ABOUT MRE |
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| Murdoch Racing Enterprises (MRE) began in the
late 1960s as founder Mike Murdoch developed one-off racing components to gain a
competitive edge on his fellow racers. Mike soon realized that for the sport to grow, more
racers needed to run better more of the time. That decision to "sell what he
raced" soon had him swamped with work being sent in from all over the country. He
quickly outgrew the shop in the garage and was forced with a very tough decision upon the
conclusion of the 1971 racing season Go forward with MRE as a full time endeavor, or scale
back his commitments. Never complacent, Mike hung up his general manager hat at the local
Chrysler dealership and officially committed himself to MRE in 1972. Since it's inception
way back then, MRE pioneered many of the performance products racers unassumingly use in
modern day racing. The Air-Shifter is an MRE original. While many have copied the MRE system, none have ever proved a match to the enduring quality of MRE. Skeptical? It's the only system you will find on the likes of superstars Matt Hines, Angelle Seeling and Dave Schultz to name a few. And that's not this year; that's every year, all the way back to when the names Terry Vance and George Bryce were on the leathers. Many copies have come, and gone, mostly due to the unparalleled quality of MRE Air-Shifters. Believe it or not, The Air-Shifter was first developed as a safety device! While campaigning a volatile lay-down style H-2 Kawasaki, Mike often had serious problems keeping the bike in control while making the first couple of gear changes! After struggling with a number of unsuccessful systems, Mike's persistence finally paid off one Saturday afternoon at Desoto Dragway, as it all came together. Not only had he cured the safety issue he was after, he found that the full throttle, clutchless shifts provided by the Air-Shifter rewarded him with markedly quicker elapsed times and higher trap speeds! The Air-Shifter lives on today in both the original Deluxe version as well as the lighter duty Junior, first introduced in 1984. Both are also available in the popular "electric-over-air" configuration. When consistent, lightening fast gear changes and top notch technical support are on the top of your list, go with MRE; the pro's do. The advent of the MRE Lockup Clutch was next. Horsepower levels had steadily increased over the years and the factory clutches were slipping more and more, with no end in sight. Once again, MRE was up to the challenge. The Lockup Clutch, as the name implies, was initially designed to eliminate top end clutch slippage. Kawasaki KZ owners were the first to get 'em from MRE, and soon kits appeared for the Suzuki GS1100 and 1000 models. More and more applications followed; GSXR, ZX11, GPZ, FJ, FZR, SOHC & DOHC 750, CBX and CBR to name some of the more popular. With technology ever advancing, the MRE Lockup Clutch took on a whole new meaning around 1990 as clutch management became the rage in Pro Stock. Clutch management was born at MRE and Today, we make more Lockup Clutches for more different models, with new ones constantly in development, than anyone in the business. Seeking a higher level of performance has always been a common thread of MRE. Shifting had been redefined with the MRE Air-Shifter. Clutch slippage was eliminated by the MRE Lockup Clutch. The next item put under the MRE microscope was the transmission. The ever increasing horsepower levels of the late 1970s were creating a whole new era of problems. Having to "kill" the motor for the 1-2 gear change was becoming almost as much of a dilemma as the shifting action itself was back when the MRE Air-Shifter was being pioneered. Once again, MRE was first to address the problem with the introduction of the MRE Semi-Auto Transmission, and later the MRE Full-Auto Transmission. These dragrace only transmissions from MRE allowed gear changes to be made without engine interruption at all. Like the MRE Air-Shifter, the original focus on the MRE AUTO-TRANS was safety; a smooth power transmission that would not unsettle the chassis. The additional performance realized was an added bonus. Racecuts, Procuts, Magnaflux inspection, heat treating, hardface gear dog welding, semi-autos and full autos are all transmission services first introduced by MRE. Today MRE is still the industry leader in high performance transmission modifications, handling everything from your basic street-strip undercuts to custom, one-off automatics for exotic applications. Through the years, the MRE name became synonymous with quality and innovation. Also, MRE soon became a major warehouse distributor; stocking more and more of the items racers needed every year. Once again, MRE was first to act on a fledging issue; at-track support. The MRE "rolling warehouse" was the first of it's kind. With a full inventory on board to support the racers needs at the track and a knowledgeable staff as well, racers welcomed the much needed support. Attending national events helped keep good track of what the racers needs really were, not just a race report the following Monday. Contingency sponsorship is also synonymous with MRE. MRE has been on board with both IDBA and PROSTAR for every year they both have been in existence, and that is a feat very few companies can say. The prestigious PROSTAR Contingency Sponsor of the year, awarded to the sponsor who pays out on the most claims, has been won by MRE more times than all others combined! |
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