Drag Racing Buds

[Els]

Here's what we used to do on Friday nights in SW Florida. I haven't been down there now in 2 years since moving to NC but will be heading back June 1st.

The guys (and gal) shown in the video are really good folks. Best friend Gary S., Charlie H., Vikki H., Mike K., Ron, Gary T., Ben,...the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, the red 'Vette trike driven by Vikki (formerly my wife's trike) was in a bad wreck and Vikki almost died. She's fully recovered now and has another beautiful 'Vette trike with a leopard paint scheme.

Anyhow, sure miss these Friday nights although I now go to my local track in NC. Haven't raced the chopper yet but have raced my SSR with the blower and a GSX-R1000 Suzuki. Here's the link (courtesy of Fast Eddie finding it on YouTube), turn up the sound...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpBJQdsT41w


Els

[Redtro]

So....it looks like the Big Block beat Garry's Blown/nos Chopper? What's up with that? Can-O-Worms!!!!

[KISS]

Help me!I cannot see a thing!

http://www.youtube.com?watch?v=RpBJQdsT41w

[Redtro]

Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpBJQdsT41w

[KISS]

Thanks Redtro,now i got it.Nice wheelie there too!
Els:What rear tire you guys use in track?W my avon i cannot make wheelies w/o forklift truck!
Did i see Eagles bike doing 6,9?

[AR]

"icantslowdown (5 months ago)
so that's almost 12 seconds in the quarter mile, or 2 seconds slower than a 1000cc sportbike with an engine 1/5th the size?



Great vid!

[Redtro]

What? Why would anyone think that would translate to a 12 second quarter mile?

[Els]

Thanks Redtro,now i got it.Nice wheelie there too!
Els:What rear tire you guys use in track?W my avon i cannot make wheelies w/o forklift truck!
Did i see Eagles bike doing 6,9?

Ricky, thanks for correcting the address. My typing sometimes sucks. One keystroke and.... I did go and edit it in my original post.

Now to your comment and stirring the pot.....YES, Mike's bigblock did in fact beat Gary that night and pretty profoundly! That night, bigblocks ruled for sure! That bike as I recall is the one Eagle's riding now. It "MAY" have had a multi stage nitrous computer at that time. If Gary T. or Ron or Mike is looking in here, they can hopefully give that detail. That was a seriously snotty ride. Up to that point, none of us had seen below 6 seconds so Gary was really psyched with his 5.970....until Mike pissed on his Cheerios! Mike's time was just a huge accomplishment.

Gary's problem (as with many) has always been traction. As soon as you squirt the nitrous, tire goes up in smoke. He did occasionally put a slick on. I'm going to have to watch again to see if he did that night. Also keep in mind gearing becomes a factor then. Not sure based on which front sprocket Gary was using how much he had left at the end of the eigth. Mike woud have had plenty with that bigblock.

Kim, on my bigblock, I mostly used a Sumitomo 285 tire. Some of the guys are using street/strip tires, and occasionally someone puts on a drag slick. I believe most are using a Nitto street/strip. I've also found that many tracks differ in how sticky they are. We seemed to always do better at Immokalee after they Pro Street or dragster guys ran. The track officials become a little more generous with spraying the track when the big boys are there. Running in their track helped bunches.

Two bikes in particular were/are wheelie monsters. Doug Knudson's smallblock Boss with the 20 lb blue bottle on the rear fender would do monster wheelies. I've also seen Rons killer Boss pull a wheel. On this video, Ron ran a very low 6 second which is awesome.

Rob, I don't follow your statement about 12 seconds. If that was based on a 6 second 1/8th mile converting to a 12 second 1/4 mile, that's incorrect. I would suppose (and there's MANY variables here) that Mike or Gary running a high 5 second 1/8th would convert to a mid to high 9 second 1/4 but again, many issues here with respect to gearing mostly. I have run my GSX-R1000 at the track here and run consistent high 6's. That's only because I have to feather my launch or I'm wheelie bound. The mostly stock 'Busas are running about the same. Even the modified Jap bikes like 'Busas with air shifter, extended swingarm and similar run mostly mid 6's in the 1/8th. Most of the V8's on this video would have spanked the Jap guys pretty good.

Els

[KISS]

Thanks for the interresting info Els!

