Topic: New Dragbike Builds

[dragracer]

As we close out the 2024 race season and begin to think forward to 2025, I was wondering if anyone is planning to build a bije to drag race next year. It seems Wilbur and I are now the inly active racers on the forum. I know there are a few others around the country but it appears once again that SOHC's are fading completely from the drag racing scene. I understand the reality of newer bikes being easier to modify  for the sport and much less hassle and in most cases, quicker.  Sadly, active examples of the legacy of the 750's terrorizing the strip will soon pass like the dinosaur age.  Russ Jr.s resurrection of Sr.'s bikes will be all thats left.

If anyone new is thinking of stepping up into the drag racing scene, let me hear from you. In the meantime, Wilbur and i will be doing off season maintenance in hopes of carrying the torch a while longer.

[Don R]

 I want to restore my old drag bike and make a pass or two where we race in Illinois but don't plan to actively campaign it. Our family dragster keeps my competitive urges under control as well as my spendable income.

[dusterdude]

Frank,im going to try and i mean try to get started on mine,but we'll see how it goes

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[dragracer]

Frank,im going to try and i mean try to get started on mine,but we'll see how it goes

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Mark, that sounds good.  We're not getting any younger so the time to come out to play is narrowing down for us. Fortunately my health, and limited budget still allows me to follow my passion in this sport. A lot of my racing friends are announcing the age that they intend to hang up their leathers. I refuse to do  the same. My mental and physical state will be my guide.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Teleport me and the bikes to the races.........

[dusterdude]

Frank,im going to try and i mean try to get started on mine,but we'll see how it goes

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Mark, that sounds good.  We're not getting any younger so the time to come out to play is narrowing down for us. Fortunately my health, and limited budget still allows me to follow my passion in this sport. A lot of my racing friends are announcing the age that they intend to hang up their leathers. I refuse to do  the same. My mental and physical state will be my guide.

I know what you mean bro

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[dragracer]

Teleport me and the bikes to the races.........

Ship your spare hipo parts to me and I'll build a bike here for you.  I'll even transport it to the races. You'll just need to fly in and ride.

[seanbarney41]

I would like to...hell, it's a lot more budget friendly than road racing, which is what I have always been more interested in.  I really don't have the income right now to build a dedicated bike or do overnight trips to race. Not much going on in my area either.  I live near U.S.131 and a few other eighth mile tracks.  And have been down them enough to realize that I really don't have much innate ability or talent for  (other than I feel like I am a decent mechanic) riding a drag bike.  If I do anything, it's just gonna be fun and maybe the chance of improving over myself.

[dragracer]

I would like to...hell, it's a lot more budget friendly than road racing, which is what I have always been more interested in.  I really don't have the income right now to build a dedicated bike or do overnight trips to race. Not much going on in my area either.  I live near U.S.131 and a few other eighth mile tracks.  And have been down them enough to realize that I really don't have much innate ability or talent for  (other than I feel like I am a decent mechanic) riding a drag bike.  If I do anything, it's just gonna be fun and maybe the chance of improving over myself.

I wouldn't be to awfully concerned about having a dedicated dragbike in the beginning.  Wilbur's first year's of racing with us was on a bonestock K8. No bells or whistles. Larry Romig jumped into the fire the same way. Those guys probably had way more fun than i did with my purpose built bike. It was enjoyable to me watching them competing.

It seems the track near you actual hosts a super eliminator class event once a year. If nithing else that'd be a perfect time to go hangout.  The next closest Manufacturers Cup event to you is  US60 in Kentucky. They added that track for 2025 so we'll probably come participate there also. Come on down,,bring the bike and jump right in with us. It'll be a great weekend of dragracing.  No question its cheaper than road racing and you might bring home a few $$.

[madmtnmotors]

I would like to...hell, it's a lot more budget friendly than road racing, which is what I have always been more interested in.  I really don't have the income right now to build a dedicated bike or do overnight trips to race. Not much going on in my area either.  I live near U.S.131 and a few other eighth mile tracks.  And have been down them enough to realize that I really don't have much innate ability or talent for  (other than I feel like I am a decent mechanic) riding a drag bike.  If I do anything, it's just gonna be fun and maybe the chance of improving over myself.

My investment is quite small, especially when compared to Frank or Bill (Benton). Ran bone stock K8 a couple seasons then stepped up to a cruzin image set of flat top 836 pistons. A 79' cb750 swingarm stretched the rear a little bit, and I splurged this past season with the addition of an air shifter. It's just a hobby for me, but the holeshot wins are quite gratifying. I pulled of back-to-back holeshot wins in round two and round three in Darlington this year. Travel is typically my biggest expense.

