For those who are bored (Captain was complaining about how slow it is around here today) I have a story, for those who are still around. And, from some of the "Hardly" comments I've read on this board, I think you're really gonna love this. I even considered posting under a different name, but that wouldn't be any fun. So here goes.
My first motor-powered bike of any sort was a Briggs&Stratton powered minibike, circa 5th grade. Then came Honda ATC's, first a 185, then an '83 250R, later punched out to 300, then soon after, an '86 250R, which was the fastest thing I'd ever ridden at the ripe old age of 15 (thanks again, Dad). Then some bad sh*t went down, and I had to sell it...
Fast forward about 12 years (bikeless), a great buddy of mine bought a Harley Fat Boy and let me take a spin on it. Harley-haters bear with me here. I'd never ridden a street bike, but decided I had to have one. As a result, my dad and I both bought Softails, and have never been closer (which is very cool). Over the next few years, I took that Harley apart and put it back together numerous times. It never needed it, but I sure did enjoy it, changing the looks, learning new things, etc. Then one day, an odd noise started playing from the valve train. Later that day, the top end was off, and visions of performance mods started dancing thru my head. Before I knew it, I'd decided on a complete engine swap - from the 80" stocker to a 100" S&S 4"x4", assembled and ready to go. In retrospect, the stocker probably only needed a new tappet, but what fun is that? So, with the new big motor, that thing really seemed to move. I was soooo happy when one day the front wheel unexpectedly lifted a few inches off the ground during a rolling 1st gear hard-takeoff in front of my buddy's house. I thought I had a real screamer
At this point, I should mention that the same buddy who got me back into bikes, also recently started racing a jet powered dragster (J34-34 for those who know jets), and since I'm the only guy he knows who can get enough vacation time to travel to races with him, I'm his crew chief. It's easy to be cheif when you're the only indian
Anyway, since the jets are an exhibition race, we usually don't make any passes until later in the evening, which means there's usually a fair amount of time to kill during the day. So I thought, hmm...I should build a drag bike! It'll fit in the trailer, I can race during the day, what a great idea!
As it turns out, one of the starters (Alex) out at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix lives in my neighborhood, and I'd done some work on his Harley. So I was telling him about my idea, and he tells me that none other than Craig Treble lives a couple streets down (since moved), and introduces me to him. He's a very cool guy. Anyway, after talking to Mr. Treble, I decide that making a Harley go fast is gonna be way too expensive, so I make the obvious decision - buy a Hayabusa, and go fast out of the box!
About a month ago, I did just that. One of the dealer chains here was running an unbelieveable deal on brand-new '03s - $9599, out the door. So I bought one. The plan was, ride it for the 1000 mile breakin, then take it off the road (to save on insurance) and make it a track-only bike. So I started riding it as much as I could find time for over the past month. Not once did I even sit on the Harley. Until last weekend.
I was feeling a little guilty that I'd put over 600 miles on the busa, and hadn't even wiped the dust off the Harley, so I charged the battery, fired her up, and off I went. At first, I thought it wasn't running right. In fact, I went and told my dad this, so he had me ride his Road King to compare. My heart sank as I realized, my bike isn't running bad, IT'S JUST NOT FAST ENOUGH!! What the FXXK??? I was perfectly happy with how fast it was before I bought the busa! Now I'm ruined! I'm gonna have to spend insane amounts of money to make the Harley fast again! What has the busa done to me and my beloved Harley? Is there a support group for people like me? Please help!
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Reason for Edit: "give props to the jet car pilot"|1069905356 -->
My first motor-powered bike of any sort was a Briggs&Stratton powered minibike, circa 5th grade. Then came Honda ATC's, first a 185, then an '83 250R, later punched out to 300, then soon after, an '86 250R, which was the fastest thing I'd ever ridden at the ripe old age of 15 (thanks again, Dad). Then some bad sh*t went down, and I had to sell it...
Fast forward about 12 years (bikeless), a great buddy of mine bought a Harley Fat Boy and let me take a spin on it. Harley-haters bear with me here. I'd never ridden a street bike, but decided I had to have one. As a result, my dad and I both bought Softails, and have never been closer (which is very cool). Over the next few years, I took that Harley apart and put it back together numerous times. It never needed it, but I sure did enjoy it, changing the looks, learning new things, etc. Then one day, an odd noise started playing from the valve train. Later that day, the top end was off, and visions of performance mods started dancing thru my head. Before I knew it, I'd decided on a complete engine swap - from the 80" stocker to a 100" S&S 4"x4", assembled and ready to go. In retrospect, the stocker probably only needed a new tappet, but what fun is that? So, with the new big motor, that thing really seemed to move. I was soooo happy when one day the front wheel unexpectedly lifted a few inches off the ground during a rolling 1st gear hard-takeoff in front of my buddy's house. I thought I had a real screamer
At this point, I should mention that the same buddy who got me back into bikes, also recently started racing a jet powered dragster (J34-34 for those who know jets), and since I'm the only guy he knows who can get enough vacation time to travel to races with him, I'm his crew chief. It's easy to be cheif when you're the only indian
Anyway, since the jets are an exhibition race, we usually don't make any passes until later in the evening, which means there's usually a fair amount of time to kill during the day. So I thought, hmm...I should build a drag bike! It'll fit in the trailer, I can race during the day, what a great idea!As it turns out, one of the starters (Alex) out at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix lives in my neighborhood, and I'd done some work on his Harley. So I was telling him about my idea, and he tells me that none other than Craig Treble lives a couple streets down (since moved), and introduces me to him. He's a very cool guy. Anyway, after talking to Mr. Treble, I decide that making a Harley go fast is gonna be way too expensive, so I make the obvious decision - buy a Hayabusa, and go fast out of the box!
About a month ago, I did just that. One of the dealer chains here was running an unbelieveable deal on brand-new '03s - $9599, out the door. So I bought one. The plan was, ride it for the 1000 mile breakin, then take it off the road (to save on insurance) and make it a track-only bike. So I started riding it as much as I could find time for over the past month. Not once did I even sit on the Harley. Until last weekend.
I was feeling a little guilty that I'd put over 600 miles on the busa, and hadn't even wiped the dust off the Harley, so I charged the battery, fired her up, and off I went. At first, I thought it wasn't running right. In fact, I went and told my dad this, so he had me ride his Road King to compare. My heart sank as I realized, my bike isn't running bad, IT'S JUST NOT FAST ENOUGH!! What the FXXK??? I was perfectly happy with how fast it was before I bought the busa! Now I'm ruined! I'm gonna have to spend insane amounts of money to make the Harley fast again! What has the busa done to me and my beloved Harley? Is there a support group for people like me? Please help!
<!--EDIT|lcw
Reason for Edit: "give props to the jet car pilot"|1069905356 -->
