Anyone that dragged race a 2-smoke knows about clutch control...

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

Don't forget the holeshots, cutting a light, like it's now part of your gene structure. Sheeeeeeeee it... Bring on "The Hand." Bring on the 1000 speed camera too. LOL

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/8/2013 @ 9:01 PM *

How many old farts won the tool box on pinks?

How many old farts won the tool box on pinks?

Lol, that is a great shot!

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

* Last updated by: KoflaOlivieri on 9/8/2013 @ 9:15 PM *

You two were the original HOOLIGANS! OG right there! Drag race a two stroke?! Hub and Kofla got it!!

Dang. Talk about showin the young whipped snappers what's up! I freakin love it!!! Those are dang BIKES right there! Took men of freakin steel to ride those things!!!! I like #133's aggressive launch technique!!! 113 is flat gettin it!!! :)) damn wicked pics!

And Kofla! Ur am animal for control wheeling that beast up nice and high man!!!! Hell yeah! Fearless!

Thanks. Yep, wheelies all day long. Here is my 2nd bike, stepping off of a step-over 50cc honda. First intro to a wheelie was the test drive. I just opened the throttle and the front end came up. I had to have it!... I cleaned up until someone came to the 1/8th mile with the same bike and was much smaller in size, i.e., a hired gun was coming from some dealer. End of story. Switched over to a 74 H2, between I don't know how many bikes I went thru in that stretch of years? Drag raced/road raced the triple. Never a problem with the pump. I used to dial those in before a race meet. It was all about anal carb sync and oil notch lineup, give or take a rich safe feed.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/motorcycles/1966-suzuki-x6-hustler/

You two were the original HOOLIGANS!

Lol, I think when we are young we all do crazy things, besides, riding two strokes was a lot of fun. Especially in the early 70's when we didn't have to worry about emission controls.

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

* Last updated by: KoflaOlivieri on 9/8/2013 @ 10:32 PM *

Yep, wheelies all day long. Here is my 2nd bike, stepping off of a step-over 50cc honda. First intro to a wheelie was the test drive. I just opened the throttle and the front end came up. I had to have it!... I cleaned up until someone came to the 1/8th mile with the same bike and was much smaller in size, i.e., a hired gun was coming from some dealer. End of story. Switched over to a 74 H2, between I don't know how many bikes I went thru in that stretch of years? Drag raced/road raced the triple. Never a problem with the pump. I used to dial those in before a race meet. It was all about anal carb sync and oil notch lineup, give or take a rich safe feed.

A friend of mine put a Denco King Cobra 120hp kit (remember those?) on a 1975 Kaw 750 triple, he was the king of the streets, lol

Here is a picture of my hero, the late Dave Shultz, with the bike that made him famous.

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

I used to dial those in before a race meet. It was all about anal carb sync and oil notch lineup, give or take a rich safe feed.

The more things change, the more they stay the same! :)). You rode that crazy six hub?? Wow, how did she sound? :)) I'd like to touch off that guy! I miss the good old days! It seemed like everyone went everywhere flat out on bikes! I don't know, I was a little kid, might've just seemed like every time someone grabbed second we were off to the races! :)) lol!

One of my favorites

But that's cause I'm young and soft, you fellas are hard.

* Last updated by: Cblast on 9/9/2013 @ 1:58 AM *

Whot gone for a second and look what I miss! Old school. OG hood's and hooligans, I could not agree more! Makes me proud and respectful to know my veteran seniors rode after the same passion and demons. That there just draws a tear to the eye. My first bike was a semi dropped suzuki Walter Wolf. I learned on her, rode the shist out of her and then had her stolen. This is the early 90's. Clutch was a delicate affair for sure!

So brothers - PRRRRRROPs

Wdog out!

* Last updated by: Wolfman on 9/9/2013 @ 4:09 AM *

Makes me proud and respectful to know my veteran seniors rode after the same passion and demons.

Just to piggyback on what you said, there is often the misconception that to enjoy racing you have to break the bank and own the quickest, meanest, biggest motorcycle. Take a look at this gentleman, a lot older than me, and I am 57. I loved watching him race this little Honda at this event, he was having a hell of a good time.

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

* Last updated by: KoflaOlivieri on 9/10/2013 @ 1:00 AM *

The more things change, the more they stay the same! :)). You rode that crazy six hub?? Wow, how did she sound? :)) I'd like to touch off that guy! I miss the good old days! It seemed like everyone went everywhere flat out on bikes! I don't know, I was a little kid, might've just seemed like every time someone grabbed second we were off to the races! :)) lol!

Eddie Lawson and Rob Muzzy had a great team!

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

True sir, there are many paths to fffffast! I've seen some smaller displacement platforms and race ready set ups done on a dime. I wish I had the skill to build such machines and, I would be happy to tear apart the roads while on them!
W

I used to lie in bed At night pretending I was Eddie Lawson, or if I had wayyy to much iced tea, I'd start getting crazy and pretending I was Rainey, or Roberts! Too much! :)) hahahaha! Awesome memories gentleman.

I love that little Honda! Awesome little machine! Like a piece of jewelry.

* Last updated by: Cblast on 9/10/2013 @ 6:28 AM *

I used to dream I could beat Mike the Bike. Every time I showed up at a club race, that was my mantra. There was Eddie on some sponsored 250. A punk kid at the time. Little did I know hidden behind a lot of those racers were dirt tracker kids starting out like Randy Mamola and Eddie running Ascot in the jr. classes is my guess? You better look at Eddie with the youngest face you can remember, and here is a [seasoned] road racer, dirt tracker, having 8 or more years on the club levels.

