1/4 Mile Drag This Thursday, Need Advice

Folks,

Here in wunnerful Memphis we have a pretty nice NHRA style drag strip that opens to the public fairly frequently. It's about to close for the season and I was thinking about taking the FJR down there for some legitimate runs this Thursday.

I've had the bike (06) for a few months and have about 2500 miles on her, so I feel pretty comfortable. Generally put 10-11K a year on and also spend a fair amount of time on dirtbikes. But I have NO experience with a high performance bike like this at a drag strip so I'd appreciate some advice on how to proceed.

Anyone who can offer some pointers on launching, shift RPM's, etc. would be aappreciated. Really enjoy this forum and am getting into this whole farkling idea! Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

BTW, what kind of times and trap speeds can I expect?

Bob

This should be a good topic to watch this week!

toecutter said:

This should be a good topic to watch this week!

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I was really hoping you guys would be gentle with me...

I usually launch at 3500 with shifts at 7-8k.

My best time is 12.1 @116mph.

I have alot more weight to push, So your times will be better

Easy on the clutch for the first few launches, The Feejer like to come up if launched too hard. THe ideal launch would be about 2" wheelie, Practice makes perfect. YMMV

Oh yeah, No burn out needed!

GalaxyBlue said:

I usually launch at 3500 with shifts at 7-8k.My best time is 12.1 @116mph.

I have alot more weight to push, So your times will be better

Easy on the clutch for the first few launches, The Feejer like to come up if launched too hard. THe ideal launch would be about 2" wheelie, Practice makes perfect. YMMV

Oh yeah, No burn out needed!

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I want to take my '06 to either the local 1/8th or 1/4 mile tracks this summer. Also a big guy -- just want to try it for the hell of it. If you shift your weight (in my case bulk) well forward could you launch at 4-5K?

And why no burnout? Doesn't it clean the tire?

Did you have any trouble with shaft effect? Not sure if that is the correct terminology, but I mean the tendency for a shaftie to jack under launches like this.

TIA.

ShinyPartsUp said:

GalaxyBlue said:

I usually launch at 3500 with shifts at 7-8k.

My best time is 12.1 @116mph.

I have alot more weight to push, So your times will be better

Easy on the clutch for the first few launches, The Feejer like to come up if launched too hard. THe ideal launch would be about 2" wheelie, Practice makes perfect. YMMV

Oh yeah, No burn out needed!

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I want to take my '06 to either the local 1/8th or 1/4 mile tracks this summer. Also a big guy -- just want to try it for the hell of it. If you shift your weight (in my case bulk) well forward could you launch at 4-5K?

And why no burnout? Doesn't it clean the tire?

Did you have any trouble with shaft effect? Not sure if that is the correct terminology, but I mean the tendency for a shaftie to jack under launches like this.

TIA.

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I ran on the 1/4 mile

I suppose you could launch at 4-5k, But prepare for the wheel stand!

No burn out because all it does is heat the tire up to make it stick better... If you run the same lanes as the cars, The strip will be sticky as stepping in bubble gum. You wont slip with the weight of this bike

The shaft doesnt feel like it's jacking, So i bet that with my weight, I holds it down...

Many people try to launch closer to peak hp when you should (according to many time champ Ricky Gadsen) closer to peak torque. I launched just under 3k and whacked the throttle hard while slipping the clutch just enough to hold the front wheel a few inches off the ground the whole way through 1st gear acceleration. On by best run (11.4 @ 118 mph and the sidebags were loaded and still in place), I shifted at 9K from 1-2 and 2-3. In hindsight, I should have let it go a few hundred RPM higher as I hit the rev limiter about 100 ft short of the finish line.

For the shifts...prior to shifting, start putting upward pressure on the shift lever, but, not enough to actually force the shift. When it's time to shift, quickly blip the throttle while still applying upward pressure (no clutch) and it will unload the pressure on the gears and will glide into the higher gear.

No burnout required.

Before you go to the track you need to call the track and find out what kind of equipment you and your bike may need. Here in New England all tracks have a pretty thorough tech inspection before they let you out to race. My local IHRA track looks for the following:

· Full face Snell M95 helmet required.

· Leather jacket and gloves.

· Over the ankle leather shoes or boots.

· Leather pants required on all motorcycles running either 10.99 or quicker or 120 MPH or faster.

· Kill switch and lanyard required on all motorcycles running 10.99 or quicker or 120 MPH or faster.

· All motorcycles and snowmobiles must have a permanent style competition number plate attached to the right side of the vehicle.

If your track is NHRA they will have slightly different rules.

When you go to the launch pad be careful to ride around the water box and any water that has been splashed out of the water box. Big time hint here – line up with one of the car tire stripes, don't line up in the center of the lane as most rookies do. Slowly roll up to the starting line watching the two yellow staging lights at the top of the tree. Once the first light turns on slowly roll up until the second light just comes on (now both lights should be on). There is roughly 6 inches where your front tire can be placed and keep both lights on. Don't bother playing games like 'deep staging' where you turn the top light off in order to improve reaction times.

