| Author | Message | ||
     Spatten1 |
I know the arguments...a stock xyzgr 600 can outrun a blah blah blah....it ain't apples to apples....My old ragged 10" tire KZ POS can outrun most "harleys" with one nitrous solenoid disconnected....but where is the sport in that??? It's like the 200 pound heavyweight champion wooping the pencil neck geek. I enjoyed that. | ||
| Fast1075 |
<bowing>....thank you, thank very much...  | ||
| Glitch |
There's bikes and there's riders. Davisms are the way the truth and the ride | ||
| Danger_dave |
Advice is worth what you pay for it. :-) | ||
| Pammy |
"Harley drags are the Special Olympics of motorcycle racing." And yet I would bet that you would have to burn your skivvies after a mild pass on Chuck's Pro Dragster... | ||
| Danger_dave |
I ride ANYTHING - that doesn't have a high possibility of exploding. You can keep the drag bikes. (Message edited by danger_dave on April 04, 2009) | ||
| Dragonslayer |
Yes I know busas are fast in the straights. I used to own one. My point was that they can not go as fast in tight corners like a Buell can. Still, fact is my bike that they claim is slow has passed them many times. Hey Spatten1, I already have ridden with equal riders on 600 and 1000 IL4 bikes. No, I didn't leave 'em behind, but they sure as hell didn't leave me behind either. | ||
| Cycleaddict |
there is an "AHDRA" ,but i'm not aware of a comparable JAP drag racing assoc. so... AHDRA must be "the special olympics of M/C drag racing ".(or the H.D.s would come out & play with everyone) | ||
| Pammy |
Did anyone here watch the Gatornationals? The last 3 passes(motorcycles), out of ALL the contingents, came down to a Harley , a Suzuki and a Buell. Suzuki spanked Harley in the finals but were mightily smote by the righteous Buell of Hectar Arana. Harleys' do run in NHRA. Sometimes they win. | ||
| Tom_b |
Slow, like beauty. Is in the eye of the beholder. I had a yamaha 400 twin that should have been slow. But it was a very fun, nimble little bike to ride.with a sprocket change it would go all day on the hiway at 75 with no strain. The only bike i've owned that was funner(out of 30) was my buell. MOST, not all, harley riders don't really want go fast, they want cruise. Like i tell crotch rocket riders. If i wanted a zx, gsx or fz, i'd own one. Just sold a super low mile fj1200. It would break 160 with me on it. but no character. | ||
| Blake |
"And yet I would bet that you would have to burn your skivvies after a mild pass on Chuck's Pro Dragster..." You speak truth. Scott, Please enlighten yourself amigo. AHDRA's dragsters are the most brutallly fast drag bikes on the planet. Period. AHDRA 1/4 mile Record Kinda of ironic, top speed record was set in Japan. Cool.  (Message edited by Blake on April 04, 2009) | ||
| Tom_b |
Blake!  | ||
| Cycleaddict |
chuck's pro- dragster & the rest of the other superfast drag bikes did not start off as factory made M/C s.(they are basically mach. shop built with nothing but a sticker in common with the bikes they portray ) as far as factory-made M/C s , H.D. cannot "hang" with "Busa's, zx-14's, etc. so they started their own "club"(AHDRA) . | ||
| Old_man |
Harleys are not slow. It's just that they're not as fast as some others. | ||
| Pammy |
Semantics, my friend. Doug Vancil's ride is Harley all the way. It may not be one you can buy in any showroom, but it is Harley's just the same. They paid for R&D, materials, testing, riding...everything associated with that machine. They own it, it is theirs. Cycle Rama and Team Elves modified a Buell, a few years ago, that kick a few Hayabusas' ass. So you see it just depends on the venue, as far as I can see. Speed is relative...so who's your Daddy? Ha Ha I don't think there is any motorcycle brand that turns me off...They all have their shining moments. I love 'em all! | ||
| Pammy |
The "Harley machines" that Blake mentioned run in NHRA with Steve Johnson, Ryan Schnitz, Angie McBride, etc... | ||
| Tom_b |
"I don't think there is any motorcycle brand that turns me off...They all have their shining moments.I love em all". so true as any real enthusiast would agree. | ||
| Fast1075 |
See my posts in the "racing" section, NHRA ....I was so pleased to see Hector win Gainesville on the S&S powered Buell!!! One of the most memorable days I ever spent at the track was once when I spent the afternoon shooting the breeze with Jim Mc Clure and his wife at Bradenton...I knew NOTHING about Harleys at that point...and was AMAZED at the technical innovation...God bless Jim..he has passed on...for those that have never witnessed a Professional team run a Top Fuel Harley...it is a powerful and visceral experience..Pammy mentioned Doug Vancil...yeah there are faster bikes...Larry McBride comes to mind as well as the late, great Elmer Trett with their inline supercharged bikes...but the SOUND of a NITRO Harley can't be beat or duplicated... And I agree completely that a true enthusiast should appreciate all of them (that deserve praise..SOME of them are a POS no matter what)...bikes are like golf clubs or fishing reels or guns  ...no ONE of them works for all your needs... I built my first dragbike in 1972 on a $300.00 budget that included the cost of the bike...that experience taught me a lot..it fouled plugs and stunk of alcohol and castor oil, but it turned out to be one of the fastest of it's kind...but it was DOG SLOW compared to a lot of bikes...but it was fast enough to lay waste to my direct competition... The bottom line is ride what you like...if it does not turn on that magic switch inside you, get something else or tweak it up till it does...If I had an unlimited budget, I would have a vast collection that includes nearly every kind of bike...but alas, I'm not Jay Leno...so I choose one or two and have fun with those. So when you feel the competetive spirit calling...like the fish...figure out what pond you want to swim in...and don't take a wooden club to a gunfight. | ||
