LIMESTONE, Maine — Bangor’s Dave Sleeper accomplished his goal of 200 mph when he raced his Kawasaki ZX 14 four-cylinder motorcycle to a personal best of 200.540 mph Sunday morning during the Loring Timing Association’s Land Speed Races at the former Loring Air Force Base.
“Yeeeeha!” said Sleeper, a Bangor realtor, after returning to the pits. “We changed the gearing so that my rpms would go higher.”
Sleeper said the weather conditions and a tailwind were “perfect, absolutely perfect. Conditions could not have been better.”
Sleeper, 75, was inducted into the exclusive 200 mph club, which is for those who set a class record and go 200-plus mph in land speed events.
Competitors flocked to Loring on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in attempts to set records at the mile and 1.5-mile distances on two of Loring’s 2.5-mile runways.
Bill Warner from Wimauma, Fla., returned to the Limestone venue and did not disappoint as he drove his turbocharged Suzuki motorcycle to a record 290 mph in the mile. Warner’s objective was to reach the 300 mph mark in the mile.
“No we didn’t [reach the goal]. I actually made a mistake,” Warner said. “We wanted to see if we could break 300 in the mile. The bike I know was capable of doing it. I made the mistake of miscounting my shifts. I thought I was in sixth gear when I was in fifth gear and it just didn’t do it. I am not happy with my run but am satisfied.”
The fastest car of the Speed Trials was garnered by Wallingford, Conn.’s Steve VanBlarcom, owner of Street Rod Steve’s Garage. VanBlarcom’s 1929 Ford roadster sits on an authentic 1932 Ford Frame. SoCal Speed Shop in Pomona, Calif., built the original car in 1946 for Jimmy Shine who campaigned the racer at the west coast speed trials including El Mirage and Bonneville.
The Chevy 302 engine develops 900 horsepower, enough to set the meet top speed at 211 mph in 1.5 miles on Friday.
“We came back [Saturday] with high high hopes of doing something better and blew the motor in second gear,” he said. “I will be back at the event in September where we will run the event again. The fact with Loring is that I can turn the same speeds at 1.5 miles as I could in five miles in Bonneville. I don’t have salt and I don’t have to travel that far.”
Van Blarcom serves as the head technical inspector for the Loring Timing Association.
Colt Bateman of Plymouth, N.C., drove the Karl Gunter owned 2007 1635 cc naturally aspirated Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle — an engine that is not supercharged, or turbocharged, instead it pulls its own air in.
“We destroyed the 1650 fuel class record. The record went from 222 mph to 235.77 mph. We found out in the mile the 230 we ran was faster than the nitrous class,” Bateman said. “We did it all motor naturally aspirated.”
The motorcycle drag racer set the mark despite less than 10 runs in land speed racing.
Sweden’s Eva Hakansson, driving her electric powered KillaCycle motorcycle streamline, came with a goal of 200 mph and came close with a mile-run speed of 159.29 mph and a 1.5-mile run of 181.053 mph. A small electrical glitch would not allow her to apply full throttle to her battery-powered machine.
Canadian Paul Calaguiro came all the way from Ontario to attempt 150 mph in his 1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero.The four cylinder Ford Pinto 2.3 liter engine powered the racetrack in 148 mph.
Local favorite Jason Theriault of Caribou turned in a speed of 190 mph Friday in his JRT Customs Nissan D21 minipickup for the fastest speed of all Aroostook County entrants.
this is a great event! keep up the good work guys and gals. to all of the participants, hope you had fun and hope you come back real soon.
200mph at 75, good on him!!
Awsome…..
you know the old saying,,, if you can’t say anything good then,,,,
Better ask for your money back from the BDN.
Dave Sleeper is a one of the most ethical real estate professionals in the business. Note that it is NOT bussinees, Skeejun. Bussinees?!?!?!? Because your spelling is so awful, thank goodness no one will take you seriously. Those who know anything about real estate know that Dave is one of the good guys.
So, Skeejun–go mind your own bussinees……
That all you can comment on is my grammer mistake with the business ? lol My comment still stands, and have plenty other professional people in the business that agree with me.
How well do you know Dave? Did you buy or sell a house through him? Is it just hearsay? What did the real estate commission say when you reported him for ‘zero’ ethics? Did you file an official complaint? Have you asked for a hearing at the real estate commission’s office in Gardiner? You should, if what you say is true. It is your duty to protect the real estate community, if it is true. You said “ask anyone in the Bangor real estate business”. How many people in the real estate business did you ask?? Exactly how many people agree with you? 2, 5, 10, 100–give us a number. Better yet, give us some of the names of these people who agree so your story can be verified. I’ve known Dave “in the real estate business” for 30 years and he is one of the most upfront, ethical people there is in the business. So, your statement can’t still stand because it is not true. You’ve made a wild unsubstantiated statement which you can’t possibly back up with facts. You’ve just made an accusation which amounts pure and simple to slander and if you used your real name you could be in serious legal trouble. An apology and retraction are in order. You can’t just throw out slanderous statements in a public forum without impunity.
Grammar.
Dave Sleeper has busy knees? Is that what you meant? Maybe he has RLS or something. He is 75.
If not, your grammar is the bee’s knees.
I’ve done business with Dave in the past. Always treated me fairly. Met him through someone else in the real estate business who had known him for decades and had nothing but good things to say. I think you’re full of crap.
Hey do they have sponsors, and if so was his viagra? Good job at 200.
I personally didn’t notice any viagra sponsorships however there was a stiff tailwind.
That’s nothing.I did 135mph on rte.2 in a 75 Camaro. To law enforcement…..the statute of limitations ran out years ago on that one.Ha! Lucky to be alive.The stupid stuff teenagers did.
Hate to burst your bubble, but Car and Driver tested the 1975 and when it was new and only found 116 mph max at the top end. 150hp give or take that year from the 350 option. One of the lowest powered years in that cars history. The speedo may have showed you 135 but it was way off. Well done Dave!
As a teenager, I drove a Buick Riviera on the Caribou-Presque Isle Rd.getting up to 120mph to watch how the speedometer rolled like a cylinder rather than having a needle go to the right. You couldn’t even tell that you were speeding in that car! It was solid and heavy. The road surface was in perfect shape so didn’t seem dangerous at all.
Way to go, Mr. Sleeper! I am not a fan of motorsports (seems like a bit of a waste of money and resources to me) but I love your patriotic Realty Maine radio ads, and believe you must be quite a guy.
Is 250 mph just around the corner?