By PETER JESSUP
Doug Hays has New Zealand's quickest motorbike and describes the action on his 2500cc nitro-powered Harley-Davidson as "like riding a hand grenade".
Worried he won't pass the medical because of a bad back, Hays has passed the riding job to his mechanic Ross Buchanan, who describes the take-off for
the quarter-mile drag strip runs as "like sitting on a railway line and being shunted by a fast-moving freight train".
The pair secured the New Zealand record of 7.9 seconds for the quarter-mile at the Meremere raceway in December and are hoping to bring it in further at the national series meeting there tomorrow.
"We want to set a challenge for someone else and, if no one comes along, then we'll have it for a long time," Hays said of the fastest mark.
They have so far had the bike at only half power, he reckons. The purpose-built racing machine is a Fast Cat model, its V-twin engine capable of producing up to 650 horsepower. But so far it has been pushed to only 500hp in New Zealand.
Hays, who owns motorbike specialists Number 1 Cycles in Morningside, bought the bike from Mississippi racer Barry Monjure, who had to ditch it as part of his divorce settlement.
"It was like his baby. He was nearly in tears when we drove off with it," Hays said. He had seen the machine for sale on an internet site and, when a US-based friend agreed to check it out for him, Monjure produced a 7.5s run.
The bike is capable of 6.9s for the quarter mile, at the end of which it would be hitting 320km/h. Two consecutive runs are required to break a record. Buchanan did 7.9s twice in December, his top speed hitting 240km/h.
"We're shutting it down after one-eighth," Hays said. Part of the reason for that is the learning process. The machine's front wheel barely touches the ground during a run, with only its 12inch back slick on the tarmac. There is no gearbox, the straight drive being controlled by a centrifugal clutch.
The engine, the only New Zealand-based drag machine running on nitro-methane, is built to incredibly fine tolerances. A battery failure in early runs caused the head block to disintegrate, firing bits of metal in all directions. Buchanan wears a bullet-proof vest to protect himself from injury and it proved its worth when a bolt from the head flew into his chest in what would have been an injury incident.
"You need a little bit of insanity to ride it," Hays said. And deep pockets. The Harley is worth around $120,000, costs plenty to maintain and burns around four litres of fuel costing about $200 in each sprint.
Garth Hogan, the last man to run a nitro-methane vehicle here in the 1980s and still a national and Meremere record-holder with rail runs at 5.6s and 255km/h, is part-sponsor.
Tomorrow's meeting is round three of a series where racers qualify for the national championships at Meremere on March 28. The country's fastest machines in top alcohol and door slammer class are expected to compete, with Waiuku's Craig Brown the favourite in the door slammer class with his 1955 Chev. Also on show will be the new "boy racer" class, the pro-imports, including two street-legal cars capable of around 9s runs.
Hays' Harley will be on display at the Kumeu Hot Rod Show on Sunday.
By PETER JESSUP
Doug Hays has New Zealand's quickest motorbike and describes the action on his 2500cc nitro-powered Harley-Davidson as "like riding a hand grenade".
Worried he won't pass the medical because of a bad back, Hays has passed the riding job to his mechanic Ross Buchanan, who describes the take-off for
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