found a picture of my hero from 30 years ago

RonKZ650 wrote:

The picture must of been era like 1976, by 79 they were running KZ1000 and GS1000 bodywork. Those were good times for sure in motorcycle drag racing. I don't remember Byron Hines riding at all til the late 80s when he ran the Yamaha FJ1200. Dragracing it was a relative disastrous move as expected with that junk. I remember when Terry Vance had a PS record of around 9.40 and lowered it to 9.00 around 1979 on the GS1000. Only Kawasaki or Suzuki were in the show back then for the most part. Remember Dave Shultz, rest in piece, riding the "72" H2 triple in PS? I met him and Paul Gast back in 1981 in Freemont, CA and we looked at that 8.8 second 2 stroker in person and the cylinder porting Paul did. How does this H2 run this good I asked them and they let me look at the porting. Well that did not help me.

I think you may be right about 76? His similar 1045 went a 9.50 something PS record at Fremont that year,last race of the year I believe. Sid Pogue went the first PS 8 in 79 on a Z1R

back about a hundred years ago byron hines and terry vance used to work for russ collins at rc engineering byron was building some pretty neat gas bikes back then him and vance teamed up and have been partners ever since. by the way that fj that byron raced later did win a national event so i'm pretty sure hines has built every major brand of motorcycle into a winner and has done something i'm pretty sure i'll never be able to do that is win an nhra national event. so give the man credit he is a genius and deserves our respect he has even won on a kawi.mk11 i beleve.

PLUMMEN wrote:

fuelers are fast but they just dont excite me like something that looks like i could take it to the streets and whip up on plastic bikes!:laugh:

No offense intended at all, I love these old bikes, owned one for almost 35 years now, raced one for 20 years but if the site and sound of a 5 second 250 mph TopFueler doesn't get you excited, it's time to check for a pulse! These are the most exciting bikes ever concieved but to each his own I guess

i just grew up watching door slammers ,did more than my share of street racing border line legal bikes and some of the baddest flat bottem dragboats in the midwest.i could never afford to play with the top fuel boys so they just neverreally excited me i guess. now 200 hp in something that looks like it was timewarped out of the mid 70s definately gets my ol pacemaker redlining though!:laugh:

I'd go to the drag races really mainly to see the "regular" cars and bikes. Back when the NHRA had their motorcycle division called the NMRA around 1980-82 it was a great time for motorcycles in general and even greater in drag racing. You had your "stock", "superstock", "modified" classes ect all running on a handicap determined by the class, no dial your own so it was more or less a professional showing. Guys would drive clear across the country to compete. All kind of classes to fit anything from a CB350 Honda to a GS1100 suzuki to an old H2 Kawasaki in any form of modification, but all professional. Very similar to how superstock and stock classes are still run in the NHRA car division, but back then almost all the bikes were still based on a streetbike. IDBA did the same thing, but NMRA to me was the ultimate in motorcycle class racing. Then you had the prostocks that were still based on a real motorcycle to seal the deal as a great time. Also the TF and FB classes that were still running in the 7 second zone back then with the crowd pleasing Harley Davidsons that never would run, but always were a hopeful. I was glad to see Harley finally win in prostock, but would be very happy if they'd go away now:)

i love motorcycle drag racing in all forms and shapes and sizes from the fuel bikes[for some reason in western canada we have a huge amount of them ] to pro-mod bikes turbo alcohol nitrous powered monsters that will carry the front wheel all the way down track while blowing the rear tire off at over 200 mph, gas bikes that are there owners pride and joy, super street bikes that are running into the 7's at 190 plus, plus the guy who brings his pride and joy out to race in the street class and has the timeof his life, i have been around racing my whole life and i still get nervious the first round every time. as the winter drags on i get more antsie until iwant to explode when i pull that bike to the line for the first pass of the year i'm almost ready to pass out i'm so excited it is the greatest feeling in the world. god i love this sport or lifestyle whichever. i will be a dragracer until i die win or lose.

stop in on your way to texas next summer for a few days ill show ya how we entertain ourselves here in the flatlands,besides tipping cows!:laugh:

RonKZ650 wrote:

Back when the NHRA had their motorcycle division called the NMRA around 1980-82 it was a great time for motorcycles in general and even greater in drag racing. You had your "stock", "superstock", "modified" classes ect all running on a handicap determined by the class, no dial your own so it was more or less a professional showing. Guys would drive clear across the country to compete. All kind of classes to fit anything from a CB350 Honda to a GS1100 suzuki to an old H2 Kawasaki in any form of modification, but all professional. Very similar to how superstock and stock classes are still run in the NHRA car division, but back then almost all the bikes were still based on a streetbike. IDBA did the same thing, but NMRA to me was the ultimate in motorcycle class racing. Then you had the prostocks that were still based on a real motorcycle to seal the deal as a great time. Also the TF and FB classes that were still running in the 7 second zone back then

I agree Ron, I raced AMDRA later in NMRA (where I set my first of 7 National Records in 1980),IDBA and Dragbike (Dragbike USA, which later became the first AMA Dragbike). It was a blast! You first ran heads-up with the others in your same class (sometimes had to go 4 rounds just in your class against guys from allover the country) and then the class winners raced in their respective Eliminators handicapped on the National Record in their class. A great time! Unfortunately time marched on from those days and with so many different bikes which changed technology and model-wise it became a logistical nightmare for tech to keep-up! It was truely a great time in the sport and I hang on dearly to those times. Today the bikes are so much faster but to me all the index racing is boring even if they are very very quick and professional in their own way. I got stuck in that "time bubble" which will never be back. AMA Dragbike does still have "Super Eliminator" at some of it's races but they are all 2-strokes and are self-policed/teched and run with backet race style (dial your own time) but I will continue to hang on to "The Day"

i know that things change for better or worse that is for somebody else to say all i know is that i don't have a big enough wallet to run heads up so i bracket race there are more ways to lose than there are to win and to be decent at it you have to really practice and know your equipment it is all about cutting good lights and running the number i've lost races by .001 of a second and won by the same so no body can tell me that it's not exciting. besides where else can you go that will let you run as fast as you can safly providing you have the proper skills.

of course the majiority of all drag racing today is "backet racing" I "backet raced" much more than I ever did heads-up racing and all form of bracket/index racing require a good light and running a chosen number to have the best chance of winning. If that's what you really like, more power to you! To me personally though head-up racing will always be where the most enjoyment is. If you win anyway. If you lose, no form of racing is very much fun.

The very best thing about drag racing back then there were no "super" classes. I'm talking supergas, superstreet, supercomp in the NHRA. Probably similar stuff now in motorcycle racing too. I remember going to the nationals and how great it was, then around 1981 NHRA and their greed and laziness it was figured they could get 100 extra cars to enter a national event with no engine rules to police so all that $$$ plus they would have to run at least one more day to get all the racing in for the weekend so each spectator and racer would pay $$$ too. Then due to lack of entries they start cutting class racing. Cut out modified eliminator where the neatest and fastest cars were running in sportsman racing, then later limit entries in class racing but allow 150 cars in supergas? Later yet cut out classes completely on a rotating basis at each race. Of course one of the first cuts was the NMRA for lack of entries and of course the greed and money was the factor there. It was a great time while it lasted though definately.

the best way to deal with electronics in drag racing is do like we do in divison 6 they are outlawed in the bike class also in the canadian motorcycle drag racing asscoition. all you can have is atwo-step no delay boxes no throttle stops no crossovers none of that stuff allowed.