Charlie Anstaett en route...
Charlie Anstaett en route to nearly 260 mph.
Records Fell And Tragedy Struck At The Maxton Monster Mile.
Each year the baddest bikes in America assemble in Maxton, North Carolina, at the East Coast Timing Association's (ECTA) land speed event to see who has the fastest streetbikes in America.
The class structure for the Super Streetbike event is fairly simple. There are three bike classes: 650cc, 1000cc and unlimited displacement, plus one power adder for each class. They run heads up, so the fastest in each class wins. In the power adder class, the competitor can run a nitrous or turbo-but not both. An additional index class of 150.000mph rewards the rider who gets closest to 150mph. In all classes, the owner of the bike must ride it, which means no jockeys are allowed. Special rules also allow bikes to run oversized engines for their class, meaning a 1507cc Hayabusa runs against a 1297cc stock displacement bike. It's street rules here, so stop sniffling and get a real bike if you want to wear one of the Speed and Strength winners' jackets.
The unlimited power adder class is where the big news was generated, with an incredible 259.85 mph pass. The RCC turbo-equipped Hayabusa is owned and ridden by 53-year-old Charlie Anstaett of Texas and was built and tuned by Dave Owen. "The bike pulls hard in every gear, and I got a good launch, so all I had to do was twist the throttle and hang on," said Charlie about his 259mph pass. "It was really special for me to have SSB magazine there for my record and to win the Top Speed Challenge."
 Charlie anstaett took some...  Charlie anstaett took some last minute tips before setting down the fastest speed of the weekend-259.85 mph. |  On the spot tuning is the...  On the spot tuning is the name of the game at maxton. |  Riders patiently wait while...  Riders patiently wait while their nerves are already going flat out. |
 Chad millholland nailed an...  Chad millholland nailed an impressive 197.7 mph run on his ZX-10. |  |  |
 Jeffrey mclean rode his mcmean...  Jeffrey mclean rode his mcmean cbr600rr through the traps at 172.04 mph. |  |  |