1. 104 September 2002
Full Stocking Dealer for Spyderco Knives and Other Manufacturers
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235 Route 46,
Fairfield, NJ 07004
’02 Husky (mirror silver)
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by Shadow
MAXTON, N.C., MAY 25–26—
“Hold on!” This brief exclamation
summarizes Jim Snyder’s riding tech-
nique for his virgin race on Roadkill,
the Sportster that took the Land Speed
Record in the Altered 2000cc Pushrod
(A/PF-2000/4) class at Maxton, North
Carolina, this past Memorial Day
weekend. “After racing the smaller-
engine standard Sportsters,” said
Jim, “I developed a technique about
riding positions, shift points, subtle
nuances about body placement to
minimize drag and squeeze the most
out of ’em. But after riding Roadkill,
my technique can be summed up in
two short words. Hold on! That’s it.
No subtle anything. This bike is fast.
Scary fast!”
Prior to Snyder’s wild ride at
176 mph, George Crim, one of the
owners and riders of #4007 Roadkill,
pushed the 1650cc Sportster to a
record 180.025, an incredible feat for
a bike that established her speed cre-
dentials less than a year ago at
September’s World of Speed on
the Bonneville Salt Flats. This new
record allowed the Sportster List Race
Team to capture the top point rank-
ing at Maxton. The season began
with Roadkill ranked at #7 in March.
The Team coaxed her up to a #4
ranking at the April meet, and #4007
is well on her way to ending the
Maxton racing season in the overall
top point position.
Crim has always had the “need for
speed,” but as he explained, his father
prohibited him from getting involved in
any type of racing activity throughout
his youth. This helps explain some of
the motive behind his drive to achieve
higher speeds and break more records.
It all began when a Moto Guzzi
took the 1000cc Production Frame/
Production Pushrod (P/PP) Land Speed
Record away from a Sportster at the
Bonneville Salt Flats World of Speed in
October, 1999. Crim posted this query
to a Sportster-focused Internet e-mail
list: “Are we gonna let them get away
with this shit?” That was all it took
to spark an interest in reclaiming the
record on behalf of the Sportster List
members’beloved Sportsters.
The Sportster List Team and
Yahoo! Sportster Owner’s Club togeth-
er began to raise money for this racing
effort. The first bike the Sportster List
Team built was Nola, a 1983 XR1000,
owned by Gene Brauninger and piloted
by Timbo Horton and Ray Kimbro.
Modified by Lone Eagle Motor Co. of
Conyers, Georgia, Nola seemed to have
a black cloud following her around.
Though the XR1000 was the hot rod
Harley of its day, XR1000s aren’t
well suited for the constraints of the
Production class of racing. Nola ate a
lot of pistons but achieved no records.
After her second trip to the Salt Flats in
2001, she was retired.
Inspired by the competition, Dale
Amsden of Springfield, Ohio, decided
to build his own 1000cc production
racer with help from HeadQuarters
Heads for cams and Nallin Racing
Head Service. This bike, dubbed the
Mystery Evo, a 2001 standard 883
Hugger model specially constructed to
995ccs, crushed the 137.9 mph Moto
Guzzi record at the October 2001
World of Speed with a two-way aver-
age speed of 143.079. The most
amazing thing about the Mystery
Evo, however, may be the fact that
its owner, Dale’s wife Tami, rides it as
a street bike in between races!
George Crim of Wintersville, Ohio,
and Art Northrup of Terrell, North
Carolina, built a third bike named
Neon Don wrenching Destiny in the pits
SPORTSTER LIST RACE TEAM AT MAXTON
Surfing for speed
Information highway spawns new breed of racers
See “Sportster,” page 108, column 1