Topic: CB750 Drag Racing Tips?

[vanillagorilla]

My buddy with a hot rod chevy has called me out... Anyone got any tips for launching my bike and whoopin his ass??? CB750K8, open drag pipe, velocity stacks, rejetted/tuned carbs. All adjustments in spec(or very close). Just looking for any knowledge you guys might have on the subject. Never drag raced anything on a track before, so any help appreciated!

[Sam Green Racing]

Is it a heads up race (both go on green) or dial in bracket race (handicaped)?
Do you know what times his hot rod runs?
A prepared drag strip is nothing like a public road, it will slow you down by allmost half a second.

Sam.

[754]

Lower it, lower the gearing and practise.. may need to learn to slip the clutch (need a good one for that)

 If he has 450+ hp, you may not do well...

[vanillagorilla]

Yeah we are going to run head to head. He has a big block v8 with nitrous(he said he wouldnt use that til i was winning...). I think my biggest disadvantage is my weight. Wish I was 120lbs instead of 270!

[MCRider]

I wasgoing to say...if its a HOT ROD, you may want to get ready to lose. And yes your weight is a definte negative, sorry. You need a 16t CS sprocket and a 48t rear. maybe a 15t.

I preferred to drop the clutch and spin the tire rather than slip the clutch. With stock HP thats tough, even with the gearing. I'd run more air pressure in rear until you get the tire spinning.  Both takes some practice.  A nice piece of asphalt parking lot.

Oh, and I was never really any good... 

[Sam Green Racing]

You will probably run mid to high 13s on a good strip (if your any good. )

Sam.

[754]

You cant change that.. If he has a 13 sec car, its hard to beat with a 13 sec bike..
 Really low gearing helps(longer bike too) but if you got lots of traction and cant slip clutch properly, you will lose time coming off the line..

[Sam Green Racing]

To put it in a nut shell, if his car runs under 13 seconds, don't bother turning up.

Sam.

[Really?]

Put the race off for a month or two and go on the South Beach diet.  I lost over 25 lbs in the first month just becuase i was eating right.   

[vanillagorilla]

Well, he has agreed to go motor to motor... 500hp 383 stroker. I am going to just consider this a LEARNING experience! 

[Sam Green Racing]

Put the race off for a month or two and go on the South Beach diet.  I lost over 25 lbs in the first month just becuase i was eating right.   

Body of the month coming up.

Sam.

[jneuf]

I don't have any input for what your bike will run....That being said, has this guy been to the track before?

There are about a million stroked small block chevy guys out there who say they have 500+ hp and a 10 second car....yada yada yada...and when they get to the track, their car is a turd and runs in the 14's....Most people throw out wild horsepower claims without actually dynoing their cars...they think, in theory, their engine should have X horsepower, when in reality, it's a low compression, over cammed, out of tune boat anchor with bad flowing heads and monstrous open headers to make it sound mean...

Just something to think about... 

[Sam Green Racing]

I don't have any input for what your bike will run....That being said, has this guy been to the track before?

There are about a million stroked small block chevy guys out there who say they have 500+ hp and a 10 second car....yada yada yada...and when they get to the track, their car is a turd and runs in the 14's....Most people throw out wild horsepower claims without actually dynoing their cars...they think, in theory, their engine should have X horsepower, when in reality, it's a low compression, over cammed, out of tune boat anchor with bad flowing heads and monstrous open headers to make it sound mean...

Just something to think about... 

Well that is another way of looking at it and like I said, find out/ask what  the car has run. If it's a 14 second job, he's in with a chance. If it runs in the 12s just hand the money over and save the wear and tear on the bike.

Sam.

[Gearheadgreg]

If ya do it on the street or back road some where, make sure you mark off 1/4 mile point, I used to hang with big Willy and the So Ca street racers asso back in the early 70's, got waxed once by a 750 triple on my K1, went back to check the marker and it was about 1/2 mile he ran me down way past 1/4 mile took my 100 bucks and was gone LOL...learning experience. my 84 Monte Carlo ss 350 150 shot NOS ran 12.60 @ 107 all day long D.O.T class street tires mufflers..Should be a good race like to see it !!!   

[cb650]

Practicing on the street/parkinglot will be somewhat diff as most tracks do some prep work for traction.
I used to let my 650 spin off the line also.  Got bad 0-60ft times but overall it was quicker.  It all takes practice. 

