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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.
 
#149 ·
Folks, we just passed a milestone. When I started this topic just three months ago I did not know what kind of response it would get. Well, it has been one of the hottest topics on the Jockey Journal surpassing TEN THOUSAND visits. Thanks to all of you who have posted.... and to those who have something to say or pictures to post about the history of Fuel Bikes please join in.
 
#150 ·
Don't know if you have seen this, but on the excellent UKDRN site in England there are some films posted from the 1973 International meeting at Santa Pod. Mainly cars, but there are some bikes shown. Danny Johnson features at around the 7 minute mark on part one, and around 5 minutes on part 2, including a fire burnout sequence.
He had problems on both runs, but it is a good bit of film.

I have included the link below:

http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum/viewto...aggin+in&sid=7d8dabf94f33fde01e77b3684ab0a055

Regards,
Keith
 
#153 ·
Danny raced over three consecutive weekends during his visit in July 1973. Two were at Santa Pod, while the middle race was at a military base on the south coast, where the course was only 1000 feet due to the short shutoff area.

In 1975 Danny visited Santa Pod twice with Goliath 2, and you might be interested that a picture of him racing TC at Santa Pod is one of the front cover pictures on the book I am finalising on drag bike racing in britain in the early days.
 
#152 · (Edited)
Congrats on the great thread & all the veteran racers finding it....thought I'd bring this over from its original thread -

Here is a link to a video I shot at Pete Hill's yearly Christmas party. Always a good time when he fires the nitro burnin KnuckleHead!!

Enjoy!



Yeah, Pete and Jackie are good folk. This video was actually from last years party. Here is a link to some photos from the party as well.

http://www.pbase.com/daron_gray/pete_hill_tf

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#155 ·
Keith,

I am glad to hear you are recording British Drag Bike racing history in the form of a book. The same thing is being done here on American Fuel Bike racers and is rumored to be printed later this year.
Frank,
My book is now in the editing stage, and includes the many American visitors who competed here up until the mid 1980s.
Do you know who is writing the book in America? It sounds very interesting.
 
#159 · (Edited)
Unfortunately motorcycle drag racing has been in a freefall for many years. This is only one opinion as to why it has been but I have seen the good and the bad times.

(1) The good times were the Seventies when there was only one organization, the AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DRAG RACING ASSOCIATION, and there was only one REALLY big meet....Bowling Green. That was the race that all hard core motorcycle drag racing fans attended each year and the grandstands were packed. All the British bikes were still being manufactured and raced at B/G. There were plenty of British bike racing fans there to pull for them. The Japanese bikes were just starting to invade the USA but there were plenty of fans pulling for them too. And last but not least there were the Harleys. In Top Fuel you would have the Harleys, Nortons, Triumphs, Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis, Yamahas, battling for the win. That covers just about all the brands. Today, they are all gone in T/F except for Harley and Suzuki. It has really hurt the spectator turnout.

(2) Racing in general is not nearly as popular as it once was as technology has changed our world.

(3) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I don't believe motorcycle drag racing will ever be as popular as it once was. That is the reason topics like this one are so important...to record for history how great it once was. I feel very lucky to have lived and raced during the glory years.
 
#158 ·
This is the announcement on D/B Forum...

Effectively immediately, Hammer Motorsports DBA AMA Dragbike Series, will cease operations indefinitely. Regretfully, today's economic climate, rising costs and decreasing revenue makes it fiscally irresponsible to continue doing business. The final details are being worked out at this time.

"Motorcycle Drag Racing has been a passion for both of us for many years and we have given all of ourselves to this sport," said Brandi Neithamer, Vice President of AMA Dragbike. "We knew this year would be very difficult given the economic conditions, but we never anticipated it would go downhill so quickly. Scott Valetti and I have a tough road ahead of us to close the business, and we hope to receive the support of the community during this difficult time."

"The AMA will be issuing their own statement regarding the future of the AMA Dragbike Series," Neithamer continued. "If there are any parties interested in discussing our operation of the series, please feel free to contact us. We will do everything in our power to help you succeed."
Hammer Motorsports would like to thank all of the AMA Dragbike racers, sponsors and fans that have helped support the organization [formerly AMA Prostar] over the last 21 years.

