My Most Feared Moment in Racing
By: Ron Cook (CEO - Founder) 12 time world speed record holder and Guinness Record for "Survivor of the World's Fastest Motorcycle Crash -- 200MPH"

The moment I feared most in life, crashing my motorcycle at 200 MPH, happened on July 12, 1998 at 1:43P.M. At El Mirage Dry Lake.

I had often thought how I would handle an emergency situation such as this and it seems as if I was mentally prepared when it finally did happen. Practicing emergency procedures such as I have routinely practiced from my over 20 years experience flying and working in aviation has always been a part of my daily life. As l write this, I can't help but feel that those sessions of planning and preparing may have saved my life, not once but twice.

My goal this year was to go over 200 MPH and join all three 200 MPH Clubs. Everything was in the right place as well. Plus, owning and riding a proven motorcycle that has exceeded 200 MPH would help me accomplish my goals.

The 1998 season started right where I left off, driving home and reflecting about the last El Mirage meet of 1997; having Set another record in the M-F 1350 Class at 195.103 MPH and securing the motorcycle points championship. I had also set four Bonneville & five dry lakes records that year and was determined to set more than that for 1998.

The next five months were spent building two new engines for the 1000 cc & 1350 cc classes, modifying my nitrous system to handle the 200 extra horsepower, inspecting and doing preventative maintenance on the chassis. I worked over 80 hours a month on this program so I could he well prepared and ready for the first meet of 1998 at Muroc dry lake. (Edwards AFB CA).

I chose my 1325 cc engine for the first meet, which was tuned for 285 horsepower, which was good for 206 MPH and an entry into the Muroc 2 Club. My starting position was number 6 on race day, which meant good running conditions for Saturday morning. It started out in fine order with everything going as planned. I was suited up and ready to go at the starting line when Bob Higbee, the chief starter, gave me the signal to go. This was a 1.5-mile course with plenty of time to get up to speed for a 200 MPH record.

What happened next was a complete surprise to me, a front wheel wobble started while I was in 4th gear. When I hit 2 bumps on the track at the one-mile mark, it was rapidly getting more pronounced and violent. My reaction was to tighten my grip on the handlebars and to apply more power to try and lighten the load on the front wheel so as to regain control of the severe headshake. I soon ran out of engine RPM and was running past redline while hitting my rev limiter. I wasn't able to improve my situation of the severe tank slapper, using the brakes or shifting into fifth gear were not options, for both would surely put me into the ground.

Through all my years of riding and racing, this was the worst headshake I had ever experienced. I couldn't hang on any longer or I would surely get tangled into the bike if it went down. I made the decision to jump and get away from the bike and not risk this 500-pound machine landing on top of me at 175 MPH. No one has ever written a book on how to get off a bike at high speeds while straight up, but it was the option I chose to take. My planned move was to put my hands up to get away from the handlebars, since I couldn't hang on any longer due to the high frequency and speed of the wobble. As the wind caught my upper body it lifted me off the bike with a good angle of attack so as to land on my backside for a planned high-speed slide. Everything was looking good until something grabbed my right foot and slammed my body down into the dirt on the bikes left side. What I saw next was my spinning rear tire and the dirt rooster tail following me as I counted the number of chain links going around the rear sprocket at 175 MPH. At this point I knew I was in real trouble. How was I going to get out of this one?

My first thought was to relax and analyze the problem. The first thing was to keep my head and right arm out of the rear wheel and prevent it from being sucked into the rotating wheel or possibly getting it thrown into the sharp metal of the rear fender. I told myself it was going to be a long ride sliding on my back while my left arm and hand was extended out palm down trying to balance myself. I was sliding on the dirt and trying to maintain the minimum amount of friction on any one part of my body due to the enormous amount of heat buildup and for fear of wearing through my leathers and grinding away my flesh.

Several moments had passed by and I knew I would not last much longer in this position so I tried grabbing the top of my rear fender in an attempt to pull myself back onto the bike or at least off the ground. I couldn't get a good grip and feared losing my arm if I fell into the spinning rear wheel. My next move was to do a 180-degree turn onto my front side while trying to figure out what my right foot was hung up on. My concern on this move was, would I go under my rear tire or hang up my left leg, but I felt I didn't have any other choices. Now I’m sliding on the face of my helmet and on both of my hands as I was struggling to free my right foot. Then suddenly my right foot broke free of the bike and I was sliding on my backside again watching the bike go on by itself. I tumbled a few times and came to a stop, stunned by O.K.

I ended up sliding about 1,000 feet. A new record for me, one I don't wish to repeat. The emergency crew was there right away and checked me out for any injuries. There was nothing serious other than some road rash due to friction burns; I had blisters on all my left fingers, bruises to both feet and a sore right leg. I walked off the course in relatively good shape.

When I went to the side of the course by the timing tower, I noticed a cameraman looking at me in disbelief. He was concerned if I was O.K. and I told him I was. I asked him if he happened to catch that amazing run on camera and he informed me that he caught it all. He noticed that I was in serious trouble and saw that I was struggling to free myself from the bike. "It was very nice of you to drop off In front of the camera," he says. I couldn't believe it was all caught on film and of all people it was "Speedvision." This is one run I definitely don't want to miss on TV.

Mike Mangelli and the other track workers picked up my bike about 1 or 2 miles away. After it was loaded, with the help of the Raspberry Rocket crew, I called a frame alignment and took it straight over there for a complete frame and steering Inspection. Everything was within tolerance and no damage was done. The first El Mirage meet was coming up in two weeks, and I had a meeting with (TLC) 'Extreme Machines', so I wanted to make sure everything was in good working order.

