I had been riding fuel bikes for years... had my pilots card for AMRA and HDRMA... But I was riding for another guy who owned the bikes. No cash, no trophies, just the thrill of winning, which I occasionally did. I watched the mechanic who worked on the owners bikes meticulously between heats until I though I was smart enough to build my own big block. I figured I'd build my own bike and get the money and the trophys for myself. Guess what... uh uh. 12 grand on parts for a motor that were useless about 2 seconds after I fired it up.
Shortly after that I went down at 160 MPH on a brand new squirrely slick on one of his bikes. I was slinging my hips left and right trying to keep it up, but that damn slick was not cooperating. The faster I got, the more it jerked around. Finally she beat me, and the bike went down. I hit the asphalt fine, right on my ass and went into a slide instead of a tumble, which my leathers protected my flesh from. I just sort of laid back and figured I'd ride it out until I stopped. All looked good until the bike started spinning and the wheelie bar smacked me in the back of the head and broke my C2 and C3 vertabrae. That pretty much ended my desire for drag racing fuel bikes.