How about more motorcycles at HAMB drags next year?

This was my first time at the HAMB drags.I had a great time.I got to spend the day with good friends and watch them run their fastest times to date.I was excited when I heard there was a motorcycle class.Then I only saw 1 bike run.Granted, it was a beautiful Triumph but I would have loved to see more bikes run.I can't be the onlyHAMBer with a passion for motorcycles.Right now my oldest bike is a 74 Norton chopper.It's too new for the nostalgia drag but throughout this fall and winter I will be looking for a bike that will qualify for next year.Anybody else?

 

Its not like nostalgia motorcycles are big, anywhere. The HAMB drags don't "book in" acts. So it'd just have to be something the folks want to do. It'd be a huge effort, probably needing to co-ordinate the Jocky Journal with the HAMB, and I'd bet that would just be too much effort.
Also, in my experience as a one time professional bike racer, the car guys pretty much universally hate us to even show up at their events.
Just my .02...

 

Uhh,why don't you ever see hot rods at a motorcycle event...Sturgis,Bike Week...

 

I'm not talking about "booking in acts".They already have a motorcycle class.I would just like to see more bikes.I think most guys that are into vintage rides are going to appreciate old iron no matter how many wheels they have.Not asking for some huge undertaking-just more guys with bikes.It's a cool chance to bring them out.
There are a lot of killer bikes from this era.I know I'm not the only one who would appreciate seeing more of them actually being ridden.

 

I see vintage cars and trucks at bike events all the time.Bike guys appreciate hot rods.I don't know why hot rod guys wouldn't like to see bikes.
I didn't intend to cause some sort of car vs. bike debate.

 

There used to be more bikes at the HAMB Drags. I suppose the interest is dropping off for them. Maybe you can get something going!

 

http://www.vintagedragbikeracing.com/

I need to dig up an old Sporty and a rigid frame..........HAHAHAHA

 

Yay-Hoo Clif (FIREDOME here) has been dragging his Triton and Triumph for the past 2-3 HAMB Drags... but he was home with a newborn this year.

Here he is with his trophy for 'Motorcycle' class last year.

 

WINNER ! He and Kathrine were sorely missed this year, for sure.

 

I also love to see them there but i think that the hardest thing is that a bike that is old enough is generally too expensive for guys like me. i think that a pre 64 car is easier to find and put together. the only bike i have old enough is a 47 simplex and it's not a racer by any means.
also hard to shove a big bike in the trunk of a car you intend to race at the drags, i did get my trail 70 in the back seat of my corvair though.

 

How about leaving the bikes at home for the HAMB Drags?

 

Thanks.I'm working on it.

 

Not exactly the way I'm headed here Chief

 

I suppose there's some truth to that.There were a lot of "oh bikes are cool this week cause I saw it on TV" types that have moved on to the latest flavor of the week.But there are still a lot of us who really do appreciate the old iron.

 

Yeah-wouldn't want to race that but I'd love to see it.Any pics?

 

Nope.

The interest is there... like traditional, purpose-built drag bikes which are currently under construction. Just need 3-4 to make it really interesting, and I bet an industrious type could cobble one together on a relatively skimpy budget.

Here's a shot from 2006 HAMB DRAGS:

 

Thanks for sharing the video.That's exactly what I'm talking about. I hear a call out to Industrious Cobblers of the HAMB.
I definitely have the skimpy buget under control.I'm going to start looking for a motor and frame and get to cobbling!!

 

I actually tried to register my bike this year and recieved no reply. I assumed maybe my bike was to new, but not hardly considering the video.

 

The pre 65 cutoff makes it hard for bikes. Some friends and I are looking for one right now to build a HAMB drag bike with and the pickins are pretty slim. Sure it'd be easy to throw something from the seventies in an old frame but the HAMB drags is about the traditional stuff. Since there's really only one rule how lame are you if you break that...

 

I get that and am not complaining. If it weren't traditional what would be the point? I've kinda been tossing around an idea for a bike. If the engine was pre 65 regardless of what the engine was would it be accepted?

 

The way I understand it is any pre65 engine and 2 wheels only. I guess you could go the EJ Potter route under those rules. lol The big thing with the hamb drags is the spirit of old school traditional hot rodding and not getting caught up in trying to bend rules just to win.

 

The tradition and nostalgia is what makes this so cool. Money's tight but I'm looking too.Hoping to find an old Sportster or something British.Got a soft spot for the old Limey's.

 

An added note. If Ryan didn't want any bikes at the hamb drags he would not have a bike class. I used to be one of the drag racers that hated when bikes showed up. I'm older now and I've got a different perspective on life. Im much less closed minded.

We are getting pumped about finding the right old engine and getting started on our build. The fact that it's a group project gives it a traditional "club" feel and will keep the cost down for each of us.

 

I think some folks missed my first point. It's not that some of us don't want to see more bikes. I love bikes, I used to run a turbo nitrous Kawi funnybike (I've run 7 flat @ 192 MPH on it).
But time is limited at the HAMB drags. Ask how many car guys want to give up runs if a significant number of bikes show up. The two, in general, don't mix. My reference to booked in runs was aimed at something like an EJ Potter, or a couple of booked in Harley fuelers, since the sound of a Harley seems to give most guys wood. (They sound like lawnmowers to me).

 

I don't think anyone would give up runs if a significant number of bikes showed. Since Ryan requires pre-entry, gobs of bikes would not just show up on race day. I suspect it could be like cars – if the style of the bike was old school, leniency could probably be applied to the motor. I'm thinking a '75 Sportster engine isn't so different looking from '64. After all, there has been a front engined dragster at the H.A.M.B. Drags for the last couple of years running an LS1 engine. I wouldn't want to see anything too far off topic, such as a modern four cylinder engine, but I suspect a little mercy would be shown to a non-billet Harley, for instance, if the chassis looked old school. Ryan would have final say, though.

 

Harley? Blah. BSA, Triumph, Norton...you saw far more of those on a weekly basis back in the day at drag strips than you did Harley's.

 

The Harley was just a for instance. I remember "back in the day" a little bit, although this was like 1967 or so.

 

I have a 74 Norton. I love it. It's a chop and the purists hate it. I don't care. I don't get this hostility toward certain makes or the fact that people have attitude about letting bikes run. There is a class for them at the Nostalgia's. That was the whole point of my starting this thread. The cool thing about this event is the versatility of nosatlgic vehicles. I'm a bike guy. But I dig cars too. I'm working on a 62 Falcon. I'm really baffled by the negative response a few guys have given to the thought of motorcycles being there. I don't care what the make is- I want to see more bikes next year. The more people that have something bad to say make me more determined to stir this pot. If I had the money I'd get 20 bikes together and make sure each bike had a rider and someone to register it just to make sure it happened.But I don't- so I will stick to trying to find MY bike and hopefully be able to run it next year.
CAN' WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!!!

Knees in the breeze is my only disease

 

Love chopped Nortons! Not that many done like that, fewer of them done well. Limey bikes make the best choppers! Certainly better than the clown bikes of builders today...

 

I doubt there'll ever be more than 5 or 6 bikes at the hamb drags and that's cool with me. The year cutoff rules out most bikes and only a few of us will actually build a motorcycle just for the hamb drags. As long as those of us that do build one follow the rules and spirit of the event we will be well received by 99% of hambers. That's my thoughts anyway. My group bought a donor bike and we're going to get started soon. We want to keep our plan under our hat for now.