[Sam Green Racing]

If ya do it on the street or back road some where, make sure you mark off 1/4 mile point, I used to hang with big Willy and the So Ca street racers asso back in the early 70's, got waxed once by a 750 triple on my K1, went back to check the marker and it was about 1/2 mile he ran me down way past 1/4 mile took my 100 bucks and was gone LOL...learning experience. my 84 Monte Carlo ss 350 150 shot NOS ran 12.60 @ 107 all day long D.O.T class street tires mufflers..Should be a good race like to see it !!!   

Greg, don't confuse street racing with drag racing, it's what gives it a bad name, sorry mate.

Sam.

[Gearheadgreg]

If ya do it on the street or back road some where, make sure you mark off 1/4 mile point, I used to hang with big Willy and the So Ca street racers asso back in the early 70's, got waxed once by a 750 triple on my K1, went back to check the marker and it was about 1/2 mile he ran me down way past 1/4 mile took my 100 bucks and was gone LOL...learning experience. my 84 Monte Carlo ss 350 150 shot NOS ran 12.60 @ 107 all day long D.O.T class street tires mufflers..Should be a good race like to see it !!!   

Greg, don't confuse street racing with drag racing, it's what gives it a bad name, sorry mate.

Sam.

For sure understand...but not sure you can Race a bike and a Car legally next to each other at a Race track just sayin. Also If you look at the history of Big Willy and what we did to organize Street racing and brought it to terminal Island Long beach ca..put up some concrete barriers..i was careful to include what organization i was involved with my friend.. as i enjoy your website i will slowly post some of my accomplishments.

[Sam Green Racing]

Cool Greg but it's late here in the UK and past my bed time, I look in on ya in the morning.

Sam.

[Gearheadgreg]

Cool Greg but it's late here in the UK and past my bed time, I look in on ya in the morning.

Sam.

Night Sam..thought you where is Boston, great site!!!

[vanillagorilla]

He has been running this truck for a while. Been racing probably longer than I have been breathing.  He definitely has the experience over me. No money involved, just for fun.

[754]

 I like racing, as long as I donr get beat 2 bad..

 I dont back down too often when challenged.. You never know if the other guy is a big BSer..

 Good experience for you.. bet you will do no worse than 2nd..

[george]

Hey Jared, win or lose it is still a real blast! I raced my K8 quite a bit the last 2 summers around Houston,  I had been away from the strip for years (20+) so I was in for a shock. The thing about these old bikes is that they are real attention getters, I always had more visitors than the hi-tech Busa Boyz!
  Mine is an 836 which now is getting tired, the best it ever saw was 12.78, with my big ass on it, Usually ran around mid-hi 13's, not very consistent. My short coming is reaction time, no matter how hard I concentrate I am too early or too late. If you have never been on the track b-4 try to practice launches, experiment with tire pressures. Too much air = too much spin  Too little air = bog off the line or even worse a 12:00 ! I always like to do the obligitory burn out, went through a Dunlop 404 in 3 months!
  Enjoy sir,  Take a video, but not like my wife who does not like to expose the lens to the elements!  I've got plenty of audio!

[Sam Green Racing]

Cool Greg but it's late here in the UK and past my bed time, I look in on ya in the morning.

Sam.

Night Sam..thought you where is Boston, great site!!!

Ha Ha, I'm in England but the general consensus of opinion is that in street racing, when things go wrong, drag racing (the legit side ) gets tarred with the same brush. You wouldn't believe how many people in the States don't know what drag racing is. I have met loads of people over there that haven't a clue.
Kinda like last week when I was in the pub. One of my mates asked what I'd been doing. I told him I'd been clay pigeon shooting and I immediately came under attack from a woman who said it was cruel. I thought she was going to hit me with her hand bag.
I know about Big Willie and what he did for the sport, he did a great job.
In respect of where I might be posting from, read the first post in this thread, it'll give you a clue why I have 3 locations. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=61876.0
Welcome to the forum and keep posting.

Sam.

[NitroHunter]

The most important thing is learning to do those long, smokey burnouts. With some practice you can perfect the one handed wave while obliterating that pesky 4 wheeler behind a cloud of smoke. 

[scunny]

I used to launch on the last yellow on the tree, gave me great starts and hardly ever red lighted.

