Spike's red-hot Harley out to destroy national record

In just three miles, drag racing has become a zero-to-full throttle addiction for Spike Allen.
The quarter-mile rookie has completed 12 passes on board his Harley Davidson VRXSE Screamin' Eagle Destroyer and is already focused on the split-second improvements which are the essence of drag racing.
The 170-horsepower, 1300cc Harley Davidson represents a steep learning curve for the
Mount Maunganui heavy transport engineer, a longtime motorcyclist whose only competition experience was in the different world of trials bike riding 15 years ago.
"I've only done 12 passes and my best is 10.1secs so far. I'm hopeful of getting into the nines (nine seconds) at Taupo on January 4," says Allen. "I'm trying to get better every time, learning how to shift and pick a good line."
By the end of the season Allen hopes to be running well into the mid-nine second range and getting close to the New Zealand record.
"The hardest thing is getting your head around revving it up to 9000rpm and dropping the clutch.
"After 30 years of riding motorcycles and slipping the clutch it's so totally different. You have to tell yourself it is exactly what the bike was built to do."
Allen first bought the bike as an investment. But not long after he was getting race leathers made, joining the team run by Waikato-Bay of Plenty Harley Davidson dealers Road and Sport Motorcycles and hitting the drag strip.
The VRXSE Destroyer is a "turn-key" production drag bike developed by Harley Davidson from its V-Rod street model.
It has a "stroked" 1300cc vee-twin with high flow cylinder heads and comes race-ready in standard form complete with a "wheelie" bar, shift light and a fat sticky compound slick rear tyre.
There are six of the bikes in New Zealand and in the US the Destroyers are achieving 9.2secs quarter miles at 140mph
(225.3km/h), racing in their own dedicated class.
In fact, the bike is regarded as the fastest accelerating production vehicle  built.
The claim of production status - even though it can't be street registered - has credibility because Harley Davidson built 600 of the drag bike specials in 2006.
At Allen's most recent outing at a Fram Autolite Dragway (Meremere) competition meeting his progress with the bike had levelled out with 10.5secs passes until Harley expert Dave Anderson provided some tips. Allen immediately clocked a 10.1s effort.
With a nine second run now close, Allen is frustrated he can't race again until next week.
That's when the bikes will be a major attraction at Taupo's SummerNationals, with a rare New Zealand appearance by Athol Williams on his 6.1s/238mph nitro-burning Harley.
Pokeno-based Williams is a multiple Australian Top Bike champion. His machine is the
fastest outside of the US and among the top five in the world.
The January 4 meeting at
Taupo International Dragway, the second round of the national championship, also features a strong field of Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer cars.