[AR]

[Rob, I don't follow your statement about 12 seconds. If that was based on a 6 second 1/8th mile converting to a 12 second 1/4 mile, that's incorrect. I would suppose (and there's MANY variables here) that Mike or Gary running a high 5 second 1/8th would convert to a mid to high 9 second 1/4 but again, many issues here with respect to gearing mostly. I have run my GSX-R1000 at the track here and run consistent high 6's. That's only because I have to feather my launch or I'm wheelie bound. The mostly stock 'Busas are running about the same. Even the modified Jap bikes like 'Busas with air shifter, extended swingarm and similar run mostly mid 6's in the 1/8th. Most of the V8's on this video would have spanked the Jap guys pretty good.

Els

You too soft Els...if you really believed I was saying it was equal to 12 seconds you should have stuck it right up for being a dumbass and had me censored from rebels. I was making fun at one of the comments left on the youtube feedback..check it out.

we gotta sort out this 10k language barrier

[Els]

Ahhhhh, "thank goodness" Ricky and I say! Had always thought you Aussies lived a sheltered and privledged life and thought perhaps you hadn't been educated on that nasty American past time...drag racing! Should have known that you knew better! Whew!!!!!!

Anyhow, glad you southern hemisphere guys know your ass from your elbow. There's MANY here who would have assumed the same as the guy making the remark on YouTube. I didn't see where he was from but it had to be anywhere other than North Carolina!

Then there's the V8 bike rider types who have never been into the secondaries or think that going 5 mph over the speed limit is racing. I won't go there tonight...but probably will one night after a few too many whitey's (White Russians).

Els

[AR]

Well I am a little sheltered in that although I've heard of them i believe I never had one that I know of. What is this 'white russian' mix that you speak of...also, I wonder if I drink 5.9 of them in the first 1/8th of an hour does that mean I can drink nearly 12 of them in 15 minutes?

[Els]

Rob,

WHITE RUSSIAN:

2 oz Vodka
1 oz coffee liquer (Kahlua)
light cream, half & half, or milk

Pour vodka and coffee liquer over ice in an old fashioned glass. Add the light cream (or milk) to taste. 5.9 in any short time span will equate to no more in any given time as you'll be passed out in all probability!

Very nice drink but hellish on me girlish waistline. Too many and the next jacket I win here may have to be the ol' 4X.

Els

[Redtro]

I talked to Mike yesterday and asked him about this video and, as for the tires they ran that day/night, this is what he said: "Gary had a M&H racemaster 15" rim 10" slick and I had an 18" rim 275 35 18 BF Goodrich DOT drag radial.

He also had something else to say: "I am bringing a monster to Myrtle Beach, tell all those boys to bring money and baby powder for their sore ass." STIRRING STIRRING STIRRING...IS IT SOUP YET?

[Els]

Ricky,

The problem with some of the tires is fit and application. I know when Gary put on the slick, he had to change the fender. His stock fender was contoured very close for a nice fit to the 240 tire and he ended up making a squared off, much larger fender that he'd change out when using the big tire. A bit of a pain in the butt.

I found riding the new chopper up here in these tight twisties with the 300 on my chopper takes a bit of getting used to. There's no doubt a 240 or 250 would be quicker, smoother, and not the amount of transition putting it toward it's side. I wouldn't change it out though because I like the look of the 300 so much. Not sure what the difference in contact patch would be between a 240 and a 300. Hopefully, my 300 will hook up a bit better.

Most BH's have significantly more fender clearance and are able to accommodate different tire sizes/configurations. That drag radial Mike refers to as well as the Nitto (very soft compound) seem pretty well suited to dual role applications.

I just emailed Mike. Don't want to miss seeing what "monster" is all about. Knowing Mike, it's snotty at the very least. I think this may kill David not having one of his 600 hp bikes there to challenge Mike. Not knowing the specifics of what Mike will bring, I can't say on a wholesale basis where my money would go but I've got to back Team Chopper considering what's in my garage.

Sure wish there were more of the V8 guys who were into the hotrod aspects rather than the "ewwws and ahhhhs."

Elliot

[Redtro]

Ricky,

The problem with some of the tires is fit and application. I know when Gary put on the slick, he had to change the fender. His stock fender was contoured very close for a nice fit to the 240 tire and he ended up making a squared off, much larger fender that he'd change out when using the big tire. A bit of a pain in the butt.

