• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

All Bikes at the Dragstrip

99007

El Dookey loves to ride.
Yee - hah. Closed the store early Saturday and scooted out to US 131 Motorsports park to watch nothin' but bikes, oh and snowmobiles race the quarter mile.
It was great to not have to wait and wait and wait to see some fast bikes. There were no cars racing that day.
Fast? I saw a street legal, pretty much out of the box Hyabusa shoot down the track at 169 mph

It was all bikes:
 

Attachments

  • bikes line up 7.31.04.jpg
    bikes line up 7.31.04.jpg
    76.8 KB · Views: 113
Current bike champ at US 131

Les Lynema is shown here. He has been the overall bike champ at the track for the last 4 years. He doesn't have the fastest bike, but he is a smart racer. He has been drag racing since 1969.

Here he is preparing to blast off on his '81 Kaw 1000.
 

Attachments

  • les burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    les burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    51.7 KB · Views: 112
Last edited:
Doug and Mary Stull

are a husband and wife racing team. Here is Doug in the muscle shirt with leathers next to Mary on her yellow flying machine.
 

Attachments

  • doug and mary small 7.31.04.jpg
    doug and mary small 7.31.04.jpg
    87.1 KB · Views: 110
Burn out

Since my reflexes (and those of my camera) are not so good at shooting targets moving at 120-160 mph, I like to get them at the starting line!
Here is Doug warming his tires.
 

Attachments

  • doug burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    doug burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    64.8 KB · Views: 108
Mary Lights 'em up before take off

Heeeere's Mary:
 

Attachments

  • mary burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    mary burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    75.7 KB · Views: 104
Looking to knock Dad off the podium

This is Mike Lynema on his bike. His goal this season is to take the track champ honors back from his dad. Mike was on top for the '97 and '98 seasons.
 

Attachments

  • mike lynema on the line small 7.31.04.jpg
    mike lynema on the line small 7.31.04.jpg
    51.1 KB · Views: 104
I bet

you guys in Californy don't race these on your dragstrips...
This is Terry Tolan on the line with his '99 Polaris XER. They have the sleds race against the bikes at 131. (I think the sled riders would rather take on the cars.)
Terry puts it down the track at 120 mph or so.
 

Attachments

  • terry tolan prepares to burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    terry tolan prepares to burn out small 7.31.04.jpg
    71.9 KB · Views: 104
Fathers and sons all over

Here is Terry with his son Travis. Travis is looking to take the Snowmobile Safety Course this fall so he can start chasing his dad down the track soon.
 

Attachments

  • terry and travis tolan small 2 7.31.04.jpg
    terry and travis tolan small 2 7.31.04.jpg
    60.9 KB · Views: 101
Snowmobiles look for snow

SInce we didn't have any in July (thank God), they have to use some extra-ordinary things to cool down the sleds.
 

Attachments

  • cooling a sled 2 7.31.04.jpg
    cooling a sled 2 7.31.04.jpg
    87.7 KB · Views: 99
Mike between rounds

It was a great day of racing. No rain. Not too hot and the bikes kept on going and going and going. There was a pretty good selection of bikes in the lot and racing.
No beemers but mine!
I had a great ride home (50 miles of my favorite back roads) in great temp and lighting. By that I mean there was a gorgeous sunset - and we don't get those all the time in Michigan.
Here is Mike Lynema inspecting his ride between rounds:
 

Attachments

  • mike between runs small 7.31.04.jpg
    mike between runs small 7.31.04.jpg
    82.7 KB · Views: 96
All Bikes At The Dragstrip

What do the Snowmobiles run on ..
rubber tracks ? or do they have wheels?
Must be a rough ride at 100+
 
To answer your questions

I don't believe it is a rough ride at all. I am not basing that on a riding experience, but watching them blast down the track the other day it did not seem as if they were getting the stuffing jarred out of themselves.
The tread is a kind of a slick - it is thicker than you might expect and smooth like a slick instead of studded or cleated like you run in the snow. They get a good amount of traction because there is a lot of surface contact area because the treads are three feet long or so. The snowmobiles seem like they get the power to the pavement.
Now that I think about it....I have ridden sleds on ice - just about as hard as pavement! The suspension is very good and the ride is smooth, especially on the new machines.
 
Re: Mike between rounds

Cliffy777 said:
There was a pretty good selection of bikes in the lot and racing.
No beemers but mine!

So, like, how did you place?? We're all hoping you put in a good showing for BMW.

:D
 
No win place or show for the Rockster

Sorry to disappoint, but my visit to the dragstrip was in my capacity of cub reporter for the world famous weekly; The Penasee Globe. I was not there as a racer.
 
Back
Top