CN III ARCHIVES
P96
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
IRON MAN STAN
I
n the old days bolt-on speed goodies were rare. Riders who wanted to go fast had to improvise. And if
you wanted to go really fast, like Stan Dishong did,
you'd spend hours upon endless hours working on
building parts to maximize the output of the motors
you were working on.
In the 1950s Dishong was one of the top engine
builders in the country. His unique solutions to engineering problems led to some of the most powerful
motorcycles of his era. Those bikes blistered the drag
strips and dry lakes and set numerous records along
the way. Perhaps Stan's most famous creation was a
1964 Harley-Davidson Panhead drag bike he named
"The Hog," one of the most famous machines of the
post-World War II explosion of drag racing in Southern California.
Born on September 9, 1927 in Hamburg, Iowa,
Dishong grew up around horse racing during the depression years. His first powered two-wheeler was a
homemade motor scooter he'd traded his bicycle for
when he was 14.
"I pushed it more than I rode it," he said.
He got his first "real" motorcycle when he was 17
- a 1938 Harley Knucklehead. Not being used to the
power of the big bike, it got away from him the first
time he rode it.
(Left) Stan Dishong and his Indian Scout.
(Right) Dishong and the 1964 Harley-Davidson
Panhead drag bike he named "The Hog."
"Knocked me kind of goofy," is how he put it. This
was during World War II and parts were scarce. It
took Stan three months to gather what he needed
to get the Harley running.
At 17 Stan began racing flat track, but the restrictive rules of Class C racing didn't give Dishong the
leeway he wanted to modify his motors. Speed Trials on the dry lakes of Muroc and Rosamond and
drag racing could more properly utilize Dishong's
burgeoning skills as an engine builder.
While watching another rider run through the
clocks at Mojave, Stan commented with amazement, "He's shutting off before the clocks!" His
exclamation was overheard by Bus Schaller, who'd
brought the bike to Mojave to test out a new engine
he'd installed. It turned out the bike Stan had been
watching was the Harley streamliner Joe Petrali had
set the world record on back in 1938. It was on loan
to Schaller from the Harley factory. Schaller said to
Dishong, "Do you think you can do any better?" He
gave Stan a chance to take it through the clocks.
When Stan proved brave enough to not shut down
