One of the iconic motorcycles in WERA racing of the 1980s was raced by Deano Swims. It started life as a 1983 Honda CB1100F. This motorcycle was a predecessor to the run-what-you-brung Formula USA machines of the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Swims was competitive on this old-style Honda Hyperbike all the way into the Suzuki GSXR era. On this mega-powerful Honda Swims beat riders like Mike Harth, Thomas Stevens, et al when they were racing much more modern Suzuki GSXR1100s in 1986. Granted the GSXRs were in Supersport guise, but they handled and braked so much better than previous sportbikes they were vsastly superior on the racetrack. Swims won on sheer horsepower. Some great tuners had a hand in making Swims’ Battle Axe one of the fastest road racers ever raced in WERA during the 1980s. Vic Fasola, Larry “Motorman” Brown and Ron Martin all had a hand in building this beast. The last I heard  Erv Kollek owned Battle Axe and there was talk of unleashing the bike again at Vintage meets. I’m not sure who would have the gonads to race this thing, but it would be fun to watch.

Deano Swims races the legendary Battle Axe, a highly modified Honda CB1100F, at Roebling Road in the mid-1980s. This incredibly fast motorcycle was one of the winningest machines in all of WERA racing in the mid-1980s. Swims even won races on Battle Axe well into the Suzuki GSXR era. (Larry Lawrence photo)