"We have always strived to hold safe, fair and exciting racing events, and we appreciate all that have helped us achieve that goal," Neithamer said. "Scott and I extend our best wishes to all in our racing community."

Scott Valetti
Brandi Neithamer
AMA Dragbike
 
#161 ·
Thanks for joining us Yags. I got a feeling the posts of back in the day are going to increase!!!!!!!!! You just posted pictures of three of the guys I admired greatly (and still do) before I joined in on the fun and agony of nitro.
 
#162 ·
frank, joe and all the rest that are posting on here, sharing your history with us...... thank you. that is a shame about ama but, frank, i think you nailed it on the head, all aspects of drag racing has gotten so out of hand, unless ya wanna run bracket, the average joe(no pun intended joe) cant realy compeat.

i dont know if any of you would be interested in it or not(translation- damn it would be cool if some of you would pull out your old drag bikes and come down.) but, RYAN, the owner of this and outher boards, puts on a old school drag race every year. last year was my first time and im hooked. i used to watch and compeat when i was younger but, like i said, it got so out of hand, i just lost intrest, untill last year. heres the web site, http://www.hambdrags.com/
 
#164 · (Edited)
little d

It would be great if we could get some old Fuel Bikes there at Ryan's Old School Drags. The trouble is that there are not many left.

How I Met Danny Johnson

In an earlier post I mentioned I got outrun for the first time on my street Sportster at the '67 Daytona Bike week by Danny Johnson. Here is THE REST OF THE STORY. Me and some buddies of mine had traveled to Daytona hoping to see Leo Payne. There were rumors he was going to come there and kick ass. All the fast street bikes parked on Main Street to show off your stuff and get up races but there was no Leo Payne. One sinister looking Sportster was parked there when we arrived. It looked like a Cafe racer. After looking at more "fast looking" bikes I went back to be with mine (pictured below). Soon a guy came up and started looking my bike over thouroughly. It had twin Linkert carbs and Dytch big bore cylinders on it, a dead give-away. This guy asked who it belonged to and I proudly raised my hand. "Want to go out in the country and race" he said. That's what I'm here for I said. He went to get his bike ....and it was the Cafe looking bike. It was about 10:00 pm as we headed out and at least 25 bikes went with us to watch. We found a long straightaway and decided it was good. The guy asked if I wanted to start from a dead stop or a rolloff. I said a rolloff. We were both side by side at about 20 mph when we turned the throttles at exactly the same instant and the other bike jumped out to a bike length lead on me and it stayed that way through all the gears up to about 130 mph, the fastest my bike would run with the gearing I had and besides it was pitch dark on that lonely highway. I was VERY disappointed to have lost as we rode back to downtown Daytona, trying to get back before the law got to us. As we parked I introduced myself and he said "I'm Danny Johnson". It was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until his death. There are a lot more stories about Danny coming up.
 

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#165 ·
Danny Johnson And "Goliath 1" THE END

The success of "Goliath 1" has been posted here before. I am posting a rare picture of it here. This was taken at Ontario Motor Speedway just weeks after it's debut at Atco in the fall of '72. If you click on the picture twice it will blow the picture up to where you can see the incredible workmanship. As you can see, Johnson was not very happy. He had broke another chain which almost certainly cost him a win. I believe it would be the last time out in '72. I got to see "Goliath 1" at Danny's home not long afterwards. It was THE talk in motorcycle drag racing. Danny had always built show quality machines but this one was just awesome. I could not wait to see it run. In addition to "Goliath 1" Danny also had a single engine Harley Fuel Bike and had plans to build a new super lightweght single with a gigantic engine a large rear slick the same as G-1 used. I was hoping he might need an extra rider but he did not offer me anything and I did not throw any hints. The next time I saw Danny was at Bowling Green in June '73. I spent some time with him in the pits and he asked for the first time when I was going to get back into Fuel Bike racing. I told him I didn't have the money. That was that.

