Russ, it is true that Angelle Savoie is what has been called "an unfair
advantage" since she is so skilled, courageous and tiny. I guess they
just can't find anybody else quite like her.
I'm sure you know this handicapping is an old, old game and it makes a
lot of sense from several angles. Those of us who go back into the '50s
and '60s well remember that AMA Class C motorcycle track racing pitted
the 500cc British pushrod singles and twins(virtually all BSAs and
Triumphs) against the Harley 750cc flathead twin KR bike. There were a
lot of reasons:
1. It was convenient because the racers were based on current
production bikes. The various factories could develop them to sell to
credentialed racers in small numbers without much expense or disruption
internally.
2. It allowed the Harley to shine, which truly did have a world of
brilliant development put into it both by the factory and several
outstanding dealer-tuners.
3. The whole American motorcycle movement followed the titanic
struggles with avid interest, and partisan fervor sold both a lot of
Britbikes and Harleys.
The DOHC Norton 500cc racers were allowed to compete in this formula in
the late '40s/early '50s but were then banned as too superior to their
rivals in both speed and reliability. Plus, Norton had no significant
distribution in this country at the time.
The only downside to the Class C Formula of the day was that Harley was
a little bit dominant, since their KR did have a distinct advantage in
torque and top speed, maybe 5 mph, over the pushrod Britbikes. Just the
other day I was talking with one of my friends, a former pro Harley shop
mechanic, who recalls the period well, and he freely admitted that
Harley had a slight advantage. The Britbikes had a top speed of about
125, and the KRs another 5mph plus.
My late friend Roland Pike, who was the BSA Development Engineer from
'52 to '57 and a road-race star in England for years before that, had a
ride on a factory Harley KR at Daytona Beach in the mid-'50s, just for
fun, and he told me the weight, handling and power were fully on a par
with the DOHC 500cc Manx Norton of the day. And that's saying a lot!
But BSA and Triumph were building works specials for selected racers at
the time just like Harley did, that were much better than the production
racers.
Nonetheless, although not perfect, the AMA formula was a success in
several important ways. I expect the Vance & Hines "Harley" will be
successful in the same ways: sell even more Harleys, whip up more
interest in NHRA Pro-Stock bike racing, project more image for V & H,
and help them sell gobs of aftermarket parts for production Harleys.
Cheers Bill
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