Any chance you can make this race, would be cool to see you again? I will be riding Pro ET. Over the summer my bike slightly dipped into the 8.90's, I think my best pass was a 8.94-6. I started racing on a 74 Z1 that had a 1260 kit by the time I was done playing with it. It was low compression, so I could kick start it. I still rode it to college and work, like and idiot, with the wheelie bars and slick on it. I cut 3 groves into the slick and that worked, every time I got pulled over by the cops. I had one cop want to write me up, because the wheelie bar isn't allowed to extend past the "bumper", which was an Illinois law in the early 80's. I told him, that is my bumper, show me another bumper on this motorcycle, and he let me off. I've actually never raced an index class off a pro tree, but am willing to try. My dad finally can't race anymore at 79 years old, so I thought about taking his bike and paying someone to set it up for an index class. I would do it myself, if I lived out there, but I can't afford the time off from work to fly in a few days early, and try to figure everything out. Unfortunately Dad is starting to get Dementia or Alzheimer's so he can't help work on things anymore, but we still get to hang out together!!! I think Dad's car tire Suzuki will only run 9.1's so I would have to set it up for a 9.20 or 9.50 class.
Pull over hoodie wearers have no say in anything!! Of course I moved on from coke because they dont appreciate me as a customer. Pepsi sucks. RC aint bad but I cant get it in small cans around here.
Hey Bowman Forklift are there any drag bike rentals. I think a couple of passes on a real drag bike would be a hoot and a half
I just looked up Frank Hawleys school & he no longer does bikes unless you have your own group for a class. You could rent a regular motorbike like a BMW GS1250 for $120 /day out of Vegas.
Wish we could, haven't made a pass on a bar bike in over thirty years... Gonna try and get it to the local track for the final SDBA round later this month. Just got the new cases back from being bored this morning, still a little work to be done. I think we have a woods race planned that weekend also. Maybe we can meet up at event before to awful long though.
I’ve launched several bikes at the track but never s true drag bike. The sensation may be the same, I’m sort of hoping for an arm ripping rush,
The first couple times it feels really intense, but you get used to it pretty quickly. The first time I went into the 8's, I was racing my dad's small tire, slow drag bike that runs, low 10's. It broke on me during time trails at St. Louis dragstrip and I decided I would just pit for my dad. Another guy around my age, that my parents knew, said "I have my son's drag bike here, you can ride it if you like". I asked him to call his son and make sure and his son said no problem. I had to go ask the track for a favor, because time trials were already over. They understood the story, how I flew out from California to race with my dad, and the bike broke. They said I could have only one time trail pass. That bike launched so hard I almost rolled out of it, but I knew I only had one pass, and I really wanted to race. So I hung on, and went 8.7x at 145-147ish MPH. I ended up winning 7-8 rounds and won first place that day. I then split the purse with the Dad that loaned me the bike, he didn;t want to take it, but I thought that was only right. That is the last time I've gone all the way to the finals, and that was probably 8-10 years ago. I've raced the bike I bought 2-3 times since then, and the most I've gone is 3 rounds.
Actually I asked a shop I work with about that and he said they didn’t rent any. I wanted to put Tyler on one, and actually would let him ride mine, if he can ever find the time to leave NY. He drag raced a junior dragster when he was 8 or 9 and made it to the semi finals his only time dragracing, with coaching from my dad and I about cutting good lights. We were deep staging the heck out of that car, and that really helped him win a few rounds. Old school Dragbike’s with a slick and wheelie bar like I have, and my dad have, are very cost effective. My dad will be selling his, but I’m not yet sure of the price? I paid $5500 for mine and put a couple thousand more into it getting it setup properly with electronics, proper peg placement, etc. I’m the type of guy that would let someone rent mine, if I lived near it. The problem I have is, I don’t get to race often. When I do, I need the passes to test and setup, because I’m still chasing my proper setup. If you think you can make it out there on Friday and we talk some before hand so I understand your level of riding capability, I might be able to let you take a pass. If it was 5 years ago when my dad could still race and wrench, I could have definitely put it together for you. When I go home this time, If I have time I’m going to work on his bike and try to get it running again too, so there is still some hope…LOLOL
@Boman Forklift - Would you or anyone you know who races drag bikes be interested in a CBR 900RR drag bike project? I picked up a 900RR recently for some parts, don't know anything about the engine, but the swing arm has been extended, it's lowered, has Suzuki wheels on it, single brake up front, megaphone for a muffler, etc. For you or other beeb members I'll throw in another swing arm with bolt in swing arm extenders, a bunch of spare parts, even have some fairing pieces for it including a 93-94 front fairing with dual headlights...
Thank you for asking, but I’m not. I will probably be prepping my dad’s two Gs1100’s to get ready for sale.
Yes I fly back Tuesday. Let’s get together if it works out for your travel schedule, and thanks! Thanks!