0 to 350 mph in 30 years - Motorcycle-builder reclaims land-

[totalmotorcycle]

0 to 350 mph in 30 years - Motorcycle-builder reclaims land-speed record 3 decades after losing it
By RICK BARRETT - Wilwaukee Journal Sentinel - jsonline.com



Denis Manning is the world's fastest chief executive officer.

Denis Manning's BUB 7 Streamliner motorcycle set the land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah during the 2006 International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB. Manning is the CEO of BUB Enterprises, which has a manufacturing plant in Janesville.

Quotable
There are certain things in this world we all want. And if you look at it that way, failures are just the bottom rungs on the ladder.

- Denis Manning

It's not a title from Wall Street. Rather, he built the bike that holds the current motorcycle land-speed record of 350.8 mph, set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September.

The CEO of a Janesville manufacturing plant, Manning is all about speed.

"In a lifetime quest for ultimate speed, Manning is on record as the builder of the fastest motorcycle ever," according to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum.

Manning has built six of the world's 11 fastest motorcycles. Along the way, he has learned a lot about business, life and the pursuit of dreams.

Some of the lessons have been tough, such as setting the motorcycle land-speed record in 1970, only to lose it four years later.

Manning worked more than 30 years to reclaim the title.

"There are certain things in this world we all want. And if you look at it that way, failures are just the bottom rungs on the ladder," said Manning, the founder and chief executive of BUB Enterprises, a California-based company that makes engine exhaust pipes and has a Janesville plant.

Manning has faced skeptics, especially early in his career when he worked from home on a shoestring budget.

"There was a line of people who said I didn't have enough money, expertise, time or brains," he said. "But I chose to focus on the things that I could do, rather than dwell on the things that I couldn't do."

Influenced by a legend
Manning became interested in racing when he was a child and witnessed a world record set at Bonneville by racing legend Mickey Thompson. It was a chance encounter while he and his parents were camping in Utah, but it left a lasting impression on him.

"Every other kid my age wanted to be Mickey Mantle. I wanted to be Mickey Thompson," Manning recalled.

After some experience with road racing, a pursuit he was too tall for, Manning set his sights on building streamliner motorcycles - the tube-shaped speed machines designed to cut through the air like a knife.

Manning's second streamliner, which he built on the garage floor of his duplex, was used by Harley-Davidson in 1970 to claim a land-speed record of 265.4 mph.

Harley scouts recruited Manning as a race-motorcycle designer. They offered him $10,000 if the bike set a world record and reimbursement for his hotel bill if it didn't.

Manning, then 24 years old, jumped at the chance to be part of a Harley racing team even if he wouldn't be a rider.

"I was newly married, holding down three jobs to feed my family, and trying to fund my racing," he said. "So I had to choose between a career building motorcycles or short-term popularity as a rider. I chose the career, and to this day I am glad that I did."

Fortunately for Manning, Harley set the record. That was despite a mechanical problem that caused the engine to fail 200 feet short of the end of the course.

During practice runs, the bike crashed and slid down the salt flats on its side several times before the rider learned to control it. Once, it did a frightening end-over-end tumble, but the rider walked away without injuries.

Committed to Janesville
Manning launched BUB Enterprises in 1978. He started the company on a shoestring budget but with lots of enthusiasm.

BUB designs and builds high-performance engine exhaust systems for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. The business also sponsors his current race bike, which set the world record in September.

The BUB Enterprises bike can cover the distance of a mile in about 10 seconds.

"It's like going around a football field in 2.5 seconds," Manning said.

BUB Enterprises now has more than 100 employees and a factory in Janesville, a location that Manning chose because it was close to his largest distributor and was less expensive than setting up another plant in California.

The U.S. motorcycle parts industry has been clobbered by overseas competition, and hardly a day goes by that Manning doesn't feel the heat. But he refuses to move his factories overseas.

"Trends change so quickly. I don't want to invent something in the USA, have it built in China, and then have it shipped back here. On that level, it's hard to compete with a guy in Janesville," Manning said.

Next summer, Manning will defend his land-speed record at Bonneville.

That's tough on its own, but the hardest thing was coming back after losing the record set in 1970.

"For crying out loud, I could write a book about all of the ways not to get a record," Manning said.

The same is true in business, where rebounding from a loss often takes more strength than an initial success.

"You have to make up your mind whether you are going to return to pursue something, knowing how difficult it's going to be, or whether you will move on to something else," Manning said. "But a boxer doesn't get into the ring thinking that he will never get hit. And Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, none of those guys ever dreamed of hitting a home run every time they went to bat. That's the world of business, too. You don't hit a home run every time."

Manning thinks that his motorcycle is capable of going 400 mph, provided he can find a set of tires that can handle such speed. So far, all of the major tire manufacturers have told him it can't be done.

"It's refreshing to know that the skeptics are still out there. They're all coming back now and telling me I can't build the tire I need. But I have already started . . ."