Like Mouth of the Snake (1984) after it, Speed Demons was intended as a springboard pilot for a series of the same name. Writer Tom Greene fleshed out an idea, merging elements of Knight Rider with Ironside (1967). The new series featured a wheelchair-bound man and his brother fighting crime for the Knight Foundation with the aid of futuristic, K.I.T.T.-like motorcycles. Lydia Cornell's character Sabrina was never intended to crossover to the new series. This promising idea, similar to the later Knight Rider-inspired series Street Hawk (1985), was eventually passed over for the short-lived series Code of Vengeance (1985).
K.I.T.T. is equipped with High Traction Drop Downs.
Michael Champion's previous appearance in Season 1 episode "Good Day at White Rock" (1982) was also heavily centered around motorcycles.
This is the first reference to Devon's history with motorcycles. He later relates another such story in season 4's Killer K.I.T.T. (1986). The helmet he wears is the same one worn by Michael in Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular (1982), and still bears Michael's initials.
Wade Fontaine was originally called Wade Fortuno. There was also more competition for Wade and Lee Carstairs in the form of Gene Tourvald, a tall, strongly-built Slavic woman racer. Tourvald was nicknamed "The Trickster" when she featured in the script (in the episode it's Fontaine).