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If you truly love high performance
motorcycles, then consider yourself fortunate. Fortunate because
we have the privilege of witnessing the golden age of the big-bore superbike first hand. Posterity will surely view the last 15
or so years as the greatest era of growth in the history of
two-wheeled performance, and we will be able to brag to our
grandkids that we were a part of it.
I still remember the
first time I saw, in person, a 1986 GSXR 1100. It was so much
lighter, nimbler, and more powerful than anything before it.
Surely it would be the benchmark that motorcycles would forever
be compared. Then came the next year.
And so it went, year
after year, the ante was upped, first by one manufacturer, then
another. By 1989, that same 86 GSXR 1100 was already looking
like an antique. And the superbike wars were just getting going.
It seems like, with the appearance of every new model year,
some performance bar was being raised. Lighter, faster, bigger,
quicker, no level of performance was ever good enough, or ever
safe from being bested. Who could have imagined, back in 1986,
just how awesome the machines rolling off of the showroom floors
these days would be. I mean, you can go down to any dealership
and buy a big-bore bike that is faster and more powerful than
anyone, in their right mind that is, could ever need.
But being the speed
junkies we are, more than we can use is never enough. So, almost
before the latest models roll into dealerships, the aftermarket
already has performance parts being shipped to upgrade them.
First it starts with exhaust systems, jets kits, and EFI upgrade
modules. Soon, pistons and cams follow. And the small motorcycle
shops specializing in high performance can't wait to get one,
just so they can take apart a brand new motorcycle and see how
to make it even faster. Then the bragging and posturing begin,
followed by the inevitable drag race, just to prove whose bike
is the baddest.
But what has always
baffled me is the lack of organized drag racing for these production-based
big-bore bikes. Sure, there is plenty of grudge and street racing,
but no major drag racing organization has ever fielded a class
to take advantage of the incredible boom of the superbike. Road
racing has long had its versions of production-based racing,
designed to showcase fully prepped racing machines based on
bikes originally produced for the street. Formula Xtreme, AMA
Superbike, and World Superbike have all been very successful,
with heavy support from the manufacturers. It always seemed
to me that we, as drag racers, were really missing the boat
somehow. And I say this because the same bikes that were dominating
the dragstrips in 1986, are still dominating the dragstrips
today. Unless this changes, we can expect little growth in the
factory support being given to the sport of motorcycle drag
racing.
Lets face it, the
GS and KZ platforms make for great drag bikes, but one of these
bikes winning on Sunday does very little to help sell ZX12s
and Hayabusas on Monday. Something needed to be done to stimulate
the growth and development of late-model powerplants, and, in
the process stimulate the interest of the manufacturers. That
is why Keith "Scooter" Kizer, president of AMA/Prostar,
first envisioned the Superbike class. He realized years ago
that the only way to get the manufacturers truly interested
in drag racing is to get drag racers to utilize the newest equipment
coming out of Japan.
At first, the highly
successful formula used by road racing sanctioning bodies was
modified to apply to drag racing. But 750s proved to not be
particularly suited to the task of drag racing, so, despite
many attempts to rework the rules, the entire platform was dropped.
In its place came a completely new class, drawn from a clean
sheet of paper. What was needed was a class with its own identity,
and to also be within reach of the average racer. So the long
process of writing a new rulebook began, keeping in mind the
important areas that the class needed to address. The class
needed to be geared towards late-model production bikes, be
financially viable to the average racer, and allow for the racer
of average to above average size and riding skills to be competitive.
What resulted was
the new class known as Formula Superbike. With production chassis,
bolt-on swingarms, no parts-eating turbos or nitrous oxide,
and many cost-limiting rules, it seemed to be the perfect solution.
Not only did it create a great venue for manufacturers to support
and promote their latest machines, but it also filled the void
left open by the demise of Top Eliminator. You see, Top Eliminator
was intended to provide an affordable head-up class of motorcycle
drag racing, where the median racer could go beyond sportsman
racing, without having to jump all the way into Pro Stock Or
Pro Mod. He or she could learn the art of out-the-back-door
racing, and hopefully use it as a stepping-stone to bigger things,
without having to mortgage the farm to do it. But Top Eliminator
was seriously flawed from the beginning. No rules to limit costs
resulted in the class being so expensive to even get started,
that most racers just stayed away. Plus with Pro Mod-like power
being fed to a seven inch tire, they became a handful to ride.
These hard learned lessons were fresh in the minds of the rules
committee, and played a large part in the design of many rules
in Formula Superbike.
But something happened
in Formula Superbike's first season. The class struggled to
grow, and no one could understand why. Ongoing discussions took
place throughout the year, with many ideas and opinions expressed.
Prostar officials, Superbike racers, team owners, factory representatives,
and members of the media all strained to explain it. And yet
the question still lingers:
Why is Formula Superbike
the best class in all of motorcycle drag racing that no one
seems to know anything about?
