four-cylinder engine. On The
Assassin, Collins set drag race
records all over the country.
Innovations abounded on The
Assassin. It had the first dual We-
ber carburetor setup for a mo-
torcycle, and later it was the first
motorcycle to use fuel injection
and a supercharger together. It
was the first Japanese motor-
cycle to use magneto ignition.
It was the first Japanese bike to
run on alcohol and nitromethane
fuels. By 1973, to beat The As-
sassin, other racers were forced
to use double-engine Nortons,
Triumphs and Harley-Davidsons.
Responding to the double-
engine trend, Collins raised the
bar another notch by building the
freakish "Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe," a thundering, three-
engine, nitromethane-burning
Honda. This frightening machine
became the first seven-second
motorcycle in drag racing and
the first Top Fuel bike with a Jap-
anese engine to hold an NHRA
National Record. The "AT&SF"
also became the first motorcycle
to win NHRA's coveted "Best
Engineered Car" award, at the
Springnationals in 1973. Collins'
three-motor monster eventually
ran a best of 7.80/179.5 mph.
But the AT&SF was a harrow-
ing ride, and in 1976 it was de-
stroyed in a horrendous crash at
Akron, Ohio. Collins was nearly
killed, the crash putting him in
the hospital for several weeks
and confining him to a wheel-
chair for several more.
Rather than call it quits, Col-
lins went on to design "Sor-
cerer," his final Top Fuel bike
creation. Built in early 1977 and
later billed as the World's Great-
est Drag Bike, "Sorcerer" was
powered by a pair of 1000cc
Honda fours. This bike won a
second NHRA Best Engineered
Award for RC Engineering.
Blown, injected and running on
90 percent nitro, Sorcerer set a
world motorcycle acceleration
record for the quarter mile of
7.30/199.55 mph, a mark that
stood for 12 years.
In 1980, Collins passed the
200 mph drag bike torch to
younger competitors. Two were
his own employees, Terry Vance
and Byron Hines, who went on
to great success in both NHRA
Top Fuel and Pro Stock Bike
racing, ultimately forming the
world-famous Vance & Hines
aftermarket concern.
Turning his driving and en-
gine tuning talents to dragsters,
Collins made a deal with piston
and rod manufacturer Bill Miller
to drive the Bill Miller Engineer-
ing Top Fuel Dragster in NHRA
competition. In the late '80s
and early '90s, driving the 6000
horsepower, Arias/Chevrolet-
powered top fueler, Collins ran
a best of 5.03/287 mph. He
retired from competition in 1993.
Collins was recognized for
his accomplishments in 1999
when he was inducted into the
American Motorcycle Heritage
Foundation's Motorcycle Hall of
Fame.
Collins passed away in 2014 at
the age of 74.
CN
This Archives edition is re-
printed from issue #21, June
2, 2004. CN has hundreds of
past Archives editions in our
files, too many destined to be
archives themselves. So, to
prevent that from happening, in
the future, we will be revisiting
past Archives articles while still
planning to keep fresh ones
coming down the road. -Editor
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 11 MARCH 16, 2021 P127
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Collins raised the bar
another notch by building the
freakish "Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe," a thundering,
three-engine, nitromethane-
burning Honda.
