy and their column and shape altered to more closely package these assemblies thus achieving a considerable weight reduction, as well as simplifying the liner's hose systems.

Both front and rear suspension members were strengthened and made lighter with the utilization of better struts. Where before both ends had duals, now a single has been fitted. At the same time, measures have been taken to further eliminate lateral and torsional flexure through extensive cross-bracing and triangulation. The operator's cockpit is now far more rigid, and is better braced via rollcage and stiffer wall thickness. The previous cleverly guided and restrained rear swing arm has been improved via incorporation of dual roller guides, one each side, really elegant and effective. In the previous set-up, one oil tank was located beneath the motors, requiring a higher side mounted header tank to correctly function. Now a pair of smaller alloy tanks have been fitted--one alongside each of the motors. As a result, the motors can now be carried lower, and a very real benefit gained in that metal particle contamination of both oil and supplies will not result should one or the other experience an explosive failure. Other motor changes include incorporation of dual ignition A.T.D. units, these to eliminate kickback during starting and to allow the more aggressive ignition advance required by nitro fuels.

The HY-VO primary sprockets, etc. are in hand and a nice range of final drive sprockets has been made giving an easier selection of ratios. Max has also incorporated hydraulic clutch controls, as well as his very neat air shift set-up. The result of all this effort is a stronger, more rigid frame with far better mass centralization, a lower center of gravity, and a significant decrease in weight--all directly aid the design aims and well worth the great effort expended. The absolutely beautiful execution and the attention to detail stagger the viewer and make you want only a fully transparent Lexan shell, so as to allow full viewing from all angles.

Finally, a direct aid to Stu is the lowered nose, an alteration that will afford him a full view forward. The resulting small frontal area will also significantly lower drag and improve control as well as elevate the attainable maximum speed. All of these modifications are directly the result of your support and belief in Max Lambky's quest, and his undiminished labor. Soon the world will see if this dual-engined Black Lightning Bonneville special can fly straight and true.

To my knowledge, this is the most promising, best designed device of its type ever conceived and built by one man, certainly the best one incorporating Vincent power units, and I believe it stands a great chance of success. However, at this point Max needs a bit of financial support to carry it off to completion to the tune of $35,000.00 which will aid last minute changes and finance the trip to Bonneville for the record runs next year. He has borne the burden alone to this point, as stated earlier, not only fabricating the machine from scratch, a superhuman task in itself, but also feeding the project near $100,000.00 of his own, with no sponsorship or support at all.

Surely like-minded motorcyclists would wish to provide assistance to this grand project, that of securing once again, and maybe for all time the title of World's Fastest! All sponsers will have their names onboard the liner during record runs. In addition to individual sponsers, Max welcomes corporate sponsership, which comes with "billboard" space on the liner's shell.

Contact Big Sid's for more details.