:wheel: Went racing tonight for the first time. :wheel: It was at a local track & I need some advice. It was "100' Drags" as they call it. I know 100 feet ain't much but it's enough to have some fun with. And it's better then nothin'. It's held every Friday night & I'll be going again & again & again...
But I need some advice. I can't get hooked up leaving the line. I'm spinning the first 50'. I used 1st gear most of the time. Did try leaving the line in 2nd once. I think I spun more that time then the others. Also let some air out of the rear tire. I think that helped some.
So whatcha got for suggestions?
I dont drag but I would guess a stickier tire or slick.
Your tire is probably cold and or the road surface is slippery
On the track I run about 30 psi, you may want to go even lower than that for drag
You want rear grip only nothing else but the largest problem at drags with a motorbike is the small contact patch & even with a burn out if you do one before start your tyre will still be cold & there not designed to achieve max grip until warm. Things you can do are run lower pressure but not too low your tyre will spin on the rim, use a tyre warmer for your rear so tyre hot at start line, run the rear suspension soft so will squat more & dig in. As you do it more you will find a happy medium with clutch slip & rpm at start, just dropping the clutch with high rpm doesn't mean a fast start due to wheel spin. Good luck have fun.
zRoy is right on. I sent you a PM, Chuck.
Ded
zRoy is right on. I sent you a PM, Chuck.
Ded
Eye done did get it, dead.
Just found this photo of me on the track's website
[image: Me @ Waterford Speed Bowl.jpg]
I find it extremely difficult to spin my tire....the bike hooks up immediately....??
I have to make assumptions but, a combo of tire, tire pressure and power output is the trick. Launch control prevents what you are experiencing so study what those systems incorporate.
I had that issue first time I went to the dragstip. I was running in the center of the lane when I should have been to one side or the other where the cars lay down rubber. Once I moved over I never spun again even without a burnout.
Thanks guys. I have several different size front & rear sprockets so I'm going to play with those abit. On there now is 15/45. I'm going to give 15/43 a try & see how I do with that. I think I wasn't sitting back at all. I'll try to remember to do that also. :wheel:
I'm surprised to hear you are actually spinning the rear tire. I've never been to the strip, but launching hard from red lights and etc only ever results in a wheelie. I've never had an issue with rear grip except in heavy rain or a gravel.
I went to the races tonight for only my 2nd time & .....I WON!! :wheel: Doing a burn-out & sitting back on the seat along with some reaction time advice from a friend made all the difference in the world! Pic of trophy to follow soon. The acceleration of my bike never ceases to amaze me
.[image: IMG_5650.JPG]
WAY TO GO, CHUCK!!! :fing02: I think they need some V4s in NHRA drags, so keep practicing! What did you run against, or will we see that in the video? :laugh:
Ded
Thanks, Ded. The racing is mostly against the clock & your "dial-in" time. Not so much what you're lined up against. For instance, one round I was lined up with a young girl on a small quad. She won last week & quite proudly told me tonight that it was her 3rd win of the season. lol. Her dial-in time compared to mine gave her a head start (known as a handicap) of the difference between the two. So, alot of it comes down to reaction time. Another time I was lined up against a kid on a 2 stroke quad. The only other bikes there were an '80 CB750 (I think) , a newish Yamaha 101ci belt driven something & one other that I never got a good look at. Just got done watching the video of me & it did not come out too well. Rather disappointed about that. So, maybe next time.
For instance, one round I was lined up with a young girl on a small quad.
You have to FOCUS on the starting lights amigo........
[image: ford_explorer_atv_girl_stuck_024.jpg]
:goofy:
So I went racing again yesterday. As I had mentioned, traction has been an issue. I think I may have that figured out now. It seems that if I let the clutch out slower, the tire gets a bite & keeps it allowing me to crank on the throttle. But this has resulting with my bike wheeling across the finish line & the rear tire breaking the beam instead of the front. Not a good thing. I was running with only about a 1/4 tank of gas so the bike would be alittle lighter. So, yesterday I tried running with a full tank thinking the weight of the additional gas would help keep the frontend down. Nope.
Would strapping the frontend down help prevent wheeling? If so, why would it? And how could I go about doing that?
Start in 2nd gear...
keep your weight forward...
drop 5 then 10 psi in the rear tire...
retract the front brake pads away from the disc...
keep the bike as light as possible...
work the rear brake or the clutch not the throttle to control wheelies...
Removing rear preload and promoting more squat may help keep the front end down.
I've never understood the physics of strapping the front end, but that should also help keep the front end down.
A very extreme measure would be adding a chain link and moving the axle back, effectively lengthening your swing arm.
Thanks, BLS & gilkeyb.
Haven't figured out a way yet to strap the front end without spending about $60. I have been doing better though. Doing a burnout long enough to get it smokin' real good greatly improves traction. I do also drop rear tire pressure to 20psi.
BLS, when you say retract the front brake pads away from the disc, are you talking about something other than releasing the front brake?
Lowering straps are $20 all over eBay....
Thanks, CandyRedRC46. Seems as though I would need a kit($60) due to the type of mounting for the brakes.
Looks like you're running on part of a small oval track which, on some tracks, has cars bashing each other with all sorts of various liquids oozing forth. No surprise you're getting wheel spin on that crappy surface. A true drag strip will have much better grip at the lights than a section of oval track.
Thanks, CandyRedRC46. Seems as though I would need a kit($60) due to the type of mounting for the brakes.
What are talking about with the type of mounting for the brakes? I have been running a generic eBay lowering strap since day one, with the standard front end and the r1 front end.
I was thinking that my bike had radial mounted brakes & that a bracket would be needed.
What would this strap attach to?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250992449007
That's what I am running. You just bolt it to your calipers.
A simple alternative tie down is a set of ratchet straps used for securing luggage. Put the strap over the lower tee/yoke, then hook the S hook on the strap so the S sits flat under the tee/yoke. Then at the other end hook the S into the hole in the bottom of your slider, run strap up/down the leg, depends what end your ratchet is at, trim to length, as we don't want excess, now ratchet down. Remember the average bike only has 4-5 inches of fork movement, so note the measurement when you start & stop when it bottoms out. Remember that if you wheelie, there is NO front end cushion now when it comes back down !
Not sure what you mean by the hole in the bottom of the slider. Could you provide a picture perhaps? Would 2 straps (1 on each side) be needed? I also don't understand the reason for noting the measurement.
Would the bolt used be the one that the service manual says a new one is needed during installation?
Heatin' it up
[image: 10698429_1491225887816210_1695386023180301596_n.jpg]
What generation do you have?
That's your fifth gen with a standard front end???
![[image: ford_explorer_atv_girl_stuck_024.jpg]](http://www.carstuckgirls.com/ford_explorer_atv_girl_stuck_024.jpg){kind=link}