{"id":3050,"date":"2015-11-25T14:29:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T14:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edrspro.com\/?p=3006"},"modified":"2015-12-10T11:54:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T10:54:10","slug":"bjorn-fristroms-new-ride-is-absolutely-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/2015\/11\/25\/bjorn-fristroms-new-ride-is-absolutely-crazy\/","title":{"rendered":"Bj\u00f6rn Fristr\u00f6m\u2019s new ride is \u2018absolutely crazy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When you want to improve on your performance, you can make some changes to your already championship winning bike. Alternatively, you can buy a state-of-the-art new one, and that\u2019s just what Bj\u00f6rn Fristr\u00f6m did. After winning his second consecutive EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship title in Super Street Bike this year, the 45-year old Swede went to the States to pick up his new ride and make his first runs, an experience Fristr\u00f6m will never forget and one that sometimes scared him a bit.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bj\u00f6rn Fristr\u00f6m started drag racing in 1989, at 19 years old. After many years with all kinds of GSXRs and Hayabusas, he bought a PST Hayabusa from Anthony Navarro and immediately knew that Super Street Bike was his class. \u201cAnthony is a great stand-up guy and he sold me a great bike. This opened my eyes of what a real bike is. I will never run in another class than Pro Street, or Super Street Bike as we call it here in Europe. But I was stuck with the Magneti Marelli-system. No one really knows it in Sweden, so I wanted to change it to something else. But then I thought that maybe a new bike would be better\u201d, said Fristr\u00f6m, looking back at his radical decision.<\/p>\n

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOne year ago I contacted Bud Yoder. I didn\u2019t really know him, but he looked fast on YouTube. He was the fastest, so what could go wrong? I wanted a bike identical to his, with all the bells and whistles. At the same time I wanted to get his tuning skills. We talked back and forward during a month, and then I understood that Bud was different from so many Americans I have met and talked to before. He is a doer, not a talker, just like a Swede. He doesn\u2019t sell his shit, quite opposite actually.\u00a0 We decided the terms for the build, and that I should come over to the finals in Valdosta the year after, riding it. The deal was done and Bud Yoder and his team-mate Mark Paquette started with the bike. It sounds like a crazy expensive dream, and I can tell you, it is. I could have bought a summer home for the same amount, but I don\u2019t look good in swim trunks\u2026\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.05\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During the year, when Fristr\u00f6m was racing in Scandinavia, he hardly had any contact with Yoder. \u201cHe emailed me some questions and we talked over the phone a couple of times, that was it. I didn\u2019t get a picture and didn\u2019t hear of any progress, until nine months after our first contact. There was a picture of a bike, not finished, but almost. At the same time I struggled in our EDRS Pro Nordic MC series and broke all my engines. Well, I finally ended up as the number one, but with more luck then skills. My personal hitman Rick Stubbins was the reason that I won. He put #2 Nils-Ola Andersson out of his misery at the finals at Tierp, so I could win. Thanks Rick. I will send you a can of Surstr\u00f6mming for Christmas\u201d, said Fristr\u00f6m of his second consecutive EDRS Pro Nordic MC Super Street Bike title.<\/p>\n

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.04\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the end of the season was there, it was time to go to the States. \u201cThe date for Valdosta was getting there, but still no word from Bud or Mark. I called him and he said, \u2018well, it\u2019s done\u2019! And it was. I got the first picture of the bike a couple of days before Valdosta. Me, my wife and kids flew over a couple of days before we had to be in Georgia for the race weekend, to do all the stuff you have to do when you\u2019re in Orlando. I will never forget when my phone beeped and I got a message with four pictures of the new bike. I almost shit myself. It was amazing and no corners where cut. Everything that was supposed to be on the bike, was there. And even more. We got to Valdosta on Wednesday before the race, as there was a Test & Tune on Thursday and half Friday. I was eager to see and sit on the bike. Well, if the pictures were great, the bike in reality was absolutely crazy\u201d, Fristr\u00f6m said about his first look at his new ride.<\/p>\n

