While I may not totally understand what motivates motorcycle drag racers I can tell you that I respect the daylights out of them and love to watch them do what they do. While I often joke about how crazed these people must be, the reality is that they are enthusiasts like everyone else at the strip and they are applying their own skills to go fast and they sure are fun to watch.
In this video we see virtually everything that could possibly go wrong on the big end for a rider go wrong on this pass at Calder Park in Australia. Interestingly, we see the whole scene unfold from the front end of the bike in the other lane, which made a slower but clean run. One of the main “problems” with drag bikes is at the fast end of the track the only way to effectively steer the bike is by throwing your weight across the seat to try and get something happening for left to right steering. That big wide slick has a lot more influence over where the motorcycle is heading than the little front tire. In the case of this rider, he literally could not prevent the inevitable and then things really get ugly.
As the bike we’re riding on charges down its lane, things look pretty normal. Just before the finish line cones we see the motorcycle and rider that were running down the right side come close to the center line and then destroy the timing blocks. After that it is a nightmare come to life as the competitor crosses the track and despite some very hard riding, he gets into the wall carrying a lot of speed. The rider hangs onto the motorcycle for an amazing length of time before letting go. Once he does that, the motorcycle carries across the track and he flips and flops to what looks to be a stop on the pavement.
We don’t know what was going through his mind when this happened but we do know that he was likely pretty sore in the morning. Wow!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THIS PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE CRASH –
As a guy who’s family raced Super Stockers to Pro Stock from the ’60’s through the ’70’s, I can tell you what motivates motorcycle racers. Cars are boring!
No shit, they are snoozers. They cost too much. Yo need extra people to help you keep it going. A motorcycle is small, easy to transport, and unless you’re one of the banzii guys who wants to dump a 500 horse shot in it every pass, they live forever. They keep us seperate from cars because its tough for a car to beat a bike bracket racing. I love cars. But for racing? Bikes!
In every way except the excitement aspect bikes are far more boring. Do they make different ones or are they all the same? Its hard to tell.
I had a drag bike for several years and loved it! Thankfully it never thru me off! But like Gary said, the ease of it sure is nice and when there isn’t anyone to help, you can roll it into the pick up bed and go play at the local grudge night.
Shows a lot of sportsmanship for the rider if the “camera bike” to shut down and run to the downed rider.