Boss Hoss NHRA

[Grand Canard]

He must be out to beat Marv in the 1/4 mile!

Marv is a God, he's immortal and a legend; I'm a mere mortal and should never be compared with Marv, may the Gods strike down any man who says otherwise.
Rick

[misfit]

I'll never forget years ago in Sturgis when Monte came cruising up and down the main drag on old number one. That was it for me. I always wanted a Harley that could run with the jap bikes in the 1/4 mile but, knew that was a pipe dream. I thought a freaking V8 between your legs would certainly do the trick. My 95 kit bike was great, I loved it when I got it all put together but, I would be a liar if I said I wasn't disappointed at it's performance. The old single speed clutch was fun but had no top end. Then the 2 speed! still disappointing. Come on these are freaking V8 engine motorcycles! In my mind I should be able to to lay down easily a 9 second 1/4 and really thought that 1/4 mile in the 8's would be easy and still be able to cruise around and run down the interstate under 3 grand rpm's. I still love the Boss and have lots of plans for my 01 small block but wouldn't it be nice to see a Boss pull up to the lights and lay down an 8 second run!

[Ron Radulski]

He must be out to beat Marv in the 1/4 mile!

Marv is a God, he's immortal and a legend; I'm a mere mortal and should never be compared with Marv, may the Gods strike down any man who says otherwise.
Rick

Nice work on that photo Rick!

[Grand Canard]

I'll never forget years ago in Sturgis when Monte came cruising up and down the main drag on old number one. That was it for me. I always wanted a Harley that could run with the jap bikes in the 1/4 mile but, knew that was a pipe dream. I thought a freaking V8 between your legs would certainly do the trick. My 95 kit bike was great, I loved it when I got it all put together but, I would be a liar if I said I wasn't disappointed at it's performance. The old single speed clutch was fun but had no top end. Then the 2 speed! still disappointing. Come on these are freaking V8 engine motorcycles! In my mind I should be able to to lay down easily a 9 second 1/4 and really thought that 1/4 mile in the 8's would be easy and still be able to cruise around and run down the interstate under 3 grand rpm's. I still love the Boss and have lots of plans for my 01 small block but wouldn't it be nice to see a Boss pull up to the lights and lay down an 8 second run!

The main reason that a Boss Hoss (and V8 Choppers) aren't as fast in the 1/8 or 1/4 as you would expect is because you can't launch; launch as in instant acceleration, those of you that are into drag racing know what I'm talking about. The best you can do is wait for the light and then apply throttle which = a very slow start off the line.
If you had a clutch engaged and holding say 3000rpms and dumped the clutch on the green light, or similarly if you had a trans-brake in your transmission, I believe that you could remove a couple of seconds off of your time which probably would get you into the 8's.
A Vanquish bike has a powerglide tranny and a transbrake is readily available for that transmission and can be installed into a Vanquish; that set-up would be fast on the track! I wonder if Mike Kelly ever tried it??

Rick

[Oil Man]

That much ink on a Pro Stock car would command a significant sized check. Not a cheap class to operate within.

David

[Jack]

Watch the Muscle V8 video on YouTube... they ran in the 5s in the 1/8th - that is absolutely hauling ass.

[Ponch]

Rick
That is really a good post.
These are different machines and some people are offended by they however we ride them because we can.
It’s all about noise/sound and the smell of burnt rubber. Lol

[Grand Canard]

That much ink on a Pro Stock car would command a significant sized check. Not a cheap class to operate within.

David

If I remember correctly, Gray Racing wanted $50k per event; Boss Hoss would have to sell a lot of additional motorcycles to cover the bill.

