I have SOME FRIENDS. ( really ) One of them is my Friend ,Pal, Buddy, Chum, Comrade, called
"HARRY THE HAT " And his crazy wife "Mel from Hell" Alexander.
HARRY OWNS a MACHINE SHOP, AR TOOLING in Enola , Pa
besides being a full service machine shop, THEY specialize in RACING GOODIES.
for the racer who just can't find it in a catalog.
SO NOW to the story.
NOTE TO THE READER You really need to take a day and go to your Local DRAG STRIP , to watch some
racers do their thing , DRAG RACING IS an ART FORM of expression.. AS WELL AS "THE BEST
SPECTATOR SPORT ON EARTH".. TAKE the family, bring EAR PLUGS , and enjoy the SPECTICKLE
SOOO When a DRAG BIKE "LAUNCHES" at the start of the race, that means it is accelerating with all the
power it has, Which creates a SURGE of "G" forces on the driver, BASICALLY that force is trying to throw
the driver off the back of the bike. The bike is trying to go up onto it's back wheel and flip over backwards
because of all that POWER...
TO PREVENT THIS. Racers have come up with a set of BARS that extend from the back of the bike , they
have little skate board wheels on them to keep the bike down and going straight.. 'CAUSE for the front
wheel is almost never touching the ground for a few hundred feet of the race... SO there is NO STEERING,
but a "LEANING" action BY the driver will cause the bike to sway right or left.
.
IF you watch a race on TV you will notice that all the BIKES have a "vertical area" to the seat, right behind the
Drivers Butt. This is not for "LOOKS " People, THIS helps to hold the driver on the bike as his whole body is
trying to "SLIDE off the bike under the "G" forces, as the bike accelerates. NOW that should be enough
information....
SO Harry is telling me the STORY , ONE part of DRAG RACING that is most important is to convey to all
your friends any and all the details of each race. Especially if something went wrong, or you won,
I run into HARRY somewhere through the week and he says ;
"MAN you shoulda seen this, WE were at Rockingham, and I was winning and then on this run ALL OF A
SUDDEN "The BIKE is trying to kill me" and I"M hanging off the back because it is so voilently all over the
track." NOW before that run I had prayed and told GOD to hang on , like always, but this time ALL HELL
BREAKS LOOSE !
Then Harry says; "When I get back to the "PITS some guy walks and tells me that my wheelie bars had
broken , ! WEll THAT IS NOT GOOD.... "
"That's WHY it almost KILLED ME" SO GOD must have been LOOKIN' after me". after all..
I tell Harry ;"Well OF Course he was" GOD always LOOKS AFTER US".
"BUt this time he must have fallen off the back of the bike and landed on the Wheelie Bars ! ".
Then if my memory serves me right ( which it probably don't Harry's version may be completely a different
WRECK-O-LECTION of the conversation).
Then Harry says ;" Well what we gonna do about that?"
I relpy ;"WEll I guess I gotta paint a seat belt on that fender, It's a DRAG BIKE we can't add a seat "
"I"ll have to PAINT ON A SEAT BELT for GOD ",
HOW TO STRIPE ANY THING WITH RED TAPE
NOW LOOK at the pic of the RED STRIPED . CLICK IT to enlarge it
Well this was done with Plastic stripping tape. "FINE LINE IS THE BRAND , available in
most any auto store for about $7 big bucks a roll
"PRESTON and I had a argument about what ya could and couldn't do with
that RED STRIPPING TAPE By the way it comes in many colors.
PRESTON gave me a raft about how you can't do flames with it .
WELL he is a TRUCK PAINTER. (which would explain it if trucks were ugly).
SO one day I sit down with the bike and just "GO TO TOWN" on a roll of
tape. BUT YOU SAY WHAT IS THE TRICK?
Well because it is soft and flexible you can turn it around the corners, but
the TRICK is that while you are laying down the tape you use your finger to
rub on the tape to make it a "TAD WARM" so it will soften up even more.
It has a very good ADHESIVE on it, so once you have made it do what your
happy with go over it.
If you want to change your design it will lift off easy, and can be repositioned.
but once it has set some you may as well leave it.
SO first I did some stripes with the 1/8" in a flame pattern.
Doin' the smallest curves was an "PROTOTYPICAL" experiment to see
just how tight of a turn I could get. (something Preston would have been
"CHICKEN "to try) BAAK BAAAK BAALK CLUCK CLUCK
Then I just repeated the EXPERIMENT with the 1/4" tape.
Next step is just go over all that tape again and RUB IT DOWN GOOD to keep
it warm while the ADHESIVE begins to set.
This will give you a great sharp line, that can be clear coated over, and will
last for years.
BUT THE REAL TRICK IS THIS
Be more willing to challenge your self than your buddy is. If you know his
limitations , and Yer a WACKO like me, it's jus' all about goin' a lil' EXTRAAA.
Next time Preston showed up he was still tellin' us,
"You can't do that with "Fine line" tape" .
I also did the rest of the bike, and Harry's racing helmet, and they still look
good about 7 years later....
IF you want to do some "CUSTOMIZING" on your BIKE or ROD
or WHATEVER IT IS , and you can't afford a "PINSTRIPPER" or A TRICK
CUSTOM PAINTER don't let that bother you.
Don't worry about havin' the "Designer logo on it, that's usually just to
please somebody else any way, leave that up to the rich folks who can pay
for the attention.
Because you will feel just as good ,if you can say you did it your self.
Spend some Pocket change, and have some fun with your own ideas on your
project , an' you will be surprised what you can do with some effort.
If you have to spend money to be happy call me i'll help you spend it.
but I got my start by wanting to do my own stuff on my own stuff.
