| Author | Message | ||
     Howworkclutch |
I'm beat. Last night was my first outing and it was abysmal. Two red lights. Two stalls. Only two trouble-free runs, but both were garbage. The guy on the mic lead the crowd in a round of laughter at my expense. Not to be deterred, I'll be back out there sunday. I'm going to find a quiet parking lot tomorrow and learn to do burnouts. I know, its rudimentary stuff... I really need to get over this fear of transitioning from no-go to go. Newbness sucks! | ||
| Jbolt |
Finding a parking lot sounds like a good idea. Take somebody with you to drop an arm or whatever to practice launching too. The more you do it the better you'll get. I'm no pro, I just go to the strip to play but parking lot practice worked great for me. Just don't get caught doing drag launches from stop lights/signs. I've 'heard' they don't like that. haha | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Dude its tough to get used to. Actually I was talking to fellow racers last weekend at the AHDRA Rockingham race and we were talking about the two scary/nervous parts about a pass is the burnout and slowing down. How are you doing burnout? If you go to a parking lot, just bring some water to help break the rear free. And as you dump the clutch "throw" the bike forward, push the handlebars down/forward and it brings a little weight off of the rear for a second. I'd heard it many times and then saw Gadson and others do it and I started doing it until I strapped my front end. If it makes you feel any better: Once I went to the track, go up to make my first pass. There was a small slope leading to the burnout box/track, so I had it in Neutral and coasted down the hill and past the water, then walked it back to the water. Grabbed the hell out front brake, revved up, dumped the clutch and stayed on the gas. But the backend felt wrong, wasnt swaying like it should, just wasnt moving at all. I looked down and had a bright green light in my face....a "N" I forgot to put it in gear. Silly me. Stuff happens, dont worry about those people or the announcer, remember you at least had the balls to go down and run your bike. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
And to add, as far as the launching goes - for me, which I learned on a tuber and have only raced my 1125R twice (two races, not two passes, last weekend I made it to semis in the Super Eliminator class and made some money!), for me to learn to launch was to start at almost no RPM and dump the clutch, seeing how that felt. Then I stepped it up a few hundred RPM and did it again. Gradually I got used to the front coming up, knowing how it felt, how to control it, how to control the clutch. The first night I was taught to launch I dropped almost one second off of my 1/8 mile time and was launching my S3 at 4500rpm. Thats my advice to a new person to dragracing. Start low, get a feel for the clutch and accelerating. And thats what I did on my 1125 this past weekend, started at 3k rpm launch, last runs were at 5k. Not a huge launch, but when youre used to a bike with wheeliebars, being on a short wheel-base bike takes some getting used to. Keep practicing. Looking forward to seeing you at Smokeout (that was you, right?) | ||
| Howworkclutch |
Yeah that's me. Running at smokeout was way easier... I was pissdrunk and there was no crowd. The other night I was at shady side... Holy crap what a crowd. For test/tune no less. I can do burnouts now. Jeez it's so easy. I tried a couple low-speed rolling launches... Just to get a feel for the front wheel being up. Is definitely helping. But I busted a belt. I might take the slow-pIke sportster to the track tomorrow. At least I'll get more exposure to the tree.. Maybe even overcome the fear of the crowd. Not much of a racing career. But I've met some cool folk and had some laughs. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
shady side in shelby? | ||
| Howworkclutch |
thats the place | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
worst track I've ever been to. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
I'm kinda getting the itch to go back to the strip. Curiosity has me wondering if I gained anything going to chain, and I would like hard numbers. This was the only time I've had the 1125 on the track. Not exactly sure of the RPM, I usually don't launch with very high RPM, 4k maybe? | ||
| Battyone |
WooHoo! nite racing yeah! I burn out in 2nd and every now and then forget to select 1st before getting to line. Dump clutch and ???? the bike just dies like you broke it! The more you do it the easier it'll get,but if the butterflies ever stop you know it's time to get something quicker or pack up! | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
SMOKEOUT THIS WEEK! IM STOKED!!!! | ||
| Firemanjim |
Nigel---ain't that the truth. Every year at Bonneville I have the butterflies on my first pass then am good.  |
