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Vintage Fuel Drag Bikes

1M views 3K replies 270 participants last post by  JOHN HANSON 
#1 · (Edited)
This is a new thread I am starting dedicated to Nitro Fuel Drag Bikes. If you were involved with a Top Fuel or Junior Fuel Motorcycle team in the 50s, 60s, 70s and up to 1994 (25 years ago) we invite you to join in and share some of your memories. Or, if you didn't belong to a team but share our passion please join in too. There are other threads here on drag racing so let's keep this about "Nitro". My first fuel bike was an A/F Harley back in 1969. My last was the twin-engine Harley "Freight Train" that I retired in 1985. I will be sharing many fond and a few not so fond memories. This video was filmed in '83 and '84. The opening burnout was me and "The Freight Train" at the 1983 IHRA Spring Nationals in Bristol Tennesee. That was back when Top Fuel Motorcycles were occasionally invited to join in with the cars in a special T/F Motorcycle class. The rest of the video was filmed by my wife and is a little shakey at times but a treasure to me since it is the only film I have of my 21 year motorcycle drag racing career. For some of you it will be the first time you have seen a T/F Motorcycle started on rollers. I hope you enjoy.
 
#1,090 ·
My father has a small Aisin supercharger. His looks like two Pepsi can side by side. Very neat little huffer! I tried to get it from him, but he won't give it up! I would really like one, if the price isn't to steep. I would like to build a bike similar to Lars' Indian, but with a Triumph TRW 500, also for the salt.
 
#1,098 ·
Here is an old one I found scouring the internet and a second one that I can't tell if its an artists rendition or a photograph. Not sure its a drag bike at all.

Maybe you guys can sort them both out?
The rendition looks a lot like Elmer but he never used panheads in his doubles.
 
#1,102 · (Edited)
There has not been much posted here about Terry Vance's T/F days. He was not a player but a couple years but was very competitive, winning The NHRA US Nationals one year. These pictures were taken at the '83 NMRA Summer Nationals where Vance went down to the late great Elmer Trett.
 
#1,105 · (Edited)
MEMORIES OF "THE FREIGHT TRAIN"

We are up to the Spring of '85. Jim Turner had purchased Piedmont Dragway in Greensboro North Carolina and had booked me in for his first race in early March. T-Bird had freshened up both motors for the new racing season. This would be my last year of racing. I was busy with my Muscle Car business and needed to spend more weekends at car shows. I'll admit I still liked the thrill that I could only get from racing this bike but my sons were growing up fast and my wife had put up with my racing for 16 years. She was overdue us doing family things we could all enjoy. And, instead of me losing money racing I would be making it buying and selling more cars. It was time to wind down my racing. Plus, I had made a deal with Turner to rent Piedmont a few months later (in June) for an all Muscle Car/Reunion race I was organizing.

It was chilly and VERY windy that day in early March. I knew we were not going to be able to put on as good a show....but at least there was 0% chance of rain. I had raced before in extreme windy conditions....but not this bike. As i got ready for my first pass T-Bird and I talked about the 50 MPH winds and I told him I would make a half track pass and shut it off. But after doing the burnout and staging I popped the clutch and it pulled me back like never before. The tuneup on those two fresh engines were perfect. When I got to half track in that 1/8 mile track (330 feet) I was already at 100 MPH and it felt so good....against my plans and better judgement.... I pushed the shift button and into high gear it went and we set sail for the finish line. I was in the left lane and the wind was blowing across the track to the left and I went across the finish line on the edge of the track at the best times in the 1/8 of my career. A 5.19@145.17. But I was struggling to keep it on the track. I was leaning as hard as I could to bring it back....but I was losing. That 14 inch wide slick was unforgiving. I ran off the track at about 140 and believe it or not stayed calm. I had never crashed before and believed I could "ride it out" and get stopped without crashing. I was doing pretty good on the dirt......until I got to the pavement that connected the strip to the return road and the front of the frame being only an inch or so off the ground caught that pavement and sent me over the handlebars. It knocked me out and when I started coming around I hoped I was waking up from a dream. But as my senses came back so did the pain...and I knew it was not a dream. I could see my wife and two sons looking down at me with grief on their faces. It was very scary to wonder how bad I was injured.

The lifesaving crew was there quickly and Suzanne rode with me to the hospital. T-Bird would bring the boys after loading the bike. After being x-rayed all over I had two broken feet, a separated shoulder and serious hip injury. I was released from the hospital after 3 days and was back to work on a limited basis in a couple weeks. The picture below is "pitiful me" about a week later. You can not see the casts on my feet. As a result I had to have a shoulder operation about 6 months later and a hip replacement 6 years ago. And it would end my career with "The Freight Train".....well almost. I sold it to T-Bird, who had quit as service manager at Harley Davidson of Charlotte and bought his own Harley dealership.

Three months later I was healed enough to conduct my first Muscle Car Race/Drag Race Reunion at Piedmont. The 25 years since have been very rewarding getting to know hundreds of drag racing legends from the '60-'70s.
 
