June 30, 2010

With "No Parts" to get the Pro Gas V-Rod back together the team decides to try something a bit different and live up to our mission statement "Creating Memories, One Race at a Time". We loaded up the Destroyer, the 05 Screamin' Eagle V-Rod and Marla's 04 Screamin' Eagle Electra and headed down the road to Kansas City.

Danny will compete in the "Destroyer" and "Super Gas" classes riding the Destroyer V-Rod while JR and Harv compete in the "ET Class" riding the 05 V-Rod and 04 Electra respectively. This should turn out to be a very interesting weekend as JR has very limited time on the track and Harv has NEVER been down a track before.

Friday “Test’n’Tune”

After getting the bikes through the normal technical inspection, JR and Harv board the bikes and head down to the staging lanes. JR has a plan to let "Ole Dad" win the first round by staying out of the throttle and riding side-by-side down the track for Harvs' first pass. Harv, nervous as all "Heck" and was worried that he couldn't stop the "Big Bagger" in time so, he backed off the throttle around the thousand foot mark. While coasting back to the "Ticket Booth" Harv recalls how fast he thought he was going. Must of been at least 130mph or maybe even 140. After getting his ticket and reading that it was a mere 95mph he was shocked. How in the world does Danny do it?

After figuring out that it wasn't that bad a deal to get stopped, both JR and Harv go "Round Robin" for seven consecutive passes, each time getting quicker and faster down the track. Harv has had enough and put's the "Bagger" away for the night. JR still wants to go faster so he's out on the track racin' the cars that showed up for a "Gamblers Race". JR never loses a round to any of the cars that he races and has a great evening getting his 20 bucks worth.

Both Harv and JR are having difficulties getting a GREEN light at the tree. Most of the time their reaction times were too quick and went RED. The excitement and thrill of being on the track has most riders on the very edge of performance and actually exceed what they thought to be possible.

Saturday Qualifying

Round 1- 9.828 seconds at 138.14 mph

Round 2- 9.840 seconds at 135.62 mph

Round 3- 9.837 seconds at 134.56 mph

Super Gas (9.70 index)

Round 1- 9.829 seconds at 137.17 mph

Round 2- 9.932 seconds at 133.82 mph

Round 3- 9.774 seconds at 136.65 mph

Round 1- (-.024 R/T) 13.365 seconds at 99.09 mph

Round 2- (.063 R/T) 13.429 seconds at 97.40 mph

Round 3- (.040 R/T) 13.529 seconds at 99.91 mph

Round 1- (-.012 R/T) 12.001 seconds at 113.75 mph

Round 2- (-.033 R/T) 12.051 seconds at 114.27 mph

Round 3- (.194 R/T) 11.885 seconds at 115.31 mph

The "Heat and Humidity" in Kansas was "Horrible" to say the least. Temperatures on the track exceeded 150 degrees. Harv has learned that each rider must endure this heat while trying to stay hydrated by drinking water continuously throughout the day. Our team alone consumed 5 cases of water, 4 cases of Gatorade and 2 cases of beer in just two days/three nights at the track.

The routine went something like this; 1) wait as long as possible after they call you to the staging lanes, 2) put on a dry T-shirt and underwear, 3) grab your leathers, gloves and helmet and set off to the lanes 4) put all your stuff on and hope like heck there's no problems on the track forcing you to wait longer than you have to, 5) make your pass, 6) grab your ticket at the ticket booth and head back to the pits as quickly as possible so you can get out of those "WET" and "HOT" clothes 7) Drink, Drink and Drink more water all the time never once having to go to the bathroom to relieve yourself? 

Sunday Eliminations

Round #1

ET, Harvs down the track first up against bike #441. Harv dialed in a 13.45 while bike #441 dialed in a 10.50. Harv gets a GREEN light with a .013 R/T and starts shifting the gears on Marla's Bagger making sure to hit his 5,000rpm shift point. Harv finally got the bike into 4th gear and decided to look right for his competitor when all of a sudden that bike blew by like Harv was sitting still. Harv just knew the race was over but later found out his competitor went RED at the tree giving Harv is very first round win. Thanks bike #441 for the RED light cause Harv knows he didn't deserve that win. Harv ran a 13.768 against his 13.45 dial in?

