First Time at the Drag Strip

UselessPickles · Aug 16, 2008

I went to the drag strip for the first time ever today for a "test and tune" day. It was $25 for for 4 hours of as many runs as you can cram in. It was less crowded than I expected and I was able to make 20 passes in addition to spending some time just hanging out and watching other people make passes. It was a lot of fun; well worth the $25. I expected that going fast in a straight line would get boring quick, but every pass was at least as exciting and fun as the first.

Here's a (shaky) video of one of my runs:

Thoughts/Analysis

WOW! This is FUN!
I focused mostly on reaction time and launching today. My reaction time was generally between 0.55s and 0.65s in the later runs. I still need work on the launch. I had that one magically good launch with a slight wheelie, but only once.
I wasn't shifting consistently at the same RPMs, which probably explains why my run with the highest 1/4 mile speed is not the same run that I had the best 1/4 mile time. Next time I'll have to focus on shifting at different RPMs to see what the results are. I did notice that if I waited until about 8500 RPMs to shift, I would end up trying to finish up the 1/4 mile in 3rd gear, but would get caught by the rev limiter right before the end.
When I did shift earlier such that I needed to shift into 4th gear before the end, I had a couple runs where I missed the shift. Boy, was that irritating!
FYI: I was clutchless shifting the entire time.
I can't wait to get some aftermarket cans and a custom fuel map for the PCIII to see what difference it makes.
I had one launch where the rear tire actually broke loose and spun for about the first 10 feet. That was a bit unexpected and slightly scary!

SockMonkey · Aug 16, 2008

Lemme get this straight... You were running with the bags on. Uh, why?? :blink: Dude, spell this with me: D-R-A-G. (and I'm not talkin' about dressing in drag either). Drag is not our friend on the drag strip. Next time pull those bricks off there and give it a go. You're bound to pick up a couple tenths at least!

phil · Aug 16, 2008

Sounds like a fun day, and well worth the money it cost. Last month I ran my '06 on the Bonneville salt, but did not have an official time or speed . . . just what I could read from the speedo. Quite different from the street!

UselessPickles · Aug 16, 2008

SockMonkey said:
Lemme get this straight... You were running with the bags on. Uh, why??

Because that's how I always ride the bike. I'm interested in finding out how fast my bike is as it is when I'm riding out on the street every day. I don't really want to get caught up in making drag-racing-specific changes that would otherwise be inconvenient for normal riding just to improve 1/4 mile times, even if it is as simple as taking my side cases off. It also lowers the expectations of spectators

ShawnKing · Aug 16, 2008

UselessPickles said:
It also lowers the expectations of spectators

LMAO You've got a point there. I can just see the crowd now...'WTF is he doing....?"

weekend rider · Aug 17, 2008

Some pretty good numbers and you enjoyed yourself have an fjr day at the strip :aarambo:

SockMonkey · Aug 17, 2008

ShawnKing said:
UselessPickles said:

It also lowers the expectations of spectators

Click to expand...

LMAO You've got a point there. I can just see the crowd now...'WTF is he doing....?"

Maybe he needs to glue some fake rocket nozzles to the bags so they look like JATO packs! Now that would really cause spectators to do a "WTF"! :lol:

Solo · Aug 17, 2008

What great fun! :yahoo: Back in the '60s I did some drag racing and it was a good time. What track were you at? I never did a drag strip "race day." I may need to give it a try. Glad you had a great day.

UselessPickles · Aug 17, 2008

Solo said:
What track were you at? I never did a drag strip "race day."

Lapeer Dragway in Lapeer, MI

Solo · Aug 17, 2008

I was born and raised in Marshall, MI. My early drag stip days were (I think) at I-69 drag strip, maybe in Miles MI? Long time ago. What fun it was. Have fun doing all kinds of things with your FJR. When I drag raced it was on a Suzuki X6 Hustler. This FJR has a gazillion more HP. I can only imagine what your rides were like. Have fun!!!

x

JRO · Aug 17, 2008

Very good times, especially for a beginner. Weighing in at 135lbs gives you a serious edge. I can't believe you didn't have more trouble keeping it on the ground, though. Good job.