The next two weeks were spent working on new triple clamps made by my friend Richard Sirns with more steering trail added for more stability. This bike had never had a steering wobble in the five years of racing before this accident. There was also a new shimmy dampener installed for extra safety. I felt confident and ready for the next El Mirage meet on July 12,1998.

I met with the Extreme Machines crew the day before to discuss what shots they wanted and to install the two miniature cameras on the bike for the race day film shoot. Sunday morning came and we shot some pre race footage, then it was on to the starting line. The cameras were mounted on a backpack for some footage going down the track at 130 MPH. My first run was completed but the cameras didn't work due to the high demand of battery power for the two cameras.

I did a second run, this time with a huge belt battery pack to power the cameras. This run was successful with excellent results in the film playback. Now it was time to get to the business at hand and go for a record run. Everything is looking good as I got in line again and I carefully checked the bike over again. I had tuned the bike to go 10 MPH faster than my last record of 195.103 MPH. I planned to get the 200 MPH record and still be easy on my engine for I still had another 100 horsepower that could be added. My intention was to set it up for future runs at Bonneville and I had high hopes it would run 215 MPH unfaired.

Everything about my final run was normal and solid with no hint of trouble. I passed through the timing lights safely, shut down the nitrous and started to roll off the throttle when I suddenly felt the rear of the bike start to weave ever so slightly. A few moments later it went into a massive rear wheel weave. Experience taught me to accelerate out of the rear wheel weave problem, except I was going 200 MPH. The only way for me to apply power at that speed would be to hit the nitrous again, but I elected not to due to the violent nature of horsepower the nitrous would produce. It could make a bad situation worse. Then the shaking turned really violent. I hung on real tight and remembered thinking, "Oh No! Not again! Boy this is really going to hurt"!

Suddenly I was pitched off in a cloud of dust, tumbling endlessly at 200 MPH down the track. I told myself to hang loose and it will end soon. It took all of my energy to repeat that in my head over and over again until finally, I came to a stop. I knew from experience not to tighten up or straighten your arms and legs as you tumble because that is when you start breaking body parts and causing severe injury. I think of all those drunk drivers who survived all those horrible crashes while the sober drivers were killed or severely injured. They say I slid and tumbled more than 600 feet.

To describe the sensation I felt when I was tumbling and sliding is to say, it was like closing your eyes and spinning around and around, like in a dryer, and not knowing when or if it would stop. It seemed like an eternity and when I finally came to a stop, I was flat out on my back looking up at that beautiful blue sky and bright shining sun, Was I alive? I started a body function checkout while the emergency crew was trying to reach me. I moved ever so slightly my head, neck, back, torso, left arm, right arm, & left leg, everything moved until I got to the right leg. I lifted my right leg up but the leg went up while the right foot stayed on the ground. HMMM! I wasn't going to walk away from this one! I waited for the emergency team for a second time in a row. (We've got to stop meeting like this guys!)

The emergency crew had the same familiar faces that I saw at the Muroc crash. I was alert and conscience throughout the crash and landing. So the emergency crew asked me if I was hurt and I responded with a big "Yes, my right leg is broken." Their second question was, "Do you want an ambulance this time?" I uttered another big "Yes." Meanwhile Lee Kennedy removed both of my gloves and found both hands were badly damaged and swollen. I then asked Lee if all of my body parts were still attached and normal looking due to my adrenaline flow and not being able to visually evaluate myself. Lee responded, "Everything is in its right place with nothing missing." What a relief to hear that!

As the emergency crew put me on the stretcher they told me they would leave my body positioned as they found it and told me not to move any limbs for that would be the most comfortable position for the one hour drive to the Victorville Hospital. Once inside the ambulance I asked the EMT if he could give me a painkiller but he replied that he could not give a traveling patient any medication because they were concerned with the fact that there could be internal bleeding and any medication could mask the symptoms. Just my luck!

When we got to the hospital and the emergency crew started to work on me they asked if I wanted to slip the leathers off to which I responded, "H__L NO! Cut the D__N things off!" The pain was excruciating at this point. Luckily my brother John and Mike Burns arrived to help the doctors. They had to tell them what happened and why I was going 200 mph, it was hard for them to believe what happened. Unfortunately or perhaps in my case fortunately, Victorville Hospital was not equipped to handle trauma patients. After five hours in the emergency ward and somewhat stabilized, but not out of trouble because of possible internal bleeding, my brother arranged another ambulance, which transported me to Loma Linda University Medical Center where I stayed for nine days. Two surgeons took care of my right leg, which was broken in five places and my right arm and wrist, broken in four places. They also treated me for a large amount of friction burns and bruises.

I was sent home in a wheelchair and supplied with a hospital bed. The nurses came daily to take care of the friction burns, and I'm facing a lot of rehab. The bike is a pile of junk. Everything was destroyed including the engine. It was a very violent crash which was filmed by Brazeau Videos and will be aired on "Extreme Machines," "Real TV," "American Hot Rodder," and God knows where else. I was finally able to finish my interview with "Extreme Machines" and "Real TV" from my wheelchair in September.

I was very lucky to live let alone have all of my faculties and limbs intact and functional. I had a great team of doctors, nurses. Friends and supporters throughout my recovery along with the SCTA and friends in Santa Barbara, a special thanks to the El Mirage Ladies Auxiliary, who were there when I really needed the help.
A BIG THANK YOU TO THEM ALL!