ET, JR is up next and he's staging beside bike #186. JR dialed in a 12.00 while bike #186 dials in at 11.60. JR gets a GREEN light with a .205 R/T and heads down the track shifting that V-Rod like it got a Pingel Electric shift kit. Bike 186 goes GREEN with a .066 R/T and takes out chasing JR down right at the line to take the win. JR ran a 12.123 while his competitor ran a 11.672

Super Gas (9.70 index), Danny is against bike #666,Chris Hoppe. Danny cuts a really good light .039 while Chris cuts a .161 light. Danny has Chris by two tenths at the 330 foot mark, 3 tenths at the 1/8 mile and has to shut it down by the 1000 footer to keep from breaking out of the 9.70 index to take the win. Danny's numbers were 10.460 verses Chris with a 10.387 (that's what you call a "Hole Shot" win).

Destroyer, Danny is up against bike #6, Brain MacAlister. Brian was the "Number One" qualifier for this event so Danny has is work cut out for him if he's to win this round. When the lights turn green, Danny's out first with a .054 light verses Brian's .087 but Danny's back tire started spinning off the line and looses 4-hundredths at the 60-foot. The race is pretty much over by that point and Brain takes the win with a 9.644 verses Danny's 9.907

Round #2 (JR has to sit this one out)  

ET, As Harv approaches the staging beams, JR comes over and stops the race asking Harv if he dialed in what was posted (14.70) Heck NO! Harv dialed in a 13.70. JR goes over to the starting line attendant and get the problems fixed.

 Harvs really, really nervous now! The whole family down at the lanes routing for ya, pats on the back and all the GOOD advise really puts the pressure on the "ole man". Too much stuff to remember; Don't RED light, hit your shift points, watch for competitor coming down beside you, keep it straight, stay in your lane, brake nice and easy to get it slowed down for the turn off. OH BOY this stuff is FUN!

Back to racin'. Harv cuts a GREEN light with a .153 and "Rips" through the gears as quickly as possible. Once he gets in into 4th gear he looks right and finds his competitor back a bit and starts backing out of the throttle crossing the finish line first. Harvs all excited but is short lived when he finds out he went "Too Quick" and broke out of the index losing the round.

Super Gas (9.70 index), Danny is against bike #42,Donnie Huffman. Danny cuts another good light .098 while Donnie cuts one better .077. Danny is losing the race from the very beginning as the two bikes head down the track. Donnie is a Pro at this and has been National Champion for several years in several different classes. The man knows what he is doing and we're going to have to change our game plan to compete against guys like Donnie. Donnie runs a 9.762 verses Danny's 9.873.

Additional News

"Creating Memories, One Race at a Time" is what we set out to do and I believe we accomplished this one for sure. The heat and humidity did not stop our team from enjoying our time together while racing our Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

The team wishes to thank all those that elected to place their name on the Pro Gas bike supporting our efforts this year. We also thank this year's sponsors, Durango Harley Davidson, JOY Mining Machinery, Pillar Innovations and Planet Beach Spa's of Rio Rancho.

Parts for the Pro Gas bike are in the mail!!! The original plan was for us to pick up the parts for the Pro Gas bike while in Kansas City. The person that was supposed to bring the parts got sick and did not attend the event. Larry from Eagle Harley called to inform the team that he mailed the parts out on Monday. The team is very excited to get this bike back together and out on the track.

Next Race, Woodburn, OR, August 28th and 29th.

Four Corners Drag Racing Association (FCDRA)

Our team is in support of the FCDRA and their efforts to build a dragstrip in San Juan County. Between the AHDRA drag racing events, the team has loaded up the bikes an attended the many car shows throughout the Four Corners area to increase the publics awareness of our sport. The FCDRA is making progress and our team looks forward to helping the organization build a program that will increase the public safety by reducing "Street Racing" on the State and County roads. FCDRA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all donations will be greatly appriciated.

