The first generally recognized motorcycle speed records were set unofficially by Glenn Curtiss, using aircraft engines of his own manufacture, first in 1903, when he achieved at Yonkers, New York using a V2, and then on January 24, 1907 on Ormond Beach, Florida, when he achieved using a V8 housed in a spindly tube chassis with direct shaft drive to the rear wheel. An attempted 'return run' was foiled when his drive shaft came loose at speed, yet he was able to wrestle the machine to a stop without injury. Curtiss' V8 motorcycle is currently in the Transportation collection of the Smithsonian Institution. The 1907 record made Curtiss the fastest person on earth in any vehicle on land or air, the rail record stood at . The first officially sanctioned Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme record was set in 1920, when Gene Walker rode an Indian on Daytona Beach at. The first FIM-sanctioned record to exceed Curtiss' 1907 speed did not occur until 1930, at Arpajon, France, when a special OEC chassis with supercharged 1,000cc v-twin JAP engine averaged over the required two-way runs. In the 1930s, an international battle between the BMWs, ridden by Ernst Henne, alternated records with various JAP-powered English motorcycles. BMW set a final record before World War II, in 1937, which stood for 11 years. After the Second World War, the German NSU factory battled English machines for top speed honors through the 1960s, when Japanese-engined streamliner motorcycles appeared, and alternated with Harley-Davidson-engined machines through 1990. The last Harley-Davidson record of stood for 16 years, before a Suzuki-powered machine averaged in 2006. Since then, the BUB team, using a custom-built V4 engine, has alternated with the twin Suzuki engined Ack Attack team. Since late 2010, the Ack Attack team has held the motorcycle land speed record at.
Jet-engine trike
The fastest record certified by the FIM is that set in 1964 by the jet-propelledtricycle, Spirit of America. It set three absolute land speed records, the last at. While such records are usually validated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the FIA only certifies vehicles with at least four wheels, while the FIM certifies two- and three-wheelers. Breedlove never intended Spirit of America to be classified as a motorcycle, despite its tricycle layout, and only approached the FIM after being rejected for record status by the FIA. Spirit of Americas FIM-ratified record prompted the FIA to create a new category "thrust-powered" vehicles to its world record listings. Further, most people think of the tricycle Spirit of America, now part of the permanent collection of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, as a "car" and not a motorcycle.
