STREET DRAG QUESTION/Concensus

[Elsboss]

Having ridden bikes other than sportbikes the last 35 years and most recently V8 bikes, I was curious what most of you street drag guys are doing as far as downshifting and gear selection.

The V8's are wound out @ 6,000 whether bigblock or smallblock. At 5,000 they sound like they're ready to come apart. I can't quite get used to downshifting into the right powerband on the 'Busa and end up getting spanked as a result. Needless to say, 50 mph downshifts from 5th to 4th ain't gonna cut it.

Some replies from the fast guys here would be appreciated.

 

[bronc3]

50mph? Better be in 1st...........

 

[him]

im confused are you talking about drag racing or street racing...you shouldnt be worried about down shifting in drag racing if your talking about getting set for a roll on the busa power comes on at about 5500 so you want to be at that rpm for the take off. if your talking about twisties leave it in 3rd torque will get you through

 

[jmaz268]

50mph? Better be in 1st...........

Umm, sorry I would not do that. That would pop the motor from about 2-3 grand almost up to 9500-10000. And in first that is not pretty because you lock the rear tire or put the front tire over your head.

Just my .02

 

[bronc3]

50 mph in first is not 9500-10000. that would probably be more like 80 mph with stock gearing.

 

[bronc3]

Regardless, better be ready to hang on, it comes on very strong, followed by an almost immediate shift to second.

 

[jmaz268]

oops, forgot I'm 1 down in the front, two up in the rear

 

[jmaz268]

but still between the time it takes to down shift the extra then almost immediately upshift, I say just go 2 and forget it

 

[him]

So what kind of racing are we talking about...roll on drag or twisty?

 

[bronc3]

Sounds like roll on.

 

[him]

speed doesnt mater rpms do 6k should get you the win

 

[1127 TO 1299]

I downshift in 1st all the time,
just have to be careful with releasing the clutch, release it gently to make sure you don't get the back to lock up on you.
I will verify at what rpm/speed you can downshift from 2nd to 1st

 

[Lucky34]

I downshift to 2nd when going 70-80mph. Just make sure you have the engine reved up before releasing the clutch!
Example: you're crusing in 6th at 4,000rpms. When you wanna start racing, pull the clutch in and downshift quickly. In the mean time, open up the throttle! and by the time you get to either 1st or 2nd gear, your rpms should be around 9,000. Then you let go of the clutch and you'll feel the bike want to wheelie (aka: accelerate REAL FRIGGIN FAST). And when you let go of the clutch, your rpms will DROP from a high number to a low number (this way the rear wont lock!), and you'll feel as if God himself had just punted your azz to a field goal! Because if you're in 6th and just downshift, when you let off the clutch the rpms would go from the 4,000 (crusing speed) or lower if you let go of the gas, to whatever they'll be in a lower gear, which should be around 7,000rpms. Basically, if you want a "smooth" downshift, when you have the clutch pulled in, you should try to match the rpms to whatever it's gonna be when you release the clutch. If you want a hard downshift with fast acceleration, try to have the rpms HIGHER than what they're gonna be when you release the clutch, and if you want to lock the rear wheel and fall off you're ass, then when you have the clutch pulled in let go of the throttle so the rpms drop to like 1,000, and then release the clutch. (If you want to race, I'd stick to reving the engine to about 10,000 rpms before popping out the clutch in the lower gear, but be careful... if you're downshifting to something like 1st, and you pop the clutch out at 10,000, there's a good chance of wheeling the bike or even looping it!)

 

[bronc3]

Yup, a downshift to those rpms in the lower gears will usually carry the front wheel. Amazing how well the bike stays in shape when that happens.

 

[Elsboss]

Thanks guys. Some interesting info here. The racing I was refering to btw, is straightline, rolling, street drags. Here in S. Florida hills and curves are non-existant.


I've spent years at the track with V8 bikes and 4 wheelers and that's not an issue although I haven't taken this 'Busa to the 1/8th mile strip yet. I'm talking about riding with some of my V8 buds, cruising along 45-60 mph and wanting to get-it-on. I got my clock cleaned twice last night downshifting from 40 someodd mph into 3rd and 50 someodd mph into 4th against a smallblock V8 chopper with a blower. Again, just not used to the high revving motors when you cut your teeth on 5,500 rpm redlines.

I'll take the info just gotten here and give 'er hell. There's no doubt a stock 'Busa beats a stock (non-nitrous) smallblock V8 bike. I posted some time ago about my experiences with multiple V8 Boss Hoss's I had including a nitrous bigblock (ZZ502). The 'Busa will also beat the stock Boss bigblocks bad from the go but from a 40-50 mph roll up to the V8's shiftpoint, the 'Busa is behind. Once the V8 has to shift, it's all over and the 'Busa blows by.

Anxious to be on this team now and kick a few Boss a$$es. All in good fun amongst some of us old guys and we love anything fast, whether from Japan, U.S. or elsewhere. Thanks for the good suggestions.

Elliot

 

[cache]

if you downshift to 1st or even 2nd and release the clutch fast at 8krpms, be prepared for liftoff.......

 

[willgetbusa]

yep, 50mph at 4th or 5th is too low for the busa. 1st suppose to go all the way to about 80mph with stock gearings.

 

[WWJD]

I regularly downshift to 1st on the freeway or out horsing around just to practice getting to know the feel of it. just gotta know where to rev up to, to do it safely. how? by practice!

practice riding around near the rev limiter in 1st and 2nd. it's an eye opener - 1st is SOOOO twitchy with all the power. also, rear end tire squiggle can be fun! side note, usually when just cruising around, if I need to take off quick I shift down 3 gears... maybe that is just MY cruising style