DreamRyder

On August 24th, 2008 Eunice Parrish became the first female Pro Street racer to run in the 7’s. At Byron Dragway during a 2Wheelspeed event she recorded a 7.99 @ 175 mph! No slick or sliders here, hand clutch and no 2 step. To date she has recorded over a dozen runs in the seven second zone so she is no fluke or flash in the pan. This woman is on a mission, one no other woman has accomplished yet – to be a Pro Street Champion. She’s not just another pretty face in leathers, this women knows how to get dirty and has put an incredible amount of her own time, money and effort into building to were she is now. Oh, and she’s not done, not even close.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas Eunice Parrish grew up a Military Brat. When she graduated from High School she chose to follow her Fathers steps and enlist in the Army as well. Today she is an Account Manager for Mobile Network Supply and lives in the Chicago area. She is also the mother to three daughters. Besides going 180 MPH on her turbo Busa, she is also into hunting, horseback riding and snowmobiles. Quite the rounded out life for sure!

Eunice has been riding motorcycles since she was 5 yrs old and just recently quit Road Racing to do Drag Racing. Up until the end of 2006 she played around with drag racing for fun on her completely stock CBR929 (other than a custom red white and blue patriotic paint scheme) foot shifting, getting 10.2's and 10.3's.

In October of 2006 Eunice purchased her first Hayabusa that was pretty much already set up for drag racing. It was lowered a little, stretched, had an air shifter, stock clutch and motor with a small dry shot of nitrous and a Power Commander map from RCC Turbo. The first day she was in low 10's... the second day she was in high 9's... Third day she was in mid 9's.. Fourth track day she was getting 9.2's ALL with NO spray. This closed out her 2006 Busa experience.

Over the winter with some helpful advice from Lonnie Angel - she made some of her own mods to change the bike from being set up for a 220lb rider to a 135lb rider. She changed out the rear sprocket, put on adjustable lowering links to lower the chassis a bit more, shortened up the wheelbase from 74' to 66' by putting on a shorter swingarm, had the forks cut to 1.5” of travel and put on an Ohlins Rear shock and HyperPro steering damper. Also, a Boost By Smiths Launch and Shift Light Indicator, Canadian Mike's Billet Slave cover, and new EBC brake pads. When the 2007 season was ready to start she also had new Ultra Soft Shinko Tires installed.

In the beginning of the 2007 season a tranny problem, causing the bike to pop in and out of 2-3 gear, kept her from bettering ET’s. Once this was fixed she started spraying with a small progressive shot and ran 8.8's all day, still with stock motor and stock clutch. Shortly after this she was told she needed to get a lock up put on to better her short times. With the help of Nemesio Beltran, they installed a single stage lock up and set it up to feather the clutch just a hair off the line to loose the bog. Nemesio had it set up so she could just dump it and go. After a few short test and tune days they got it dialed in and was getting 8.7's and 8.6's.

Before she moved to the Chicago area, she ended the 2007 season in Michigan at Ubly Dragstrip with 4 Wins in their Outlaw Street Drags Heads-up Class and 1 Runner Up finish. Eunice’s 2007 season in Illinois consisted of more test and tune events. She also entered a few Street ET Bracket events which was hard to do because they were still in the stages of setting up the new lockup and her times were all over the place. However at Great Lakes Dragaway in WI, she did manage to take several Runner Up finishes where she bracket raced against anything from cars to sleds. At the Osceola, IN event she took semi final finish against ALL Turbo Busa's in their Heads-up Grudge Match.

With the help of sponsorship from RCC Turbo her 2008 season plan was to go with their Ultra Turbo and change some other chassis setups to make it more along the lines of a true Pro Street drag bike and to see 7's. Richard @ RCC Turbo did all the motor work, tuning, wiring, and part of the chassis changes such as cutting the seat rails and installing a new Catalyst tank and tail section along with a custom RCC sub-frame. Nemesio and Eunice swapped out the front wheel for a 16”, installed the Machine Works Racing offset triple trees and clip-ons, a Scotts Steering Damper, a Canadian Mike Swingarm, along with the Tiger Racing Chain Guard and license plate holder. They also moved the battery to the front of the bike using the Gatlin Racing Battery Tray.

Eunice’s greatest thanks goes out to her crew chief, Nemesio Beltran, for all his help and support. Without him she would not be able to accomplish what she has. Also, she owes her thanks to Lonnie Angel for his assistance trackside from her first time at the drag strip on her CBR929  through her acquisition of his brother's Busa.

With her 2008 Season underway, they were chasing down some wheelie problems. One of which was the cause for a wipeout in May that left her with a broken finger. This kept her out of the season for 2 months waiting for it to heal after surgery. Not long after getting back into the game, Eunice Parrish became the First Female to run 7’s on a Pro Street Bike. To this date her career best was at US131 Martin, MI at the Bellman’s Bike Mania Event, where she clocked a 7.78 @ 181 mph.

Finally, Ms. Parrish would like to extend her gratitude for the support from her sponsors all of whom without, this build would not have been possible: RCC Turbo, Bellman Oil, Torco Race Fuel, SYED Leathers, Schnitz Racing, Boost by Smith, Canadian Mike, Cycle-Tek, Tiger Racing, and Machine Works Racing. You can check out the official Dream Ryder web site at: www.dreamryder.org

Story by Eunice Parrish and Dan McCarten
All pictures provided courtesy of DreamRyder.org.

HARDCORE DRAGBIKE SERIES