Another first-timer at the drags

[TimJF]

Well I gave it a shot on Wednesday night as a first-timer at the drag strip. I was running stock setup on everything including suspension and had about 39 pound in the rear tyre cold.

Only did four runs as I was only getting in one per half hour or so.

My best time I could come up with was a 10.869 @ 141.29mph which consisted of a 2.150 60ft and 0.682 reaction. It was my third run.

Across all four runs, my best stats were:

Time 10.869
60ft 1.959
Reaction 0.588
MPH 141.29

Must say it was a sh!tload of fun, but yeah got some work to do obviously. A couple of runs:

(http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ELfaJwFB3Lk)

[greenb5]

Nice one Tim :cheers:

I've done it in my car, but not on the Busa - it's alot of fun, but the first time was intimidating in front of the crowd. Wed night - must be at WSID?

Edit to explain, clips and pics are blocked at work so can't tell where you ran.

[karl_1052]

I had a similar time, my first time out.
I got to run alot more(26 passes), but started off slow.
I started in the mid 12s, and worked my way down to the following run.

reaction .604
60': 1.965
660' 7.203
1320' 10.842
MPH 134.552

Mine is 100% stock, but my front end did not come up in the lower gears. I did once shifiting into 4th gear.:surprise:

[TimJF]

Any idea what gear I should be in when I cross the finish? I think I may be shifting up a cog right at the last part of the track, possibly unnecessarily.

[justabusagirl]

Any idea what gear I should be in when I cross the finish? I think I may be shifting up a cog right at the last part of the track, possibly unnecessarily.

hi you should be in forth gear at the end of the quater, good job that is a nice time for your first time out!!! if you get your 60 foot down you will see low 10,s really soon. keep it up!!!!:cheers:

[Tybalt]

Tim, go I7/45 :thumbs up: from I8/43

[justabusagirl]

i just noticed in your vid that when you staged you rode right up and turned both bulbs on, that forces the other person to stage quickly and can screw some tree systems up. When you pull up to the tree you need to do what is called gentelman staging or courtisy staging, thats when you trip one bulb and let the other guy or gal trip thier light then either one of you can trip the second light.. this way you both can get set , have your rpm and body position how you want it. Please dont take this the wrong way i just want to make it easier on you and the person who is gonna get thier butt kicked by the busa!!!!!:cheers:

[toastman]

To bad they weren't running a pro tree aswell. I hate those 500 tree's....wait for it wait for it...ahhhh sheet...red light!!

Did they not let you guys use the burn out box? Its nice to heat the tire up a little.Good luck with the racing....It will soon consume your time....ITS A DRUG!!

Cheers,

Tony

ps And a very valid point BusaGirl...its all about being respectful to your opponent.....until you get back to the pits....then let the ribbin begin

[megawatt]

I never stage until the other person prestages or stages first. I don't want to hold my bike up on the launch revs and me concentrating on a tree to change. If the other guys is having problems, his bike shut off, the track official giving him instructions, or any number of other reasons, etc on the other lane that causes a long time for me to be heating up the bike and clutch for no reason.

Now if I don't like the other guy, and he runs up on the stage line like you did, I will take my time pulling up to the stage line and make sure I am ready, comfortable, and concentrating on my race while not caring if he is sitting there heating up his engine. That might be all the edge I need to beat him. With that said, I have only raced against my friends and cool people and always had a good time. But if were talking a $$ race then I am not going to want to help someone take my money.

[TimJF]

Thanks a bunch for the tips. :cheers:

I don't want to get a reputation for being a jerk so I will be sure to use this gentleman-staging technique. I just wish someone had told me on the night! :rofl:

[justabusagirl]

Thanks a bunch for the tips. :cheers:

I don't want to get a reputation for being a jerk so I will be sure to use this gentleman-staging technique. I just wish someone had told me on the night! :rofl:
lol im glad you didnt take it wrong!!! please keep us posted on your next race and your new times!!!!!

[karl_1052]

Any idea what gear I should be in when I cross the finish? I think I may be shifting up a cog right at the last part of the track, possibly unnecessarily.


I shift into 4th at about the 1000' mark.

