Running a good time in drag racing depends on the type of vehicle you’re rushing down the lane. In a car, a time below 10 seconds is considered a solid performance—same on a stock bike with minimal modifications. When you make the jump to specially-prepared motorcycles, the bar drops to somewhere around the 6-second mark. Then this guy showed up on his hydrogen peroxide rocket bike.
Speed Demons:
French guy Eric Teboul is no stranger to speed. With his rocket bike, the appropriately nicknamed Rocketman has been showcasing his special ride at drag racing events of all types, blowing the audiences’ mind one quarter-mile at the time. On one of his latest runs, Teboul was able to complete the race in 5.64 seconds, reaching the ludicrous speed of 220 miles per hour.
But wait, there’s more! This isn’t Teboul’s first rodeo. He has recorded even faster speeds and times in the past. In 2013, he set a speed record by doing the quarter-mile run in 5.12 seconds. During that race, he reached a speed of 264 mph—16 mph shy of his own personal speed record of 281 mph recorded in 2011.
While Teboul gets most of the merit for his record-setting runs and absolutely insane speeds, his weapon of choice is worthy of mention. His rocket bike runs on liquid hydrogen peroxide compressed into a catalyst that breaks the fuel down into steam and oxygen. The 1,200-degree, high-pressure gas is then expelled through a nozzle which propels the bike forward. That's the simplified science
There is no throttle on the rocket bike—once the reaction begins, it accelerates until it runs out of fuel. That means the Teboul has to be very precise with the quantity of hydrogen peroxide he adds to the tank because if he adds too much, the bike will run him off the track—which has happened.
While he’s done it before and there’s a bunch of videos of him impressing the crowds with his wicked rocket bike, watching him go remains a sight to behold.