I was able to slip out the track last night and it was one of those nights where I just got lucky. The place was nearly empty and I got in about 15 passes. It was raining all around the area but at the track.

The night started off decent with a 9.90 pass @ 144.5 and a 1.69 60'. Keep in mind that I'm stock height & stock wheelbase just strapped and -1 up front.

I kept on knocking out 9.90's and a couple of 9.89's and then I tried tucking the mirrors in. That was worth 1 mph on the far end and I was actually surprised it made that much of a difference.

I then clicked off a 9.84 with a 6.46@116 in the 1/8th. The weather was not the best with a little bit of a head wind and the temp in the mid 70's along with high humidity.

I really should lower this thing because I know by the mph that I should be able to hit mid 9.60's if I could just use more than 1/2 throttle in first gear but I'm a stubborn traditionalist in the thinking that street trim is street trim.

I'm still pretty happy overall.

pretty good numbers! if you just lowered the front 1/2" i'd bet you'll knock your times down considerably

Well the first thing I'd liketo try and do is to swap back my 17t sprocket. I should get some more throttle out of first gear and a little less torque to the wheel. I'm able to keep the front end down (mostly) in 2nd gear but first gear is at most 60% throttle.

And might I add that this section of the forum is friggin' dead. My post was up there for 5 days and nobody added anything else.

For some reason nobody likes to scroll down this far.... :(

For some reason nobody likes to scroll down this far.... :(

Let's see if it helps to move it up a bit <grin>... -bg

OK, Ive scrolled down this far, so here goes... Firstly, if I got 9.90 on my next time out I'd be stoked. I'm running a DNA Filter, 'flies out, PCIII and dynoed with 184hp at the wheel and around 112ft/lbs (I think that's the torque reading, the chart's at work), strapped for drags and everything else is stock.

My problem is that if I launch hard, even with the front strapped, up she comes and I am not a fan of one wheel riding (I know, I'm a big girl). I have only once done a 60' in less than 2.0 and most of the time it's more, so the launch has me stuffed. Best time to date is 10.4 so I guess I'm going to have to allow the wheel to come up a bit and hold the power on.

New 16T front and std rear sprockets arrived today along with a brand new EK chain, so that might help a little too. I'm about 220lbs.

Beondwacko, what did you do to get a good launch? Revs? Clutch release point? Both feet on the ground? Preload gear lever? Pin the throttle and brush the clutch or no clutch and slight throttle action? Anything that you can think of? I promise I'll look down this far next time I get a chance to log in.

Cheers

Tony

When i was racing my bike without an air shifter, and stock wheelbase, i launched with my left foot on the peg. It took some getting used to, but once i did it was the way to go.

You can use that foot to keep your weight forward on the bike, which helps with wheelies.

You don't have to worry about getting your foot up in time for the shift. Believe it or not, you will subconsciencely roll out of the throttle in order to get your foot up.

A good launch will hang the front tire about 3" off the ground all the way through first gear. this goes for stock bikes all the way to a bike at my level.

Thanks Slowninja, will try a few things and see how I go. Problem here is if I do get below 10.0 they kick me off until I get a full suit of leathers and an ANDRA license, so it's gonna cost me $1500ish just to go back and try again. Ouch!

Dang. that sucks.

They allow me to run in textiles and still no license. Woot woot!

Beondwacko, what did you do to get a good launch? Revs? Clutch release point? Both feet on the ground? Preload gear lever? Pin the throttle and brush the clutch or no clutch and slight throttle action? Anything that you can think of? I promise I'll look down this far next time I get a chance to log in.

OK Tony, here's the general run down.

I stage the bike in the mid point of the beams and I keep my left leg up & ready to shift gears.
I tend to hold a little pressure on the front brakes and I slip the clutch ever so slightly to take the slack out of the drivetrain, and I mean slightly. I do that while bringing the rev's up to about 4,500 and launch in the middle of the last amber. I try to keep the revs (by ear) up at around where I was staging at and I've got a bad habbit of flashing the throttle at the initial roll out,so keeping the launch rpm consistant is tough. I then try to get off the clutch asap and lean as far forward as I can while rolling on the throttle gradually.

Don't think that you will be able to get anywhere near full throttle in 1st gear. Don't even try. You'll just wheelie or blow the tire away. Short shift 1st to second at about 9.5k rpm stay tucked in tight and redline the rest of the shifts.

Have some patience. We weigh about the same and our bikes are set up similarly. I've been doing this for 4 years and I have over 500 passes under my belt.

I went again down to the track last night to take advantage of the cool air.

I pulled a 9.90 and a lot more wheelies than I had planned. The bike was running pretty strong and I managed to get 145mph on one pass but I must have been off in my riding & wasn't able to be consistant.

Oh well,,, next time.

Thanks mate. That info was exactly the sort of stuff I was after. I have about 50 passes under my belt and some of those were just complete stuffups. I've had a few really good feeling passes but the times were just not there. I'm talking about slick gear changes, smooth sounding motor and everything felt really good but I think the launch was too slow on each occasion.

Nailing it in first may be a problem on many occasions as I lift the front wheel and it feels like it is still heading skywards, not just a gentle lift so I may have punched it too hard. I'm hoping to try tonight with the new chain and sprockets on (being fitted this afternoon) but it's raining at the moment (7.00am) so I hope it dries up later. Cool air should be good.

Will let you know. If I get below 10.0 I'll be letting everyone know :-)

Cheers

Tony

New chain and sprockets all fitted and raring to go but it was raining pretty hard when I was about to head down to the strip. I went home instead and in the cage as well! Just too wet to contemplate draggin'.

Will report in when I get down there next.

I got out to the track again last night, first time since mid November. The place was packed and I only managed 3 passes but I did cut a new personal best.

The only changes I've made to the bike since I was last at the track was to lower it 3/4" in the front and 1.5" in the rear. The first 2 passes were kind just a shake down run & I had not launched the bike hard since lowering it so I really didn't know what to expect.

I went 9.78 @ 145
1.67 60'
4.29 330'
6.40 @ 116.46mph in the 1/8
8.23 in the 1000'

thats a whole .1, congrats. I knew lowering it a little would help

I know for a fact that I can get this thing down into the 9.60's as it sits. I'd like to do a little gearing change though and try it again.