Engine Cases M vs A How about This

[mtkawboy]

The Buell is closer to real then the Vance & Hines NHRA bike for sure. All Harley melted down for that was silver dollars. Bottom line is if the organization wants you then its OK, if they dont youre screwed. You know that Buell didnt build it hoping it would be approved, they had the green light up front. I dont believe the SCTA would do that, they dont need fan support like the AMA.

[JackD]

So the SCTA was that stupid for free or are they trying to get rid of the bikes and make it look like the bikers are that dumb ?
"Was it the design that failed or did it fail by design."

[JackD]

I didn't see that one but the one I saw was the NASCAR spec spoiler that was allowed on the back of a Thunderturd in production.
For reasons that were too dumb to imagine outside a very small group that must have all ridden the "Short Bus " together.

[k.h.]

Since there are not enough M/C classes as it is, why not compromise with the addition of "original equipment pushrod" and "aftermarket pushrod"?  The OEM crowd will be mostly limited to speeds under 200 whilst the aftermarket players will actually have a chance to hit the minimums.

Snivel.

[JackD]

Do you realize how many OEM HD Clone bikes qualify for production now with S+S cases ? Three have produced more than 10,000 units each.

[k.h.]

So, the question may be:  Will the wheels fall off the miscarriage or do all the outlawed aftermarket modified motors show up in special construction to set new records?

Still snivelling.

[JackD]

With seating positions below the rear wheel, how can they be denied ?
The rulers never figured that bikers figure out the rulers and win the game because they are smart enough to figure. The bikers should be given more credit for smarts.
The best way to lead them is with some leadership qualities and allowing their participation will win their respect.

[Nortonist 592]

Hey guys,  Look on the bright side.  All of you who hold records in the modified class your records are pretty safe.  Now that you've been dumped into special construction you now have a chance to go after more records without the outlay of new machinery.

[JackD]

It is a safe bet the bikers are smarter than they have been given credit for and the workarounds are fall down funny.
The heat is going up in the rubber room and the rulers won't feel so safe inside.  
"Failed as designed or designed to fail ?" that is the question we will see unfold.

[landracing]

Who cares about records, how about just going fast, without putting more restrictions on us and telling us where our butt needs to be, or where our feet need to be.. Just want to design within my parameters of going fast.. When they tell us or limit our designs to their designs then we are restricted....

Jon

[JackD]

The laws of nature are very clear and have been demonstrated time and again. The future of the sport depends on not violating those.
The rules beyond production limitations that are understood are the rules of the participants, not the rulers. A leader must have followers otherwise you have failures if only in the limited view of the needs of the participants. When you take it out of the hands of the participants,it is like "Lettuce by Rabbit."
"Failure of the design or designed to fail ?"

[JackD]

Scott has more records than any biker so it is easy to say that but he did the records first. Without a class record there will always be somebody faster even if only in their imagination. Your personnel effort will be no more than that and quickly dismissed and forgotten. The structure of a class record with reasonable and stable rules is forever until somebody is really faster with the same rules to go by.
The laws of nature never change but the class rules are at the blessing of a few that don't seem to understand anything but selective rules and worse, selective enforcement.
I heard a good line the other day from a person that thought he was on a rules committee. He said, " I was listed for no more reason that to preserve the appearance of propriety and in fact it was also to shut me up." He was listed with past heroes with some dead and gone. A recent SCTA Board appointment is a demonstration of that.

[Salty Blaster]

It is true Mr Guthrie about Special Construction. I Emailed Mr. O'Daly a number of rule questions over the last few months pertaining to a new bike I'm constructing. To paraphrase in a nut shell ... If it is not now legal in Modified it is moved to Special Construction.

Last years seat, peg, tank and wheel base restrictions have been removed from '06 forward. This puts the emphasis on safety and less on artificial performance restrictions.

A direct quote from Mr. O'Daly per Email, "If your running in the Special Construction Class, then you've got a race bike and were going to let race bikes run without a  bunch of class restrictions."

Modified is still pretty much restricted by basic changes to a Production bike, but there is a class, Special Construction where most anyone can now race once through safety tech.

By the way Mr. Guthrie, I still have vivid memories of Jack Wilson cussing you under his breath about you "going after all his triumph records" back in the day.  

[JackD]

"Just when they thought they had it all together, they forgot where they put it and who is watching."
"If the light is blinding them it is likely they are turned the wrong way."

[Salty Blaster]

Actually, you have understated Jack's contribution to motorcycle land speed racing at Bonneville. He was a giant!

The cussin' was always with full admiration for your efforts Scott. Your right about the competition spurring him on. He was just about the most competitive man I've ever met in any endeavor.

The picture on my avatar is a 1951 tribute bike I commissioned Jack to build for me in 1988 and that we raced in '89,90'91 at Bonneville. He patterned it as a replica of the first Triumph that he took to Bonneville in the early 50's. He came out of the war and started at Dallios Cycle shop in Fort Worth as a mechanic and then opened up a couple of years latter as Big D Cycle in Dallas. The bike is true in all respects to early Triumph racing per Jack. He signed the gas tank at my request and I've owned it ever since. Keith Martin, who now owns RPM Triumph in Dallas and the rights to the Big D name helped Jack build the bike. So the direct linage continues to this day.

The bike needs restoration now and the motor rebuilt as the last time it ran the big end and small end of a rod divorced and went their respective separate ways.  If anyone is interested and doesn't know, Jack along with Sonny Magnum built the original "Texas Cigar" with Johnny Allen riding to set that and many later records. Those early record endeavors by Jack empowered Triumph to ultimately named a bike after Bonneville.