NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

On the surface, 15 pounds may not seem like a lot of weight, but for a Pro Stock Motorcycle, it’s a heavy load to carry. That’s the dilemma that many NHRA two-wheel teams are currently working with after a recent rules revision added ballast to some of the most popular engine combinations in the class.

For the RevZilla Vance & Hines team, with riders Gaige Herrera and Richard Gadson, the challenge has been adjusting to a new regulation that has moved their bikes from 645 pounds to 660.

“The problem is you don’t just throw some extra weight on the bike and go racing. It changes everything,” said four-time world champ and current Vance & Hines crew chief Eddie Krawiec. “We’ve been here before and we have an understanding of what we need to do, but we still don’t have it just right.”

Following the most recent NHRA event in Sonoma in late July, the Vance & Hines team tested at the new weight. Some of the adjustments they made include moving the weight around on the bike, adjusting wheeie bar hight, gearing, and even engine tuning.

The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Buell entries were also subject to an additional weight adjustment of 10 and 15 pounds, respectively, so it’s not just the V&H bikes that are making adjustments.

“The time slip tells us what we need to know,” said Krawiec. “This is a racer for consistency and the goal is to stay ahead of the track. Its not just a matter of figuring out the weight, we’ve got to be able to tune the bike under all conditions. For example, we’ve had more gearing than we’ve ever had, and the bike still falls off in second gear.”

At the Toyota U.S. Nationals, Herrera and Gadson struggled a bit during their first three runs on Friday and Saturday, but made significant improvements on Saturday. Herrera grabbed the top spot with a 6.809 while Gadson isn’t far behind with a fourth-best 6.839.

Those results aren’t typical for the sport’s most successful Pro Stock Motorcycle team, especially for Herrera who has won six of the first eight races this season and has a commanding lead in the Mission Foods standings.

“The last run [Q4] was a big improvement for both of our bikes so we’re gaining on it,” Krawiec said. “It’s a struggle right now just trying to move that much mass in every condition.”