A couple of months on from the sad news of Rod Pallant’s death, we look back at Keith Lee’s tribute to one of British drag racing’s most memorable characters. First published in Old Bike Mart, the piece below is reproduced verbatim.
The drag racing community has lost a memorable bike racer with the passing of Rod Pallant. He was a standout character in the pits, and especially so on track, with a series of crowd-pleasing machinery, which he always rode like he stole it.
In 1974, Rod started a Harley-Davidson dealership, and bought a Harley race bike from Jerry Mitchell, which they ran together. This was soon followed by Rod’s first experience of a twin-engined bike. He bought the 1000cc supercharged Triumph from Barry Townsend, who also joined Rod in his small race team.
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His ‘LA Hooker’ bike name was christened in 1978 when Rod debuted his next twin, powered by a pair of supercharged Kawasaki motors. Not happy with the performance, the blower was ditched for a Hilborn injection system, and this bike was raced for three years. Rod then wrestled with a V8 Rover-powered monster, ‘Heavy Metal’. The unforgettable black unblown heavyweight contender had some nitro tipped in the tank for the first Transatlantic International meeting at Long Marston, and Rod guided the huge bike into the 8-second zone. There was to be a rear-engined version but while the bike was having bodywork built, the engine and running gear were stolen!
Twin-engined bikes were Rod’s racing passion, He was inspired by Carl Ahlfeldt’s ‘Orange Crush’, and Rod threw everything into constructing a new double-engined Kawasaki, his favourite build. At 2400cc, this new LA Hooker was a spectacular sight in 1982. He ran 8.25 seconds by July and ended the season with a stunning 8.11s! A crowd favourite, it was unfortunately consuming too many parts and would soon be replaced by a single supercharged motor. Rod’s wife Anne was always there to support him at the races, and she also became very active in the British Drag Racing Association.
Always ready to do perform demos and to generally promote the sport, Rod was always happy to help out other racers. He ably demonstrated that at the 1985 Transatlantic race when Elmer Trett broke his crank. Rod drove back home to get his new spare so that the fans would not be disappointed, even though it meant Rod giving up his own chance to qualify for the biggest bike event of the year. This year saw a complete change in livery, due to sponsorship from Penthouse magazine (pictured here).
In late 1986, Rod worked with BDRA Hall of Fame member Pete Davies, when he took on the Puma Yamaha XS1100 project, with the new Puma bottom end, originally built for John Clift. Times kept getting quicker, along with many trips across Europe to race. By 1987, Rod won the World Finals with a 7.56s pass, having set record terminal speeds of 196 and 193mph.
Rod sold his shop in 1988 and continued working from home. In that year, Rod was announced as President of the BDRA. Then a devastating fire in 1991 wiped out the bike and Rod’s equipment in 1991. With much help from a number of drag racing friends, his workshop was eventually rebuilt but he would not race again.
Rod’s riding career came to a very unfortunate ending. Having worked hard to put together a new bike, he suffered a freak accident at home. As he was removing a caravan awning, it dropped and badly smashed Rod’s ankle, requiring many operations. Sadly, he never got to race that final bike.
Rod and Anne emigrated to Spain but still kept in touch with many of their old racing friends. Over recent years, Rod was very active on social media with his many racing memories across Europe.
It was my great privilege and pleasure to be asked to present the Bootsie award in 2023, when Rod and Anne were inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Rod was not able to attend, but Anne was supported by their son Carl at the gala presentation.
To Anne, Carl and their family, we offer our condolences on the loss of a spectacular and popular racer, and old friend to many of us. RIP Rod.
Original article appeared in Old Bike Mart. To subscribe, click here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/old-bike-mart
