Naked record smashed: Scunthorpe’s Becci Ellis hits 231.389mph at Elvington

The record for the fastest top speed on a naked bike by a female rider has been smashed by 56-year-old Becci Ellis – achieving a staggering 231.389mph from a standing start over 1.25 miles.

The Scunthorpe-based company secretary set the impressive speed aboard her modified 1999 Suzuki Haybusa called Odyssey. Costing £24,000 to build without factoring in the two years of labour, the turbo-charged missile was running 28lbs of boost during the run, meaning somewhere in the region of 350bhp.

“During the actual run, my head is literally where the eye line is just at the top of the clocks,” Becci told MCN. “I couldn’t get any lower, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see, but the pressure on your shoulders is quite a lot.

“Whether it’s because I’m an old bugger I don’t know, but I’m still feeling it!” She joked. “Even when it’s fully faired the adrenaline that you’ve got keeps you going, it pushes you along and you don’t notice any pain until you’re finished.”

The record-breaking run took place on Saturday, 23 September at Elvington in Yorkshire – a venue that saw Becci achieve 264.1mph over a standing mile in 2014 to become the overall fastest female rider in the world.

“I wanted to be able to go as fast as I possibly could without any restrictions,” the former motorcycle instructor continued. “People think ‘bloody hell, 56, shouldn’t you’d be like coming on to retirement age?’ but I’m not like that. I don’t act that way, I’m not that way, and I don’t look that way. It’s what I am, and it’s who I am.”

The previous record was set back in 2015 by Evelyn Scholz who achieved 211.398mph at Bonneville Salt Flats over a flying mile. The record breaking run was the second high speed attempt on the day, with Becci’s first go proving to be a challenge.

“The acceleration at the beginning is pretty much similar to what I’ve got before,” she continued. “You don’t really feel anything until you’re actually at full pelt, to be honest.

“But I did feel that my head may well have not been low enough because towards the end of the run I was wishing that it was over because my neck was being pushed back quite severely.”