Don't get hung up on launch RPMs, go with your gut feel (feel the force Luke…). If you are watching your tach you are going to have a very bad reaction time. Serious race vehicles are optimized to leave the lights in a specific RPM range for best performance. Your FJR isn't one. There is a wide latitude between throttle/clutch engagement that produces essentially the same results at the end of the track.

Do focus the count down lights. Try to leave when you see the last yellow light come on (before the green). The lights turn on in a 100 millisecond-each sequence (.100 seconds), your reaction time will be slow enough that the light will be green before you actually move. Timing doesn't start until you move, you can sit there for a minute before you move and your time will still be ~11 seconds. Your opponent however, will be back in the parking lot wondering what happened to you.

Feejer gets to its low red line very quickly, in first gear you will probably have a hard time getting your foot to the shifter before the rev limiter hits (non AE I assume). My '04 FJR runs an easy 11.2 @ 121 mph, there is more there but I choose not to kill the clutch for a couple of extra tenths. If the weather is below 55 degrees times will be .1 to .2 seconds quicker but the cold track may be a bit more slippery. If your rear wheel spins then you may want to consider a short burn-out, but my experience has been that Feejer's long wheel base gets it to hook up really well. I can't remember getting rear wheel spin but the front tire has had some air time.

Have fun! :yahoo:

Many thanks Ion and Randy. I appreciate the thoughtful replies. Already checked with a buddy who runs the local tracks in his Mustang, and he looked at his rule book -- very similar to IHRA, but no number plate needed. Both tracks are NHRA. Full leathers are not required, though I'm thinking about them as a local guy sells my considerable size if I lose 20 pounds this winter, and ATGATT appeals to me. On "run what ya brung" nights they relax the rules. But I am going to get a Snell Helmet for track day.

The tips on the actual launches and run techniques are great and alleviate some anxiety. I'm not looking to break the bike or myself, just have a day or two of fun. If I break 12 seconds I'll be surprised.

ShinyPartsUp said:

But I am going to get a Snell Helmet for track day.

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In the interest of making an informed decision, have you read the first post of this thread and the accompanying article? YMMV, JMHO, etc...but falling off at 100 is the same impact as falling off parked, all other things being equal, except for the sliding, and you probably wouldn't slide into anything solid at a drag strip. If you feel your current helmet is not safe enough for the strip, then it's not safe enough for the street either, especially if you don't wear one. ATGATT is a good thing!

toecutter said:

ShinyPartsUp said:

But I am going to get a Snell Helmet for track day.

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In the interest of making an informed decision, have you read the first post of this thread and the accompanying article? YMMV, JMHO, etc...but falling off at 100 is the same impact as falling off parked, all other things being equal, except for the sliding, and you probably wouldn't slide into anything solid at a drag strip. If you feel your current helmet is not safe enough for the strip, then it's not safe enough for the street either, especially if you don't wear one. ATGATT is a good thing!

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In the interests of making an informed decision, have you read the eighth post of this thread? It is IHRA AND NHRA rules to wear a SNELL helmet. And they DO check prior to allowing you to race. Now, wanna talk about oil? :glare:

:lol:

In the interest of making an informed decision

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You are correct about making an informed, rational decision on helmet ratings. In this case: [/think][/rational][/informed] IHRA rules dictate unto you, THOU SHALT HAVE A SNELL M95 RATED HELMET, it shall not be SNELL M90, and shall it not be SNELL M100, the number is SNELL M95 and SNELL M95 it shall be. [think][rational][informed] At my IHRA track the tech inspector has to read a factory installed SNELL M95 sticker on your helmet or you become a spectator.
Edited: I see I was a whole 60 seconds late with my post :lol:

ionbeam said:

Before you go to the track you need to call the track and find out what kind of equipment you and your bike may need.

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How about a steering damper? Not required?

Made about 18 or more 1/8 mile runs last April. Best time was about 7.2 @99.75. Never broke 100, never less than 96mph. Bike equipped with 2 Bros exhaust and PC III. Was running about a gallon of fuel, no bags or tool kit. Had a Cee-Baileys +4 +2 windshield on it. Should have folded mirrors, might have helped about a zillionth of a second.

Was running a VERY STICKY track and had on nearly new Pirelli Diablo Stradas. Launched by moving as far onto the tank as I could and remain touching the ground. Held 2,000RPM, dropped clutch and hammered throttle. Tried to shift at 8,000 as on my bike the torque dropped off rapidly after 8K. (My quickest runs were with the 8k shift points.) The front wheel would come up about six inches on 1/3 of the launches and stay there thru 1st. Observers commented how impressed they were as the shift from 1st to 2nd caused a loud tire squeal and another very mild loft of the front end.

I tried to begin my launch as the last amber lights staged (slow reflexes) and stayed forward and down on the tank all the way down the strip.

