This looks to have all the markings of a really great event. According to Wayne Skinner, the gentleman putting this event together, it will take place at Steel Valley Dragway, Smithfield, Ohio on June 25&26 of this year. Put these dates on your calender if you are a fan of vintage motorcycle drags. Put them in big letters and red ink if you have a vintage drag bike!
The 1/8 mile drag strip is located on an old 4000 foot long airstrip. You know what that means. Plenty of shut down area for those of us running bikes with somewhat less than modern brakes ... always a good thing (the extra shut down - not the antique brakes).
The purpose of this event is to promote vintage drag racing, with vintage being defined as 1972 or earlier. All makes are welcome, in fact encouraged. That is one of the really cool aspects of this event; it will be a true return to what motorcycle drag racing was like in its infancy. Wayne himself is in the process of building a replica of the Triumph drag bike he campaigned in the early '70s. Yeah, guess you could say that we are both on the same page!
For this inaugural event, all years of motorcycles are invited to compete; street, gas and fuel, though the main focus will be on the vintage iron. That means that even if you are still working on your vintage drag bike, you really should come out and run your street bike just to be a part of the action. If your street bike is a Knuckle, Pan, Shovel, Iron Sportster or for that matter a '72 or earlier Jap or Brit, then it already fits the criteria to be one of the stars. After all, street ridden bikes have been a part of the drag racing scene since the very beginning!
Wayne is pretty serious about making the National Vintage Motorcycle Racing Association work. He has been actively pursuing vendors willing to provide some of the hard to come by pieces to make vintage drag racing a reality. He has several frame builders making reproductions of some of the famous drag frames of yesteryear, including Yetman style, Hagon, and of course the Truett & Osborn tanker style. He is also working with a tire company to reproduce an 18x4 slick such as those so popular on drag bikes of the past. And it doesn't stop there. Billet Triumph cases as well as jackshafts for hi gear bikes are also in the works.
Of course all this is really cool, and fun to daydream about, but in order for it to become a reality and not just a one shot event, you need to show up. Nothing puts a damper on an event like this more than a dismal turn out.
For more details such as times and entry forms take a look at their web site National Vintage Motorcycle Drag Racing Association
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