Went to the strip tonight

[lhanscom]

Went to the local 1/8 mile drag strip tonight. Kind of a spur of the moment sort of thing. Riding home from work, it felt like a good day to race. Showed up, and to my surprise there were actually other bikes there. Something that doesn't usually happen at this strip. Was racing a 03 or 04 GSXR1000, that was done up quite a bit(airshifter, dry nitrous kit, etc.), an 04 Honda CBR600RR, and a Honda Superhawk, not sure what year. The 1000 just walked away from me, nothing I could do with that one, it was very fast. Mid 6 second. The oppisite was true with the Superhawk, even if he got the jump, I could just ride around him. The CBR and I though were neck and neck. Granted the rider on the 600 might have weighed 150lbs, I'm more like 300lbs. Because this was spur of the moment, I didn't lower the bike at all. I'm hoping that would help fix my horrid 60 ft times, but most of it is just practice. Here's my best stats for the night 60ft 2.01 ET 7.610 @ 100.83mph. I'll be going back in a couple weeks, and see what I can do.

[gsbill]

Thats cool...With practice you will lower your 60's quite a bit...If ya just runnng the 1/8, a few teeth on the rear will get you out and moving quicker...I think you could leasily loose 3 to 5 tenths on your 60..Have fun!

[RacingJake]

Last year a friend of mine was on a GSXR 600 with bars and we would run around 7.30. Sometimes I would win then he would win, talk about fun. Now I have to give them ahead start on Friday's, just like a gun slinger by raising my right hand in the air and when the light turns green I'm reaching for the throttle.

A quick change to a 14T front spocket will drop a few more tenth's too.

[scotty]

Speaking for myslf, i am always pleased to read about your track experiences. It give me ideas for my street bike and also reminds me that i better practice once in a while.
Thanks guys for taking the time to post the information.

[Hoomgar]

At least someone is out having fun

Rock on guys!

[rodcwer]

sorry i thought by the title you were talkin about another strip!?

guess my mind was in the gutter

[skip]

Glad to here you got back to the strip. Did you have any problem with wheelieing or spinning the tire? If the answer is no then dont bother strapping it down. If you dont get the rear height correct it will wheelie worse than stock. you will get those 60ft times down . I went through all the time slips I can find and granted I was 175 lbs then, I averaged 1.78 60 ft and 105mph ill bring the slips with me to maine, you can have them if you want as motivation.
Were were you shifting at? Remember I had those cams degreed back from 110 to around 108 or lower I think, so it may be making power lower than it was when I had it. I would try five hundred rpm incriments of shifting begining at 8500 then 9000 etc. check your trap speed mph that will tell you if the hp is better or worse. I used to shift at 10,000 but remember some great runs shifting at 9500 and lower.
What rpm were you launching at? Are you gonna go back before the june ride? I have a chance of getting that fri off , I talked to my boss yesterday. Do you have to were a leather Jacket or will gortex be ok? . Unless I can learn to launch the rex better ill be in the same boat your in and that could be fun...................skip

[Anonymous]

About the Superhawk: No matter what year it was (they first came out in 1998), they are all the same except for color and the past 2 years have a different instrument pod/panel.

I own a 1998 (Red) and have had it at the strip. It is very hard to launch because you cannot slip the clutch, but after a slow start (a 2.0 60ft time), hit second gear and ride the rest of the way down the strip (1/8 mile) on the back wheel. I usually run 7.5's at 99mph.

My GS750 is way more fun to run at the strip, although I often wonder what the Superhawk would do with wheelie bars.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I will be racing next Saturday night and will make my report shortly.

phil
NHRA #7125

[lhanscom]

I was wheelieing, traction wasn't an issue the front wheel would come up before the rear wheel let go. I was skipping the burn out all night. I was launching around 5k. One thing I thought was weird, is that my et's seemed to get worse, when my mph got better. What does that mean? I was shifting around 10k, but my tach is jumpy, so it was hard to be consistant. I'm hoping to go back this week, but we shall see. As for the jacket, I'll try to remember to ask. I only have leather, so it was never an issue. If you break into the 6's you start to need leather pants, and the kill switch tether.

[lhanscom]

I went to the strip again tonight, the only bike there was the GSXR1000 that was there last week. He's still fast. This week I put my ES bars on, so that I could lean forward a bit more, and I strapped the bike down a couple inches. It seemed to have worked. Best times so far:

7.413@98.92mph My 60ft times dropped to 1.76 too, so I'm pretty happy with that. I tried to swap front sprockets before I went tonight, but I couldn't get the bolt off. I'll have to work on that one later. Also, I think my mph went down due to the wind at the track, pretty good head wind. The best mph I got tonight was 99.9, just shy of the triple digits.

[RacingJake]

Way to go!!!

Are you going to try a 14T? I bet you can break into 100mph club soon and 7.20's or better should just be around the corner.

[lhanscom]

Thanks Jake, yeah I'm going to try the 14 tooth, as soon as I can get that pesky countershaft nut off.

Here's a funny one, my best time is actually 6.693 @ 98mph with a 1.002 60ft time. I have the time slip to prove it. Of course I'm pretty sure the time slip is messed up, I don't remember slipping into a worm hole.

[lhanscom]

Went again tonight, with another personal best, 7.265@101.12, finally got 101. I only got 4 runs in, when my throttle stuck a bit, I hit the kill switch and then when I stopped at the far end I couldn't start it. Found out the kill switch broke, so I fixed that. Then the starter just spun. Looks like my starter clutch finally gave up the ghost, guess I needed a project. At least I was the fastest bike tonight, that was kinda fun. There was a Harley Drag bike, a V-rod, VTX 1800, RoadStar Warrior, and a Kaw 750 sport bike, don't remember exactly what.

[skip]

are you going to have that fixed before next thursday or should I leave my leather jacket home? I guess you were right about the new found hp that was a big improvement over your best in june. how was your 60 ft time?

[lhanscom]

I'm going to try to fix it this weekend, so bring your leather, no guarantee though. My 60's were still bad, that run I had a 1.8x, I really think I can get to 7 flat, or into the 6s this year. I felt like I could go faster, but the bike broke before I could nail a perfect run. I was also glad to find out that my new tire hooks up well, without burning it off.