Also, tighten your rear suspension as much as you can. Lower the rear tire pressue. I dropped my rear to about 25 psi. Reinflate B4 going back out on the street tho.

L8RG8R said:

ionbeam said:

Before you go to the track you need to call the track and find out what kind of equipment you and your bike may need.

Click to expand...

How about a steering damper? Not required?

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Nope

I have got to go again. I took my FJ1200 twice but have yet to take my R1 or my FJR.

I'm jealous! Keep us posted.

ShinyPartsUp said:

In the interests of making an informed decision, have you read the eighth post of this thread?

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You mean the one where the guy from New Hampshire says:

My local IHRA track looks for the following:
· Full face Snell M95 helmet required.

· Leather jacket and gloves.

· Over the ankle leather shoes or boots.

· Leather pants required on all motorcycles running either 10.99 or quicker or 120 MPH or faster.

· Kill switch and lanyard required on all motorcycles running 10.99 or quicker or 120 MPH or faster.

· All motorcycles and snowmobiles must have a permanent style competition number plate attached to the right side of the vehicle.

If your track is NHRA they will have slightly different rules.

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Yeah, I read it thoroughly and it didn't say anything about NHRA rules other than that they "will be slightly different".
I read just fine, in fact, better than many others. If someone had posted that all drag strips in the world require Snell rated helmets, I never would have poked my beak in. I'm certainly no expert on drag strip rules, or oil, or much of anything, for that matter. That's why I hang out here, to learn stuff. I learn all kinds of stuff, about all kinds of things.

Odd that the above rules seem to be okay with people falling off at 119 mph in Levi's. Safety first!

You guys kill me..this is a great place!

Looks like the weather is going to wash out my run tomorow night, but next week is open too so I'll be ready with all of the great advice here, and I think my son is going to video the run as well, if so I'll somehow figure out how to post so you can see that big Feej run. Damn I love that bike!

Bags off, 1 gal gas, shorts, T-shirt, novelty helmet, hell I'm ready to go! Just kidding, stop hyper-ventilating! Thanks again for all the advice, I'm open to more if someone has it.

Bob

A few other things...

Track courtesy -- When you pull up to the staging lights it is good form for the first person that turns on their first staging light to wait for his opponent to pull up and turn on his first staging light before you turn on your second staging light. This gets everyone staged at roughly the same time with the same mental prep time.

End game -- Surprisingly, the end of the 1/4 mile is hard for many people to determine. At the end of the track there will be two lines, the first line starts the speed calculation, the second line, 66' farther down the track is the actual finish line which terminates the elapsed time (e.t.) clock. Your 1/4 mile speed is calculated by measuring your time through the final 66' of the track. Be sure to drive through the end of the timing trap before lifting the throttle. You will enter the timing traps traveling ~118 mph and leave the traps traveling ~122 mph giving you an average of 120 mph, which is the speed that will be on your time slip.

On the return to the pit area you will go past the timing booth where you will stop and be handed a time slip for your run. The time slip has both your info and your opponents info in two columns. It will show what lanes you and your opponent were in; what the reaction times were; 60' time, which is an indication of how well you hooked up and how hard you launched (Feejer should show ~1.7xx to 1.8xx seconds if all went well); 330' time; 1/8 mile time + speed; 1000' time; 1/4 mile time and speed; and it will show who left the starting line first and by how much.

I can just about guarantee you won't make just one run down the track

Yeah, I read it thoroughly and it didn't say anything about NHRA rules other than that they "will be slightly different".

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Sorry about not giving exact NHRA details. The rules change every year and I don't have an '06 NHRA rule book for this year. According to last year's rule book the Snell M95 helmet would be fine for NHRA. I stand by my opening suggestion to call your local track. I would hate for someone to drive a couple of hours to the drag strip and then not be able to run due to incorrect equipment.

Odd that the above rules seem to be okay with people falling off at 119 mph in Levi's. Safety first!

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:glare: :angry2: This is a hot button topic for me. NHRA/IHRA clothing rules for amateurs is idiotic. If I show up wearing a suit made of 1000 Denier Cordura (equal to racing leather) with armor at all contact points but without tags that explicitly says 'leather' or 'Kevlar' they won't let me race at New England Dragway. However, if I show up with ass-less chaps or .025 mm dress leather, a Dragin Jeans Kevlar shirt and limo-driver's leather driving gloves they would happily send me down the track at >120 mph. Good Wife got me a set of Dragin Jeans shirt/pants that do say Kevlar so I can pass tech inspection but I wear my quality riding suit over them to race. It's just plain dumb that the rules let the least experienced with the less capable motorcycles go down the track without adequate protection. Then again, NHRA and IHRA are almost 100% about cars.

Made about 18 or more 1/8 mile runs last April. Best time was about 7.2 @99.75.

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Centerline, that is both good time and speed! That should work out to ~11.2 seconds @ 122 mph in the 1/4 mile.