I was a hooligan coming off an x-6, H2, other bikes in between. To go up against the likes of Eddie, Kenny, Cooley, it was a foregone conclusion. They were sitting on money bikes. They had 10 race years or more on me from the day I rolled the H2 out the van.

Just about every bike I owned became a race bike to chase Mike: in a TT. The H2 was how to figure this stuff out? The CB was put into action the following year. See where my dream was? Thinking I could beat your list of boys, C or mine. Then the reality set in.

Like nothing has changed. You saw that south american kid skid around that cone video? Imagine you in your early 30's, Freddie shows up. Same as saying that new kid on the block is to watch Joey Roberts (no relation) come up the ranks. Think you could be in your teens and go up against him? Dream on!

You are stuck in the perpetual "Someone is always faster than you" syndrome chasing that ghost. It is WOTit is.

I fling love this page. Like ole home coming week. Thanks boyz!

I used to lie in bed At night pretending I was Eddie Lawson

I was thinking of this for most of the day. Looking back... Man, I never wanted to be any of those guys. My dream was to beat them... Where I wouldn't get too much sleep the night before knowing they were going to lap me anyway.

Whenever I did get out there then it was all about just trying to go fast and kick ass! That was nothin.
But HUB man, you got to bang bars with the greats! You shared the field with the legends, took home your points! Your status sits you among them! Wow! Awesome!
We get to hear your poetry and pick your brain on tech stuff! I freakin love this place! And we are united over the 14R. Pretty iconic machine I think.

* Last updated by: Cblast on 9/10/2013 @ 10:03 PM *

This was back in high school with the X-6. I'd ride out to the race track and ride back. Other high school like types would be there too. Someplace at some gas station out on the other side of town where I knew someone, I hear mention I could 'cut a light' was the first time I heard that expression? Here I was all green learning the ropes before the old man found out what I was doing. Same old story, right?

Drag racing is so basic ~ Don't sleep at the light. It is the head of all head games. If you want the closest thing to zen'inn... Try it on for size.

I used to dream I could beat Mike the Bike. Like nothing has changed. You are stuck in the perpetual "Someone is always faster than you" syndrome chasing that ghost.

Those are great pictures Hub. In hindsight, I regret not having taken more photos of my early riding years. I didn't felt comfortable about having picture taken when I was younger. As you guys can see, I still had all my hair,lol

I think as much as things change they remain the same. It is like back in the wild west days, people wanting to challenge the fastest gunslinger in town, lol

I was never a fan of Mike Hailwood, at that time I loved to read about Jarno Saarinen and his Yamaha Championships. His picture was plastered all over my hometown Yamaha dealership. Because of him I almost purchased an Rd-350, but the bike was just too small for my height. Those were the good old days.

Here is a picture fixing my 1972 Kaw 750 H2 drive chain on side of the road, my 1974 Kaw 750 H2, and in 1979 working in a Yamaha XS-1100.

Kofla

Riding My Own Biography
2010 ZX-14 MotoVlog

This is the best frickin thread!!!!

Are those Lester wheels? Yep, all those years racing, maybe someone took a pic and gave it to you, or you paid for a professional one. That's how you see where/what you were doing at that moment.

Funny how I was looking up Mike who sent me Laguan photos from the bleachers before he began racing. Mike shows up as a new rider and I threw him right out, being in a position as new rider inspector call it... You could tell he was that smooth and already had the lines. The rest is history on that guy. Weird, but I've got 3 shots of Dennis, Mike, and Scarf Boy. Dennis is on top of me. Mike smokes the field. Harry is back in 3rd? If this was the race, I was chasing Ron Pierce for 2nd, but you could see Harry is just a few bikes behind me. Ron never left my sight, where I'd grind down both sides of the bike trying to catch him. I kept the parts off the bike. I never had a clue who was in the back or how close? Never saw a wheel, never heard an engine until I saw how close Harry was in that pic.

There's an empty hole in that lineup. I was in the pits with a broken wire. I DNS this race. My sponsor/mechanic lifted the tank and it rested on his wire harness, pinched it, end of story. He found it that quick, but it was too late. I was kind of glad. I was not confident seeing how that engine was put together, nor how I qualified with the front wheel axle pinchers not tight = No Brakes going into the cork: until I pumped them back up. It shows in my [qualifying] grid position. I always laugh when Richie explains how his bike handles. Sears Point had a club race before this national. The bike he was using was some local brothers shaking down the bike before Richie flies in for the race? Here, take Richie's bike out with this 17" rim everyone in europe is using now.

What rim do we use today? Anyway, the front is plowing in just about any tight turn. I catch everyone. I come back in and told them to 'change back to the 19" or you'll kill Richie.' I was pretty honored that they asked me to shake it down. If Richie only knew how much washing out that bike was doing.

That Superbike era ended that day. It was youth that sent those names out into the pastures. They were guys in their 30's and 40's. I don't known how young Steve was in that interview, but he was nowhere near 17yrs old.

Josh Hayes is 38. How much talent is out there today to beat him? Not many Freddies, that's for sure. Okay, maybe Joey Roberts on 1000cc might be a changing of the guards.

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/11/2013 @ 10:15 AM *

man if only I could have come close to standing around you guys back then...WOW speechless and honored to share a forum with you guys!