From Kick Start to Bump Start to Rollers To Tow Start To The Electric Starter

When I first started drag racing I started my motor with the kick starter on the transmission. It was always hard to start because of different engine timing, smaller batteries and ignition distributor locked in position. We also went through a period of what they called bump start, that's where one or two people push you by hand and you rise up on the rear pegs and throw your weight toward the seat and let out the clutch.

When my motor got bigger in cubic inches and piston compression went up it was impossible to kick start or bump start any longer. Now I have to hold on to the door handle of the truck with my right hand and the truck pulls me up to speed (about 35 MPH) I let go and let out the clutch and the motor starts and is ready to go about the task of making a run down the drag strip. This was done at all drag strips and it was called the fire up road.

A lot of years went by using the fire up road and the NHRA decided it was getting to dangerous because some times the Dragsters and Funny Cars fired there Engines right in front of the spectator stands and it was taking up to much time with so many entries, as Drag Racing is a popular sport and has many Spectators at NHRA Events.

As the years progressed the Cars with Blowers were already changing to hand held starters to start there engines, this worked well on cars with blowers because of the very low Compression Ratio they ran.

The Rollers were the next advancement in starting Dragsters and Funny Cars and the bikes were allowed to use these rollers. They were positioned right behind the starting line and speeded up the races. I always like the rollers; it brought a lot of excitement right there to the starting line, for the racers and the spectators.

And then we got the big announcement from NHRA. The rollers will be done away with and all Entries must have there own starters. Most of the Dragsters, Funny Cars and other Automotive had already been making the switch. That left all Motorcycles that relied on something to start there motors with a new situation. It took awhile for someone to make one that worked, the motorcycles compression was so high that the starters they first tried were having a hard time doing the job, but with some gear reduction they came up with a good starter.

I took my double to an Automotive Shop that made starters for the cars. I ask him if he could make me a starter that would work on my bike. He gave me the parts I would have to install on the bike for the starter, said come back next week and pick up your starter.

The following week I returned and he was going to show me how to use it. He had one battery hooked to the starter, hooked it on the parts I installed per his instructions, hit the starter button and smoke came from the start. He said we are going to need more battery. He fixes the starter with another starter motor and hooked it to three batteries, connected it to the double, hit the start button and smoke came from the starter. By this point he's getting frustrated. Ask me what the compression was on the motors, 10.4 to 1. Well no wonder it won't work. Give me a couple weeks and I will figure something out, it will be different than any thing out there, but I don't know quite what it will be like yet.

It was actually a month before he called me. When I got there, he pointed over to this thing on the floor and said there's your starter. It was the drive motor out of an Electric Golf Cart. I went over and looked down; it was almost as big as one of the motors in the bike. It had a handle on it, I picked it up and said WOW, what does this thing weight, 90 pounds he says with a big grin on his face. I told him there was no way my Family could handle that on the starting line, its way too heavy. He told me it's that or no starter and he wasn't sure it would do the trick until we try it, you will have to build something with wheels on it to put the starter in and roll it right up to the mounting bracket.


We started with one battery with the Spark Plugs out of the motors, it turned over great. Put the plugs back in and tried it again, it went up to the compression stroke and stopped, he let off the switch right away so not to burn the thing up. We spent most of the day trying different things, ended up with four batteries and he felt that wasn't enough. We tried the batteries in different wiring series and found the best was one big battery.

I did build a special little cart with wheels for the starter, it worked out better than I thought, and it also took place of the block of wood I used to hold up the bike in the pits. It was hard for the family to put back into the truck, I usually had it all hooked up and ready to start and one of the family disconnected it and it took two of them to put it back in the truck. I did have to use five pretty large truck batteries that I built a special compartment for in the back of the truck and fifteen foot cables with quick connect and disconnect ends. The Batteries had to have a full charge before every day of racing. I carried a thirty amp charger for that, and ran a cable from the Motel Room or an outlet on some post in the parting lot. Sometimes it was a hassle.
I always had a big half inch ratchet lying on the ground by the starter; some times I would have to turn the motor past the compression stroke so the starter would work. It was a lot of trouble to use but it became one of the big attraction at the drags, spectators were sometimes standing around to watch me fire the motors just to see that starter. The NHRA liked it so much that when I did my Exhibitions at the Nationals they had me take every thing right out on the starting line to fire up for the run, while talking about that starter.

Joe Smith - All Rights Reserved