[dragracer]

I would like to...hell, it's a lot more budget friendly than road racing, which is what I have always been more interested in.  I really don't have the income right now to build a dedicated bike or do overnight trips to race. Not much going on in my area either.  I live near U.S.131 and a few other eighth mile tracks.  And have been down them enough to realize that I really don't have much innate ability or talent for  (other than I feel like I am a decent mechanic) riding a drag bike.  If I do anything, it's just gonna be fun and maybe the chance of improving over myself.

My investment is quite small, especially when compared to Frank or Bill (Benton). Ran bone stock K8 a couple seasons then stepped up to a cruzin image set of flat top 836 pistons. A 79' cb750 swingarm stretched the rear a little bit, and I splurged this past season with the addition of an air shifter. It's just a hobby for me, but the holeshot wins are quite gratifying. I pulled of back-to-back holeshot wins in round two and round three in Darlington this year. Travel is typically my biggest expense.

There you have it directly from the "horses mouth'. Well, please don't take that phrase the wrong way. Wilbur is a healthy guy but not as big as a horse😀. He is the true picture of a Budget racer /weekend warrior. Anyone with a bike thats willing to dedicate a little time and not a lot of $$$ can duplicate Wilbur's race  program. No fancy tow rigs or high dollar trailers will help a racer turn on a win light. Consistency is the key no matter what buke you race. While my investment is a notch above Wilbur's,  Bill's racing investment is way over my pay grade.  The point is you don't need mega dollars to get respectable results. Take a chance on yourself and come out to a few events. Put your bike in competition even if you feel a bit intimidated. The first pass down the track will erase any hesitation you may have had and you'll fund yourself looking for more to fuel the adrenaline. Its never to late to reward yourself in a few pleasure in life.

[seanbarney41]

Yeah, I have probably made between a dozen and twenty actual drag strip 1/4 mile passes mostly on sohc cb750's, a few on kz650 and kz1000...never really made any progress improving reaction time and 60' which is really frustrating.  So I can't really wrap my head around travelling,waiting around all day, getting eliminated in my first race...and missing out on a day/s spent riding.  That's my story anyway.  Probably be different if you guys were a couple states closer or if I had some friends that were interested.  For me, the ideal situation is the rare case of a poorly attended test and tune where I can just hot lap at will.

[dusterdude]

Nothin wrong with that

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[madmtnmotors]

I have considered focusing on racing strictly at the local track more than once. After two flat tires on the trailer getting to Darlington and back even made my start to question my sanity!

[dragracer]

I was just looking at a Cycle Exchange Facebook post and it seems Kenny has resumed work on his dragbike project again.  Hopefully he'll finish the bike and get it out on a local dragstrip for testing next year. That bike should go well into the 9s once sorted out.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Hope so

[underdog]

 I sure wish I could. The bike is done but my balance isn't there anymore. I just use it to collect dust in the garage.

[sohc boy]

i'm going to try my darndest  to get this up to ready to racing stage , trouble is i keep changing my mind all the time on things , an time gets away on you , not to mention a pile of other projects , an other people projects i can't say no to , 6hrs to nearest decent drag strip also

[johno]

Niiiice Peter, really Nice mate.
Your ol adversery Mr Prior sent me a text with a pic of your bike saying his Suzy GT was going to do the business against you but he can't ride it 
All I can say is you should be proud of it, looks bloody fantastic 🏁👍
If you get bored Pete you should give us a story on the engine at least.Thanks for posting.
Cheers Johno

[Medyo Bastos]

Agreed


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[sohc boy]

Niiiice Peter, really Nice mate.
Your ol adversery Mr Prior sent me a text with a pic of your bike saying his Suzy GT was going to do the business against you but he can't ride it 
All I can say is you should be proud of it, looks bloody fantastic 🏁👍
If you get bored Pete you should give us a story on the engine at least.Thanks for posting.
Cheers Johno

........ Thanks for kind words Johno, Mr Prior said he sent a pic ,i'm going to have to come up with some serious stuff to catch that Suzy Gt streeter knocking on the door of 9's , yikes ,notor in bike at moment is 1055cc , std crank ,1100 F rods ,K head ,Arias pistons , waggott stage 2 cam ,40mm Dellorto's ..... i originally had a stroker 900F crank an F2 head ,BT 319 , 11.0 comp, remote starter ,battery trolly n all the bussines, turned me off , no good at local track here either , few other thing not suitable so went back to this ........ second photo thought Russell Collins may like

[dragracer]

Very encouraging to see another dragbike with potential  of hitting the dragstrip. Thats a darn good looking package you've got there. I  hope to see more about this bike soon, in particular some "on track" performance numbers.

