Sport Rider Homepage
Get Adobe Flash player

Hooked On Speed--EZ Hook Kawasaki ZX-11 Bonneville Streamliner

Bonneville veteran Sam Wheeler and his "EZ Hook" streamliner get set to break the outright motorcycle speed record
146 9704 BONN 1

146 9704 Bonn 2 Zoom

146 9704 Bonn 3 Zoom
An aerodynamics graduate class at Caltech used the designing of Wheeler's streamliner as its thesis project, spending a full three weeks in the wind tunnel. The leading edge of the windscreen was made by Zero Gravity, for optical clarity.

146 9704 Bonn 4 Zoom
Wheeler's streamliner controls consist of standard Kawasaki ZX-7R tachometer, temp gauge, clutch and brake assemblies, along with a pneumatic shifter. The gauge on the right shows airbox pressure from the ram-air system; the two knobs on each side of the cockpit control on-board fire extinguishers.

146 9704 Bonn 5 Zoom
The drag chute is deployed out of this trick "split" tailsection, which is operated pneumatically. Note the aircraft-quality construction, all fabricated by Wheeler in EZ Hook Inc.'s machine shop.

146 9704 Bonn 6 Zoom
There isn't much room to move around inside Wheeler's streamliner, even with a skinny editor, as this photo with yours truly inside shows. Definitely not for the claustrophobic.

146 9704 Bonn 7 Zoom
Due to aerodynamic and space considerations, Wheeler devised this "total loss" cooling system using water-spray jets to keep both the coolant and oil radiators chilled.

146 9704 Bonn 8 Zoom
Rear suspension consists of a dual-trailing, multilink parallelogram system, with a specially built hlins shock offering only two inches of travel. The tank just aft of the tire is the total loss coolant reservoir.

146 9704 Bonn 10 Zoom
Wheeler's desire for speed is evident in this circa 1963 photo (note the cool background machinery), when the then-20-year-old drove this incomplete ("We didn't finish the rear cowl in time.") Bultaco 125-powered streamliner to a top speed of 92 mph.

146 9704 Bonn 9 Zoom
Doug Meyer has been running motorcycles at the Bonneville Salt Flats for over 20 years. He has set 13 records on seven different Kawasakis and currently holds six records. His ZX-11 has gone just under 197 mph, and he continues to chase that very elusive 200-mph-club membership. Doug can be reached at Muzzys in Bend, Oregon.

Community Comments

No one has commented on this article yet. Why not be the first to leave a comment?

Post a Comment (Must Be Registered)


User Name
Not Registered? Signup Here
Password
Comment
   (1024 character limit)
Get Adobe Flash player
Dodge Dakota Research
Dodge Dakota With great deals and authoritative reviews, find all you need to research and buy the new Dodge Dakota, as well as compare it with other vehicles to help you in your car buying process. The 2010 Dakota comes with a V6 standard engine and has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $26,405.00. It has a 5 star frontal impact rating for the driver and a 5 star frontal impact rating for the passenger. Also check out the Nissan 350Z and the BMW M3.