Harley Racing... how long ago?

dduelin said:
That sounds great except Honda pulled out of GN about the time GN dropped road and TT courses and became flat track only in the mid 70's. GN racing is almost always HD racing HD for 30+ years. Doesn't the GN rules pretty much rule out any "modern" OHC engine?
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Don't think the AMA ruled out OHC engines, the Hondas that Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert rode were V-twin OHC designs. I think of late they may have separated these more modern engine designs into a different class, but I stopped following it when road racing diverged from GN.

The AMA did however rule out multi-cylinder bikes. I think they were leaning that way when the Triumph and BSA triples started beating the Harleys but it was Kenny Roberts devastation of the field in two races aboard a modified 4 cylinder TZ-750 two stroke road racer that broke the AMA's back. That thing was wild and Kenny was famously quoted after winning a race as saying "they don't pay me enough to ride that thing".
 
In 2006 H-D brought out a 1300cc V-Rod with 165 rear wheel HP called the Destroyer. This is a non street legal drag bike that will run mid to low 9 second quarter mile times in the mid 140mph range, off the show room floor
Sorry for the poor quality pic, all I had was my cell phone.
 

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HD is non-existant in AMA Prostar Drag Racing . And it is pretty bad HD putting out that VRod that's not street legal when Suzuki and Kawaski put out production bikes that will run those times with that HP and are street legal.
 
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TN-HONDA RIDER said:
:bow1: Hello to everyone not trying to get a war started about harleys I think harleys are the best sounding bikes on the road i dont own one my old st1100 is okie dokie to me.About drag racing and all the years harley has won pro stock bike. Someone need to look at the rules on the bikes suzuki has about 100 cu in motors while on the other hand harley has 160 cu in motors harleys weight is a little more like 20 lbs i think. To me thats like taking a dump truck runing it against a VOLKSWAGON nothing on the harley engine (well maybe some of the bolts ) we can buy so whats so fair about harley doing so good at the drag strip?? Everyone have a great day and do be careful out there:bow1:
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All the racing organizations try to even out the motors in the different configurations by allowing them to have different sizes. Ducatti (and other manufacturers) is allowed to run 1200 v-twins while the in-line fours are limited to 1000ccs this year in moto GP. They are looking to restrict the intake size of the Ducati's now because they have been so fast the first few races.
 
bmcdonau said:
All the racing organizations try to even out the motors in the different configurations by allowing them to have different sizes. Ducatti (and other manufacturers) is allowed to run 1200 v-twins while the in-line fours are limited to 1000ccs this year in moto GP. They are looking to restrict the intake size of the Ducati's now because they have been so fast the first few races.
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Actually that would be WSBK racing not MotoGP. MotoGP is limited to 800cc regardless of engine configuration, though I think there are weight differences for bikes with different numbers of cylinders.
 
wjbertrand said:
Actually that would be WSBK racing not MotoGP. MotoGP is limited to 800cc regardless of engine configuration, though I think there are weight differences for bikes with different numbers of cylinders.
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Okay, i knew it was someone. My point was that racing organizations make allowances for engine configurations, not for manufacturers. I don't pay a lot of attention to racing rules (even though I like to watch racing), but isn't there some type of equipment controversy in whatever race series the AMA recently sold?
 
Capt_Gruuvy said:
In 1920 Harley Davidson introduced the 20-J. This bike was configured to race on a wooden oval banked track.
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In the 1920s Harley started a motorcycle manufacturing firm in Japan...became the chosen bike of the Imperial Army.

Came to an end during WWII as factory was located ultimately in Hiroshima.

Rikuo Motorcycles...imagine the surprise of US Soldiers arriving in the PI to see Harleys already there :)
 
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Hotel 179 said:
In the 1920s Harley started a motorcycle manufacturing firm in Japan...became the chosen bike of the Imperial Army.

Came to an end during WWII as factory was located ultimately in Hiroshima.

Rikuo Motorcycles...imagine the surprise of US Soldiers arriving in the PI to see Harleys already there :)
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Rikou produced bikes from the 1930's until forced into bankruptcy in 1960. A-bombs didn't do them in.
 
In 1994, my son and I went from Thunder Bay, Ont. down to Brainard for the "Suzuki Classic AMA Road Race Series".... fellow Canadian, Miguel Duhamel was riding a 1000cc Harley in the Superbike race.... a factory sponsored Harley... lead for 3 laps halfway through the race.... got notes on just how big the cheer was when that happened... almost got a podium place, but got passed on the last turn of the last lap... 4th... Daytona was 7 races earlier and the engine went at 60 laps in it's debut. Think Harley had a factory backed race team for about 2 years?
 
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