I found riding the new chopper up here in these tight twisties with the 300 on my chopper takes a bit of getting used to. There's no doubt a 240 or 250 would be quicker, smoother, and not the amount of transition putting it toward it's side. I wouldn't change it out though because I like the look of the 300 so much. Not sure what the difference in contact patch would be between a 240 and a 300. Hopefully, my 300 will hook up a bit better.

Most BH's have significantly more fender clearance and are able to accommodate different tire sizes/configurations. That drag radial Mike refers to as well as the Nitto (very soft compound) seem pretty well suited to dual role applications.

I just emailed Mike. Don't want to miss seeing what "monster" is all about. Knowing Mike, it's snotty at the very least. I think this may kill David not having one of his 600 hp bikes there to challenge Mike. Not knowing the specifics of what Mike will bring, I can't say on a wholesale basis where my money would go but I've got to back Team Chopper considering what's in my garage.

Sure wish there were more of the V8 guys who were into the hotrod aspects rather than the "ewwws and ahhhhs."

Elliot

I'm just having a little good natured fun. If you have enough money and time and don't mind sacrificing ridability, you can make anything fast. Personally, I think with the B.H. and especially the V8 Choppers, there is no reason you can't have the best of looks, speed and ridability. They are all a lot of fun and I can't get enough of the ewws and ahhhs.

[Els]

Ricky,

I talk all this stuff about hotrods, racing, hp, WOT, track, etc but I am also like the majority...way into the attention and ewwws and ahhhs. I get a bit tired of the dumb questions from time to time but definitely enjoy and take pride in the attention!

"Yes, it's a car motor and yes, it goes real fast", ha ha!

Els

[EAGLE]

ALCON,

I can't see youtube from here but I believe that I am familiar with the videos. That was the Beast that Mike was riding and he ran a 5.90 to win overall for the night. He was running a 37 tooth pulley on the front and a BF Goodrich street drag radial on the back. His biggest problem all night was traction also. The Beast has a rear wheel line lock so that you car run up on the converter and "leter go". I'm not sure where he had the NOS Power Shot tuned too but it is adjustable from 75 to 300hp. I don't think that he changed it before I picked it up, I haven't changed it and he told me that it is set up at 200hp now. He did get her to hook up enough to pull the front tire up though . The cool thing is that once the numbers are known, I don't have to prove a thing, just go out and stress my tire budget. . Mike told me that he actually had a more agressive cam in the Beast before this set up, but in his words it was "just uncontrollable". I guess if I ever get bored, I've got someplace to go

[zzz]

Hey Els, man those V8 choppers launch! Did you guys notice that. Man We used to spend our entire paychecks and then some to make that happen. While the Hoss kinda burns, the Choppers are gone! No smoke just hook up and gone! RRAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Old Drag racing Not So Casper:)

[Els]

Hey Els, man those V8 choppers launch! Did you guys notice that. Man We used to spend our entire paychecks and then some to make that happen. While the Hoss kinda burns, the Choppers are gone! No smoke just hook up and gone! RRAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Old Drag racing Not So Wild Casper:)

Mike, I wish I could attribute that to the bike. That's the driver, which in the case of the video you watched was friend Gary S. You'll notice if you listen with the sound turned up that he rolls into his launch rather than the knee jerk twist most instinctively given and the resulting toast a tire. You can also hear the nitrous shot at about the 60' mark. A lot of that video as mentioned previously had bikes using street/strip or drag radial type tires and the guys usually run pretty low pressure which greatly helps hook-up.

I know it's a lot of fun to toast a tire and the neophytes in the crowd do all the "ewwws & ahhhhs" but it sure doesn't take talent. Anyone with ANY V8 bike can make smoke...very few can manage the throttle controlling that torque and hp and converting it into serious straightline acceleration. To me, the real talent is being able to twist it to the maximum acceleration your bike can achieve WITHOUT spinning the tire. That's what wins races, not smoke. That's also what gives the guys on the Jap bike boards such confidence they can whip the V8's. We spin tires and make smoke - they're gone like an F-18 off a carrier deck.

At the track, I've seen the same bike do a 6.0 and a 7.0 (or worse) based solely on hook-up. Not too amazing when watching someone do a burnout that the bike isn't accelerating very hard. For the guys that want to drag race and be good at it, practise how NOT to make the smoke. Personally, I hate buying and changing tires. My personal efforts go toward winning the race...but smoking tires sure can be a crowd pleaser!