[jweeks]

The drag strip uses a timing system that most people don't understand. Everyone has seen the Christmas tree, but most don't understand how the timing system works. You can read on the NHRA or IHRA web sites about how it works. If it's the first time on a track for you, I've got some simple advice. Deep stage the bike.(push the bike forward until the top yellow stage light goes out) Leave the starting line after seeing the 3rd yellow light come on. Most new racers are unsure on the starting line, taking a while to get started. There are two different times that affect who wins and who loses. The time it takes you to go from the starting line to the finish line AND your reaction time. Reaction time is how much time it takes you to move the bike forward after the green light comes on. Move forward before the green light and you will redlight (lose). Why leave on the 3rd yellow, when it sounds like you will redlight? The bike doesn't move instantly. You have to decide to let out the clutch, let out the clutch, the rear tire starts rotating and then you start to move forward. By starting that process on the 3rd yellow, the bike actually moves just about when the light goes green. If you start moving after seeing the green light, you've given your opponent about a half second or more advantage. The hardest part of the race is in the first 60'. The time slip that you will get for every run will include your reaction time, 60' time, 330' time, 660' time and mph at that point, and the quarter mile elapsed time and mph.  With practice you can learn how to reduce the 60' times. The right launch rpm, the right heat in the tire, the right tire pressure, the shock settings, and even how you sit on the bike can affect your 60' times. In general, the quicker you go to 60', the quicker your run will be. Getting used to the timing system before you race against the car is what you want. If you can't practice before running him, pay attention to how the racers stage and leave the starting line in front of you.
     Ideally, your gearing will have you running at redline in 5th gear right at the finish line. About 100 mph (+/- 5 mph) The competition will probably be going faster at the finish line. You have to lead the race in the first few hundred feet to have a chance at the finish line. Since a bike weighs a lot less, it is easier to get moving than a ton and a half or more 4 wheel vehicle. Expect to lose the first time out. As you learn more on how to do it, you'll get better at it. Good luck! Always keep your bike under control. It's better to lose a race than become a hood ornament.

                                                                              Hondamatic
                                                                              (drag racer since 1971)

[vanillagorilla]

Went riding with a buddy on his triumph. He said he was  doing 106 and I was gaining on him... And I wasn't quite @ redline, either.

And thanks, that was some useful info. I have always tried to have good reaction times @ stoplights(cause I am a dork like that)... So hopefully all my hard work will pay off when I finally go racing for real! The tip on going on the 3rd yellow makes sense. I will try it. Unfortunately, my competition broke his rear end last night testing it. So I will have to wait.

[Gearheadgreg]

Sam, lots of reading to due..thanks for that link you posted, i live in New England, 40 miles from Boston, I have worked with trying to open New England raceway here in Rhode Island to get the youth off the streets, i have been in the News here also to help advocate this Raceway, The town counsel meetings have slammed it down several times unfortunately, Drag Racing is big here, our local Ford Dealer is Tasca friends and sponsor for John Force,I worked for Gardena Ice back in the 70's off Normandie ave right down the street from Russ Collins shop, been there seen the Sorcerer in person...Awesome, Also 5 years ago living in Virginia, stopped into Larry Mcbride's shop off Jefferson ave in Newport News on the way home from work, and Larry gave me some technical help with my Blown Valkyrie, But not to be a hypocrite i am guilty of Blowing away many cars and bikes on the street with my grudge bike, been riding Honda's since my new 1966 mini trail 50 LOL!! Cars...Boats...Motorcycles..always got to have More power!!!  here is my Battlecruiser, Ported heads,45 flatslide Mikuni, Magnacharger, Dyna 3000 W/timing retard,Barnet clutch,Racing tuned exhaust, 50 HP shot Nitrous Oxide..ect..ect..195hp total.

[junkyardjon]

You will probably run mid to high 13s on a good strip (if your any good. )

Sam.

that about sums it up right there.

[vanillagorilla]

Gearheadgreg, that is a bad ass valkyrie!

[Gearheadgreg]

Gearheadgreg, that is a bad ass valkyrie!

Thanks man.....can't wait to complete my 78 f3 paint tires chain and seat.

[Bill/BentON Racing]

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!! Nice sound,good job...another badass Honda!

[Gearheadgreg]

Thanks Bellcow, if ya run across these Old guys here in New England keep clear!! LOL!! we are putting racing cams in this Valk as we speak, before anybody gets upset this tennis court is being converted to a skate park, we were part of the ground breaking ceremony for the youth, we did this for the kids. sorry not to hijack this thread just some Sunday morning entertainment. http://www.youtube.com/user/jayiscool71#p/u/18/6JBGO-26cTw

[Bill/BentON Racing]

Nothing like the smell and sound of POWER on Sunday morning! ,Sounds awesome!

[cb650]

The staging can be a tool to adjust what works best for you to get good reaction times.    Just have fun and be carefull.    I havent raced for 5 years but my boy has his license now and has run his truck so might have to get the bike out andhave a few grudge matches braket style.