|
Chevy V8
Powered Harley
The above picture is Thomas E. Reiser’s Chevy V8 powered motorcycle. The 800 pound
machine has turned the quarter mile, from standing start at a speed of 131.62 miles per
hour with E.T. of 10.53 seconds.
V8 Harley Facts
The Chevy powered Harley was built by Tom Reiser of Columbus, Ohio
in 1961 while employed at the AD Farrow Company (America's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership).
-
The myth you could ride it wide open could have originated at Central High School in the
1960’s.
-
The testing for parachutes was done on Interstate 71 North and South before it was open to
the public. The parachutes were only used once at Atco New Jersey, they didn’t work
and ended up in the rear wheel.
-
There were only four people to ever ride the bike: Tom Reiser, R.C. Johnson, Don Dearman,
and Tom Riley. Three of the four riders wreked the bike: Tom Reiser at Xenia, Don Dearman
at Raven Rock, and R.C. Johnson at Hyde Park.
-
The bike ran an exhibition run for the AHRA at the Pre-nationals at Muncie, Indiana in
1962. In the spring on 1963 the bike was outlawed from all NHRA strips as an unsafe
vehicle.
No one was ever killed on this bike.
|
