My Dads drag bike
My dad (also called Les Field) was a genuine petrolhead with a passion for motorcycles.
He would turn up to events in his big red American car or his Harley-Davison and was apparently a bit of a drag racing ‘Celebrity’ at the time
After coming out the army where he had won countless trophies for trials riding, he started drag racing in the early ’60s with an Ariel Red Hunter 350cc called ‘the Silver Flash’ for 6 months.
He then built ‘Speedway Special’ a 1000cc HRD / Vincent using a Norton frame and a Triumph gearbox with camshafts that he designed and made himself. It ran on a nitro methane, methanol and acetone mixture.
It started to shred first and second gears, so he built a new frame with a Norton gearbox and fitted a supercharger. He won a number of trophies with that bike including the 1000cc record at Santa-pod and was clocked at 139mph in third gear at the Brighton Speed Trials.
In the mid 60’s he started to build a new bike using a competition Chevy V8 car engine which he brought from Patrick Church. This was tuned to rev up to 10000rpm and was the British rival to E J Potter, the legendary Michigan Mad Man. It was fitted to a Sunbeam S7 frame together with a new cross-ply car tyre.
Getting the bike operational was no simple feat. After overcoming initial startup issues, the drive chains broke, prompting him to double up the chain sprockets. The next attempt shredded the tire down to the canvas, and the one after that bent the Sunbeam frame.
Undeterred, he constructed a new custom frame, measuring 8 feet 1 inch in length, incorporating Norton forks with 150 lbs springs, twin front brakes, and a 14-inch wide American speedway wheel and tire. The drive shafts were adapted lorry half shafts, machined to fit.
The bike featured direct drive—no gearbox—along with a Bedford 5-ton lorry pressure plate and clutch plate, which included a custom-made longer clutch lever to manage the high pressure. It also had a 4-barrel Holly carburetor with an electric fuel pump and ran on a methanol and acetone mix, with a fuel consumption rate of 4 gallons per mile.
To start the engine, he used rollers, positioning a van on one side and the bike on the other. His team revved the van to 30 mph while he dropped the bike’s clutch to ignite the engine. Journalist Steve Robson noted, “When Les fired it up, it was the most amazing sounding bike in the world!” The bike idled at 2500 rpm and launched from the start line at 3500-4000 rpm, with the rear wheel spinning at 100 mph.
Lucas provided the plugs, points, and leads; Redex supplied the oils; Reynolds furnished the chains; and Automotive Supply delivered the specialized pressure and clutch plates needed to handle the power.
Fully assembled, the bike weighed 294 kg and produced over 500 bhp, translating to 1768 bhp per ton—surpassing the power-to-weight ratio of contemporary production cars and F1 vehicles. With gearing set to achieve 250 mph at 10,000 rpm, the bike was set to return to Santa Pod in April 1968 to set the UK A-Class record.
Later that year, he participated in the Brighton speed trials. The council had recently resurfaced part of the road, leaving a significant bump just off the centerline. This bump caused his bike to swerve violently to the left, throwing him into the air and off the bike. He landed with such force that he hit a bus stop, which exploded upon impact (the largest remaining piece of concrete was less than a pound). Meanwhile, the bike flipped over and flew back towards him at over 100 mph, crashing down just inches away from where he had landed.
He managed to get to his feet and threw his glove down, having broken a finger. The medical team quickly attended to him, and he was taken to the hospital with a fractured ankle, various cuts and bruises, and suspected internal injuries.
The trials continued, and the same fate befell the next rider, Ian Ashcroft, who was tragically less fortunate and lost his life. The 1968 Brighton speed trials were subsequently canceled.
During this chaos, my mother—holding me as a baby—rushed to the hospital. She was stopped by the press, who, having witnessed the accident, informed her of the fatality. Due to the incorrect report that my father had lost his hand (a misunderstanding from him throwing his glove), she was devastated.
In her distress, she gave my father an ultimatum: choose between his family or his bikes. He chose his family and never raced again.
30 years later, I rode to his house on my new Ducati Monster and asked if he wanted to try it - He’d not been on a bike since the accident.
It took a bit of persuading, but he eventually jumped on and started it up.
He then span the rear wheel (generating balls of smoke) let go of the clutch and popped a wheelie and shot up the road…. It never left him.
I don’t have the reactions to be a drag racer like him, but he did teach me to build engines and weld, so I have made my own bike in his honour based on a Harley-Davidson - like he had.
Mine is built around a custom made stretched out drag style frame made in wales by SCC, and is powered by an upgraded 1,200cc engine and gearbox. It’s painted gold (like his V8 bike) and carries his old racing number - 91.