Johnson finished the new single and took both singles to England just a few weeks after Bowling Green. After returning from his tour of England the NHRA U.S. Nationals was only weeks away. One week before Indy I got a call at the Mercedes dealership I worked at. It was unusual to get a call at work. I went to answer the call hoping there was no emergency. It was Danny. That was even more puzzling. He had never called me at work. He got right to the point. "I would like for you to ride "Goliath" at Indy for me" he said. My heart started pounding. I told him I didn't know if I could ride a double. His reply "I have a fortune in that bike and would not let you ride it if I thought you will crash it. Trust me, you can ride it". It was one of the most anxious times in my life. My heart was still pounding and butterflies started flying around in my stomach.

I finally composed myself enough to say YES. I will have to take some time off work but that shouldn't be a problem.

Next: Tragedy!!!
 

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#172 ·
Looking forward to reading the next instalment of the Danny Johnson story Frank.
Meantime I thought I would contribute a static burnout pic of Marion in England in 1979 - doing his best to push over one of the supports of the control tower with his awesome Harley power.

View attachment 51133
Keith,

Here are a couple more of Marion Owens and family.
 

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#174 · (Edited)
Here is a story about Marion I love to share with other MO fans. By the way, he is one of the nicest racers I have known. His entire racing career was a family thing for the Owens. It has been tough on Marion losing his wife Kathy earlier this year.

We were at the NHRA NATIONAL HOT ROD REUNION in Bowling Green in 2005, the year before NHRA honored Fuel Bike Racers. Owens had won Top Fuel there in 1975 on his twin engine Harley at the AMDRA Motorcycle Nationals. There were about 10 "Old Timer" Fuel Bike racers there including Marion, Sonny Routt, John Dixon, Larry Welch, Virgil Naff, TC Christenson to name a few. I was sitting next to Marion at a table for Fuel Bike racers. Standing next to us was Don Garlits talking to "Broadway Bob" Metzler, the legendary owner of the Union Grove Wisconsin drag strip. Marion had been booked in by Bob many times back in the day. Marion punched Bob to get his attention and when Bob realized who it was his conversation with Garlits ended. We made room for Metzler to sit and the conversation between the two was heart warming. The mutual respect between the two was evident. Owens has always been a BIG guy but had gained many more pounds since Bob had last seen him. "Are you still racing" he asks Marion. "No, but I am thinking about building a new bike" Marion said. The whitty Metzler took another look at Owens and said "You better put three engines in that one".
 
#1,772 ·
Here is a story I told about "Broadway Bob" Metzler and Marion Owens some time back that I am re-posting in memory of Bob, one of drag racing's greatest promoters.

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Here is a story about Marion I love to share with other MO fans. By the way, he is one of the nicest racers I have known. His entire racing career was a family thing for the Owens. It has been tough on Marion losing his wife Kathy earlier this year.

We were at the NHRA NATIONAL HOT ROD REUNION in Bowling Green in 2005, the year before NHRA honored Fuel Bike Racers. Owens had won Top Fuel there in 1975 on his twin engine Harley at the AMDRA Motorcycle Nationals. There were about 10 "Old Timer" Fuel Bike racers there including Marion, Sonny Routt, John Dixon, Larry Welch, Virgil Naff, TC Christenson to name a few. I was sitting next to Marion at a table for Fuel Bike racers. Standing next to us was Don Garlits talking to "Broadway Bob" Metzler, the legendary owner of the Union Grove Wisconsin drag strip. Marion had been booked in by Bob many times back in the day. Marion punched Bob to get his attention and when Bob realized who it was his conversation with Garlits ended. We made room for Metzler to sit and the conversation between the two was heart warming. The mutual respect between the two was evident. Owens has always been a BIG guy but had gained many more pounds since Bob had last seen him. "Are you still racing" he asks Marion. "No, but I am thinking about building a new bike" Marion said. The whitty Metzler took another look at Owens and said "You better put three engines in that one".
 
#175 ·
Nearly spat my coffee out when I read that!
You build them big in America, and it was fascinating to watch Marion competing. He was the giant, and his brute force kept the monster Harley under control - but the sight of little Kathy wielding a pair of spanners making sure everything was good and tight coming up to the line is an abiding memory for me.
 
