We’ve seen plenty of record smashing, and a huge number of them involve speed. It’s not an easy feat, taking into consideration the preparation for the tech, the condition, and even the safety that it takes to crank a machine to the upper levels of its limits that scratch all the right itches for us. That’s even more so when you throw in the insanity of trying to break the 500-kilometre-per-hour barrier on a motorcycle. Yes, a bike.

That’s exactly what Bill Warner has been trying to do for the past few years. Last Sunday, he succeeded at Loring Air Force Base during the Loring Timing Association’s Land Speed Race.

Last year, Warner cranked his turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa up to 278.6 mph. This year, he beat that record by clipping up to 311.945 mph. Though a few fully enclosed motorcycle streamliners have bested that mark in the past, Warner’s Hayabusa is, according to the LTA, the fastest open-cockpit motorcycle ever measured.

Surprisingly enough, Warner said that the most terrifying portion of the ride wasn’t the build up to top speed, but the fight to get the bike stopped before he ran out of runway. The rider said that his bike was hopping all over the tarmac and that the experience was “a little scary.” I think that “a little” is quite an understatement.