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Andy Sills of San Francisco, California, reached an average speed of 173.57 mph and a top speed of 176.789 mph after two runs on a BMW K 1200 S
A 2006 production model BMW K 1200 S has set a world land speed record in the 1,000-1,350cc stock, partially streamlined, naturally aspirated motorcycle class at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats.
The motorcycle, piloted by 56-year-old Andy Sills of San Francisco, California, reached an average speed of 173.57 mph and a top speed of 176.789 mph after two runs on the vast white plains, where hundreds of land speed records have been set and broken since the early 1900s in a variety of automobile and motorcycle classes.
“It was a rare opportunity for me and BMW,” commented Sills, an avid BMW
enthusiast who, collectively, has amassed more than 300,000 miles on four BMW motorcycles within the last seven years. Sills went on to say, “The best part is that our record on the stock BMW K 1200 S matched, to the mile, the historic last record run of 173.68 mph by Ernst Henne on a specially equipped streamlined BMW! He must have been watching over us.”
Sills, who began making his mark on the Bonneville Salt Flats four years ago and who holds the world 80cc and 100cc motorcycle streamliner records, also clocked a record speed of 169 mph, riding the K 1200 S two-up with passenger Erin Hunter. The pair received a standing ovation from a cheering crowd of fellow competitors as they made their way into the pits.
The records, which were ratified on October 25, 2005, were set September 8, 2005, according to rules set forth by the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), the century-old, Swiss-based governing body for five motorcycling disciplines (road racing, motocross, trial, enduro and track racing).
(This post originally appeared in the November 17, 2005, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)
