Scotty,
I'm the guy on the hot seat for how this bike runs. Nobody else viewing this topic seems to know much about the CV carbs that Sam is running. I've covered the why's on using the CV carbs many pages earlier. In this case, good intentions led to carb soaking. Carb soaking led to removing part of the Dyna Jet jet kit. The parts were restrictors for the idle air jets on the inlets of the carbs. The carbs are early 80's GS750 Suzuki carbs. Without the restrictors, the idle circuit was running pig rich.
When you load the motor against the rear brake to launch it, you force the torque converter to slip. The slippage puts a load onto the motor. The motor revs against the load of the converter. The converter has been modified to slip more before reaching the stall speed.(The rpm that stalls the motor) The more power that you can produce in the 3 - 4,000rpm range, the higher the rpm you can produce against the converter load. In that rpm range, the idle circuit controls most of the fuel/air ratio. So, rich idle circuit means low power in the bottom rpm ranges. The bike wouldn't even get to 3,000 rpm on the starting line, due to the rich condition. With the correct power in the lower ranges, you can load the motor on the starting line up to about 4,200 rpm. It makes a big, big difference in launching at 2,800 rpm vs 4,000 rpm! Even after the initial rear brake release, the motor has to continue pulling into the carb midrange circuits. If you're starting rich, it doesn't clear out until the midrange circuits take over. That's why the bike has stumbled off of the starting line and 100 feet down the track it looks like someone pushed the nitrous button! The posted videos show this.
The jetting and gearing also haven't been optimized. We've tried to get close, but the testing at the track is the validation. There will be more changes in place by the time that Sam/Bill race this weekend. How much closer we get to what the bike wants will control what ET's/mph that it runs. If everything is right, I'm thinking low 12's at around 107 mph. If the gearing is off, he can run more mph at a higher ET.
The numbers in testing don't matter. The results in competition are the goal here. Every other "race" bike buildup/competition listed in this forum covers vintage racing. We're not going "vintage" racing. Sam is racing against the Hayabusa's, the ZX-14's, and every other bike entered into this eliminator. Bracket racing doesn't care if you have a 70's bike or a bike from 2011! Bracket racing is consistency racing. I've run Hondamatics since 1985. The reason that I'm still running them is that I haven't found anything better for bracket racing.
Sam has a much shorter window than normal for us to get the bike right. When you live "across the pond", your opportunities to race here are very limited. Sam is a very unique character, that I recommend that every SOHC member should try to meet. I'm flying 700+ miles to try to help him this weekend. Several regional members will also be attending. Stay tuned for this weekend's results!
Mike - in my thoughts as well.
Hondamatic
