Kiwi speedster hopes to set new record

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Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00a.m.

Black Thunder rider Alan Thoresen

Black Thunder rider Alan Thoresen

The dream of setting a world speed record is luring Alan Thoresen back to the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US for the second year in a row.

Thoresen has been using his Kawasaki ZX-14, known as Black Thunder, on the runway at Hamilton Airport inbetween flights.

It is part of the build-up for Bonneville, where the 53-year-old speed lover wants to set a world speed record of 315km/h.

It is Thoresen's second tilt at the record. Last year he ended up losing control on Bonneville's slippery surface.

"We hit some debris running very close to the line at Bonnerville," Thoresen says. "The back end of the bike slid out and we crashed through two timing towers."

The impact shattered his windscreen and broke bits off the bike's body.

However he did get to met a grandnephew of the legendary Burt Munro, who rode the world's fasted Indian at Bonnerville.

Thoresen has given the bike more traction and stability by weighing it down with 35kg of lead shot, however the Black Thunder's camp is still a bit nervous.

Thoresen heads for Utah later this month and will attempt the new record in mid-August.

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