Sudbury woman breaks record
"I have got the hugest grin on my face," says Trillium Muir, just back from a wild long May weekend trip to Maxton, North Carolina. "I think it's going to be there for at least a month!"
She earned it – she's the fastest woman in the world on a motorcycle. Last fall we reported to you that Muir, a 20-something Correctional Services Worker from the Sudbury area, had ripped her partner's Suzuki GSX-R1300 Hayabusa to a remarkable 206.3 miles per hour (that's 331.94 km/h) in only her second-ever try at record-setting speeds.
She was shooting for 210 (337.9 km/h – the official U.S. records are kept in miles per hour) over the measured one-mile track (1.62 km) in order to set a world record for the fastest female rider ever. Until this month, that record was held by Susan Robertson from the Bonneville speed meet last year.
This past weekend, Muir shattered Robertson's one-way run of 209 m.p.h. and two-way average of 205, with a blistering and almost unbelievable 218 m.p.h. (350.76 km/h).
The bike had been seriously tweaked by tuner Richard Peppler of RCC Turbos, and was producing a dynamometer-certified 500-plus horsepower, thanks to Peppler's "Ultra" turbo kit and plenty of engine work to beef things up.
With the gearing they'd put on the bike (Muir says the exact numbers are a secret), they figured 240 m.p.h. (386 km/h) was possible. Plus, the ultra-long gearing made getting off the line a bit easier, as the monster was less inclined to wheelie or spin the tire.
She praised the new Bridgestone 002 Race/Street rear tire they were using.
"It's a dual-compound tire, soft enough that it hooks up unbelievably and hardly spins despite the power. Sure, it wears a lot faster than the 014 we used last year, but the difference was unbelievable."
Muir and partner Jody Leveille had been down April 1 for a shakedown run after she'd been riding the bike on the street to break it in – 500 hp, 220 kg bike, that's Moto GP territory and quite the street ride!
At the Maxton test they had some problems with a cooling hose popping off and eventually blew a head gasket.
Muir says she was more nervous than she'd been in her three previous efforts. "It was bad, I was literally sick to my stomach," particularly after her female competition Debb Dross crashed after setting a time of more than 212 m.p.h., fortunately without injury.
"Back in line waiting for my next pass I put my helmet on and went over my next run in my head. Took off the line, getting on the gas in first, second and third gear, short-shifted into fourth so that I didn't spin, and rolled into the power in fifth and sixth gear.
I knew this was the fastest I had ever been. Every time I hit the air shifter it felt like my body was going to slide over the hump on the tail section.
"Through the traps I applied steady braking then let off to steer through the corner and back on the brakes to shut the bike down. Picked up my time slip on the return road and it read 218 m.p.h.
"I backed up this run with a 217 m.p.h. on Sunday, then passed the bike over to my boyfriend so that he could reach his goal."
Partner Jody is no slouch himself, obviously.
Not only did he clock a 226 m.p.h. run, just for the experience he pulled the bodywork off and ran the bike unfaired, with no streamlining.
He's now one of five members of the 200 m.p.h. "naked" club, running the bike through the traps at 204 in the unfaired class on his last run of the meet.
wheels@thestar.ca;
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