Suzuki GSX1400 Dragster Took Thousands of Hours of Work for Seven Seconds of Pure Bliss

Naturally, I was equally impressed by the man who dared to race this bike. His name is Markus Laur, and he's a pro drag racer from Germany whom I met in Kiskunlachaza recently. I had seen funny bikes on YouTube before, but never had I witnessed one upfront. While dozens of motorcycles lined up for a shot at the quarter-mile, his Suzuki "Dragonfly" was unlike any of them. I recorded several of his burnouts via my Google phone, and you can see some of them on our official YouTube channel. But I wanted to dig deeper and learn what makes man and machine tick.

The moped was too slow

I asked Markus to tell me about his early beginnings in the world of two wheels. "I was about eight years old. I bought a moped for 50 German Marks and started tinkering with it. I was fascinated to move forward without pedaling like you would on a bicycle. But the moped didn't run properly and was too slow." In his quest for speed, he made the natural progression toward an actual motorcycle a few years later: an 80 cc Zundapp KS from 1981!

Alas, with less than ten hp at his disposal, this wasn't enough to make him happy. He began his official drag racing journey in 2006, riding a Suzuki GSX-R 1100W Streetfighter. "I took it to Hockenheimring and ran the 1/4-mile in 11.02 seconds, with a trap speed of 128 mph (207 kph)." But we all know how addictive the adrenaline rush from going fast can be.

So the young rider was already eyeballing his next step. "I moved on and built a supercharged Honda CB 1100 Bol d'Or with nitrous oxide. It had about 320 horsepower and was kind of a super street bike. I rode it from 2006 to 2012, and my best ET was 8.9 seconds @ 156 mph (251 kph). It ran very well but still needed to be faster."

Markus decided to return to a Suzuki, but this time he chose a GSX1400 as a base for his next project. And he has been on this motorcycle since 2014, albeit every year, it goes through multiple upgrades. "I built this machine together with my mechanic, Matthias Sanktjohanser. My wife Veronika handled the design and airbrush part of things."

The 320HP supercharged Honda was still too slow

"We made the frame from stainless steel and the fairings from fiberglass. It uses a Yamaha R1 fork, front wheel, and brake system. In the back, I am using a Mickey Thompson 28x10.5-15W tire. But I'm sure you'd like to know more about the engine. I am running a Garrett G35 turbo with a Turbosmart Wastegate from BAR-TEK Motorsport, Wossner pistons and rods, an ECUMASTER Black engine management system, an M&W Pro Drag ignition, and the list goes on and on. We feed this thing with methanol, and my best result is a 7.01 second-pass at 198 mph (319 kph). It's a constant process of construction, improvements, and changes. A bike like this is never really finished."

Speaking to Markus, I learned that this Turbo Suzuki could theoretically hit 248 mph (400 kph) if it had a big enough runway. Seeing him take off from a dig was terrifying, and I doubt many people could do a proper launch on this motorcycle. He and his team have their eyes set on joining the 6-second club sometime soon, and he might get that at the Nitrolympx event in Hockenheim in August.

Speaking of his weekend in Kiskunlachaza, things turned out differently than he had planned originally after suffering some unexpected issues. "It was a challenging event with some problems. We switched from E85 ethanol fuel to 100% methanol. This required a completely new setup. Due to various issues, I aborted the first three runs immediately after the start."

"On the fourth run, the turbo was running at 1.4 bars of boost, and we passed the finish line in 7.5 seconds at 174 mph (280 kph). We turned up the heat for the fifth run, but the clutch didn't take lightly to 1.9 bars of boost. It was too much for this track and the clutch itself, and we realized the enormous potential of methanol and how careful we must be using it."

This sport is 99% Workshop time and 1% racing

Seeing that Markus has been an active drag racer for so many years, I was curious to learn how he perceives the development and future of his beloved sport. "The drag racing scene is still the same and has not lost popularity. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly difficult nowadays to have good events due to noise and environmental regulations."

"Small classes don't need as much grip due to having less power. It's easier for these cars and bikes. The dragsters need rubberized and fully glued 1/4-mile tracks for maximum grip. There are only a handful of these venues in Europe: Hockenheimring (Germany), Tierp (Sweden), and Santa Pod (United Kingdom). Due to politics and ICE bans, it isn't easy to foresee the scene by 2030. Electric vehicles will probably not attract spectators or drag racing teams. Sound and smell are two big factors in attending these races. Many big dragster teams already use environmentally-friendly, clean fuels such as methanol and ethanol."

I couldn't help but ask Markus if I could sit on his funny bike for a quick photo, as it was also my birthday that day, and I wanted a cool memory for years to come. This thing feels fast even without the engine fired up, and it was amazing to see it towed back to the paddock at a reasonably slow speed. In conclusion, I wanted his recommendation for any young motorsport enthusiast considering taking up drag racing: "Leave it and go cycling! If you want to do it seriously, be prepared to burn all your time and money! Drag racing is 99% workshop time and 1% racing time!"

Just think of it this way: he managed five runs in one weekend. That adds up to less than 50 seconds. But he spent over 20 hours driving to and back from the event, not to mention the thousands of hours required to build the bike from scratch. So we imagine that for those 10 seconds or less, not only does a drag racer feel free, but it must be one of the best things a human being could experience.