Unimotorcycle Racing

Unimotorcycle Racing

Where There's A Wheel - There's A Way!

by Badger

Publication Date: 5/2000

In the world of Drag Racing, there are two extremes: At the one end is the National Hot Rod Association, where finely tuned, computer-generated dragsters, costing hundreds-of-thousands of dollars and developing thousands of horsepower, are fired down quarter-mile-long, asphalt strips from a standing stop to speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour in less than five seconds. At the other end of the drag racing spectrum is the American National Unimotorcyclists Society (A.N.U.S.) and the sport of Unimotorcycle Drag Racing, where an individual riding aboard a device with a single wheel, usually built in a garage and costing hundreds-of-dollars, is fired down a 100 foot dirt strip from a standing stop to speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour in under 2.5 seconds without the benefit of steering or brakes.

Known as the "Motorsport of the Common Man," it was invented in 1988 by biker visionary, Sidecar Willy, as an affordable motor sport. "This is basically a junkyard sport," said Willy. "People root around in junkyards and garages, and use old parts and good old American ingenuity to build something that will go 100 feet on one wheel without killing them in the process."

In fact, a junkyard sport is exactly what Sidecar Willie had in mind when he first came up with the idea for unimotorcycle drag racing. And to keep it that way, he developed the Ten Commandments. (See Ten Commandments)

"One of our commandments requires that all power plants must be at least five-years-old," says Willie. "So you have to be creative. You can't just go out there with a lot of money and buy the ultimate technology."

It was at the end of Bike Week, Daytona's spring counterpart to Biketober-fest, that Willie first started thinking that motorcycle racing could use something new, something more attuned to the traditional biker mentality of creative survival and risk taking.

"A bunch of us were sitting around drinking beer and talking about how Bike Week had become the same old thing over and over," he says. "And I started thinking how I had raced four-wheelers, three-wheelers, and two-wheelers, and how the only thing left was one-wheel racing. Of course, when I suggested it, everybody said I was out of my head." The very first beast was born in Willie's kitchen, when he and his friends tried balancing a board on a wheel, teeter-totter fashion. A few beers later, they decided to add an engine and take the thing outside for a trial run. "The first one didn't go well at all," Willie says. "In fact, it threw me and I smashed my face. So we drank some more beer and refined it a little, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make it 100 feet. Then during Bikeweek in 1991 Bob Scheskie became the first pilot to achieve the task with a run of 5.20 seconds aboard "Desert Stormer."

Eventually, the two friends were successful, and once word got around, the sport took off. Unimotorcycle enthusiasts from everywhere began creating their own beasts, often out of some pretty odd materials. From outboard motors on cycle frames with boat-trailer tires to converted snowmobiles running on a mixture of nitrous oxide and gasoline, unimotorcycles were popping up (and falling down) all over.

Participants possess a unique mix of mechanical ingenuity, daredevil courage, and the traditional biker quest for adventure. Balanced precariously on a single wheel, unimotorcycle jockeys are faced with the daunting task of holding their beasts upright while screaming down a dirt track in an attempt to beat the fastest time - and living to tell about it. Some make it the full 100 feet, while others crash into hay bales or flip end-over-end - much to the delight of enthusiastic crowds.

The design of these powered unicycles and the rules of the race are contained within the Ten Commandments of Unimotorcycle Racing. "Money won't help you in this race," Willy says "It was designed to give creativity the edge by keeping the rules very open-ended." For instance, the third and fourth commandments only refer to a power plant, nowhere does it say to use a motorcycle engine. People can power their wheels with everything from car engines to pressurized CO2 bottles. And that is, in fact, just what happened in March 1995, for at that time, the two most extreme Unimotorcycles ever constructed were pitted against each other at the American National Unimotor-cycle Society's race.

Probably one of the most bizarre beasts was built out of two large fire extinguishers, a CO2 container, a seat, and a wheel. By filling the tanks with 20 gallons of water and charging them with 800 pounds of CO2, rider Nelson Back figured he could emulate a toy water rocket and propel himself at least 100 feet.

"That was the first rocket attempt," says Willie. "The thing was so powerful it blew the backboard down, and we decided it was just too dangerous. If somebody got hit with that water, they could get killed."

Willie was intrigued, however, and continued working on a rocket-powered beast until he came up with a contraption built of PVC pipe that could be filled with compressed air and "shot" from two pipes buried in the ground. The Double-Barreled Pop Gun, which was piloted by Tiny Knuth, traveled 80 feet on the first run and threw her into the hay bales on the second, when a skid broke off.

Although the sport started in the United States, it spread to Canada and Europe. American records are set during Bikeweek and Biketo-berfest in Daytona Beach, FL and recorded by A.N.U.S. The future of unimotorcycle drag racing appears bright, but no one associated with the organization seems interested in seeing it turn into a big-time sport.

"We love this sport the way it is, and we don't want to see big money run away with it," says Willie, who now gives the organization his full-time attention. "We set this up so it wouldn't get away from the grass-roots and junkyard concept. As long as we can keep it the type of thing, where people race for the love of it, for the competition rather than for the money, we're going to do just that."

The European Unimotor-cyle races will be held on July 20-23, 2000 at the International Biker Party in Summiswald, Switzerland. Currently the A class record in the United States is held by Sidecar Willy, with a run of 2.88 seconds on his 900cc Beast "Bad Puppy." At 57-years-old, Willy is at the top of his game, usually feeding the competition a dirt hoagie for the full 100 foot run. "Nothing would make me prouder than representing the United States at the European Races." Willy said. "I only hope I can find a sponsor to get me and my beast there so that I can show the English, Welsh, German and Swiss teams that the Americans are the baddest people on one wheel."

For more information on Unimotorcycle Racing or how to join A.N.U.S. contact Sidecar Willie at the American National Unimotorcycle Society, 4680 Cedar Road, New Smyrna, FL 32168, Phone (904) 228-3055

The Ten Commandments of A.N.U.S.

1. Thou shalt only race from a standing stop to the end of a 100-foot strip, which is constructed of an unpaved surface. Winner having the fastest time.

2. Thou shalt only use one wheel.

3. Thou shalt only use a power plant that is over five-years-old.

4. Thou shalt only use a power plant that is stock for whatever its intended use was.

5. Thou shalt not exceed the size limit of four feet in width, or eight feet in length.

6. Thou shalt compete in any of these classes:

A-Class: 750cc to unlimited

B-Class: 400cc to 749cc

C-Class: 200cc to 399cc

D-Class: Occ to 199cc

E-Class: Electric

F-Class: Rocket Class (strictly exhibition)

7. Thou shalt employ a "Deadman's Switch," which will render the beast inoperable in the event that the pilot is launched.

8. Thou shalt consider steering and brakes optional.

9. Thou shalt not touch the ground forward of the axle during any run.

10. Thou shalt touch the ground only rear of the axle during any run, but may not exceed size limitations.