The Fastest Angel

A native son of San Diego set a world record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He went 222mph on a Vincent streamliner, known as Black Lightening, and established a first in the history of the Salt Flats.

Don Angel won the 2007 AMA Speed Trials “Fastest on the Salt” award. He kept the 1949 Vincent bike, powered by two 1500cc supercharged Vincent engines going in a straight line long enough to set a record. It’s the first time this vintage bike, with a push rod motor, has ever gone this fast at Bonneville.

The streamliner runs on straight alcohol and can reach speeds in excess of 350mph. But she doesn’t always want to go in a straight line. Don had to fight the wet flats because it rained the weekend he set the record and left the surface boggy and uneven.

“The uneven surface kept the bike wobbling back and forth and the skids would dig in and scrub off about 20mph every time it hit. I had to back off the throttle and get back on the wheels and then hit the throttle again.” explained Angel. “On a cleaner surface, this bike can easily go 300mph.”

And it only gets worse from there. Before the team even had the streamliner to the start line, they broke the gear box. A quick test of a rear tire had a devastating effect that destroyed every gear on the bike. But the owners and mechanics rigged it so that the streamliner would run, but only in 3rd gear, its highest.

“I had to start from a stand still in 3rd gear. The motor of course bogged and bogged and I really only got it up to 4500rpm. If I had the gears to shift through, I would have been able to go much faster,” says Angel.

And if you keep thinking that name “Angel” sounds familiar, it should. Don is the little brother of Sonny Angel who set several of his own land speed records at Bonneville. (Do a Google search on Sonny Angel and see what you get!) Don is 20 years younger than Sonny and finally got his chance to pilot a bike down the salt flats.

“I had the opportunity to be the backup rider and I’ve been around so many people who have done it and it sounded like fun”, says a smiling Angel.

Don Angel ran his streamliner at 222 mph setting a record for that class of bike a vintage streamliner a push rod motor.

The gear box broke during testing so he had to race this bike in 3rd gear (the bike’s highest gear) all the way.

It was a wet run with poor traction and only four miles to accelerate before entering the timed mile.

Digging the skids, in which scrubbed off 20mph with each dig. Don had to back off the throttle and get back on it’s wheels.

His winning record only had two mile run before the timed mile.

Each year you go back and go faster and faster and faster. Not a sensation of speed so much because your busy trying to steer the bike and listening to the engine and everything going on.

Go here for pictures.