I don't want to hijack this thread, and won't.... but I do want to say one thing about the Harley/4-cylinder bike issue that has always bothered me. It's no big thing, but has been a pet peeve of mine since the Harleys started running in PSB. It's not actually about the racing; the racing is fine. It's about the announcing, and what they DON'T say...
To wit: Drag racing has ALWAYS been about "specific output." That's just another way of saying "horsepower-per-cubic-inch." Since day-1... That's why we have classes, like A, B, C, D.... et al....
Along comes some marketing type who thinks that NHRA is missing a good bet by not including Harleys in its Pro Stock Bike program, so they decide to let them run. Good idea; most people love 'em! Nothing else sounds like a HOG...
One engineering rule-of-thumb that is universally-accepted as being valid is, for any given displacement, the more cylinders an engine has, the more power potential it has, everything else being equal.
They were aware of that in the Ivory Tower in Glandora, so they formulated rules that would handicap the multi-cylinder bikes in their competition with Harleys by assigning less weight-per-cubic inch to the 2-cylinder bikes, from the outset, to level the playing field.
No problem; fair is fair.
My beef is with the announcers who as far as I know, have NEVER pointed out to the listening public (I'm talking about TV, here) that those two bikes on the starting line, one V-Rod, (for instance,) and one Suzuki, are as different as night and day, in regards to how much work their engines are about to do, on a per-cubic-inch basis.
I DON'T expect Mike Dunn to go into a technical discussion about the vagaries of multi-cylinder engines' cylinder-filling vs. the 2-cylinder motors'... not at all. BUT, it sure would be nice to hear him say something like, "Well in this final, one bike will be running about 18,000 rpm, while the other will be turning more like 10,000 (or, however tight they turn those big-cylinder motors in the V-Rod-type motors), and the high-winding Japanese motors have to pull X-number of pounds of bike and driver weight per cubic inch, while the slower-turning, 2-cylinder Harley-style motors only have to pull X-minus whatever the number... a decidedly lesser amount, to maintain parity."
To simply explain that a Harley-style motor is not capable of producing power on the same level as a high-winding 4-cylinder bike is certainly NOT an insult; It's just a part of the educational process that I feel SHOULD be included in the race announcing. The fans need to know, I think. Otherwise, it looks like a Harley-style motor is capable of the same specific output as a Suzuki/Kawasaki, or whatever.... and that's just not true. But, if nothing is said, it LOOKS true, because they win a lot, and that's okay.
I would bet my last dollar that Mike Dunn is fully aware of all this, but I'm almost as sure that NHRA doesn't WANT he public to know the facts behind that 2-cyl. vs. 4-cyl. relationship because they'd prefer the PR glitz of championing an AMERICAN bike... with no ancillary information that it had to enjoy a "handicap" of the other bike, in order for it to win.
Now, I'm just as patriotic/nationalistic as the next guy (Army veteran, etc.), but facts is facts....
I think it sucks. People (fans) need to know what's going on. Drag racing is, if nothing else, a technical sport, and the "meat" of it is lost, if you ignore the pertinent details, which is what these announcers have been doing, as far as I've been able to tell.
The Harley fan base that is enthusiastic about this racing wouldn't be offended, or affected, at all by a little honesty from the announcing booth.
It sure would make ME feel a lot better, to have that part of PSB racing explained in a very simple, no "tech-obfuscation" way. Or, have I missed this in broadcasts? I don't watch all of the series on TV, but what I have watched (maybe 75-percent of the races), I've never heard a peep about this. Have you?
If I am mistaken about this, please, somebody, set me straight. I don't want to go on with the wrong idea...
Harleys are so cool.... and I wouldn't change the "handicap" program as it stands, because they seem pretty well-matched to me. It works.!
Thanks for listening. Now, back to the 4-valve/transmission issue...
Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
