Postie bike sets land speed record
Former Esperance resident Dave Plecas and his father Des have built a modified 125cc postie motorbike that established a new world record speed of just over 179km/h on a lake in South Australia last week.
It was the first time a land speed record had been set for a supercharged postie bike over a distance of one mile after the pair started working on the project, dubbed Post 100, in 2010.
Dave grew up in Esperance and started his motorsport career racing soapboxes before graduating to junior sedans and modified sedans.
“I gave up speedway about 10 years ago and this is what happens when you give up speedway,” he said.
He said he was inspired to build the bike following Des’ racing career when he reached 157km/h on a 125cc bike in the 1970s at Lake Perkolilli, near Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Another motivating factor was the movie The World’s Fastest Indian that starred Anthony Hopkins.