You don't have to mod your bike for better times. I would suggest you drop the bags, and remove the windscreen. I would also like to point out, just FYI, that drag racing is about the most destructive sport there is... Cars for sure; bikes a lot less so... I can't say anymore. I can't read anymore of this. I've wasted too much of my life, and too much money, pursuing time. It's best for me to leave time alone...

colin · Aug 17, 2008

thanks for the drag strip report.... very interesting read!

jnor · Aug 17, 2008

Good report....i've spend half my life...and all of my money

drag racing (cars). Never tried it on a bike.

S76 · Aug 17, 2008

Sweet!

You turned good times! I did 4 runs and clocked 11.7 @ 115, but I had very soft launches from 4K RPM's. I didn't want to punish the clutch much.

Did you have any clutch fading after all those runs?

Sure would be nice to have an AE post up some numbers. Just curious.

UselessPickles · Aug 17, 2008

JRO said:
Very good times, especially for a beginner. Weighing in at 135lbs gives you a serious edge. I can't believe you didn't have more trouble keeping it on the ground, though. Good job.

Thanks

I think my light weight might have something to do with the front end staying down. A heavier rider would move the center of gravity up more, which would shift more of the tire's force away from linear acceleration into angular acceleration around the higher center of gravity (think of it as a longer lever).

JRO said:
You don't have to mod your bike for better times. I would suggest you drop the bags, and remove the windscreen. ...

I've wasted too much of my life, and too much money, pursuing time. It's best for me to leave time alone...

That is exactly why I don't even want to make the simplest changes to my bike that I wouldn't otherwise do for street riding. I bet taking off the windshield and bags is the gateway drug. OTOH, performance mods that keep the bike reliable as a daily commuter (such as aftermarket exhaust) and don't require me to make adjustments to switch between street and strip are fair game for me.

UselessPickles · Aug 17, 2008

jnor said:
Good report....i've spend half my life...and all of my money drag racing (cars). Never tried it on a bike.

You should give it a try on the bike

If you go into it focusing on improving the rider rather than the bike, then it stays pretty affordable. Improving the rider takes nothing more than practice, and it seems that practice only costs $25.

I suppose you could require a clutch replacement sooner than normal. Anyone know the cost of parts for that job?

UselessPickles · Aug 17, 2008

S76 said:
You turned good times! I did 4 runs and clocked 11.7 @ 115, but I had very soft launches from 4K RPM's. I didn't want to punish the clutch much.
Did you have any clutch fading after all those runs?

Thanks

I think I was launching around 4-5k RPMs. I didn't experience anything that would cause me to be concerned that there was any clutch fade, but I also wasn't focusing on it. I slipped the clutch on the launch about halfway through 1st gear until the wheels could catch up with the engine at about 4-5k RPMs, and it always seemed to pull equally strong at that point across all the runs.

Karmak · Aug 17, 2008

My experience with Holeshot Headers and stock exhaust was that I lost fairly significant mid range, but gained power from 4,000rpms and up. Nothing I could do with my FI unit (Techlusion) could get that bit of mid range back (even after consulting with Dale Walker and Dobeck performance). As a result, I put my stock headers back on and with slip-ons (Two Brothers) gained my mid range back and even more.

I am going to bet that you would get better 1/4 times without the Holeshots. I know you're shift points are above 4,000, but with my slip ons and the same air box mods my front goes up all the time.

I do not know what a full Holeshot system would do, but hopefully some of us will find out.

By the way-the above was with an '05 that had nitrous (nitrous not used in the scenarios above). My '08 has the nitrous now, but I will not mess with strip time until I have the engine well broken in (less than 100 miles currently-not time to get out in the last week).

bandit · Aug 17, 2008

SockMonkey said:
Lemme get this straight... You were running with the bags on. Uh, why?? :blink: Dude, spell this with me: D-R-A-G. (and

I say race it like you ride it. I ran mine with the bags one also.

Looks like fun.

First Time at the Drag Strip

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