Guy Martin's Wall of Death
It's not often our corner of the country gets such recognition but Monday night made the exception.
Guy Martin, a Lincolnshire-born 'national treasure', made history by setting the highest speed ever recorded on a vertical
Wall of Death. His live televised event was based in an ex-RAF hanger in Lincolnshire, on a bike he made in Lincolnshire, with Lincolnshire-made
Evotech Performance parts on board. He's really put our county on the map! A defunct RAF hanger had been transformed into a light show, stage and performance arena. Climbing high up scaffolding steps, we stood on top of the cargo containers which held the wooden wall in place. The vertical 6 metre drop was at our toes and gave the perfect bird's eye view to the bike powering just beneath us.
Bike Development
The Indian went first with a deep, thumping roar which reverberated around the entire building. We had helped another local, Simon Stubbs the man in charge of mounting the on-board cameras, create bespoke parts for both bikes. The Indian needed an aluminium plate to mount the transmitters under the seat of the bike. However, the Rocket 3 needed a more intricate design. We used our cutting-edge
3D modelling to then
3D print a bespoke part that was robust enough to deal with the huge forces generated on the wall whilst mounting the precious TV transmitters securely in place. We were stunned with the speed and power the Indian offered. This first attempt already set a new world record. Anyone else would have been satisfied with that! But the bike we were waiting for was the machine Guy had constructed himself: a Rob North frame with a BSA Rocket 3 engine. In the last few weeks, we had spent a bit of time with this beast, marvelling how one man seems to turn his hand to anything. We helped with mounting cameras but our piece de resistance was the front plate displaying Guy's iconic number 8. Made with the same production techniques and
hexagonal perforations that we employ on our popular
radiator guards, we used our design capabilities to match Guy's desire to smarten up the front end. As a thank you for helping out with bespoke parts for both the Indian and Rob North/BSA machines,
Evotech Performance directors, Chris Vines and Dan Rack received invitations to the exclusive event. And what a show it was.
A Second World Record
Knowing Guy, and knowing this machine, we knew he wasn't going to fail in his attempt to break his first record. And he didn't disappoint. The Rocket 3 had the iconic velvety triple cylinder purr which echoed from the boards and fitted the occasion seamlessly. In his first attempt, Guy seemed tentative, testing the boundaries of his bike and his own physical endurance. It was on his penultimate attempt he gave his all with a consistent thrust of power which drove him to his record. We could feel the floor beneath us reverberate with the power of the machine as it flashed by. Everyone watching could tell this was it. And it was, from the screens dotted about we could see he had broken his record with 78.150mph. His final quick run only managing to equal his previous time. On Monday night, Guy Martin made the country proud, and Lincolnshire proud. And for our guys at Evotech Performance, we are proud that we could lend just a little helping hand in turning a dream into a world record reality.
By Dan Rack on 31 March 2016
