On paper, the Buell Leviathan had all the ingredients to become one of the great protagonists of Bonneville Speed Week 2026. More than 400 hpa 1,190 cc V-Twin engine supercharged and an ambitious goal: «exceed 402 km/h«.
The reality, however, has been quite different. In its first participation on the Utah salt flats, the Buell Leviathan It achieved a maximum speed of 287.3 km/h. It is a considerable figure, but it is still very far from the 402 km/h that Buell had been marked as a reference. And probably the most interesting thing about this story is that the result does not seem to be a failure so much as the first chapter of a project still in development. That without a doubt.
Buell Leviathan, 401 hp to face the salt
Buell presented the “Project Leviathan“as a specific preparation for maximum speed tests, that is clear. The base is the brand’s 1,190 cc platform, but completely transformed to try to turn it into a true record-breaking machine. The official power figure is 401.4 hp to the rear wheel with a maximum torque of only 293 Nm. The 1,190 cc V-Twin engine receives “turbo supercharging” and, in addition, the motorcycle incorporates a specific preparation to withstand the enormous demands of a test of this type.
own Buell had announced from the beginning a goal of more than 402 km/h. In fact, the manufacturer spoke of “more than 401 hp at the wheel, more than 293 Nm of torque and 402 km/h”, as the 3 big figures of the project. But it’s one thing to get those figures on a dyno and quite another to take advantage of them on the Bonneville surface. And here the dream began to be cut short…
Buell Leviathan, first time for the motorcycle and pilot
One of the keys to understanding the result is that neither the Leviathan nor its pilot, Jacob Starkhad previous experience at Bonneville. For the motorcycle, this «Speed Week» It practically meant its premiere in real conditions. Until then, development had been carried out through testing and fine-tuning work. starkfor his part, had not previously piloted over the salt flat either. That is, there, zero experience.
Before even thinking about 402 km/h, driver and machine had to go through the process of obtaining the necessary licenses to compete in the highest speed categories. The first steps were relatively conservative. stark had to progressively prove that he could control the Leviathan at increasingly higher speeds. The situation began to get complicated when the motorcycle began to exceed 240 km/h and its behavior changed considerably. And there appeared one of the big problems of this “healthy madness”.
The problem was not the 400 HP, but putting it on the ground
The Leviathan It has plenty of power. The problem is transmitting it. On a conventional road, a tire can find a relatively high level of grip. In Bonneville, however, the situation is completely different. The salt flat offers an extremely particular surface and conditions can change enormously from one area to another.
In fact, with third gear engaged, the Buell He began to show much more demanding behavior as speed increased. And when engaging fourth gear, one of the most striking problems of the project arrived: the rear wheel could reach a speed equivalent to more than 320 km/h while the motorcycle itself moved considerably more slowly. In other words, the Leviathan I was fighting tire slippage.
That forced stark to maintain control of a motorcycle with more than 400 hp while managing a skid at speeds exceeding 280 km/h. An especially delicate situation for a pilot who, at the same time, was learning the particularities of piloting on salt. After passing the different stages of the license, stark got the category B necessary to be able to face the long distance test. This allowed the team to have about 8 km to accelerate, instead of the shorter distances used during the early phases of the process.
Obviously, it was the opportunity to really start to see how far the “beast“. The result was a maximum speed of 287.3 km/h. The figure is well below the planned 402 km/h, but it must be taken into account that the project was still in a very early development phase.
During the event, different technical problems appeared that forced the team to introduce modifications and corrections on the fly. At the same time, stark he had to become familiar with a motorcycle whose behavior changed radically with each increase in speed. Bonneville thus became a gigantic test track.
The Buell Leviathan is a motorcycle designed for 483 km/h
The Leviathan It is not simply a Buell 1190 with fairing. The project originally began as a prototype based on the super cruiserbut the CEO of Buell, Bill Melvingave to Jacob Stark freedom to develop the 1190 platform with the goal of creating a true “Land Speed Racing”.
The bike combines elements from the super cruiser with body Hammerhead and the 1190RS. It also incorporates suspensions FOXforged aluminum wheels and different components specifically designed to withstand the enormous loads of a preparation like this. These include customized pinion bushings designed to withstand a mechanical limit of 483 km/h.
One thing is clear, the Leviathan has completed his first «Speed Week«, its pilot has gained experience and has overcome the different phases necessary to be able to face higher speeds, and the team has discovered first-hand what are the main problems that need to be solved. own Buell He had already presented the project as a progressive development and not as a finished preparation from day one.
Furthermore, the records published during the “Speed Week” show the extent to which Bonneville conditions can challenge even the most powerful machines. In the event classification, the Leviathan It appears with 210.2 km/h in one of the daily tables, while later the team managed to considerably raise that figure to 287.3 km/h. But, be careful, 402 km/h are still the true objective of this Buell.
The question now is,How long will it take for the American team to get those CVs to actually hit the ground?? Because at Bonneville it’s not enough to have power. You have to ensure that the tire finds enough grip, keep the bike stable, manage the slippage and, above all, allow the rider to continue accelerating…
