GT750 Drag Bike

[Herman T]

This is the track where the Hatchet shined a couple of years ago. I'm ready for a repeat. I don't think that I was ever as wound up as I was when you were running that final round. Move aside guys, It's Hatchet Time!!

[water cooled]

The Indy track is great and in the past has been very sticky. Last time there, I planted my feet to stage the bike and actually wondered if I was going to come right out of my boots when I dropped the clutch. It was pretty hot that year and the air-cooled H2's were struggling to keep the motor temps down towards the end while making rounds. Seems like everyone is stepping up their game this year. There are at least two or three new bikes coming out for their debut...

[water cooled]

Here are a couple of pictures before I load the bike into the trailer and head to Indy. I hear there are two more GT750 drag bikes showing up running in the Modified and Altered subclasses...

I shaved another 15 lbs off the bike. Mods include: Alloy head bolts, Offset sprocket, cooling system, jetting and a half-dozen minor repairs. None of them will produce significant reductions in ET but should improve reliability. The cooling system mod was strictly for weight reduction. The bike looks a little meaner and leaner this year.

[old racer]

Hatchet looking good,Realy good,
Nice pipes are they Tr spec,in the pic from the right side they look short and flat,
In the left hand side they look long and narrow like the tr spec,
I see no rad,does that mean no water,I never ran water in my bike.

All the best for the coming season.

[water cooled]

Hi John,

Thanks. The pipes were designed by Doug Flannery and hand made by Dave Derrick. They are truly beautiful but not based on TR designs. They are more modern with some influence from the high performance sleds. No radiator but I do have about 1/2 gal water circulating around via the stock pump.

If its ok with you John, I would like to post a pic or two so the other folks can see you in action!

[water cooled]

Great weekend at Indy although a little on the hot side. My son was not able to pit for me so I thought I would be on my own. Shortly after arriving, Mark Dotson (Drag Racer and current Land Speed Record Holder for 1350 cc) walked up and asked if anyone needed a pit crew for the weekend. I may have hugged him....it all happened pretty fast.

Spent Friday TNT working on the launch. Battery issues all day. Found a Power Sport place and bought a 4 amp and 5 amp. No electric power at the track so had to charge them through the day and night at the hotel. Saturday we concentrated on wheelie bar height adjustment and tire pressure. The bike launches very hard but chatters a little as it climbs out of the hole and we need to smooth that out to lower the 60 ft time.

The bike ended up running consistent and faster than expected.

ET 10.208 at 127.38 MPH
ET 10.238 at 128.33 MPH
ET 10.310 at 120.69 MPH

Knocked almost 3/10ths off my best ET in less desirable weather conditions. Went out in the first round on a RED Light to Gary Connors from Canada. Gary went on to win the Finals against Smokin Joe from Ohio.

[Herman T]

Great times Hatchet!! Absolutely fantastic!!! There's 2 more races and lots of time to test n tune at Thompson with Joe. I'm sure your next 2 races will be even better and that you are very pleased with the way your bike ran in like you said, less than ideal conditions.

[old racer]

Respectable times them Hatchet,You will soon be knocking that 9sec door.

P.S. I don't my the posting of pics,
Brings back some good memories.
Thank,

John.

[water cooled]

Here is the 2nd Round of Eliminations from Sunday's Super Eliminator Race. I was out in the first round on a RED Light so took the opportunity to capture these beautiful bikes and some of the top racers in the country. These bikes, riders and crew teams are exceptional and keep these 2-stroke bikes right on the edge. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbM41_CyMR8

[water cooled]

A couple pics taken by Heather Wilhelm at the Indy races:

[Old School]

Really cool build, any updates?

Any plans on going back to Indy or maybe Muncie?

[water cooled]

Hi John,

Thanks...and yes! I have some updates. I made a decision to run the bike in a different sub-class and will put my goal of getting into the 9's on hold for this one race coming up. Instead, the plan is to chase a different record in order to get a Suzuki GT750 into the record books a little bit quicker. Ive been trying to upload pics of the changes but Photobucket doesnt seem to be working right now so I will have to try in a few days..

If anything, my focus has become sharper and determination....much greater.

[Old School]

Where is this race?

I know a site to host your pics thats easy to use, if you are interested PM me.

[water cooled]

Hi John,

The race is at US-131 in Martin, MI later this month (September 21-23). There are racers coming from other countries to watch this event and one might even participate. Photobucket is up and running so here are a couple pics that I took over the weekend and also one taken during the June race at Indy. Since then, Ive reworked the seat to move the butt-stop forward about 5 inches for a more secure launch, corrected an issue with the cooling system and increased the rad cap relief to 25 psi. I reworked the back-end of the bike quite a bit and will run a DOT tire (Shinko Stealth). Replaced the rear brake torque arm, dropped Mikuni MJs one more size (240) and corrected a switch setting on the MSD program. After each race, I always take the clutch completely apart, measure wear, flatness and stack height and inspect the basket and springs. Most importantly, I remove the clutch hub nut, replace the locking washer and torque back to 40ft-lbs. I also check the timing on each cylinder to see if the triggers have moved slightly or if there is an indication of the crank beginning to twist. The bike might be headed to MI a little early for some fine-tuning and track testing before the S/E event. Hope you enjoy:

[Old School]

Thanks, I'm Dave from Anderson. A new guy to the forum.

There is a NHDRO race at Muncie the 14-16th.