First time setting foot at dragstrip - 8th mile

r1d3on3

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My brother and I went to the dragstrip, first time for both of us to ever set foot on a dragstrip (racing ourselves anyways). I ran at the Texas Mile this last March, but have never drag raced. I'm attaching some pics and my first pass - 6.95 and my fastest pass - a 6.78. I'm not about to show you all the passes in between :rofl: I'm not a big fan of the 8th mile, would much rather run 1/4, but it was a blast nonetheless. My brother has a stock 08 ZX14 2 teeth up in the back and fastest pass was a 6.99. He was playing hell keeping the front end down. I was at stock gearing w/ exhaust and a few other minor mods. I fought wheel spin quite a bit and wheelies a couple of times. This is all new to me and a whole different animal than LSR. I did learn I have a whole bunch to improve on. Even with a pretty good burnout I still had trouble sticking, bt015 tire. I'm out of state working and this dragstrip was nearby. I didn't really expect to end up racing and didn't bring my rear stand so wasn't able to lower my bike. Anyway, feel free to give advice, flame, poke fun, congratulate, whatever, I had one hell of a time!! :thumbsup:

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For your first time out Austin, you did VERY well at stock height. You might be able to get 6.5-6.3's or better but you really need to lower it for the best launch. Then you should be knocking on 5.9-6.0... ;)

What RPM were you leaving at...?

It's all in the 60'. You've got to get the throttle wide open ASAP. You need to be full throttle before the 60' beam if you can. Even if you bog it a little but keep it wide open you can pick up on the big end. Where you'll see a big drop on that is your 330'. Your 330' should drop down in the 3.9-4.2 range once you start perfecting the wide open throttle launch... :beerchug:

Anything in the 1.7 60' range is great at stock height. Once you lower it you want to be in the 1.5's. It's like anything else PRACTICE....PRACTICE.....PRACTICE.... :thumbsup:
 
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Not bad for a first time out. I think the track was probably some of your problem. You said you were having spin issues. That's more track related. But what pressure did you have in the tire? I went to to the track for the first time on my 06 about a month or so ago. Best time was a 6.76 at 106 mph. That was no burn out and about 30 psi in the tire. Not great for racing, but I had to ride it there and back and didn't want to go any lower than that. Being on a gen 2, I think if you had a little better traction on the start you would have done a bit better. But still not bad!
 
I think I was prob leaving at around 5k or 6k? On the launch I was really listening to the bike more than I was watching my rpms to be honest. I'll have to watch that a little closer so I can be consistant and have an idea of what I'm doing, and work on getting wot asap. I know I wasn't wot by 60 ft. though. lol. I know you got one thing right.... Practice!
 
Not bad for a first time out. I think the track was probably some of your problem. You said you were having spin issues. That's more track related. But what pressure did you have in the tire? I went to to the track for the first time on my 06 about a month or so ago. Best time was a 6.76 at 106 mph. That was no burn out and about 30 psi in the tire. Not great for racing, but I had to ride it there and back and didn't want to go any lower than that. Being on a gen 2, I think if you had a little better traction on the start you would have done a bit better. But still not bad!

I was running too much psi. I know that was one of my issues. I had thought about that after we called it a day. I bet anything I had near 38 or 40 psi. We kinda finished work early and it was almost a last minute type deal. Went out there for a little R&R and I wasn't putting much effort beyond just riding the bike really. Next time I'll be dropping some psi for sure.
 
those are some really awesome times for your first time out man. like everyone says seat time will be your best mod......unless you go turbo or something :thumbsup:
 
Very respectable numbers for the first time at the strip! Getting the 1/8th mile down to a science will surely help you LSR runs and Texas mile times and MPH a good bit. :beerchug: running into the 6's isn't as easy as some would think it would be, keep at it and you have plenty more to find with your setup as is.
 
I generally run 6.30 in the eighth. I am geared 3 up in the rear and my bike is stretched, air shifted, shift light and strapped in the front. I guess I am just a fat tub of lard! My 60's are generally around 1.48. I should be a lot faster, but like I said, my bike has to carry some extra poundage.
Keep practicing. You can never practice enough! Seat time is your best friend! Congrats on your first time. Those are some real good numbers to start with.
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Good first time. I can't wait to get my first track day on a drag stip and a race track.
A 6-10 inch stretch will help keep that front end down.
 
Not bad for the first time. I am not all that experienced at the drag strip, so all I can say is take your time and get a lot more practive in. Have never run the 1/8 because it is over to quickly for me.
 
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