[AdvenJack]

From post # 7 by Grand Canard this thread got serious!!! Talking price for new,
a car V8 powered motorcycle, REPEAT - A CAR V8 POWERED MOTORCYCLE being build
by a company in business to be profitable, and not by the skin of it's teeth profitable,
IS GONNA COST!!! How the hell can a company pay workers, get a heath insurance package
for it's workers, buy liability insurance for when some dumb fuck crashes, ( while
running at 120 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and wants to blame the bike manufacturer ) have
a building, run the heat for that building, and the A/C when it's time, have water for
the bathrooms and break room, have lights on, pay the endless FUCKIN' TAXES, blah,
blah, blah, and build a motorcycle that is SO UNUSUAL with it's special parts, for the
price of hyper-mass produced Honda and Yamaha??? IM-FUCKIN'-POSSIBLE !!!!!
Selling kits might be a way for the factory to be more profitable, that I'll agree to.
But for liability reasons it would likely mean setting up a separate corporation to sell those
parts from, again, because of the FUCKIN' LAWYERS and the EVER PRESENT THREAT OF
HUGE PRODUCT LIABILITY LAW SUITS !!!

[AdvenJack]

I LOVE THE FOLLOWING COMMENT BY RICK [Grand Canard] ON THE SPEED TOPIC TOO !!!
"The main reason that a Boss Hoss (and V8 Choppers) aren't as fast in the 1/8 or 1/4 as you would expect is because you can't launch; launch as in instant acceleration, those of you that are into drag racing know what I'm talking about. The best you can do is wait for the light and then apply throttle which = a very slow start off the line.
If you had a clutch engaged and holding say 3000rpms and dumped the clutch on the green light, or similarly if you had a trans-brake in your transmission, I believe that you could remove a couple of seconds off of your time which probably would get you into the 8's.
A Vanquish bike has a powerglide tranny and a transbrake is readily available for that transmission and can be installed into a Vanquish; that set-up would be fast on the track! I wonder if Mike Kelly ever tried it??"

[AdvenJack]

And I love that you guys are calling these Fuckin'
Trans-Girl-Guy Freaks what they are!!! I'm 58 years
old come January; these young bike riders aught to
go back to their DAMN SCHWINNS !!!

[Oil Man]

The going rate to rent a pro stock engine from one of the few teams that rent them is, get this, $3,000 per pass.

[Jack]

Mike Kelly ran a 5.90@128... years ago.
The best I could muster was a 7@110... on a '98 ZZ4 with no traction.

I don't know what his short time was, but it had to have been pretty damn good. I think we all know not enough BH riders care about getting down the track all that fast - or we would have a lot of FAST V8 bikes. Some tire and some suspension and work the kinks out, and we can move pretty good.
I won't stop with mine until I'm in the 6s... if my V8 bike can't be faster than my V8 car, I'm doing something wrong, and that will be with a clutch.

[Paul H]

V8 car has 2 tires to put the power down.
BH only one. Traction is what a BH just doesn't have
enough of.

Back when they still had chains, Jon T Oswell
did mid 9's at over 140 MPH BUT not on the same
pass. He'd gear it for ET or top speed. Just couldn't
do both on the same run. Mild 355 ci and a clutch.

Paul H

[Oil Man]

If you look at what it takes to get a pro stock bike down the track it is easy to see that weight and lack of gears is what hurts our bikes. Pro stock bikes are relatively low horsepower at around 360. The most significant advantage is the bikes are 605-625 pounds minimum weight depending on the brand. They have 6 gears to get it done. The twins will turn 10,500 rpms while the Suzuki’s will turn 14,500 rpms. These bikes need to slip the tire to keep from bogging the thing down. It really comes back to the ole horsepower to weight ratio. The best track will get them in the 6.70’s at 199.xx. They are just tickling 200 mph but have not got there yet. The bikes will run 0-100 mph in 2 seconds.

[SQ4MN]

Dave, do the Harleys have gears or just one speed?

[AdvenJack]

The best track will get them in the 6.70’s at 199.xx. They are just tickling 200 mph but have not got there yet. The bikes will run 0-100 mph in 2 seconds.

That is some F&@%!NG FAST riding!!!!!

[Carl La Fong]

Sounds like a Ranger equipped bike would be the ticket. 2:1 first, 1:1 in high. Ain't gonna bust anything in either gear. I just happen to know where one might be for sale, soon

[Oil Man]

Dave, do the Harleys have gears or just one speed?

They have gears for sure..and the amount of championships they win they choose the ratios pretty effectively

Matt Hines is a smart cookie

[SQ4MN]

How many gears do they have?

[Oil Man]

You would have to go to the track and count the shifts.