FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2007

American Honda Press Release

Torrance, CA: Honda's Gold Wing is the ultimate luxury touring motorcycle and—a land-speed record holder?

That's right. On August 14 and 15, Kimberly Crystal Kelly took a production 2007 Honda Gold Wing 1800 fitted with a special sidecar and set two land-speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The 21-year-old University of Southern California senior entered the record books with a speed of 108.214 mph in the SC-G-2000 Gas class and 108.365 in the SC-F-2000 Fuel class. Her fastest pass, 108.850 mph, came in the Fuel-class effort.

Kelly rides for long-time Honda enthusiast and Bonneville Salt Flats veteran Kenny Lyon. Lyon is well known for Project GoldWing, a 24-foot-long 1500cc streamliner that he piloted on numerous speed-record runs at the famous Utah dry lakebed. For Kelly's attempts, Lyon fitted the stock Gold Wing with the sidecar rig, and she rode the motorcycle wide-open across the salt desert. Kelly's exploits were recounted on NBC's "Jeep World of Adventure Sports", which aired September 8, 2007.

"Both records were new records," said Lyon. "Even though a sidecar generally gives the motorcycle less stability, no one has ever set the record in these two classes before so we decided to go for it."

Bonneville rules specify that Class SC-F-2000 is for open sidecar (SC), fuel (F) and an engine displacement between 1651 and 2000cc (2000). SC-G-2000 is similar but requires event-approved gasoline. "We ran 100-octane no-lead ERC gas in both classes," said Lyon. "We could have used nitro or alcohol, but we did not want to damage the engine."

Lyon recruited Kelly at the 2005 Long Beach International Motorcycle Show. "I had never operated a motorcycle before," she said. "Kenny gave me some riding tips at the Compton Airport, and I went to the Honda Rider Education Center in Colton. Eight months later, I set two records on a Triumph and earned my Bonneville Competition License on a Honda Gold Wing at 125 mph."

Nowadays Kelly is a bit of a two-wheeled speed junkie and maintains a D-class license that allows her to compete at speeds up to 149 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. She is also the president of the non-profit Project GoldWing (www.projectgoldwing.org ). What's next for Kelly? "Hopefully I will become the world's fastest woman on a motorcycle."