Maybe your foray back into the race scene will encourage other to follow suit. The SOHC Honda's have a proud history with straght line racing. While its doubtful there will ever be a resurgence, keeping these old bikes front and center in any active venue of racing is a good thing 😀.

[sohc boy]

Very encouraging to see another dragbike with potential  of hitting the dragstrip. Thats a darn good looking package you've got there. I  hope to see more about this bike soon, in particular some "on track" performance numbers.

Maybe your foray back into the race scene will encourage other to follow suit. The SOHC Honda's have a proud history with straght line racing. While its doubtful there will ever be a resurgence, keeping these old bikes front and center in any active venue of racing is a good thing 😀.

.... SOHC'ers  are few an far between on the strip down here now , we have a few Nostalgia meets here in Aus , an thats mainly what i intend to race at

[NitroHunter]

[/quote].... SOHC'ers  are few an far between on the strip down here now , we have a few Nostalgia meets here in Aus , an thats mainly what i intend to race at [/quote]

That's a great looking bike, it could have come right out of the pages of my favorite '70's High Performance Honda parts catalog... 
Definitely screams NOSTALGIA PRO STOCK

[sohc boy]

 Thanks Nitroburner ,..... thats what i based the rebuild of this bike on ,  the RC Pro Stocker , i have a 6x15 slick , i may still fit

[cbr954]

My only close local track closed 2 years ago and dont have money or time to travel for racing so the dragbike sits unfinished since I dont have the place to race.  Its hard to travel to the places a lot of you guys go because its a significant distance for me to travel from where I live to meet up with you guys.  Running 2 business and paying the bills doesnt leave much free time.  But I continue to collect parts to finish off the bike in hopes the track may open up again before I get to old and crippled to ride.

[dragracer]

My only close local track closed 2 years ago and dont have money or time to travel for racing so the dragbike sits unfinished since I dont have the place to race.  Its hard to travel to the places a lot of you guys go because its a significant distance for me to travel from where I live to meet up with you guys.  Running 2 business and paying the bills doesnt leave much free time.  But I continue to collect parts to finish off the bike in hopes the track may open up again before I get to old and crippled to ride.

I've noticed several members post concerns about the lack of dragstrips in close proximity to their homes. I'm fortunate to have several within a 2 hour drive that host bike events. Other than that, i have to drive at least 6 hours plus to major races. I just make a firm commitment that its a part of the game to build in traveling to enjoy the sport.  At this point in my life, I'm able to afford the expenses and for that I'm grateful.

I hope something changes for any of you that don't have tracks closeby. Time waits for no one so we've got to enjoy our passion while we capable.

[Don R]

 I've nominated Peter's bike (sohc boy) for bike of the month. I sent a PM that I hope he sees so he can accept.

[Don R]

  Does anyone run rear set pedals on a drag bike? I have a wonky set but wasn't sure if they are worth the effort on a street/strip bike. Totally unserious racer.

[dragracer]

  Does anyone run rear set pedals on a drag bike? I have a wonky set but wasn't sure if they are worth the effort on a street/strip bike. Totally unserious racer.

Both Bill and I have our pegs moved back, and down. We launch the bikes with our feet planted on the pegs for stability.

[Don R]

 Thank you for the info,
  I just got a set of used Tarozzi rearsets off of ebay, they are for a 750 F0 or F1 disc brake.
  I have complete F1 and F3 rear brakes and either a 17" Hondamatic rim on an F wire wheel hub or a 16" disc brake rear Henry Abe. They rarely come up for sale so I grabbed them even though I'd prefer the drum brake set.

[dragracer]

Note the rear pegs. I set  these to launch and stretch out to get lower on the bike. The front , stock position pegs are only there to get to the brake and shifter if needed. Otherwise I use the airshifter when racing.

[Don R]

  Thanks for the pics, they are worth a thousand words.
 My old CB750 guru had pegs on the swingarm forward of the axle, he had 400F handlebars and a fibermold gas tank and the seat that I have on the Rat Race.  He launched and then stretched out and shifted with his left hand. I have that bike and hope to ride it one day.
 The engine was an issue, I thought I had bought two 72mm stroker pistons for it, but they were both for even cylinders and I need an odd one. The cylinder was scored and it had two dropped sleeves.

 The Webers were gone, the tank was gone, I replaced both of those, A guy gave me the header a few years ago. It was in Tom's bike shop, and it was nit picked apart, also missing the rear pegs, small hardware, headlight and other things he could sell.