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Drag Racing Drag Race your bike?

Discussion in 'Motorcycle Racing and Track Days' started by Murdo, Feb 20, 2014.

  1. ruckusman

    ruckusman White Mans Magic Master Premium Member Dirty Wheel Club

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  2. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Wow, that's uneffing believable! TZ750...one of my alltime favourite smokers. The USA team always brings a few to Phillip Island Historic meeting and they're the highlight of the weekend for me. That drag bike is crazy. Good post Ruckus.
     
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  3. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    I've been looking to start testing the Ninja drag bike and decided to go to the Ballarat Drag Racing Club (BDRC) meet yesterday (Saturday 17th Nov). The BDRC is an ANDRA affiliated club and one that I support whenever possible. I had prepped the bike thoroughly, so I was relatively confident I wouldn’t get too many surprises. Unfortunately, even though the event was promoted as “cars & bikes” I was the only bike to attend and therefore I had no class to run in. The officials said I could run during eliminations on solos, but what’s the point? Shame, but I did get to test the solid rear and lowered frame of the new bike. I spent the first couple of runs getting used to the bike. By the end of my day, I still wasn’t comfortable on the thing. The only other bike at the event was photographer Greg Flynn’s HD (or is it a Victory?). Thanks for the nice pic Greg…

    BDRC 20181117 02.jpg

    I did 6 runs in the morning qualifying session and eventually settled into the 9.6-9.7sec (1/8 mile) range. A strong headwind gusting at 45 degrees from my RHS was a problem for me and twice I ended up being pushed a couple of metres to my left. The solid rear end makes the bike wheelie with high rev launches, so since I didn’t bring the wheelie bars, I was launching from mid revs. Watching back the videos confirmed after pulling up the front on my first run, I was wussing out on all the launches after that. I need at least another go without the wheelie bars to see just how far I can “push” the launches. Wheelies are okay as long as the bike doesn’t bog down.

    BDRC 20181117 01.jpg

    Green light and not a double-digit RPM to be seen (awful).

    Launch.jpg

    There’s a bump near the end of the Ballarat track that I’d never noticed before. The solid rear lets you know about it. Stopping is also interesting as the front dives under braking the rear feels like it’s trying to do a stoppie. Lots of things I have taken for granted on my Lucky Strike bike are different on this bike. Being lowered means I have to lift my left leg a little higher from the launch to get onto the gear level; no big deal, but just another thing to get used to. For the record, my best run was 9.65 at 65.98mph. And, that was with an 8,000rpm launch. Thanks to Greg Flynn for taking a few pics of the bike. They helped with the post-mortem of the day.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 18, 2018
  4. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    I guess I should re read the thread on this bike but why are you going for a solid rear end?
     
  5. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Solid rear end is a "catch 22" with the wheelie bars. You can put wheelie bars on a sprung rear end, but it's not something anyone recommends you do. We wanted to try to run one of these bikes with wheelie bars to allow us to launch hard. Wheelie bars let you be as aggressive as you want on the hit, so it's all part of a long-term project.
     
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  6. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    OK.. I would have thought that you should maybe run a larger (wider and taller) rear tyre with lower than normal pressure to allow it to bite and it would also give some extra give with regard to bumps with a solid rear end.. and maybe make sure you run it with the wheelie bars so you can get aggressive... I guess it is all a big learning curve and these sort of test and tune type days are good for that.. although it is hard to make changes, document them etc when you are on your own.
     
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  7. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    You're right Andy, a big learning curve. Video footage and the odd photo from spectators helps with sorting. Another big issue I had on the day was the printer wasn't working in the timing tower, so all my timeslips were hand written with just my reaction time, ET and speed...not a lot of data to work with.
     
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  8. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Not a lot of drag racing going on at the moment (for me), but I was reading this article and thought some of you might like to know what it takes to get 370hp out of naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder engine based on a 1980's Suzuki GS1150 and still using 2-valves per cylinder! Drag racing really is a funny sport.

    https://www.nhra.com/news/2019/inside-pro-stock-motorcycle-engine

    Suzuki Pro Stock Motor.jpg
     
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  9. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Just getting over the flu and watching YT vids. Came across this. 5.58 sec rocket bike. Slows to 223mph, so might be more in it. FYI, Larry McBride has quickest "Real" drag bike in the world with 5.61 @ 258mph. Rocket bike run starts about 5mins into the video.

     
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  10. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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  11. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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  12. GreyImport

    GreyImport Administrator Staff Member The Chief Contributing Member

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    Stick a P plate on the back and just keep your helmet on and no one will know :cool:
     
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  13. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    The grey beard sticking out the bottom of the helmet might arouse some suspicion?
     
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  14. GreyImport

    GreyImport Administrator Staff Member The Chief Contributing Member

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    I was thinking we could get away with being the fat kid in the class but grey hair could be a giveaway :cool:
     
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  15. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Lots of 11.7's and 11.6's but this is my best run for the night, going to end on a high note and go home :thumb_ups:

    Tweaked the quick shifter settings (sensor threshold, delay and ignition cut times) as I hit neutral instead of 2nd once which blew a good run out to over a 12. Running very well now and no dramas with gearbox.

    Bike feels like it's running out of puff near the end, only reaching about 210km/h and struggling to rev up to redline. I think I have a fuel flow issue... or I have reached the wall with 600's and need to buy a mans bike etc:fuckyou:


    A8E92B5F-BA19-4AFB-BF4D-BD74B4A7F6CC.jpeg
     
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  16. ShaneP

    ShaneP Well-Known Member

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    At 190km/h, the acceleration should start to drop away - the force of wind resistance quadruples when your speed doubles, and because you change gears, the drive torque halves. So it will seem a little more sluggish up top. But if you are finding it sluggish in first and second gear, not revving out well, first thing I'd look at is fuel filter (yours is EFI, right?). We find a few problems there. One bike had a kinked fuel line when the tank was put down, restricted the flow rate.
     
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  17. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    It's carby. What you say about wind resistance is true, next time I will hold my gear instead of shifting before the end of the run
     
  18. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Well done Adrian. There's probably a tenth or two left in the bike. That quick shifter certainly seems to works well. A 7.48sec for the 1/8 mile puts you into the fast end of town for Gunnedah drags.
     
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  19. ShaneP

    ShaneP Well-Known Member

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    The ThunderCat had a fuel pump, so I'm guessing that the R6 does too. Might be worth checking fuel flow, or simply rejetting the bike. You need to run full throttle at the finish and pull the clutch and hit the kill, then look at the plugs to see if they show rich or lean. But you'd know that. Good luck hunting.
     
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  20. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    It does have a fuel pump, it does work, new filter and fuel lines... the bike does need tuning but I will take it to a dyno tuner because I am time poor :)
     
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