Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/103458
electric-over-air shifter setup. Gear changes are as simple as banging the button in the space that would normally be reserved for the street V-Rod's left-turn indicator. In fact, all of the street bike's standard DOT electrical equipment has been yanked. In its place is a wiring harness and ECM that includes a programmable, multi-mode shift light - meaning that you can dial in your shift points depending on track conditions - and a programmable two-stage launch box. Both of these can be adjusted on the bike via dials. The ECM is a special racing unit that is designed to work with Harley's Screamin' Eagle Race Tuner, a software program and special interface that matches the ECM for each individual Destroyer - in other words, no sharing. Tuning modifications can be made trackside through a laptop computer. The system uses a base map for the fuel and ignition maps, and each can be adjusted by percentage intervals. Further enhancing the Destroyer's menacing, tough-customer aesthetic is its modified V-Rod derived chassis, although (Below) The Destroyer's 1300cc vtwin utilizes 0 10Smm bore and a 7Smm stroke. Compression ratio is a whopping 14.0: 1, which combined with the open header, makes for a heck af a ruckus when the machine is fired up. character from the movie Back to the Future, "When this baby hits 130 mph, you're gonna see some serious shit." "CONGRATULATIONS. I'M SORRY" Harley-Davidson held its worldwide intro for the Destroyer on the quarter mile at California Speedway in Fontana, California, bringing in the non-American press for day one, and us "Muricans" for day two. While I was expecting that perhaps we would receive instructions on how to ride Harley's new quarter-mile missile from recently crowned NHRA Pro Stock (Left) Centermounted shift light also houses a digital tach, which is hard to read at speed anyway. Just pin it, and shift when the whole thing glaws red. De~s~tro;y~e:r~"";;;;;';;;;;;;;;;;;;-~~_;;;;o;;;;;;~~~~~~~~~~'" Even I¥'rked, the I_ks taugh. Surprisingly, the chassis is not that far removed from a streetgoing V-Rod. Destroyer has a flat torque curve as in flat hauls. Harley claims 97 ft.lbs at 7600 rpm, and you get almost all of it immediately, as launch rpm is 8000. Motorcycle Champion Andrew Hines, that wasn't the case. Instead, Harley recruited former All Harley Drag Racing Association Super Gas Champion Gene Thomason, who now competes in the Top Fuel class, to school us on how to get down the track without killing ourselves. Personally, I was stoked. I have had the opportunity to hang out in Thomason's pit when he has campaigned his Top Fuel bike, and I have also attended one of the numerous motorcycle drag-racing schools that he conducts. I can honestly say that he is an excellent teacher who takes drag-raCing technique and rider safety very seriously. If you are doing any part of the procedure wrong, from burnout, to staging, to launch, to the finish, Thomason will let you know in no uncertain terms, and that's just how he started his lecture with us. "There's a good chance that some of you won't get to ride one of these [Destroyer] bikes today," Thomason told us. "We're not just going to turn you loose on one of these things. You have to prove to me that you are capable of riding competently on a slower bike before you'll be allowed to ride a Destroyer." Thus, we began the day by practicing the techniques that Thomason explained to us during the show-and-tell portion of the session aboard an entire fleet of Harley-Davidson's 2006 street CVO vehicles, including the Screamin' Eagle V-Rod, Screamin' Eagle Fat Boy and Screamin' Eagle Electra Glide touring bike - hey, don't laugh, that drag bagger can scorch the quarter mile to the tune of mid-13s, and that's faster than a stock Ford Mustang. After alternately feeling that I had the technique down and then wondering if I would be good enough to get my chance at the Destroyer, I was pleased when Thomason pUlled me aside and said, "You're ready. You're going to be in the first group," What followed was short dissertation on what to expect with the Destroyer. Our four-man group was then told that the first CYCLE NEWS • DECEMBER 14,2005 23