Perry And Scott’s “Stagefright” Triumph Dragbike

OG drag racing motorcycles were pretty crazy. Both minimal and maxed out in the extreme, iron dedicated for strip runs at pinned throttle doesn’t make for fun on the street but that’s a different kind of riding. Just take a look at this dual-mill classic built by both Sonny Scott and Max Kelly back in the day. So why the name? As Sonny recalled, “This bike has to always act up when people are around. When we come here ourselves, it’s fine. We’ll call it ‘Stagefright.’ ”

From a technical perspective, car and motorcycle racers aren’t all that different, especially when it comes to drag racing. You ramp up the horsepower as much as the rules allow (which sometimes means adding a second engine to the mix) while shedding weight like a supermodel (which usually means tiny oil tanks and seats that are little more than leather over the frame rails).

Stagefright was one of the first motorcycles to add a second powerplant to the pony equation. It paid off; during the mid-’60s it became the quickest in the world with a best time of 9.70 seconds, and one of the fastest, with a speed of 155 mph.

Originally built by aerospace engineer Max Kelly as a supercharged, double-engine gasser, the machine was later purchased by Sonny Scott: “We got it for $50 without the engines.” Sonny shortened the frame, saying, “It handled better after we did.” And ran it on fuel, which made it a lot more fun.