[Draco1340]

Thanks a bunch for the tips. :cheers:

I don't want to get a reputation for being a jerk so I will be sure to use this gentleman-staging technique. I just wish someone had told me on the night! :rofl:

A tree is a tree is a tree... But there are enourmous differences in rules and etiquite between different tracks. Its good to ask around. On some tracks, you will get 1 warning or even get DQd if you don't "courtesy stage". On other tracks, double bulbing is a standard method to put deep stage vehicles (such as sleds) at a distinct disadvantage. On tracks with autostart, you can be DQd if you don't light the second bulb 5 (or 6?) seconds after your opponent lights his second bulb. On other tracks, you can take all day triggering the second bulb, and heating the other guy up. On a 2 stroke, or a heavily modified motor, heating a guy up can slow him down a tenth, and that's racing.

I was at a track recently where they instantly DQd you if you aggresively hit your brakes at the big end. Don't know how they judged "aggressive", but it sure put a damper on sandbagging that day. The same track had a blue light on the tree that had something to do with your water burn out, but I never figured it out. The one thing that consistently screws me up is if they run a crossover delay tree. It looks like a regular .500 et tree, but it isnt.:umm:

[justabusagirl]

One thing that i have never done or never will do is play games at the tree, i raced sleds all year and only lost to them 2 times due to a stupid mistake on my part!! I know everyone races a little diffrent and does thier own thing but personaly i think head games in drag racing is bull crap.Im not afraid to race anyone im not saying that i will win but i am confident enough in my own racing that i just dont feel the need to mess with anyones head. On the other hand i have a few guys that constantly pull crap on me at the tree every time we race, and it got them nothing but loading thier bike up on the trailer lol. anyway thats just my opinion !!

[Draco1340]

Sorry, I wasn't advocating fun and games at the line. Just pointing out that the rules, culture, and techniques can vary widely between different tracks. Part of what makes it interesting.

[rccturbos]

I never stage until the other person prestages or stages first. I don't want to hold my bike up on the launch revs and me concentrating on a tree to change. If the other guys is having problems, his bike shut off, the track official giving him instructions, or any number of other reasons, etc on the other lane that causes a long time for me to be heating up the bike and clutch for no reason.

Now if I don't like the other guy, and he runs up on the stage line like you did, I will take my time pulling up to the stage line and make sure I am ready, comfortable, and concentrating on my race while not caring if he is sitting there heating up his engine. That might be all the edge I need to beat him. With that said, I have only raced against my friends and cool people and always had a good time. But if were talking a $$ race then I am not going to want to help someone take my money.

If the track uses an autostart system you only have a certain amount of time to finish staging if the other racer has already staged, then you will get a red light, so you may not have as much time as you think to mess around.

Richard

Richard

[justabusagirl]

Sorry, I wasn't advocating fun and games at the line. Just pointing out that the rules, culture, and techniques can vary widely between different tracks. Part of what makes it interesting.
no im sorry i didnt even think that you were advocating fun at the line , no not at all!!! Im sorry if you thought that, i was just thinkin about the people that do that stuff, when you mentioned it!! your a cool dude , i didnt mean any disrespect to you at all!!

[TimJF]

Well today was my second visit to the strip and I managed to improve a little. Did 15 runs in total. My best time being a 10.366 @ 144.28mph.

I must say the courtesy-staging was a real plus, for some reason it made me feel a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. And once I had the adrenalin under control I got a little faster.

And I saw some other newbie getting a very stern talking to about his abrupt staging technique haha poor bugger. :rofl:

[TimJF]

http://users.tpg.com.au/tjfra0/k8.jpg

[MR..X]

Love the picture :thumbs up:

[justabusagirl]

great pic!!!!! your doing great you will be in the nines soon!!!!:cheers:

[Brakelate]

Beautiful shot! Keep it up :oh yeah:

[Falconer]

great pic tim.. omg justabusagirl you crack me up. just like a bulldog to make nice nice after it rips uf face off..:rofl:

[justabusagirl]

lmao!!!!

[jshtriumph]

Great job, a little practice and you will be running pretty good. your speed equates to somewhere around a 10.2, and with some practice and even your MPH will come up. I like you was going through the traps in third at the top of third and shifting to 4th netted an MPH or 2 but not a faster time.I went up 2 teeth on my rear sprocket and both improved and it allows my to be solidly into forth through the traps.

[lilshaunsdad]

I couldn't see the video but by going by your time slip stats. If you got your 60 foots way down you would be running in mid 9's. If your going thru the traps at 141 running a 10.80 you are picking up alot of speed on the top end.