AMANDA

MELISSA

SHELLY

Allison

NAKED GOLDWINGS AND THE GIRL WHO RIDES THEM

by Melissa Johnson
Racing the Honda GoldWing with special thanks to WingWorld Magazine for allowing us the reprint the articles on our Bonneville racing Project GoldWing racing at Bonneville Salt Flats.

EDITORS NOTE: Bonneville, Utah, which is 100 miles East of Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the two places in the entire world that holds endless miles of Salt Lake which dries out every summer in order for people like Kenny Lyon (and a host of other competitors) to test their speeds in either a car, motorcycle, or streamliner. People have been setting records in Bonneville for the past 50+ years. The racecourse being 5 to 7 miles in length; the competitor is timed between the two-mile marker and the three-mile marker. (faster vehicles may use a longer course.). If your speed beats an old record, you turn around and go for another run. When finished, your two passes are averaged together to make an official record. Your class is determined by the size of engine in your vehicle, body type, fuel type, and blown/unblown engine.

Just how big is Bonneville Salt Flats? Over 44 thousand square acres.

Close up of the Salt bed. This is also used for table salt!

Jim Olive (with hat), Kenny Lyon (on motorcycle),as the Official Starter explains course and weather conditions.

Melissa Johnson as she preps on the starting line for her turn to run for the record.

One of our many Fans on the Salt Flats. Note: the cool Hollywood style biker glasses.

Melissa Johnson grew up in the small midwestern town of Farmington, Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes. Three years ago she decided to relocate to Southern California, and little did Los Angeles realize that she was going bring with her a talent unique to the land of movie stars. Melissa was going to prove that even girl can whoop it up on two wheels - a motorcycle that is! Melissa started riding before she was legal to drive behind the wheel of a car, let alone a motorcycle. Her desire to learn how to drive a motorcycle was more powerful than the constant (but well-intended) discouragement from friends and family.

"Melissa you're only 5 feet tall weighing 100 pounds - you should just stick to gymnastics - a sport for your body size." These comments of course only served as a catalyst to ignite and exacerbate her already strong desire to master the challenging sport. It was in 2000 when Melissa moved to California; near the beach, where she always wanted to be. She met some friends who also enjoyed riding as much as she did. Soon thereafter was the purchase of her first dirt bike. She took it out as much as possible and she learned the differences between the terrain she was used to back home, and the roughness of the Californian terrain. It wasn't long before she bit off more than she could chew. One afternoon while riding in Palmdale, on a course much too advanced for her, Melissa come back to Los Angeles with a broken collarbone and torn ligaments from a hard fall downhill with her bike.She took a couple of weeks off, only to jump on another bike and start again shortly after. What was about to happen during the next, she never could have imagined....

Kenny Lyon, who started PROJECT GOLDWING 10 years ago, had a new and different idea. He thought if he could get a young, strong, female rider to join the team, he could teach her the ways of Salt Flat racing - from scratch.... working towards the end result, he could get his GoldWing 1500 Streamliner in the record books as the Women's world record for the fastest two-wheel motorcycles reaching speeds over 229 mph. Kenny walked into South Bay Gymnastics (where Melissa worked) the summer of 2002 and left some information with the owner in regard to his idea. It was that same day when Melissa got a call from Kenny, letting her know that he would like to have a meeting to discuss the information he left at the gym. Within the same week, Kenny and Melissa got together to discuss possible plans. She couldn't believe that someone was going to let her ride a high dollar modified motorcycle at top speeds in (Bonneville) and it was going to be legal? Needless to say Melissa was stunned! This was the most exciting opportunity ever placed in front of her!

Would she turn back now? Just two short weeks later she was on a plane to Utah. She had been warned about the bright light from the reflection of the salt, but she could never have imagined it like this. Sweltering hot, and white as snow for miles,Melissa looked down the race course. She was finally going to prove that girls can ride too! She was riding a 2001 Turbo GoldWing GL 1800 that thundered down the race course. She brought home two records during Speed Week in August,2002, and a smile from ear to ear with friends and family anxiously awaiting her return.