Els

[Butterfly]

Thanks Redtro,now i got it.Nice wheelie there too!
Els:What rear tire you guys use in track?W my avon i cannot make wheelies w/o forklift truck!
Did i see Eagles bike doing 6,9?

No Kiss, you seen Eagle's Bike doing the 5.90! Mike from Summit was racing it and making a local movie while Eagle and I were paying on the Beast! She is a good looking, fast moving beast when she wants to be. After we got the faulty "summit" in- house made (brand) pulleys off her and Bear's small town shop who had their "know how" called in to question did his "Know How" Magic she is better than ever!!!!!!!! She is doing so well that Eagle can now ride her daily instead of her sitting in the garage broke again.....is the same place!!!!!!


This is what kept breaking on the Bike.

[Els]

QUOTE FROM BUTTERFLY......"No Kiss, you seen Eagle's Bike doing the 5.90! Mike from Summit was racing it and making a local movie while Eagle and I were paying on the Beast! She is a good looking, fast moving beast when she wants to be. After we got the faulty "summit" in- house made (brand) pulleys off her and Bear's small town shop who had their "know how" called in to question did his "Know How" Magic she is better than ever!!!!!!!! She is doing so well that Eagle can now ride her daily instead of her sitting in the garage broke again.....is the same place!!!!!!"





Normally I wouldn't have anything to say here as I don't have a dog in this fight, however...it is my thread and Mike is my friend.

I think there's been a bit much with the heavy handed whining already. How long are we going to hear this "poor pitful me" shit?

I've known Mike Kelly for years and found him to be a really good dealer, great bike builder, and a plain ol' good guy...period. This ongoing trashing of Mike and Summit is a bunch of bull butter already. I don't need to know every nitty gritty little fact because in our V8 world, we either fix shit ourself or get it fixed. Stuff breaks, stuff is sometimes out of tolerance, parts can be bad, shit happens. Most would just take care of it and go on. I've been listening to the trash talk now since I came back to these boards which is quite a while.

With the shit slinging, perhaps I can set a record straight that was...well let's say exaggerated instead of just plain crap. That bike which is now given a female persona and called the "Beast", wasn't even for sale when Mike ran that night at the track. I'm part of that brotherhood of guys who were there and goes to Immokalee Raceway on Friday nights. You had not met or talked to Mike at that point in time.

I recently bought a brand new bike that numerous folks are aware ended up with a problem. Most of it due to the very high performance, high horsepower motor I chose as did you. My first day on it ended up with a broken part and stuck on the side of the road. I didn't bash the dealer/mfg, I didn't start with the name calling and trash talk all over these boards. I did what needed to be done to get it fixed...end of story. If I did have an issue with the mfg, I would have taken care of that privately instead of airing dirty laundry. That sucks.

You bought a bike that perhaps you shouldn't have bought if breaking it and fixing it become big issues. Quite frankly, that's a bike that has had plenty done to it and should probably be owned by someone who is not reliant on others to put wrenches on it. If you are going to have to take it somewhere to be tweaked or fixed, why not do it without all the noise? If it's about dollars and we can't afford the repairs, we should perhaps ride Hondas.

Even if there was a difference of opinion or a problem caused by distance or whatever happened, I don't think these boards and trying to bloody the nose of a dealer that has enjoyed a good reputation and is doing so much cool shit is the way to get things resolved.

Again, I don't feel bad about putting my 2 cents in here. You're the one who opened this can of worms and after having heard this stuff now for months and the jabs continuing, someone needed to say something. I've heard plenty of it via PM's and personal emails but no one had the stones to say anything to you. I do. Stick to the sqeaking the tire stuff instead of bashing in your posts and you'll make all parties including yourself better off.

Now, with this said and done, no hard feelings... maybe. I'm sure you too have friends you wouldn't care to see bashed and be willing to sit on the sidelines. I understand the disappointment associated with a new toy sidelined and frustrations of trying to get shit done long distance. These things cost a lot of money, there's a lot of pride in ownership, etc. Knowing this bike, I'm glad it ended up with folks who are passionate about it and will wring the snot out of it. Why don't we make this a starting point to make everything associated with your V8 experience positive and forget the dirty laundry? That way all the "shit" will be good shit.

Elliot

[okie]

I think I hear crickets

[Butterfly]

Removed

[okie]

I think I hear crickets