Live Feed - Two Stroke Drag Racing

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Off Road
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Live Feed - Two Stroke Drag Racing

#1 Post by Off Road » Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:28 pm

Cycledrag is putting on a drag race at US131 in Martin, Michigan this October, and I’d really, really like to attend.

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us131B 2021.jpg
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My buddy with the 750 triple knows a bunch of the guys in the USA who will be taking their triples to the race.
They expect about 50 two-stroke bikes to show up.
There are going to be a bunch of 9 second ¼ mile runs and a few 8 second runs, and if the big boys show up, they’ll run in the 7's.
The current records are 7.83 sec (all motor), and 7.72 sec (with nitrous).

The distance from my house to the race track is 2700 km (1677 miles).
And according to Google Maps the driving time is 28 hours, which might, or might not, include the 2 ½ hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan.
A bit inconvenient, but doable.

Unfortunately, the race track is in another country, so I’d have to cross the border, which is not allowed at this time due to travel restrictions.

Maybe next year?


Found a couple of videos showing a few of the bikes that are likely to show up.
The first video shows last years race at US131.
The second video shows the fastest 2 stroke bikes and what it takes to make them go fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hDX6VAFZk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRItqiCFuQE
Last edited by Off Road on Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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busa1300
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Location: Indiana

Re: Super Bowl of Two Stroke Drag Racing

#2 Post by busa1300 » Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:08 pm

I have been there about 5 different seasons.
If you like two strokes, they are all over, between the snow mobiles and the drag bikes.
If you have never seen the top class snow mobiles drag on the pavement....it is wild to watch them leave the line so hard.
That and some of the snow mobile powered motorcycles...really cool
I plan to be there this year if weather is good.

to watch....
73 TS/TM400 Supermoto
78 GS1000E
80 KD80
82 Katana
84 RZ350
84 RZV500R
86 GSXR1100
86 1100 sportster
88 FZR1000
89 RGV250SP VJ21
90 RGV250SP VJ22 FL
91 TZR250SP 3XV2
96 RGV250SP VJ23 T
99 RS250
02 Hayabusa
16 KTM 390 Duke
17 KTM 1290 SDGT
21 RSV4 1100

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kpke
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Re: Super Bowl of Two Stroke Drag Racing

#3 Post by kpke » Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:03 am

I watched those videos. Lots of fun to watch. Bill Baxter - the dude knows his stuff and is quite an interesting fellow. Cool dyno trick. You should build a one cylinder mule for testing your mods on the dyno. Looks easy :smt009 Hopefully you can attend the big race next year even with the short inconvenient drive. Seems like one not to miss.

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Off Road
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Re: Super Bowl of Two Stroke Drag Racing

#4 Post by Off Road » Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:56 pm

busa1300 wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:08 pm I have been there about 5 different seasons.
I plan to be there this year if weather is good.

If you have never seen the top class snow mobiles drag on the pavement....it is wild to watch them leave the line so hard.
I’m so jealous. I wish I lived 1 state away. I’d be there in a heartbeat.

On the same weekend 2T bike drags, they’re having a Super Sled Shootout.
A $200.00 entry fee for a chance at winning $10,000.
I took a look at what a few websites to see what people were running, and the sleds are incredible.
700 HP machines with turbos and/or nitrous.
They only run 1/8 of a mile (660’), but they do it in 4.9 seconds at a blistering 135 mph.
And what’s even more amazing is their 60’ times of 1.1 seconds. Damn, that's quick.

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Off Road
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Re: Live Feed - Two Stroke Drag Racing

#5 Post by Off Road » Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:21 pm

The big race is happening this weekend, Oct. 2 & 3, and CycleDrag is broadcasting a live feed of the events on their Facebook page.
I believe that today was just a test and tune session, Qualifying will be Saturday, and the Eliminations on Sunday.

My boss had the live feed on in his office, but I only caught a few minutes.
Most of the bikes are Kawi triples, but I did see a cool RD400 and a GT550 in the staging lanes,
and I heard that Smokin Joe ran 8.56 on his H2 triple.

When CycleDrag is broadcasting the Live Feed, I think that anybody with a computer can watch it on the CycleDrag Facebook homepage.

https://www.facebook.com/cycledragracing/

In order to watch Today’s video (or any past videos) you’ll have to log into your Facebook account.

https://www.facebook.com/cycledragracin ... e_internal


Really wish I could have gone. :smt022

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kpke
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Re: Live Feed - Two Stroke Drag Racing

#6 Post by kpke » Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:47 am

Hmmm. Should I join Facebook just for this? :smt017

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Off Road
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Re: Live Feed - Two Stroke Drag Racing

#7 Post by Off Road » Sun Oct 10, 2021 1:22 am

Hey Ken. I’m certainly not going to join facebook just to watch.

CycleDrag hasn’t posted much about the 2T drag bikes. Most of the coverage was on the 10K Shootout.
They did post a short video of the qualifying runs, and you don’t have to sign away your life to view it.
They had 12 bikes in the 2T class, including a KX250 dirt bike with knobby tires.
The KX rider was also racing an 8 sec. ZX14 in the Shootout, and entered the 2T class just for fun.

https://www.facebook.com/17172454651576 ... ideos_card


My boss, Don Fergin, was one of the sponsors for the 2 stroke class and knows the Host (Jack Korpela, the guy with the mic) in the Cycledrag videos.
Don was emailing with him and Cycledrag is editing film and will probably do a video of the elimination rounds.

The group of people who design, build parts, and race the really fast (7, 8, 9 sec.) Triples, is pretty small, and they all know each other.
Don regularly communicates with Bill Baxter, Joe Molino, Doug Flannery, Ralph Shipman, Paul Gast.

Don’s Triple runs 9.9 seconds, and like most of us fools, he wants to go faster.
His wallet’s not thick enough to get into the 8 sec bracket, but he’s pretty sure he can get it to do low 9’s.
This winter, he plans on installing a Zeel race CDI, a new stator (so the Zeel work), and a set of Ralph Shipman’s heads.
The heads are about 4” square and 1” thick. If you check out any of the videos of the race Triples, most of racers are using the same heads.
And the majority of them are also using the billet clutch covers that Ralph designed for the slider clutch and remote starters.
The fast guys are really competitive at the track, but they all work together to help promote 2 stroke drag racing and keep the sport / hobby alive.

While I’m talking about the rich and famous, and trying to impress you by claiming to know somebody, who knows somebody,
who’s well known to a relatively small group of people, here’s another story.

A few months ago, I spoke with Larry McBride. Yup, that’s right. The Larry “Spiderman” McBride.
The fastest motorcycle drag racer on the planet, with a ¼ mile time of 5.50 sec. @ 264 mph. [smilie=eek.gif]
Here are the highlights of what was said.

Me: Good afternoon, Universal Cycle.
Larry: Hi, can I speak to Don, please.
Me: Yes, can I tell him whose calling.
Larry: Sure, it’s Larry McBride
Me: Thanks, I’ll put you on hold for a minute and transfer your call.

I’ll bet that story was a lunch-bag letdown. :smt005
But hey, I only said that I spoke to him, I didn’t say we had an in depth conversation about drag racing.

The 1st thing that popped in to my mind when he told me his name, was to say, “Hey is this the “Spiderman”.
But I didn’t, because I regularly get calls from Bill Gates, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jordan, and none of those people are famous.
Later that day I asked Don if that was the Spiderman and he said it was.
He’s known Larry for 10 or 15 years and met when they were both building engines for the Legend cars.

If CycleDrag posts some more videos, I update this thread.

And come hell, or high water, my RZ’s going to be in the 2022 CycleDrag video.

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