However, there was little time to relax and celebrate for Kenny Lyon... Chuck Cochrane; Kenny's pit support, and Kenny Lyon began working on a new bike for the next race which was just four short weeks away. This new bike was a 2002 GoldWing GL 1800 and needed quite a bit of time to be transformed into a suitable bike for Bonneville. Hours of welding and sawing and changing this ;is part with that one - they thought they would never have it done in time. Finally, just one week before the next scheduled race, the boys accomplished their goal, and had it ready for Melissa to take it on its test run. The shop; which is run out of an airplane hanger, is where her testing is done on an actual runway. The team watched as she started off slowly - puts it steady in first - then second - then third and back down to second. She knows she must save the racing for the flats. The bike was finally complete - ready to go!

The phone rings and the disappointment from one phone call quiets the excitement. Kenny received a call from Salt Lake City saying the race had been cancelled due to rain. The whole place was a salt lake and would take at least another week before it would dry up... It was approaching October and the World Final event were taking place in Bonneville. The crew was still packed up from the last race that had been rained out in September and the only preparation that still needed to be done was on the bike. Kenny thought of putting an extra fuel injection system on the 1800 to see how it would handle at those speeds. It was only a matter of time before everyone would find out. On the plane flight, there was a lot of talk of the potential records for this event. The pressure was on and the the hopes were high.

After arriving safely in Utah, the crew prepares in a hurry to wait in line for a run. Melissa walks the bike up to the start after her three-hour wait - only to have the fuel too rich for the first gear. She can't keep the bike going with the tack staying between 1000-2000 RPM's at idle speed. Panic runs through the team; They scramble to fix the problem - a no go. They return to the line and try again. The second try is better, but the bike is set up with incredible amounts of torque and Melissa starts to worry about the stability. She is reassured by a glance at the extended swing arm, and with her own steady hand working the clutch, she takes a breath and begins. The loud engine sends a chill. The second run (which is really her first driving run) is just another test pass. She still reaches speeds well over a hundred and feels confident for the next run. In line again, after a long hot wait,it is finally her turn again... only this time it wasn't going to be so smooth. As Melissa shifts from gear to gear she feels the power of the bike beneath her and her tire begins to spin. She starts to fish tail as she goes into 5th gear and the bike starts shaking! Still going, she cannot control the bike due to the conditions of the flats and the recent rain that had covered the lake the week before. Her fireproof head sock (which also keeps the helmet snug) starts to fall over her eyes and Melissa begins to panic... she can't see, she is skidding across the track and she now is only driving with one had as she tries to pull her helmet up enough to see the ground as it speeds by her... she sees the two-mile marker an has to decide if she should continue for a tied run or wait? Only seconds to decide the fate of a record or possibly a crash! She decides to continue on; keeping the RPM's at a steady 6500. Then suddenly the tach starts screaming 9000, then back to 6000 because of the spinning tire. In essence, the tire would catch and send her flying through the air until it would start spinning again (all the while she is still at speeds of over 100 MPH)... she pulls herself together and is now passing the three-mile marker where she slows the bike down to a safe stop. Steam is coming out from the radiator, the motorcycle dies,and she walks it and herself out of danger's path.

Looks like she is going to go home without a record, Melissa plans to ride the 24 foot long Project GoldWing 1500 Streamliner, which no women has ever driven before. She has months of preparation ahead of her but with the support of her team; Kenny Lyon, Chuck Cochrane, Julie Williams, and Jim Olive, she plans on going for the world record.

Special thanks to American Honda Motor Company, Inc. and Honda of Salt Lake for all your help and continued support.

Sponsorships available, please write to P.O. Box 643, Torrance, California 90508-0643 Attn: Kenny Lyon.

We are not a business!
We are just a group of good friends who got together for the fun of racing. We need hands on help to build and maintain the race bikes. In the meantime you can reach us at (310) 637 6094 Mornings 8 am to noon PST. We are looking forward to hearing from you. You can also contact us at our e-mail address: kenylyon@hotmail.com.

We would be pleased to hear from you!