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Shootout
Brutes Battle Indoors
By Tim Hailey
Photos by Matt Polito
Dyno Run Audio (650k)
While Florida's water
table rose above their ankles, motorcycle performance aficionados
found refuge at the American Motorcycle Institute's Brute Horsepower
Shootout. Indoors on AMI's Superflow dyno, the Shootout's screaming/roaring
machines were music to the ears of attendees who suffered through
Florida's many rained-out races.
Trimmed down and hair-highlighted
Mark Moisan took unlimited honors on his American Turbo Systems
GSXR1100. Moisan, the 2000 Prostar Superbike champion, battled
back and forth with Chris Cutsinger, representing the West Coast's
Nxt Level Racing Systems on a 2000 Hayabusa. Moisan's 463.6
hp edged out Cutsinger's 461.
But the real noise
of the day was Velocity Racing's Barry Henson on the Honda Blackbird
he campaigns with Kent Stotz. Henson was officially classified
as third because he arrived at 12:05, or five minutes too late
to better the numbers he posted the day before. But where else
can an "exhibition pass" occur on a dyno other than
at AMI on a rainy day during Bike Week? Without an intercooler,
Barry rang up a 505, corrected to an SAE standard 497.2 on a
cool and wet afternoon. It was the first time the AMI dyno recorded
a horsepower figure of 500 or better. Because Henson registered
late it's not an official record, but the number is real, run
at a sanctioned event.
Expect plenums to
fill with a lot of hot air as turbo systems constructors engage
in an all-out battle for horsepower superiority this year. The
only numbers that really matter are those on the strip. But
in a downpour on the East Coast, an officially sanctioned dyno
with about a hundred people standing around watching is the
next best thing.
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