Is it because potential
racers don't understand the rules? Is it because they don't
believe that enough components exist in the aftermarket to build
a late-model bike? Or do they just not believe that anything
built later than 1985 can be turned into a dependable, fast
race bike? Or maybe it is a combination of all of them. And,
more importantly, what can be done to bring the class into the
limelight, because the future of motorcycle drag racing, and
any hopes of growing factory support, are absolutely dependant
on the success of just such a class.
And that is how the
latest Dragbike.com project bike came to be. It was agreed by
just about everyone involved that this would be the best way
to bring the class into view. By covering the buildup from start
to finish, it will allow us to demonstrate, in detail, how a
race bike is built. And it will allow us to explain the Formula
Superbike rules and, in many cases, explain the reasoning behind
the rules. It also gives a great opportunity to many manufacturers
to showcase their products in a real-world setting. Not only
will the products be showcased, but they will also be installed
and used in actual professional competition. Our sport has no
"Car Craft" or "Hot Rod" type of magazine
to show the many elements that go into constructing a serious
race bike. So this may well be the first time ever that such
an in-depth coverage of bike construction has ever been shown.
CHOOSING THE BIKE
 Once
it was decided that the project would go forth, the next question
to be answered was what bike to use as a platform. There were
varied opinions about this subject because, while the class
is intended to get the most current models on the racetrack,
it is also open to most any bike built from 1986 and later.
Some felt, as the rules were being written, that the class should
be exclusive to only the latest models to hit the streets. But
doing so risked losing a large portion of the classes potential
entrants. There are already in existence so many race bikes
based on slightly older chassis and power plants, it seemed foolish
to disallow these bike from competing. Allowing any bike utilizing
a late-model power plant to enter seemed the only smart solution.
If class interest warrants it in the future, the rules can be
modified over time to limit the class to only the newest machines.
So what would be most
representative of the class? Would a brand-new, fuel-injected
beast be what most racers chose to use, or would the more affordable
older bike be the weapon of choice? High-tech vs. old-school,
what should we do? So then someone suggested to perfect answer:
Why not do both? We have so many aftermarket manufacturers looking
to get involved, we can't give them all an opportunity on just
one buildup anyway.
And so it was decided,
we would do one of each. Finding the shops to sponsor the buildups
was the easy part, with both new bikes being constructed by
experienced Formula Superbike competitors. Cycle Concepts in
Lancaster, SC will be hosting the buildup for the first bike,
and will be based on a Suzuki GSXR platform. Following the completion
of the first bike, Del's Performance Cycles in Paterson, NJ
will host a buildup based on a Suzuki Hayabusa. Two very different
approaches will be taken in the construction of the bikes, so
it will be interesting to see what the end results will be.
While the second bike
to be built has been known virtually from the beginning, the
GSXR-based buildup wasn't so clear. Originally, it was planned
to use an oil-cooled (1986-1992) model GSXR, mainly because
of the vast availability of aftermarket parts for these bikes.
But we had a problem: We didn't decide to do this buildup until
the middle of January, leaving us only 6 weeks to construct
a completely new race bike. After several days of searching,
and several near-misses looking for the perfect used bike to
start with, someone in the shop had an idea. Sitting right there,
in the middle of the display room at Cycle Concepts, was the
perfect bike. A clean, low-mileage 1997 GSXR 1100 WC was just
begging to be hacked. Plus, because Cycle Concepts is specializes
in the building of water-cooled GSXR's, and we already had many
parts available to us from our previous water-cooled Superbike
efforts (more on this later), it only made sense to use this
bike. While the new bike will ultimately be an entirely new
machine, if we absolutely must, (and probably will), we can
temporarily utilize some of the existing parts to make the first
race.
So, about 6 hours
after the decision was made, a perfectly good used street bike
was turned into a bare frame and a pile of parts. Let me tell
you, good air tools and a nice-sized hammer really make this
job both fun and easy. From the pictures you can see what we
started with, and where we are now. The photo showing the rolling
chassis is for mock-up purposes, with the swingarm off of the
old bike used for locating purposes. It will be necessary to
rake the frame, as can be seen in the photo, to clear the exhaust
system. Terry McIntosh, from McIntosh Fabrications in New Lebanon
OH, will be installing a new billet steering neck, with the
rake increased approximately 5 degrees over stock. Once this
is back, and the new swingarm is completed, the chassis assembly
will begin.
In the meantime, work
on the new engine and cylinder head has begun. We will be showing
you some details on this in the next installment of the buildup.
By the way, we will be posting a new installment approximately
once a week, until the project is completed. After that, a new
installment will be posted following each event of the AMA/Prostar
national event tour, to allow you to follow the progress of
the bike through the season. We have some really great manufacturers
already on board for this project, with several others still
in the works. So stay tuned, and see if we can complete the
entire new bike by Gainesville.
Installment
#2 of the Dragbike.com Formula Superbike
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