With the litany of Underground, Pro Street, and Funny Car dragsters, it's easy to get confused with all the different types of designations, classes, and styles. Unfortunately, the same issue also plagues the motorcycle-racing section of the drag racing community, too.
As such, keeping track of all of them can be a bit of a pain. And, to be honest, when it comes to drag racing, there's only one thing we're interested in: its quarter-mile times. The rest (to us) is secondary.
So, in an effort to simplify things a bit, we gathered up ten of the fastest drag bikes ever made and ranked them by their quarter-mile times.
10 Real Street 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa – 8.7 Seconds
From the factory, a Suzuki Hayabusa is a monster of a motorcycle - Possessing nearly 1,300 cc's in its four-cylinder engine. For any normal human being, that'd be plenty, but not for pro drag racers!
Pictured above is a 2008 Real Street Suzuki Hayabusa. However, it's not your standard Hayabusa. This one, believe it or not, is turbocharged. Yes, you read that correctly: a turbocharged 1,300 cc liter-bike.
Thanks to the forced-induction system, this particular 'Busa has ~650-hp and can get up to 264 MPH!
9 Brandon Teasley’s Nitrous Boosted Kawasaki ZX-14 – 7.58 Seconds
Back in 2019, the Real Street drag racing series had a competition at the Maryland International Raceway. There, we got to see some of the world's quickest drag bikes, including Brandon Teasley's Kawasaki ZX-14.
Similar to the Hayabusa, the ZX-14 is a massive liter-bike that's purpose built for exactly these types of scenarios. Combine that with a nitrous-oxide boost, and you've got some serious horsepower. No wonder Teasley could finish the 1/4-mile in under 8-seconds...
8 Brock All Motor ‘Grudge’ Hayabusa - ~7.4 Seconds
Brock, a parts manufacturer and motorcycle tuner, is a beloved company in drag racing circles. Like Akrapovič, Dynojet, Edge, and so on, Brock has a long history of highly modified sport bikes. Of them all, their All Motor 'Grudge' Hayabusa is (easily) our favorite.
While on track at the Kilkare Dragway in 2010, the Brock Hayabusa had a few recorded times. Among them was a sub-7-second quarter-mile (7.4), as well as a 7.9-second run later on.
7 Hans-Henrik Thomsen All-Electric Racing Bike – ~6.8 Seconds
An all-electric method of instant torque delivery is not exclusive to automobiles alone. No, hybrid AND electric designs have also found their way into motorcycles, specifically drag bikes. Today, we're focused on just one, though. None other than Hans-Hendrik Thomsen's electric drag bike...
As we mentioned above, an all-electric engine has a few advantages compared to a regular combustion engine. Of course, there's the environmental impact, but (more importantly) there's instantaneous torque delivery. As such, the off-the-line acceleration in Thomsen's electric bike is ludicrous! If only all-electric vehicles had the same top-end as normal ones.
6 Jeremy Teasley’s Pro Street Turbo Suzuki GSXR 1000 – 6.42 Seconds
While Brandon Teasley has his boosted Kawasaki ZX-14, his brother (Jeremy Teasley) has his own drag-racing motorcycle: a Pro Street class turbocharged Suzuki GSXR 1000.
Although Jeremy's motorcycle is nearly 400 cc's smaller than Brandon's, its the forced-induction setup that puts it above the larger ZX-14. Also, there's the difference in curb-weight, as well as rider reaction times.
After all, a record can either be won or lost in the span of a few milliseconds.
5 Tii Tharpe's Top Fuel Harley Dragster – 6.16 Seconds
Winning a world championship title is no easy feat, regardless of the sport you're participating in. If it's motorsports, you need to not only be a skilled rider/driver, but also have a good vehicle to drive.
Luckily for Tii Tharpe, he has both (and some)! After winning the Top Fuel Harley title in 2018, he went on to defend his championship the following season; racking up more wins and faster times! Throughout the times he and his Harley set, a 6.16 second quarter-mile was his highest.
4 Chris Matheson’s IHRA 400 Drag Bike – 6.04 Seconds
Enough American competitors, now let's divert our attention to the 'land down under' - Australia. To be specific, the IHRA 400East Coast Nationals and its 2016 winner: Chris Matheson.
When you get to this kind of level of performance, the bikes no longer resemble anything that they once were. Rather, an entirely custom-fabricated drag monster that'll literally break necks.
In Matheson's best runs, he managed well under the seven-second mark; getting both 6.5 seconds AND 6.04. Not bad at all, but nowhere near the world quickest...
3 Korry Hogan’s Top Fuel Motorcycle – 5.789 Seconds
Up next is a bike that still looks kind of like its original design: Korry Hogan's Top Fuel "billet 'Busa" motorcycle. However, just because it's not entirely redone doesn't mean it isn't fast as heck.
Hogan suffered a serious crash nearly a decade ago (2011), he didn't let that stop him from setting records. Beforehand, he had managed to set a quarter-mile time of 5.789 seconds. It goes to show that you should never give up, regardless of how difficult things may appear...
2 Peter Svensson’s UEM Top Fuel Bike – 5.7 Seconds
Before we get to our number one slot, lets observe the previous world record holder: Swedish rider Peter Svensson. Svensson would take this win in August of 2012 at the Tierp Arena.
Of the runs Svensson took, his fastest was the (then) world's fastest of 5.709 seconds. Along with that, he hit a max of 236.54 MPH almost three-years prior; putting him seventeenth overall for top speed.
1 Larry ‘Spiderman’ McBride’s Top Fuel Drag Bike – 5.61 Seconds
For our final slot, we have the world's fastest drag racing motorcycle to grace our presence - Larry 'Spiderman' McBride's Top Fuel bike. The record he set back in 2017 is yet to be beaten, though not for lack of trying.
As we had stated last year regarding McBride's motorcycle, his Top Fuel bike has been lauded as one of the greatest drag bikes ever made. It's certainly memorable, too. If not for its speed and time-sheets, then for McBride's Spiderman jumpsuit.