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/128149
Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson V-Rod Screamln' for vengeance: WIth the help of Vance & Hines and rider G.T. Tonglet, Harley is Investing serious bank Into Its NHRA Pro Stock Bike program In the hope of producing a winner. By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY HARLEy-DAVIDSON AND ROUSSEAU eated inside the Screamirr' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson semi trailer on Friday afternoon in Gainesville, Florida, elbows resting on his knees almost like a re-creation of the famous Thinking Man sculpture, Terry Vance ponders the question of the moment before answering it. "I'll tell you what," Vance then says, "if this goes the way that we hope it will, this could be the most significant thing that we have ever done in the sport of drag racing." It's a heady response, if only because it comes from one half of a team that has a reputation for doing significant things in the sport of drag racing. But this challenge - to not only develop a Harley-Davidson Vtwin-powered Pro Stock motorcycle, but also to win with it - may be the most monumental undertaking that Vance and his partner, the legendary engine tuner Byron Hines, have ever signed on to complete. The assignment carries its risks, not the least of which is a small portion of the Vance & Hines legacy. With only a few weeks worth of development time on a motorcycle that hardly anyone knew would come to exist six months ago, the team has trucked the all-new factory-backed V-Rod Pro Stocker to the opening round of the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. It's the first of 14 stops for the bike racers, but come S 14 APRIL 10, 2002' II: U II: I • sundown on Saturday, it could also be the end of a long line for Vance & Hines. It's like this: In 25 years of racing as a team, Vance & Hines has never failed to qualify at an NHRA national event. Never. Not once. That said, coming to Gainesville with only minimal testing on the V-Rod is a huge gamble. It is, however, one that the n e _ • "Cross your fingers-: Vane (rlght) and Hines Petti have dominated the Pro Stock category for over two decades, and had not failed to qualify for an NHRA National since 1977. team is willing to take because of the potential enormity of the payoff. Bringing the bike to the line for the first of two qualifying attempts on Friday starts the dice rolling. Team rider G.T. Tonglet stages the machine, then dumps the clutch and nails the gas, reacting to the amber bulbs on the fabled Christmas Tree. It's a clean start, and Tonglet flogs the V-Rod for the entire length of the quarter mile, clicking off a time of 7.70 seconds at 162.85 mph. While that's not bad for what is essentially a shakedown run, the team knows that with the track and weather conditions being as good as they're likely to be all weekend, it is behind the eight ball already. This is confirmed as the session ends with Tonglet and the V-Rod holding down the 22nd-fastest time - well'short of the 16-rider bump time of 7.49. Still, they are optimistic. If anyone can pull it off, Terry Vance and Byron Hines can. The pair has been making things happen almost since the day they met. Vance was fresh out of high school, Hines fresh out of the U.S. Army. The two youngsters developed a friendship that carried through their days a'!; employees for Top Fuel motorcycle pioneer Russ Collins' R.C. Engineering concern, through their early years (when they were more likely to be hailed as "Who & Who?"), through some 14 professional motorcycle drag racing titles (Vance spits out that number and then wams that it should be taken with a grain of salt), and into a multi-million dollar aftermarket equipment empire that employs some 300 people. Pick any drag racing circle, and the names Vance & Hines are held in as high regard as Don "Big Daddy" Garlits, "Snake" Prudhomme or John Force. Back at the team truck, some of those legends have already stopped by to take a look at the new Screamin' Eagle V-Rod. "Force, Prudhomme, a lot of those guys have been over here to look at it: Vance says. "If you have ever put a tool to a machine, then this is interesting to you." That's a hard point to argue, as the bike is like no other Harley-powered Pro Stocker ever to hit the track. Built from the ground up to take full advantage of the 160 cubic-inch displacement allowance for pushrodactuated V-twins, the Screamin' Eagle V-Rod is a rather beautiful testament to Hines' ingenuity. Housed in a chassis and bodywork that do a better job than most at convincing the beholder that this is in fact a VRod than most of the competition does with their slippery shapes, its appointments are Visually striking. Unlike that of the competition, the motor - a huge hunk of billet that Hines has meticulously fashioned into a motor - looks like something straight out of Terminator 2. The design, which features radically different cylinder heads, and fuel-injection - a first in NHRA Pro Stock racing - is all his own. It's a gorgeous,