With the bike nearing completion it was time for some test runs. Firebird International in Phoenix would be the nearest facility with track conditions our team would trust to breakin the new bike. However, the weather in Phoenix is not the best for record breaking passes. Air temperatures above 120 and track temperatures exceeded 137 during the second day of testing stop us short with only one pass down the track. But, that's all we needed to prove that the bike is capable of "Running in the 8's".

July 10th,

Danny's first pass was "Nice'n'Easy" staying out of the boost while checking out the transmission. The team simply wanted to know if the bike would shift going down the track.

On the second pass, Danny performed his burnout, but didn't launch the bike off the line. He went down the track testing the motor on boost and shuts it down at the 1/8th mile. The motor developed good power as the 10-inch tire let loose shortly after launch and the next two shifts. The pass in the nines' and the speed above 125mph.

On the third pass, Danny launches the bike off the line and shuts it down at the 1,000 foot mark. The two step was set on the low side for this launch just so Danny could get a feel for how the bike reacted off the line. This pass again in the nines' but the speed above 135mph

July 11th,

"Man it gets HOT in Phoenix"

The team was exhausted from heat but decided to make one final pass before heading home. JR ups the "Launch Box" 500rpms and stages his brother for one final pass. This time, Danny will make his first full quarter mile  pass. Once again the big 10-inch tire lets loose at the launch and the next two shifts but that didn't stop him from achieving another milestone in his career, his first 8-second pass.

"The Project"

Mike Shultz Chassis
During the AHDRA event in Virginia 2008, the team met up with Mike Shultz who agreed to build us a chassis. Mike Shultz designed this light-weight chassis around our 2003 v-rod motor. The only request we made to Mike was it must resemble a V-Rod and comply with all the Pro Gas rules as specified in the AHDRA rulebook. Mike began work in November of 2008 while communicating with the team on a regular basis providing pictures and information about the project. The Mike Shultz chassis design runs "Straight and True" down the track as Danny claims it to handle better than the Destroyer.


Larry Edmondson & Eagle Harley 
Although the motor had the Trask Performance turbo mounted it was thought that additional power was required. A phone call to Eagle Harley and Larry Edmondson started that process. Larry and the folks at Eagle increased the cubic inches while installing all the right parts for a turbo charged motor on a "Fat Tire" bike. The teams only request was to build a "Reliable Motor" that could achieve the horsepower required to run 8-seconds. The horsepower is there but only time will tell about how reliable the motor will be.

Har V-Rod LLC.
Putting all the pieces together was performed primarily by us. Mounting the motor to the frame was easy as per the design by Mike Shultz. After mounting the turbo, radiator, front fenders, electric shifter system and all the electrical wiring we found that we needed additional help with some of the systems. 

Trask Performance
Nick and the guys at Trask Performance assisted with re-designing and constructing the "Headers" and "Waste Gate" for the turbo. The new shape and design of the chassis would not allow the turbo to be mounted as per stock design. After a week in their shop, Nick and the guys found solutions to all of our problems relating to the turbo.

Pillar Innovations
Fred Johnson at Pillar Innovations has a fabrication facility close to home. Fred agreed to help with some minor fabrication of components to complete the project. Pillar Innovations assisted with designing and building a chain guard to keep the rider's foot out of the chain as well as additional support member on the back of the motor.

Special Thanks to our Sponsors;

Durango Harley Davidson
Joy Mining Machinery
Pillar Innovations
Planet Beach of Rio Rancho
NOS Energy Drink
Border States Electric

Har V-Rod Racing attended the annual "Breakfast at Border States" event displaying the V-Rod Destroyer and the new "8-Second V-Rod" still under construction. Each year Greg from Border States recognizes their loyal customers by providing the opportunity for them to stop by, meet their staff and have some breakfast. Border States of Farmington, New Mexico provides electrical supply solutions to the four corners area. Residential or Industrial, Border States has what you need for a professional installation.  

Woodburn, OR August 23rd and 24th

Danny puts the Super Sport, Turbo charged V-Rod in the Winners Circle for the second time this year. This final West Coast event was very important to the team as Danny races to hold on to the West Coast points lead in two of the four classes that he competes in. At the end of the event, Danny earns the West Coast Championship in Super Sport as well as the Destroyer class.