1980 A Lesson to be learned - Ernie Rife's Top Fueler loses its front end at Indy

The bike veered and hit a guardrail at 150 mph. Was this tragedy avoidable?

Drag racing is a dangerous business. Deadly dangerous. Only recently a dragger died at the NHRA National Drags at Indianapolis. Ernie Rife was killed when, just after passing through the lights at 180.36 mph, his Kawasaki went into a wobble so fierce that, as you see in this dramatic photo, the front wheel broke completely off the machine. Why the fatal accident occurred is still being investigated, but it is reported Rife had hit a chuckhole at a race the week before Indy just after he crossed the finish line, and that as a result the front fork was leaking oil and may have been cracked when he wheeled his bike to the line...

1980 January Motorcyclist Motorcycle Magazine Back-Issue available at www.DadsVintageAds.com

1975 Marion Owens and Carl Ahlfeldt bagged Top Fuel

1975 Doing the Monster Glide Mash Top Fuel Motorcycle Drag Racing 2Pg Article available at www.DadsVintageAds.com

Amidst the disarray of their competitors, Marion Owens and Carl Ahlfeldt calmly bagged top fuel.

Photos:

1. The Top Fueler of Carl Ahlfeldt and Marion Owens is the largest displacement dragster in the history of nitromethane....

2. And here's the run that was under Joe Smith's National ET record. Putting down a rear footprint about 18" long and maybe 12" wide, Owens legs the Monster-Glide off the line on the way to an ET of 8.14, seven hundredths quicker than the record. And no smoke!

3. If road racing is racing on a road, this TZ-700 Yamaha is right at home...

4. Arch rivals Mike Bruso and Eraldo Feracci go at it in Junior Eliminator, semi-final round. Bruso won, and won the final with his broad-bore Kawasaki.

5. Former Top Gas star Ron Fringer switched to Super Eliminator a couple of years ago. His 1189cc Sportster now holds both ends of his class record.

6. Bob Carpenter, here cleaning his tire before an eliminations round, won Pro Stock with his 800cc H2 Kawasaki and set a new record of 10.00.

7. T.C. Christenson and his Hog-slayer Norton double...








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