#1,112 · (Edited)
Great guesses Dusty and Nefareous but it was another racer who was beginning a journey that would not be slowed until his death. 1983 was only the second full season racing Inline Fours for Elmer Trett but he had risen to the top. Remember, this was also the year I acquired the double from him. He was a great friend I miss very much.
 
#1,113 · (Edited)
Most of you know of Larry McBride's unbelievable success in Top Fuel. But before he had his own team with brother Steve as his crew chief, Larry rode for Danny Johnson. This picture was taken about 30 years ago. He and Chris Hand have had the longest careers in T/F Motorcycle history, both over 30 years. This is simply amazing. You can bet both are entered in The Manufacturers Meet at Gainesville next month.
 
#1,114 ·
Terry Vance was racing a prostocker in 83, he built a Honda 1100F that set a record (at Gainsville I think) but Honda wouldnt sponsor the ride, so he sold it and they raced a Suzuki the rest of the year. (sorry I didnt mean to get off subject)

I have a mag somewhere with Terry Vance talking about his top fuel expierience he was basicaly scared of the thing and dreaded getting on the fueler (his words)

I remember seeing Elmers Kawasaki at Gainsville not long after he switched from the Harley, at the time it still had the cast head on it, it would split the damn thing longwise from plug hole to plug hole, later he developed the billet head.
 
#1,115 ·
Terry Vance was racing a prostocker in 83, he built a Honda 1100F that set a record (at Gainsville I think) but Honda wouldnt sponsor the ride, so he sold it and they raced a Suzuki the rest of the year. (sorry I didnt mean to get off subject)

I have a mag somewhere with Terry Vance talking about his top fuel expierience he was basicaly scared of the thing and dreaded getting on the fueler (his words)

I remember seeing Elmers Kawasaki at Gainsville not long after he switched from the Harley, at the time it still had the cast head on it, it would split the damn thing longwise from plug hole to plug hole, later he developed the billet head.
Interesting comment about the billet head. Who produced the first one for the Kawasaki? Certainly it was not Elmer Trett - but who was it?
 
#1,118 ·
The one on Elmers was certainly billet, but who made it I'm not sure MTC would be a good guess, they were the first to come out with an aftermarket head for kaws it was cast though. It still used a early Z1 valve cover which I always thought was rather classy.

Another interesting fact was that the case for the Vance & Hines fueler were made of steel, special from Japan (the only set I'm aware of) as the motor was built on the factory configuration originally (as compared to most Jap fuelers that were on puma bottom ends) and they had a terrible time with distortion and breakage.<O:p</O:p
 
#1,122 ·
NEW BOOK BEING PUBLISHED ON MOTORCYCLE DRAG RACING.

I have been waiting a long time to make this announcement but I finally have permission to do so. John Stein, an avid motorcyclist and drag bike collector, has written without question the greatest book on American motorcycle drag racing ever. This has been a long time in the making for him. He has researched the very beginning and interviewed many of the early pioneers. I have been priviledged to view this remarkable book as it has progressed over the last several years. If you have been following this thread it is a "must have" book for you because much of the information in this thread is in it. John has promised he will join us and have information about the book. I am looking forward to him telling us stories about researching information for it.
 
#1,124 ·
Glad to hear that John will be contributing to the forum Frank. I am sure he will have quite a few tales to add to our knowledge of the racing characters in the past, which will complement those already imparted by the likes of yourself and Granddaddy Joe.

I would echo your comments about John's excellent book, which is a must have for all bike fans.
For more information, visit his website: http://gearheadpublishing.com/
 
#1,125 ·
Yes, great book. Stein also has a good collection of drag bikes. Makes me feel that this is a good time to try and have vintage races. Alot more folks getting involved and working on there old machines. The M&H tire NVMDRA is selling has had a good response,France,England,New Zealand,Australia and of course the USA so far all with the intention to be run on bikes most of them old fuel bikes. cool, a running museum of sorts
 
#1,127 ·
I just finished going through Drag Bike Racing in Britian by Keith Lee. All I can say is EXCELLENT! I have been around bikes all my life and I can't believe some of the engineering I see on these bikes. It makes me wonder what happened here in the US. Did the sanctioning bodies restrict a lot of experimentation?
Keith, I see many of the supercharged Triumphs had some sort of head supports. These are going from the top of the head to the block. Do you have any close up pics? I'm just curious of the set up.
Thanks for putting out such an excellent book.
 
#1,128 ·
Thanks for the kind comments about the book. It was a great time to be involved in racing back then. Although our capacity limits were often lower than that allowed in the US, car engines were permitted. Keep in mind that the average British car was of tiny capacity compared to your cars! There were some real innovators around, who were not afraid to push the boundaries - mainly because nobody knew what the limits were. Happily most lived to tell their tales, as there was not a single fatality for many years over here, apart from the sad death of Ian Aswell in the late sixties on a kilometre long sprint course at Brighton.

With regard to the head supports, they were a sort of belt and braces approach to try and keep all parts of the motor in the proper place. Crankcases had strengthening welded in to them, and the head was firmly locked down to it using a system of bolts and brackets. Sadly, nitro is unforgiving, and engines often did not last very long. Luckily the much favoured Triumph motor was cheap in those days. I will try and find a good close-up shot to post for you to see how it all worked.
 
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