To paraphrase an old saying, some people achieve fame, and some people have fame thrust upon them. For example, there are people who have set world records for eating the most earthworms in 60 seconds, and others who have survived the world’s longest fall without a parachute. Some of these things are planned, while others simply happen either by accident or mistake.
So it was that I set the world record for the highest speed ever on a Gold Wing backwards!
Being an ardent do-it-yourselfer and knowing my way around a tool box, I do much of my own maintenance and repairs to Mabelene, the 1990 Aspencade belonging to me and my wife, Joanne. When I decided that the tires were just too bald to make the trip to “Wings Over The Smokies” this past year, I pulled the front and rear wheels myself and had new tires mounted. Sure, it’s a lot of work compared with how little the shop charges for the job, but I enjoy doing these things.
As with most things in my life, I had put the job off until the last possible second, and was working at warp 10 to get everything back together in time. We were meeting up with friends Tony & Rita White in mid-morning for the ride up, and I got Mabelene back together with one hour left to get to the bank, shower, change clothes and pack.

Now, I’ve pried open enough brake calipers in my life to know you have to pump the brakes up before the pads will touch the rotors. I know this. However, in my ensuing rush, this little detail escaped me for a moment. Rolling Mabelene off her centerstand and firing up the engine, I pushed off backward out of the garage.
I never use reverse out of the garage since my driveway is on a hill and I can back up much quicker using gravity and the brakes. And there’s the catch. Having failed to pump up the brakes, I had none!
Now, as I said, my driveway is on a slope. Any Yankee will tell you of the phenomenon of hitting your brakes on ice and having the car pick up speed. Trust me on this, the same is true of a Gold Wing rolling backwards down a hill without brakes. With my first squeeze of the front brake lever, my speed doubled. It also doubled with each of the next two squeezes. By now, I estimate my backward speed to be in the neighborhood of 132 miles per hour. It was at this point that I lost all control of the bike and nearly of my bodily functions. Mabelene slid a good distance on the concrete, smashing her air horns and leaving permanent scars in the pavement, while I did my impression of a deranged one-legged Irish jig.
I had heard that you can pick up a Wing alone, and let me tell you, with that adrenaline rush, it’s no problem at all! I quickly surveyed the street for eyewitnesses, and there were none. Just my luck, I had finally done something to achieve fame, and no one was there to verify the feat!
So when you look in the Guinness Book Of World Records and I’m not listed for “Fastest Speed Ever Recorded on a Gold Wing Backward,” I just want you to know that it really happened anyway.

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