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.07\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But then it was time for the first runs with the new bike. \u201cBud tested the bike for two rounds, just to see it roll down the strip, and \u2018Mr Magic\u2019 Terry Mcintosh tuned the chassis for my weight and height. I\u2019m a some kind of freak with my 197 cm, and it\u2019s not easy for me to fit on the bike. I know it looks funny, but I\u2019m Swedish and we don\u2019t play basketball. Short Europeans are called Englishmen, okay not Bowe, but he\u2019s probably Scottish. This is where the whole story should be \u2018that I run a 6-second pass and won the whole shebang\u2019. But the reality isn\u2019t always as good as fiction. Keep in mind that the bike hadn\u2019t run before, so we had some issues. But with every small issue, Mark, Bud and Terry had a cure. I slowly got further and further up the 402 meters. I won\u2019t try to brag, the bike scared me some. Well, maybe not scared me, but I wasn\u2019t as confident on this bike as on my old one. It\u2019s brutal, and not as nice and kind as my bike at home. I had a hard time to keep the throttle wide open the first meters. My throttle hand didn\u2019t do what I wanted.\u00a0 Despite this embarrassing fact, I ran my fastest 60ft ever. I didn\u2019t qualify and had to run in the B-class. It was going to be my first full pass. I let the throttle go a bit, as the coward I am, and pushed for new gears. As I said, this mother moves. I had some problems to shift to 5th<\/sup> and 6th<\/sup> gear, let go at 1000ft and rolled in at 170 mph. With a shitty 1.28 60ft and an early liftoff, I still ran 7.26 seconds! My personal best after four seasons on my old bike was 7.36 seconds at 200 mph!\u201d, Fristr\u00f6m says about his first experiences with the new bike. To continue: \u201c7.26, that\u2019s thanks to Mark, Bud and Terry. This bike is so awesome and well-built with a killer setup. Everything on this bike is so amazing. It sounds crazy on the twostep and it\u2019s so incredible strong all the way down the track. I really must get used to it and become its friend. Having Bud, Mark and Terry staring at me, trying not to shit myself the first time on the bike, wasn\u2019t easy. I didn\u2019t want to embarrass them or making a fool out of myself. This isn\u2019t easy. I have been riding turbo bikes since 1990, got bears and wolves outside my house and a mother in law that wears leopard tights, so I\u2019m not easy to scare, but this bike is a level higher than everything else I have been riding. I hope I\u2019ll make them proud the coming season in Europe. The fact is that Bud talked me through this and helped me with the driving bit. Both Mark and Bud are great tuners and riders. They are extremely precise in everything they do. They are real professionals. We don\u2019t come anywhere close to this in Sweden. I must say that we are real amateurs, comparing. But I will change that and step it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"fristrom_bjorn_usa.01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy weekend with this team was amazing. I filled my pink Hello-Kitty race notebook I got from my daughter with lots of notes. My daughter is still convinced that Buds last name is Yoda, and maybe it is, who knows? It\u2019s not just the riding that must work, the tuning is as important off course. I left the bike in Orlando with Swedish Birgitta on Auto Shop for transportation home. My biggest thanks of all my heart to Bud, Mark, Terry and all the other guys and girls in their team. \u2018I\u2019ll be back\u2019 as terminator said. My goal for next season is to do better in our EDRS Pro Nordic MC and to win without help from English elders. No, just kidding, I take that back. I take all the help I can get. See you all in the first race at Tierp Arena 2016\u201d, said Fristr\u00f6m, who can\u2019t wait to ride his new bike in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you want to improve on your performance, you can make some changes to your already championship winning bike. Alternatively, you can buy a state-of-the-art new one, and that\u2019s just what Bj\u00f6rn Fristr\u00f6m did. After winning his second consecutive EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship title in Super Street Bike this year, the 45-year old Swede […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3243,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions\/3243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dragracingeurope.eu\/edrspro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}