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Terry Vance straddles the Vance & Hines Suzuki en route to a 7.02/197 at the U.S. Nationals. Vance pretty much abandoned the fuel bikes by 1985 and played a lead role in the formation and development of the Pro Stock Bike class. (Jeff Burk photo)

NHRA ran Fuel Bike infrequently at the U.S. Nationals up until 1985. One year in the interim between 1980 and 1985, they'd run fuel only, the next they'd run Pro Bike (which later became Pro Stock Bike) or Funny Bike. By mid-decade, NMRA had folded and NHRA's allegiance was only with the Pro Stock-type motorcycles. The reason for that, of course, being that the potential for factory bike-involvement and bigger bucks seemed more likely with a stock-appearing class.

Another part of the reason for the eventual abandonment of fuel bikes in the late 1980s was the fact that they were just going too fast. At an IDBA event, Mark Miller's Kawasaki registered the first six-second run. Racers like the late, great Elmer Trett were running speeds approaching 210- and 215-mph, and the ever conservative and safety conscious NHRA lost interest in them. Those facts and the plain truth that there were few fuel bikes left by 1990 spurred the plug-pulling.

The fact that NHRA had unloaded the fuelers didn't mean that Top Fuel motorcycle didn't run. There are roughly four organizations that are now running or have run the bikes with great success.

Under the "have run" onus would be IDBA, an Alabama-based association which was formed in 1976. The association and its president Tony Lee, (ran Top Fuel Bike through the 1987 season and can lay claim as the backdrop for that first six-second Top Fuel Bike pass when Miller pushed his Kawasaki to a 6.98 at Bristol, Tenn. on Sept. 20, 1986.

AMA ProStar, another Alabama organization, this headed by Keith Kaiser, has run Top Fuel Bike since its birth in 1989. Kaiser's organization runs eight all-bike national events and features Top Fuel at five of them.

"Realistically, we have only six to eight bikes that show at these events," he said. "They're just not that many. You've got the Larry McBrides, Chris Hands and Tony Langs and a handful of other riders in the States still racing them. However, at our World Finals event in November we may have 10 or more because a number of European riders come to compete. They are crowd pleasers and it's not hard to see why ,given that our national record is (Elmer) Trett's 6.06/235."