Some people push limits. Talan Skeels-Piggins keeps rewriting them. The former Winter Paralympian, double world champion and pioneering motorcycle racer has become the first paraplegic motorcyclist in history to break 200mph over a measured mile from a standing start. At Sparks Welding Supplies, we’re proud to sponsor and support him, and to have played our part in the bike that carried him there.
Who is Talan Skeels-Piggins?
Before 2003, Talan’s life was already full of challenge and adventure. He grew up in Cornwall and attended Truro School, where he captained the hockey team and headed up sailing. He went on to serve in the Royal Navy, finishing his career as a Lieutenant and Fighter Controller aboard HMS York, with deployments stretching from the Arctic Circle to the Falklands and the Gulf. He later became a PE teacher.
Then, in March 2003, everything changed. A motorcycle accident shattered his spine and broke his neck, leaving him paralysed from the chest down. He was given only a 30 per cent chance of survival, and told that if he lived, he would never walk again.
From hospital bed to the Paralympics
Most people would need years to come to terms with an injury like that. Talan needed eight days. Just over a week after being paralysed, he set himself the goal of learning to ski, earning a place on the national team and representing Great Britain at the 2010 Winter Paralympics.
He did exactly that. Seven years later, he was Britain’s top-placed male skier in the Giant Slalom and Super-G at the Vancouver 2010 Games, and went on to become the 2012 Super-G European Champion.
Back on the bike and making history
Skiing was only part of the story. Talan’s love of motorcycles never left him, and he set out to prove that paralysis didn’t have to end a riding career.
In 2012 he became the first paraplegic in motor-racing history to gain an ACU Road Race licence and compete against able-bodied racers, riding a modified Suzuki SV650 at Snetterton with Club Thundersport. The world titles followed. He was crowned 600cc World Champion in the paralysed category at the Bridgestone World Cup in Vallelunga, Italy, in 2015, and took first place for paralysed riders again at the 2018 Disabled World Championship. He is also the first paraplegic motorcycle race instructor and the first paraplegic to hold both motorcycle and car race licences.
He has also opened doors for others. In 2011 he co-founded The Bike Experience, a charity based at Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire that offers free sessions to help paraplegic motorcyclists ride again. Several other paralysed riders who now hold racing licences got there through the charity.
Breaking the 200mph barrier
Talan has now achieved the landmark that gives this story its headline. At the Straightliners World Speed Record event on the runway at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire, he recorded a maximum speed of 200.254mph over a measured mile from a standing start, setting a new land speed record and becoming the first paraplegic motorcyclist ever to pass the 200mph mark.
It’s the end of an 11-year journey. Talan first set his sights on breaking the 200mph barrier more than a decade ago, and through the racing, the setbacks and the years of preparation, he never let that ambition go.
Doing it takes more than raw speed. Talan has no functional sitting balance, so he rides strapped to a specially adapted machine. Accelerating from a standing start to over 200mph in a single mile puts enormous stress on rider and bike alike, and every component has to be exactly right. It’s a feat of courage, and it’s also a feat of engineering and teamwork.
Why Sparks Welding Supplies is behind him
At Sparks Welding Supplies, we’re part of Talan’s team. We repair his bike, and for this record attempt we went further: our team modified parts on his machine to suit the demands of a 200mph run, and we supplied the oils and lubricants that kept it running at its best.
A run from a standing start to over 200mph puts huge strain on every part of a motorcycle. Engines run hotter, components face forces they rarely see on the road, and for a rider who is strapped to his machine, every modification has to fit perfectly and hold firm. There’s no margin for error, and that’s exactly the standard we work to every day.
Seeing parts modified in our workshop, and a bike kept in peak condition with our oils and lubricants, help Talan make motorsport history is something we’re incredibly proud of. Congratulations, Talan, from everyone at Sparks. We can’t wait to see what you do next.