Poulsbo motorcyclist becomes Land Speed Grand record holder

A Poulsbo man set the American Motorcyclist Association national land speed record for classic bikes during his rookie year at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah during the association’s annual Land Speed Grand.

Dan Schmalle’s 1962 Honda Superhawk got up to 87.876 miles per hour, which he said is impressive because it would normally have a top speed of about 95 at sea level. The course runs three miles over the salt flats, which are 5,000 feet above sea level.

“When you’re out at Bonneville, typically you can only go 80 percent of that top speed because of the thin air,” Schmalle told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “So I really was kind of pushing that bike right to its limit.”

RELATED: Shoreline grad breaks Appalachian trail record

The 300 CC classic bike sat in Schmalle’s garage for two years before he decided to use it at the Land Speed Grand, a decision Schmalle made after a trip to Utah with his wife. He then spent the next two years working to get it running, though he said he did not have to significantly alter the motorcycle from its original state.

“I was kind of just taking a street bike out there and running it,” he said.

He commutes to work every day on a motorcycle, and finds the Bonneville Salt Flats far less dangerous than Washington’s highways.

“I felt a lot safer out there on the salt with nothing around me for miles and my head down than I do driving around all the Subarus,” he said.

The highest speeds of motorcycles at the competition get near 400 miles per hour, Schmalle said. These bikes have to be push-started with a truck.

“It’s like watching a rocket going across the salt,” he said.

With victory in his pocket for 2018, Schmalle is already looking to 2019’s Land Speed Grand.

“Now I have to go back and try to beat it next year, I guess,” he laughed.

Follow @NicoleKIROFM