There are always bizarre analogies that express the technical performances of machines that few can fathom. Today they tell us to think of nine formula one cars between our legs and then we'll have an idea of the power invested in the Gillette MACH 3 Challenger, which hopes to break the land speed record on two wheels next month. The problem with this sucker, though, is to stop it taking off.

"The wheels are basically only a contact point between the motorcycle and the ground. There are no tyres. At these speeds, and we're the first two wheeler to use rocket power, the rotational forces would just tear the tyre to pieces. We're running on solid aluminium wheels." says Richard Brown, the man who put together the rocket/jet/motorcycle.

"We're relying on the very small degree of cushioning that is naturally inherent in the desert surface, to provide the tyre."

Next month the Englishman will transport his state of the art two wheeler to a pre-historic lake in America and attempt to drive it at over 300 m.p.h, hopefully breaking the current record of 332.15 m.p.h set by an American Dave Campos on an "Easy Rider" Harley Davidson streamliner. What else?

Brown, like many before him, passed through Dublin yesterday on his way to the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, where he will blast along the baked lake bed for precisely one mile. The cost?

"Don't know," says Brown. "It takes all of my time and all of the teams. There's 16 of us in all. We all do it for love. I really don't know what it has cost us. Sometime in 1996 we thought about it. In 1997 we built it. Last year we ran it and broke the British land speed record (216.5 m.p.h) and this year we're out for the world record."

The 26-foot long missile is powered by three hybrid rockets and the power produced by all three engines is in excess of 6,000 horse power. Another bite-sized analogy? They tell us that exceeds the total power seen on a full grid of circuit racing superbikes.

The difference between Brown's creation and a superbike is that his power comes from the rockets, not the back wheel of the bike as in the "Easy Rider" Harley Davidson. His record attempt is not a motorcycle record attempt but a two wheel land speed record. After a struggle, the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) in Britain and the governing body of the sport, the Federation Internationale Motorcycliste (FIM) have decided to recognise the record.

"It's performed faultlessly so far," says Brown. "The only mishap really was the very first time we took the bike out on the Pendine Beach sands, where the conditions were fairly poor. I had a little spill at 60 m.p.h and slid down the beach and scratched a bit of paint work," he says.

Any speed record set will be the product of an electronically timed average of two runs. The runs must take place within a one or two hour time period and the runs must be in opposite directions.

And for Brown? He will simply lie back in a reclined position strapped into a capsule by a multipurpose harness system and hopefully, not take off.