| Jammin_joules |
Scottie Parker was the most prolific accomplished of the Michigan Mafia. On this bike, shown here as it crossed the finish line at Del Mar, he captured his unprecedented 9th national No. 1 plate, 5 in a row, and eventually had 94 national race wins, another record. Slow - I don't think so. Just because the Japanese machine lobbied racing associations to get classes of special built bikes that are barely streetable to compete for titles does not mean they are fun to ride and enjoyed by the average rider who can identify with those he watches race on closed road courses.  | ||
| Moxnix |
I've only asked for two autographs in my life: Erik Buell's and Scotty Parker's. Capable and committed pair, them, each in their own right. Speed is relative to the wishful thinking, delusions, or reality at hand. Me buying a superbike won't make me fastest rider through the pike. Quality is relative to the reality at hand. Folk still buy Harleys for the quality of the experience, and have for over a century. We are a nation of hot rodders. Should one want a faster Harley, it's a matter of application after the fact of one's purchase. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
they are slow.... maybe you should try and stay out of the way, you never know when I will catch up  | ||
| Xl1200r |
Harleys are not slow. It's just that they're not as fast as some others. Beautifully stated. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Of all the kinds of bikes I have ridden...or tried to ride...it takes the biggest stones to ride a flat track bike...sideways at a buck-20...on purpose..in traffic..nearly killed myself on one.. Knee draggers say anybody can ride a dragbike...motocrossers point out that they can out turn anybody and fly too...Bonneville guys say that everybody else is slow...hill climbers say everybody else is a woose...dragbike guys say if it is that easy...YOU go do a 1.00 60ft and keep it in the groove with the front tire hanging at 1000ft...desert racers say everybody else is a woose...trials riders say that everybody else is a uncoodinated klutz...and ice racers laugh at mere mortals.. Are "Harleys" slow...my mighty Blast is...with all of it's blazing 34 hp...I think I chirped the tire one day...and actually pulled the front wheel in the air...WOW....!!!...I gots yer SLOW right here Lets ride... | ||
| Gohot |
Just an observation.....harleys want to be fast... will that do? Um... most of you who bought Milwaukee's bikes knew they were heavy and underpowered, but some thought if they emptied their savings on these bikes that they could get something to beat the Japanese bikes or even European bikes. Yea they'll mabe beat or keep up with one. And what did it cost? and whats it worth? It's an exercise in futility in the end. You like V twins, simple as that. Whats wrong with that...nothing, it's great. But most 600's are making 120 hp minimum and weigh a real 430-ish pounds, and cost $9,000. So if you want to prove everybody wrong, it's going to cost...big. Simple as that, meanwhile that stock FZ1 just flew by. So you spend 10 K to show up the FZ...... it's all pointless, this conversation, spending the money, being the baddest etc. kind of like WWF intertainment. Why not quit bragging, pissing and bashing and just go ride......... | ||
| Gunut75 |
...and ice racers laugh at mere mortals.. ........and for my next trick, I'm going to light myself on fire........  | ||
| Oddball |
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| Drdorsey |
pushrods | ||
| Guy_glover |
SLOW? Nah, just good raw material. I have a 42 year old Iron Head Sportster sitting here that has been running 8.80 quarter miles at 155MPH since 1988. Normally asperated,no nitrous. Been running the same motor in it since the day it was turned into a Drag Bike in 1976.Back then there was no AHDRA, had to run against 1000 cc Jap bikes[Not stock]but still won more than my fair share of races. | ||
| Dennis_c |
 fast HD? | ||
| Strato9r |
+1, Guy, they are good raw material. I wish that I still had my Ironhead; it was a great bike for a young guy to hotrod, and every mod netted a real increase in horsepower. By the time I was done with it, the intake ports were re-shaped, it had a pair of Mikunis, Andrews cams, TRW forged pistons, and was the most evil sounding street bike I'd ever heard. It still didn't handle all that well, but in a straight line, it was a monster. There weren't too many big twin riders willing to call that thing a "Girl's Bike"! |
