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A secret has been kept from
the local dragracing scene, And it has a name....Project V
As the
bone chilling cold of January rang in the new year,
motorcycles and drag racing were far from the minds of most
people. Two of the exceptions were Scott, and Nancy Hutson,
owners/operators of Cycle Connection Harley Davidson/Buell
in Joplin. They had been looking at the trend in area
motorcycle drag racing and were disappointed that
the results rarely included the name so dear to their heart,
Harley Davidson.
They had
the newest addition to the high performance side of
the Harley line, the V-Rod. At the same time Screamin' Eagle
( Harley Davidson's performance parts division) and several
other companies were manufacturing parts to even further
enhance the performance of the sleek new bike. Scott and
Nancy had the bike with the power, but needed a "hired gun"
so to speak. They needed a rider that had experience in the
world of motorcycle bracket racing and a history of being
able to win races. In short they needed a team to put the
"power to the pavement"
Parts
Manager for Cycle Connection , Ian Spencer, was appointed
race coordinator. Job 1 - find a rider that could get the
job done while representing the company well.. After talking
with several track owners, Ian met with Carl Blanton, owner
of Mokan Dragway in SW Missouri. Mr. Blanton recommended
Mike Lewis, of Hiram Motorsports. Mike and Team Hiram had
won the Oreilly Bracket points series riding imports 3 times
and were on their way to a 4th when an explosion literally
destroyed the Pro-street Suzuki motorcycle Lewis was
riding. A huge fire insued and Mike managed to bring it to
an abrupt stop in the grass after the finish line with only
minor injuries. Team Hiram still holds the Mokan track
record for ET and MPH on a motorcycle with no "wheelie
bar". It appeared they would be out of dragracing for at
least the next
season.
Ian
contacted Hiram Motorsports ( consisting of members from the
Joplin Webb City area - Rider- Mike Lewis, Crew chief- Rob
Lewis, and rider support- Morgan Lewis).“When I spoke to
Mike Lewis
for the first time he had said, and I Quote” I have never
ridin a Harley before nor do I care to, but yea I’ll meet
with you” ..... he’s been grinning ear to ear ever since."
After
secretly testing a stock V-rod on a closed track, it was
decided that Lewis would ride the Harley for the 2004
season. Both sides of the partnership agreed the goal for
the 2004 season was to modify the bike with a minimal amount
of parts available from the dealership to get it down the
1/4 mile in as close to 10 seconds as possible, then go
after the O'Reilly points championship the first year out.
The partnership needed a name for the V-Rod project. Project
V was born.
An
agreement was made to keep the entire project a secret to
be unveiled at the Blessing of the Bikes All Motorcycle
dragrace April 25th, at Mokan Dragway , With the date
set, the real work began.
The chief
mechanic for Project V, Joe Shaver from Cycle Connection,
worked with Lewis to get the bike set-up in a way consistent
with his riding style. After months of planning, testing,
getting trailer transports ready, getting a leather safety
suit for Lewis and team uniforms for the crew, making the
necessary engine modifactions, and 100 other things, V-Day
finally arrived. Lewis is quoted as saying, " We want to
make a statement when we get on the track, we want to leave
them in shock when they see what a Harley Davidson V-Rod is
capable of doing. This engine is really impressive. It
makes lots of torque and horsepower right off the showroom
floor. And even more power with just a few simple
modifications than are readily available through Harley
Davidson dealers like Cycle Connection. They (Harley
Davidson) are really onto something with the V-Rod."
And "make
a statement" they did! On his second pass down the 1/4
mile, Lewis piloted Project V to a 10.89 E.T. at 123 MPH.
Mission accomplished! 1/2 of the crewmembers were jumping up
and down in celebration, while the other half were dialing
cell phones to let those at home and at the shop know it was
a success. Project-V's mechanic, Joe Shaver states
“ This is
Cycleconnections first attempt
at racing & I’m pleased that we broke into the 10’s within
the first 3 runs on this bike. I finished the engine on
Saturday the 24th and we went racing on Sunday
the 25th, AND
IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET BETTER FROM HERE!!!”
Scott Hutson
of Cycle Connection is thrilled with how
well the combination of crew members from totally different
corners of the motorcycle world work together and he states
"I
am excited about the future of racing with Cycle Connection
Harley-Davidson/Buell and Hiram motorsports! We are off to
a great start and I see even greater things ahead. We are
excited about bringing the Harley-Davidson style of racing
to the four-state area for enthusiasts to enjoy."
