Chris Moore’s GSXR Is The Only 5-Second Non-Nitro Bike In The World

A milestone that flew well under the radar of drag racing’s mainstream, veteran motorcycle drag racer clocked one of the single most impressive passes in the history of the sport, shattering a barrier that many didn’t even know two-wheeled racers were on the precipice of. And if not for circumstances playing out how they had, the world may not even know about it.

Chris Moore, one of motorcycle drag racing’s top stars, clocked an incredible 5.966 at 229.78 last fall during the Horsepower Hustle grudge event at the always-fast Virginia Motorsports Park, becoming not only the first motorcycle racer in history into the 5-second zone without the use of nitromethane, but also there first in the fives without a wheelie bar. It’s an incredible feat any way you look at it.

Moore’s bike, a high modified Suzuki GSXR1000, is powered by an equally highly modified, turbocharged 1000c Suzuki engine built by SRW. The bike utilizes a Maxx ECU tuned by BJ Humphries, and rides on a Penske Race shock, and Dunlop DOT tires wrappers around BST carbon-fiber wheels. The bike measures 81 inches in wheelbase, which is roughly 7 in Ches longer than a traditional Pro Street bike, or more than two feet longer than stock GSXR. This allows Moore to pour the 800 horsepower the bike produces to the ground and not launch into orbit. 


Skip to the 1:03:00 mark to ride along on the 5.96

The Greenville, South Carolina native races the bike, known as “Melania,” in an 1/8-mile no-time category that is run-what-ya-brung for all intents and purposes, and as such, he’s a bit tight-lipped on the specifics of the combination. The 1/4-mile attempt wasn’t even planned the weekend of Horsepower Hustle, until a side match to stretch the bike’s legs presented itself. 

“We honestly were not even expecting to make a 1/4-mile pass, but when David Fondon pulled up next to me in the waterbox and asked if we wanted to run it through the quarter, I said yes. BJ didn’t even realize what I was doing until I did it…he only had the bike prepped for an 1/8-mile pass. But I knew we ran the numbers multiple times in the eighth to make a 5-second pass in the quarter, so I wanted to give it a try.”

With the clocks off, Moore’s numbers were to be kept under a cloak of secrecy, but when the barrier-breaking numbers popped up, he and his Moore Mafia team knew this was information the world needed to know.

“When we made the world record pass, the time was not displayed on the clock. When we realized we broke into the fives, we knew we had to share this history-making pass with the world. After consulting with the Horsepower Hustle officials, we decided it was okay to show the slip. The grudge class is an 1/8-mile class, and we showed our 1/4-mile time, so they said it would not knock us out of competing in the grudge class in the future.”

Moore confirms the bike has been close to the fives “multiple times,” and a publicly available video showing the bike just a few ticks short of the threes at a race last season would confirm the bike has had the potential.

“We’re absolutely going to try to go faster. We know we can go faster when we have the bike completely setup for the 1/4-mile, so you better believe we are going to attempt it,” Moore says.

Moore’s incrementals on the history-making run were 1.039 to 60 feet, 2.632 to 330, and 5.966 at 229.78 mph. The specific 1/8-mile numbers are, of course, top secret.

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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