| Author | Message | ||
     Aydenxb9 |
Took the Lightning to Kinston Drag Strip Saturday and this is what I learned. First, I'm no Andrew Hines. I have 20 years behind the wheel of various bracket cars and short track stock cars but a bike is a whole different experience. This was my first time on any race track running something with less than 4 wheels. I know the bike is a bunch quicker than the chubby wannabe mounted on it. The bike is a 2003 XB9SL with the Race Kit ECM, and air filter, XB12 air box, and a Drummer. The track, Kinston Drag Strip is normally an 1/8 mile track but has lights at the 1/4 mile on test and tune days. The track is 50ft. above sea level and pretty smooth and flat with a decent amount of bite at the starting line. The weather was in the low seventies, relatively low humidity, sunny, but a good 15 to 20 mph head wind. Here's my best of the day: R/T- .789 60ft- 2.128 330ft- 5.532 660ft- 8.341 mph- 87.241 1000ft- 10.767 1320ft- 12.997 mph- 103.376 Without the the head wind and a more proficient rider aboard, my educated guess is that the combination is good for at least another .5 to .8 in E.T. and probably ten mile an hour. My impressions are this: Just as I'm no A.Hines, the bike is no drag machine. The short wheelbase and the transmission are the two major limiting factors. The bike has to be walked off the line due to it's tendancy to wheelstand, and the 1-2 shift produces a good wheelie also. The short coming in the transmission is the fact that it can't be speed shifted without risking major damage so some E.T. is lost there, all be it small. Speaking of the transmission, I am happy to report that there wasn't one hung gear all day, and fairly quick shifts can be accomplished without drama by breathing the throttle slightly and just snapping the clutch. the engine though was brilliant! The charge at the top end was strong! From 330 ft on, it really never quit pulling. Really felt like the modified 440 powered Coronet I ran there a few years back. It just never quit pulling. Did I mention it never quit pulling? By comparison, there were several more aerodynamic and supposedly more powerful Sport bikes there and all of them were really stuck at 105 mph, so the Lightning's potential really shows. | ||
| Dynarider |
As I posted in another topic, nobody on this board will come close to those ridiculous times posted in the mags. Your 12.9 is typical of what most folks would run. That is still damn fast & will beat just about any production car you should happen to run into on the street. | ||
| Dynarider |
I will say that it looks like you were having a bitch launching the bike & it shows in your 60' time. 2.12 is pretty slow & with the right launch you could probably knock off a couple .10's right there. My CBR600 usually ran mid 1.7's for 60' times. The slowest 60' times I have in my records was with my 1100 shadow & those were 2.04 times. | ||
| Anonymous |
The launch and 60 foot times are what hurt the XB. The harder a bike is to launch, the more the difference you will see between great riders and average riders. The good news, Ayden, is that when you perfect your launches with the XB, you will have become a good drag racer! Pee Wee Gleason used to be in great demand with all the Japanese manufacturers and magazines because he could turn such amazing times. He wore special boots with steel toes, and would literally hook his legs under the rear turn signals, and use his legs with the steel toed boots as wheelie bars. He got unreal 60 foot times. Doesn't make much difference in speed, but makes a big difference in et. | ||
| Easyflier |
Ayden, I plan to get my XB9R to the dragstrip this spring just to see what it will do. That's at least 6-8 weeks away but I'll post my best times. I used to weigh about 45lbs less than I do now but I used to get my stock XLCR down to 12.99 and my 76" Sporty ran a best of 11.90 so I'm really curious to know what the XB will do, I'm convinced that 11.70 is possible but it might take wheelie bars to do it because of the short wheelbase and geometry. | ||
| Court |
Okay...you asked for a "Court Story". Dateline 1990 - Heartland Park Topeka - I rode my spiffy new Red 1990 Buell RS-1200 to the "run what ya bring" drags to watch. While watching someone teases me, lured by something like a $10 entry fee, to enter the Buell. I'd never done any drag racing in my life and ask "what's the best way to launch this baby?". The reply..."wind it up to about 5,000 RPM and when the light turns green, let your hand off the clutch". Even I, your stupid perpetual scribe, knew better that. Intuitively something about that wheelbase and timing/power applied formula just seemed outta whack. Doing that with a 52" wheelbase would yield quick results and a month of walking to work. Court | ||
| Darthane |
LOL...sounds like you had fun, Ayden. I've taken my XB9R to the strip a couple times and the best I managed was a 12.200@112.49mph. No idea what the incremental times were, but I can tell you that I was horrible at launching the damned thing. I'm positive that the bike is easily capable of sub 12 second times with a better racer astride it. Actually, the first time I did it, I pretty much did exactly what Court described up there. Sitting at ~4500RPMs and WHAM! Good thing my right foot was on the brake and I've got quick hands! As for shifting...my Firebolt pops the front wheel in every shift except 4th-5th on the strip. | ||
| Martin |
12.3@112--I hate you Darthane! |
