Motorcycle drag racing (also known as "sprints") involves two participants lining up at a dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) or 1⁄8 mile (0.20 km) long, two lane, straight paved track where their elapsed time and terminal speed are recorded. The rider to reach the finish line first is the winner. The best-known form of motorcycle drag racing is the Pro Stock Bike category, although several other categories exist, including Top Fuel and Pro Street.
Motorcycles in the Top Fuel category are fueled by nitro methane and can make nearly 1,500 horsepower. [1] : 116 From a standing start they can cover the first 60 feet in less than a second and can reach 200 mph in less than eighth-mile or 660 feet. [2] The current world record is held by Top Fuel Veteran Larry "Spiderman" McBride who covered the quarter-mile in 5.50 seconds at 264 MPH on 21 November 2019 recorded at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
Elmer Trett is considered by many to be the greatest motorcycle drag racer ever. Before his death in 1996 at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Trett recorded a 6.06. [3]
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
Supermoto is a form of motorcycle racing held on race tracks that alternate between three kinds of track surfaces: the hard packed dirt of flat track, the irregular jumps and obstacles of motocross, and the paved tarmac of road racing. Supermoto was originally conceived by Gavin Trippe in 1979 as a segment of the TV show Wide World of Sports. It was something like an all-star game, in which the best riders from the three separate genres of motorcycle racing could temporarily leave their normal race class to come together and compete for the title of best all around racer. Today supermoto is a distinct genre of its own and riders in the other classes do not routinely cross over into supermoto.
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R is a motorcycle in the Ninja sport bike series made by Kawasaki from 2000 through 2006. The 1,199 cc (73.2 cu in) inline-four engine produced 178 hp (133 kW) at low speed, and increased to 190 hp (140 kW) at high speed due to its ram-air intake, making it the most powerful production motorcycle up to 2006 and the release of the ZX-14. It was a contender to be the fastest production motorcycle, and played a role in bringing to a truce the escalating competition to build an ever-faster motorcycle. Its top speed was electronically limited to 186 mph (300 km/h), tying it with the Suzuki Hayabusa and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 as the fastest production motorcycle on the market, after the 303–312 km/h (188–194 mph) 1999 Hayabusa was replaced with a speed-limited version as part of a gentlemen's agreement between motorcycle manufacturers that lasted until the 298–311 km/h (185.4–193.24 mph) 2007 MV Agusta F4 R 312.
The Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa is a sports motorcycle made by Suzuki since 1999. It immediately won acclaim as the world's fastest production motorcycle, with a top speed of 303 to 312 km/h.
A sport bike, sports motorcycle, or sports bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfort, fuel economy, safety, noise reduction and storage in comparison with other motorcycles.
The Kawasaki Ninja 500R is a sport bike with a 498 cc (30.4 cu in) parallel-twin engine, part of the Ninja series of motorcycles manufactured by Kawasaki from 1987 to 2009, with a partial redesign in 1994. Although the motorcycle has a sporty appearance, it offers a more standard, upright riding position with greater comfort and versatility. It provides a combination of performance and low operating costs, which has made it a favorite as a first motorcycle with new riders and popular with experienced riders on a budget. 2009 was the last model year for the Ninja 500.
The Kawasaki triples were a range of 250 to 750 cc motorcycles made by Kawasaki from 1968 to 1980. The engines were air-cooled, three-cylinder, piston-controlled inlet port two-strokes with two exhaust pipes exiting on the right side of the bike, and one on the left. It was the first production street motorcycle with capacitor discharge ignition (CDI). Right from the first triple model, the 1968 Mach III H1 500 cc, it was a sales success that gained a reputation for almost unmatched acceleration as well as an air of danger for inexperienced riders trying to cope with the bike's increased power to weight ratio over any previously available stock motorcycles.
The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
Electric motorcycles and scooters are plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery that drives one or more electric motors. Electric scooters are distinguished from motorcycles by having a step-through frame, instead of being straddled. Electric bicycles are similar vehicles, distinguished by retaining the ability to be propelled by the rider pedaling in addition to battery propulsion.
Eddie Hill is an American retired drag racer who won numerous drag racing championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Father of Drag Racing." His other nicknames include "The Thrill", "Holeshot Hill", and "Fast Eddie". In 1960, he set the NHRA record for the largest improvement in the elapsed time (e.t.) when he drove the quarter mile in 8.84 seconds to break the previous 9.40-second record.
Maple Grove Raceway (MGR) is a quarter-mile dragstrip located near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, just outside Reading. It opened in 1962 as a 1/5-mile dragstrip. It was eventually lengthened to its current quarter-mile length in 1964. The track has been sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association for most of its existence. It has hosted an NHRA national event since 1985. Uni-Select Auto Plus came aboard as the Nationals sponsor in 2011. Other key events include the American Drag Racing League, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Geezers Reunion at The Grove, the Super Chevy Show, Mopar Action, Fun Ford Weekend and the NHRA Pennsylvania Dutch Classic.
The Dunstall Norton was a Norton motorcycle made by Paul Dunstall, a specialist tuner of the 1960s and early 1970s twins originally using some parts from Norton's Domiracer project when the Birmingham factory was closed in 1963. In 1966 Dunstall Motorcycles became a motorcycle manufacturer in its own right so that Dunstalls could compete in production races, and set a number of world records before sales of the Dunstall Nortons declined in the 1970s consistent with the demise of the British motor cycle industry and a corresponding rise in Japanese imports.
Sportbike motorcycle drag racing involves racing motorcycles, often imported from Japan. Many sportbikes such as the Suzuki Hayabusa, the Kawasaki ZX-14, or the BMW S1000RR can perform a 1/4-mile drag race in the 9-second range with little to no modifications. 1/8th-mile racing is also popular in some parts of the country.
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.
William Walter "Bill" Warner was an American motorcycle racer who set a land speed record on a conventional motorcycle in 2011. He was killed in a motorcycle racing crash in 2013.
Forced induction in motorcycles is the application of forced induction to a motorcycle engine. Special automotive engineering and human factors considerations exist for the application of forced induction with motorcycles, compared to other forms of motorized transportation.
"Ghost Rider" is the alias used by a Swedish motorcycle stunt rider, called "probably the most famous flaunter of road rules the world has ever seen", whose internet videos have achieved a "cult following" with millions of views.
The Dodge Tomahawk is a non-street legal vehicle introduced in 2003 by Dodge at the North American International Auto Show, initially as a one-off concept, and then later that year as a limited production vehicle when DaimlerChrysler announced they would sell hand-built reproductions on order. The Tomahawk attracted significant press and industry attention for its striking design, its outsize-displacement, 10-cylinder car engine, and its four close-coupled wheels, which give it a motorcycle-like appearance. Experts disagreed on whether it is a true motorcycle. The retro-Art Deco design's central visual element is the 500-horsepower (370 kW), 8.3-litre (510 cu in) V10 SRT10 engine from the Dodge Viper sports car. The Tomahawk's two front and two rear wheels are sprung independently, which would allow it to lean into corners and countersteer like a motorcycle.
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