You
can see Project V, and meet the crew, at all the Oreilly
points series & special event races at Mokan Dragway, other
bike drags in the midwest, and many Cycle Connection events.
So
next time you are in the staging lanes, and you hear that
familiar lope of a Harley Davidson V-twin pulling up in the
lane beside you, you better be on your game. You might be
looking straight down the barrel .............. of
Project V
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 The follow-up story.......
Since the "project V" unveiling, life for the owners and crew has
been a whirlwind of track time, question and answer sessions with Harley
Davidson & import riders alike, charity events, and a lot of fun. Crew Chief,
Rob Lewis " We are a team of family and friends and we hope it is obvious
by our actions on and off the track. The best things we have going for us are
owners & employees of Cycle Connection Harley Davidson/Buell Joplin, that
support our efforts 100% and a pilot (Rob's Brother Mike) that is one of the
best I know of. Mike has a heart of gold, but when he stages that V-rod he is
like a pit-bull. Friend or not, when you line up with him at the tree, he wants
nothing more than to remove you from the next round." Of the first 9 races,
Project V has a commanding lead in the Coca-cola point series having raced their
way to 8 straight finals, winning their share of those, including the Memorial
day classic and CDRA bracket Bash at Mokan dragway.
" We believe Project V is the 1st Harley Davidson to lead the points here,
and win the Memorial day Classic. At the risk of jinxing ourselves, things
are going even better than the original plan. There are even a few people
that don't believe this is only a 74 ci motor ! Master Tech, Joe Shaver of
Cycle Connection can attest after his all nighter installing and breaking it
in early this year it is only 74 inches, and the bottom end is as stock as
stock gets!. Joe himself is amazed at the power and efficiency of the V-rod
motor," states Mike.
The team has been showing off
the V-rod in other ways including displaying it at the Annual Mothers
day carwash held by Carthage Masonic Lodge to help raise funds for the
Carthage crisis center, & at the Oronogo Masonic City fair to help raise
funds for school children who cannot afford clothing and supplies. The
most recent involvement was not only to help raise money for a worthy
cause, but to also prove a point. They took the bike on the annual
"Cycle Connection's Ride for Life" by joining a group of almost 350
bikers on a 100 mile round trip to raise funds to help find a cure for
Muscular Dystrophy. Mike took off on the street legal project V drag
bike, with crew chief/brother Rob by his side on a stock V-rod. The
bike performed flawlessly, and with the new black paint, and custom
wheels it really drew attention. At the destination point Pilot, Mike
Lewis, and crew member Morgan Lewis, took it a step further by riding 2
up on it and winning 3rd place in a bike game that was based on control
at extremely SLOW speeds!
Race coordinator, Ian Spencer exclaims " Here is a motorcycle we just
raced the night before, going on a highway run, participating in Biker
games on the wet grass, without changing a thing on the bike!!! And
without a single problem! You can't help but to love it !"
"What's in the future for Project V?" Rob asks." well this weekend we
are going to Mokan for a points race to try to eliminate every other
bike there, one at a time..... ok, ok, I see what you mean. Well, we
plan to do everything we can to clinch the points Championship here. As
far as next season? Lets worry about this weekend......We can talk
about Project V , squared......." the sequel"..... another time!" Rob
smiles, winks, and walks away. And the latest
news.....
As of about a week ago we signed
with the same dealership for next year, ( pending the pay $$
works out later this winter) We have agreed on a very
nice budget for a new bike ( not the one we presently run )
mostly to leave us enough time to build & test before the
unveiling this spring. Parts are already on the order books.
We were lucky enough to get one of the F.A.I.C. pipes long
before they went out to mr. public. Now we are talking to a
company about a piece of electronic equip. that is almost to
the prototype stage. ( I'll bet it's another season away
though)
I can tell you that although we
keep NOS all over the house just in case of an ego
emergency , this will be on gas only. No turbo, no NOS.
The present bike had to remain pretty much stock looking,
with only the 74" kit . Those requirements went away for
next season. So as of right now , we are looking at new bike
all together with NO wheelie bar, and on a street
tire. Longer, lower, and a Busa eating machine. I hope to
share more as we go along, but we are still rounding the
last 3rd of this season, which is not a guarantee yet. So we
must build a new bike , while keeping our minds on this
season.
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