We checked into the Wendover Nugget late that night with a broken motorcycle, two teeth busted off the distributor drive gear and just 50 miles on our Bonneville project. We woke up at exactly 7:00 a.m. My cell phone rattled across the nightstand. Berry Wardlaw, the boss of Accurate Engineering, wanted to know every move. Hell, it was 10:00 a.m. in Dotham, Alabama.

Nyla and Kerry set up the Bikernet headquarters with our new Sponsorship banner. Glenn and I tossed an On-Site down on the tarps to catch any oil or debri off the bike and unloaded the Salt Shaker. We rolled it into place and went to work while the Chop and Grind bastards sat around and poked fun at us.

I backed off the pushrods and removed them, removed the cam cover and retrieved the busted gear teeth and scrutinized the distributor drive gear in the cam case. She was cool. I borrowed a magnet from the bastards next door and dug around in the cam case for shavings. I was on a mission to make the Salt Shaker run again.

The two teeth bounced right to the forefront of the case, as if someone positioned them for easy access. More damage and I could have been dead in the water. I called Berry, and he coached me on adjusting the valves. I’m not a big fan of hydraulics. They’re uncertain and I don’t believe you can get the best performance out of their soft existence.

Dr. Hamster and Gene Koch, from Drag Specialties drove out to assist. Glenn and the good doctor began to remove the controls, the dash, and flip over the bars. They removed the shocks and dropped in the struts we made to lower the bike. Plus, they removed the taillight and taped the headlight with duct tap. I was reaching a turning point. We installed our heat wrapped step-tuned exhaust for the salt.

I buttoned up the engine, adjusted the valves and fired her up. She rumbled to life, as if she was meant to be there. We adjusted the controls for Valerie and she rode it for the first time. It was time to take the bike to Tech Inspection. I was narrowing in on our first pass. I suppose most first-time racers shake-up the butterflies in their stomach, as they near tech with their experimental babies. I ran into enough disturbing glitches in this project to scramble my mental doubts. As Valerie made her first warm-up lap into the salt I followed her every move, like a father watching his baby take her first lap in a pool. I questioned every adjustment, every fastener and every decision.

I’d never experienced Tech, but the Bubs Inspector was light hearted and easy going but thorough. He had a vast, printed checklist but slipped through the categories with confident ease. As the inspection neared the end he asked if we safety wired the transmission and engine oil drain plugs. The answer was, “Nope.” And finally he pointed out that one of our wheel valve stem caps was not metal—god forbid. Scooter, our photographic connection from Phoenix, hauled ass to find one. While Val made another warm-up pass we discussed drilling the oil drain plugs. Larry from the Chop and Grind Gang made a pass, lost his velocity stack and clocked 143 mph. Not bad for his first time out. Fortunately Lee Wimmer supplied us with his velocity stack kit, so we had spares.

The salt surface spread out around us, for 65 square miles, as if a pure white surface on the moon. People have mistakenly lost direction in the dark and never found their way out. It’s bizarre and pure beauty at the same time. As the sun dipped in the west we packed up and headed toward town. Since the wind can whip up in the afternoon, like nature’s cleaning lady with a wicked broom, we were recommended to tear down our headquarters every night and secure our bike.

The next morning ushered in a big day in the history of Bikernet.com. We rolled out of the hotel around 8:30 a.m. after fighting poor hotel, restaurant help for a cup of coffee. We drained the oil from the tranny and the engine after a warm-up and Larry from the Chop and Grind Pirartes drilled the plugs. Glenn safety wired them back into place and we refilled the oil bags with Amsoil synthetic oils. Nick Roberts from Nick’s Performance and Amsoil rode out to the salts on his 2003 Road Glide and ran it in the run-what-ya brung category, between assisting us on the salt. He was a helluva helpful sponsor.

The brotherhood in the Bub’s tiny encampment on the salt was exceptional. Everyone helped everyone. A fuel truck contained the Sparkplug Doctor, who would analyze any plugs and make recommendations. We had him take a look at ours before our first run. “They haven’t seen enough heat yet,” he told us, “but you certainly don’t have any problems. Go for it.”

Wink Eller was a constant source of information and advice. I ran into Brian Klock and his girlfriend, rider, the lovely Laura, who brought her two daughters to experience the vast desert of salt and speed. While we tuned and prepared for our final tech inspection Hugh King, Roger Goldhammer and Matt Hotch shot footage for their Discovery Channel Biker Build-off. I found a carburetor jet connection for Roger’s bike, a big burly biker with a box of jets and a flathead Indian.

I was still at a loss about the categories and racing etiquette, but I was scrambling to learn. Before the end of the week I told folks, “I try to learn something everyday, but on the salt I was learning something every minute.” I didn’t hesitate to ask the seemingly stupidest question. I needed to know and race, goddamnit. I grabbed a Bub’s AMA rule book and studied the categories. I couldn’t find the record for the open bike in the pushrod 2000 cc class. I asked what it meant and was told, “The category may be open.” That meant whatever we ran, if we were successful, would set a record in the AMA book. There’s three sanctioning bodies: AMA, FIM (European) and SCTA (Southern California Timing Association). The SCTA runs Speed Week, the World Finals in October, on the salt, and the El Mirage, dry lake bed, events.

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