I’M originally from Birmingham, UK, which is where my passion for motorcycles began. I couldn’t wait to finish school and get to my dad’s bike shop to help him out; I just wanted to be around motorbikes and the people who worked on them. When I got to the end of my school career, I pestered my dad to let me work for him. He took me on and put me through my apprenticeship. 

After completing my apprenticeship, I moved on from my dad’s shop to work for a Harley-Davidson dealership where I worked my way up through the Harley-Davidson University to achieve the level of Master Technician at the age of 22. That made me the youngest Master Tech in the UK and Europe and one of the youngest in the world. 

After eight years in the motorcycle industry, like many other Pommies, I decided to make the move to Australia where I started work for Fraser Harley-Davidson. 

I’ve been in Australia for a little over six years now and have just set up Elliott Motorcycles, a company that will provide products and experiences to customers who share my passion for motorcycles. 

My first venture as Elliott Motorcycles was to take a 2018 H-D Fat Bob, strip it down to the frame and build a Land Speed Racer to take to the Salt Flats of South Australia. 

We bought the bike in October 2017 from Fraser Motorcycles and about a month later had the thing striped down in my garage. I began designing, fabricating and manufacturing parts and components that would turn a standard Harley into a racebike capable of setting a Land Speed Record. 

There was a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. I started by striping the engine and working on components that would help me achieve the horsepower and torque that would be needed. 

After the engine was complete, I began making the rear tail section and fitting the front-end and wheels. Finally, the front fairing, fender, exhaust system, rear sets and shifter was fitted up and we were ready to go. 

The 2000 km drive from Sydney to Lake Gairdner was anything but long and boring with good mates along for the ride, interesting towns to stop at and windmill spotting. After more than two days driving across endless plains we reached the former mining town called Iron Knob. Our convoy turned off the bitumen and started kicking up dust. 

The first glimpse of the lake is magic. Rolling red hills give way to an enormous plane of white which opens up in front of you.  

I had raced at Speed Week twice before which proved a huge advantage for our race team. We breezed through scrutineering and were able to get everything set for an early start the following day. Everyone starts the day early at the salt. There is no racing schedule.  You just line up and wait.

My first run on the salt was just a shake-down run as the bike hadn’t been ridden yet. The run went well, I backed off just after the 2 ¼ mile marker and set a speed of 140 mph. The bike felt good and had plenty more to give. 

The second day rolled around, and the weather was looking favourable for a good run. We queued up and waited. We finally got to the front and got ready to take off. The Starter gave me the green light on I was on my way. 

The run felt good and I backed off just after the 3rd mile marker setting a new open class record of 161.031 mph. 

Check out the Elliot Motorcycles YouTube video below for a short documentary about their campaign.