#179 · (Edited)
Yes Keith, Marion was big enough to man handle that monster double. I was not at this race but the story is legendary. MO could always get down the track no matter how out of shape he got. But at this race his bike pitched him off at the clocks. Panic set in as everyone was worried about his condition. When the lifesaving crew got to him he had got up and walked over to the wreckage and was actually kicking it as he was having a conversation with it. I believe it was his last spill.

By the way, did you know that Marion and Big Carl were brothers-in-law? Kathy was Carl's "little" sister. It's a small world, huh?
 
#182 ·
Danny Johnson And "Goliath 1" THE END

The success of "Goliath 1" has been posted here before. I am posting a rare picture of it here. This was taken at Ontario Motor Speedway just weeks after it's debut at Atco in the fall of '72. If you click on the picture twice it will blow the picture up to where you can see the incredible workmanship. As you can see, Johnson was not very happy. He had broke another chain which almost certainly cost him a win. I believe it would be the last time out in '72. I got to see "Goliath 1" at Danny's home not long afterwards. It was THE talk in motorcycle drag racing. Danny had always built show quality machines but this one was just awesome. I could not wait to see it run. In addition to "Goliath 1" Danny also had a single engine Harley Fuel Bike and had plans to build a new super lightweght single with a gigantic engine a large rear slick the same as G-1 used. I was hoping he might need an extra rider but he did not offer me anything and I did not throw any hints. The next time I saw Danny was at Bowling Green in June '73. I spent some time with him in the pits and he asked for the first time when I was going to get back into Fuel Bike racing. I told him I didn't have the money. That was that.

Johnson finished the new single and took both singles to England just a few weeks after Bowling Green. After returning from his tour of England the NHRA U.S. Nationals was only weeks away. One week before Indy I got a call at the Mercedes dealership I worked at. It was unusual to get a call at work. I went to answer the call hoping there was no emergency. It was Danny. That was even more puzzling. He had never called me at work. He got right to the point. "I would like for you to ride "Goliath" at Indy for me" he said. My heart started pounding. I told him I didn't know if I could ride a double. His reply "I have a fortune in that bike and would not let you ride it if I thought you will crash it. Trust me, you can ride it". It was one of the most anxious times in my life. My heart was still pounding and butterflies started flying around in my stomach.

I finally composed myself enough to say YES. I will have to take some time off work but that shouldn't be a problem.

Next: Tragedy

THE "GOLIATH 1" TRAGEDY

I had enthusiastically accepted Danny Johnson's invitation to ride "Goliath" at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in 1973. I was already making passes on it in my mind and it was frightening. I would have to get approval from my boss at the Mercedes dealership I worked at to take off an extra 3 days in addition to the Labor Day Holiday. No problem I thought. I WAS WRONG! He told me it wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't asked off 1 week in advance. There were several other mechanics who were taking extra days and had scheduled it months in advance. The dealership had work scheduled for me on the days I wanted off. I was devastated. The only choice I had was to quit and that was not an option with the financial obligations I had. It was very,very hard to turn Danny down again. He told me he wanted to do some testing with the new "Big Tire/Big Engine" single he had just finished and since I was taller than him I could ride the double. He couldn't ride both. He was disappointed and it was the last time he asked me to ride for him. It upset me so much that I turned in a two week notice to my boss the next day. I had been considering going in business for myself and this was the anger I needed to make a commitment. I considered quiting on the spot and heading for Indy but didn't want to burn any bridges in case things didn't work out for me.

Danny went to Indy with "Goliath" and did not, I believe. take the single. The pictures below are the incredible work of legendary motorsports photojournalist Steve Reyes. He has a knack for being at the right place at the right time and shooting unbelievable pictures. This was one of his finest moments. We talked about this at zMAX Dragway earlier this year. He is still shooting NHRA Nationals. In the first frame you can see the front wheel detached from the rest of the machine as Johnson is looking at where he is headed as the bike is going down. In the next frames he appears to be trying to push away from the wall which he did manage to do but "Goliath" was destroyed as it hit the wall and careened over it. You can see the fuel tank separated and spewing nitro.

Johnson was not hurt very badly and immediately started on "Goliath II" I have wondered for the last 37 years if I would have had the "coolness" he had and come out of it as good as him.
 

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