Montana Distiller Runs Vodka-fueled Bike at Bonneville
Fresh from launching Harley-Davidson craft beer, could the MoCo be the next company to consider offbeat alternative fuel made from vodka?
Motorsport is more than the spirit of competition linked to the gods of internal combustion. It is a testing ground for potential technologies, some of which are distilled into our motorcycles. Some ideas, like full electric power, are already coming into our daily reality, if the 2019 Harley-Davidson LiveWire is any indication.
Other ideas, though, may need more time to age in the barrel before distribution. Such as the case with this Yamaha fueled by vodka. The Daily Mail has the story on the bike, which held the Bonneville speed record in its class for but a brief time.
The 1980 Yamaha XS650 spent part of its life languishing in a field before Ryan Montgomery, co-owner of Missoula, Montana-based Montgomery Distillery, rescued the bike from its misery, building it into a Bonneville bomber over the course of six months and $6,000. Dubbed “Sudden Wisdom,” so named after the distillery’s straight rye whiskey, the Yamaha’s 654cc air-cooled twin was fueled by the byproducts of vodka distilling, which are not fit for consumption, and are usually discarded.
Montgomery’s goal with the Yamaha was to match the 2016 98-mph record for 1980 and earlier, 650cc to 750cc motorcycles on alternative fuels. Instead, the Bonneville vodka bomber smashed it at 114 mph on his first pass. The victory was short-lived, though. Three days later, Dennis Weinhold reset the class record at 140 mph upon his 1974 Honda CB750.
We don’t think beer is strong enough for our V-Twins. But vodka isn’t far from moonshine, which has been used as fuel in the past by bootleggers.
Could alcohol waste be a viable alternative fuel for Harley-Davidson? Harley has a craft beer on the market, though we don’t think beer is strong enough for our V-Twins. Vodka and similar liquors, though, aren’t far away from moonshine, which has been used as fuel in the past by bootleggers according to Slate.
We think if a Yamaha that had been rusting away in a field only months before can run on a distiller’s products and put down a record on the salt flats of Bonneville, we think Harley should open a still as soon as possible.
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