Purdue Team led by Prof. John Sullivan Breaks Speed Record
| Event Date: | September 20, 2013 |
|---|
AAE Professor John Sullivan led a team of students to break two land-speed records on August 28 at the Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials at the Bonneville Salt Flats, UT using 150-kilogram (330-pound) electric motorcycle.
The team of 15 students designed and built the electronic 200-pound aerodynamic motorcycle and used a state-of-the-art water-cooled prototype motor. They also used the ASL wind tunnel to test their streamlined design.
The two speed records were as follows:
A-W 150 kg custom built electric motorcycle, no streamlining, under 150 kg weight
|
Qualifying |
Return |
Average MPH |
|
112.587 |
116.390 |
114.488 |
APS-W 150 kg custom built electric motorcycle, with partial streamlining, under 150 kg weight
|
Qualifying Pass |
Return Pass |
Average MPH |
|
111.858 |
114.300 |
113.079 |
The previous record of the second record stood at 68.8MPH.
Full details of their achievements can be found on the links below, including a video from WLFI.
Journal and Courier online article
Photo caption -
Top photo from left, Clayton Smith (AAE 2006), Drew Westrick (EE 2014), Professor John Sullivan, Grant Chapman (ME 2014), Sean Kleinschmidt (ME 2013)
Photo below- Bike without streamlining