Rocky Robinson is preparing for a new attempt in Bolivia, targeting an average speed of 400 mph in an official motorcycle land-speed record run. Robinson already holds the outright motorcycle record at 376.363 mph, and he will ride the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner—the same machine that carried him to the previous benchmark in 2010.

This will not be a one-rider challenge. Peter Hickman, a 14-time Isle of Man TT winner, will enter with the GreyhoundLSR. The streamliner uses Suzuki’s Hayabusa engine platform, and Hickman was actively involved in its design and construction. The 400mph attempt therefore brings together a specialist in outright speed records and a rider whose background is rooted in road racing.

The Ack Attack and the unfinished 2010 run

The Ack Attack is powered by two Suzuki Hayabusa engines with a combined capacity of 2,598cc. Its construction began in a San Jose, California workshop in 2003. Robinson had also broken the outright motorcycle record in 2006, before setting the later benchmark in 2010.

Mike Akatiff, the Ack Attack’s designer and builder, believes the conditions in Bolivia could support the attempt. He explained that the machine’s sensors showed slightly more than 400 mph in 2010, but that figure did not become an official record because the recognised result is the timed speed. The streamliner also failed to shift into fifth and sixth gear during that run. The new attempt will consequently depend on the speed recorded in the official timing.