How much will dropping font tooth 1 help 1/4 mile time?

[illinoiskat]

I am getting back my bike soon and it is nicely set up. But, I was thinking about the front sprocket mod for extra acceleration. Does any one have any data from the track to give me an idea how much it will do?

[BLACKDEATH]

Few tenths. It helps the pull capeability great. Do you actually drag it or just curious about the pull? I dont like stock gearing on any sportbike ive rode. It is too tall in my opinion for the street. My Kat went down one in the front. My gix 6 went -1 +1 and the current bike is running -1 +2. Now im draging this bike so I will be trying multipe rear sprockets this year for optimum times.

[BLACKDEATH]

Your rpms will go up about a grand if I remember correct with that change.

[illinoiskat]

I have been to the strip twice. Once when the bike was stock I did 108 mph and then after I put GSXR cams in the bike, but the biek was running poorly and did a 109mph in warmer conditions. I have almost gotten the bike perfectly sorted and will run again at track. I know I will get board and want to mess with my bike. If I made more I would buy a faster one. Its no biggie I'll just mess with mine.

[guy2600]

Check out the 'drag times' thread on the next page. Well I'm assuming you have a full hindle.... what year gsxr cams do you have? Have you dyno'd it? If not you definately should and get the air/fuel readings, post up the sheet I'd like to see it. I'd say the next thing is gearing an 14/47 will work well. What do you weigh by the way (makes a difference) Gearing will primarily do 2 things for you:

1. You bike will rev quicker allowing you to launch the bike easier and will put less stress on your clutch.

2. It will keep you in your power band shifting threw the gears netting a lower e.t. With stock gearing it might, for conversation sake, drop 3000 rpm's between shifts. With the new gearing it might only drop 1500 so that at all times your running at peak hp. Gearing will lower your e.t. for those reasons.

A few other things... Get the ebc or barnett springs, like $10 (10% more spring pressure). Did you put a barnett clutch in it? Next time go with the suzuki clutch, it will last longer and is better made. I ran both clutch set-ups and the barnett lasted half as long. Well if you really want to run better times here's a few drag racing tips (I don't know you and not sure how much experience you have. You might already know this stuff but incase you don't) in random order:

1. Well the first thing that comes to mind it RUN AN EMPTY TANK!!! Keep like a half a gallon in it and add as the night goes on. Gas is something like 10lbs per gallon and that extra weight will definately slow you down.

2. If you have a sport touring tire on the rear TOSS IT!!! You will not hook up no mater what you do (if you try to launch hard that is). Drag racing is all about the launch. Beyond the 60' mark with a katana it doesn't matter, you will run the same time beyond that point. I ran a michelin pilot sport and LOVED it! Hooked fantastic! I'm sure the pilot power is even better.

3. To get killer 60' times there are several factors. Hmm, perhaps it would be better to go over general staging first:

The burn out: Only purpose it to heat the tire for better traction. When you approach the water box it is good practice to drive around the water then back into it to. Tach your motor and do a quick blip of the clutch to break the tire. The only purpose for water it to get the tire wet so you can do a burn-out easier. A quick blip coats the tire with water. then move forward a foot or 2 to do your burn out. YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO YOUR BURN OUT IN THE WATER!!!!! You will throw up water all over the wheel well and will drip down on the tire when you stage. This is why you don't drive threw the water box cause your front tire will carry water on it and you then get your hot tire wet when you move forward. Either case you will break the tire loose when you launch. You don't need to do a big smokey burn out either. A simple 2-3 seconds is suffice.

Pre stage: When your done move forward and trip the first yellow. People have different approaches but this is when I get into my launch position (I launch with one foot on the shifter peg), then set my launch rpm (9,000 on my last katana I believe) and get myself tucked behind the fairing and rest against the tank (oh before you prestage MAKE SURE YOUR IN 1ST... sucks when your really in second). Then I just inch forward to trip the second amber and all I have to do is focus on the tree.

Stage: Keep your eye on the tree and leave on the LAST YELLOW! Do not leave when you see green, by that time your WAY late! By the time you react to the second yellow and begin to move the green will be lit (in the ideal world anyways).

The launch: Ideally you don't want to hear any drop in rpm's as you launch (bog-- really bad) and shift into second. There are several approaches to this and you have to find out what best works for you. With a katana the wheel base is long, bike is heavy and there's not alot of power. Perfect for learning how to launch!! When I see the last amber I tach it, go wide open throttle and control rpm's with the clutch. You really don't have the clutch fully engaged for 20 feet or so. Some people set the rpm and control it feeding clutch and gas at the same time. You'll need to experiment and see what works. Remember though regaurdless you need to slip the clutch and not dump it!

The rest of the ride: Stay tucked behind the fairing! Your shift points should be just before the rev limiter on a kat. That's one thing you'll see with a dyno sheet, how flat the power curve is and if power drops off at a certain rpm. You will have a better e.t. if you never let off the throttle and clutch/shift, it will rev between shifts and pull the nose up a bit with each shift. That technique is good for a tenth a 2 mph over rolling out of the throttle each shift. That's about it!

Trouble shooting: There's a few problems you could run into. Traction is #1. If your breaking loose start dropping air pressure (bring a gauge). If it's cold and they don't prep the track with vht you will more then likely run into problems. I've run all the way down to 8 psi with all my bikes with NO problem, this of course is at the extreme. I'd drop to 25lbs first if your not hooking consistently. If you don't slip the clutch much -tach&dump- this will contribute to the problem to a degree. From 25 lbs drop in 5 lb increments to 15. Really you should have to do that if you have a good tire and warm it up properly but you might have to. If you have have wheelie problems order a lowering strap from www.schnitzracing.com (like $30) . This compresses your front end and lowers the bike. what happens is when you launch, your forks unload and the front end rises. This gives the bike momentum to pull the tire off the gound and vola you wheelie (bad loose e.t.). A strap will greatly reduce this and is removeable. A good 60' to aim for in the beginning is 1.75. You can get a 1.65 but the bike is to heavy and lacking power to go much lower. If your above 1.75 you have work to do. Your 60' time is everything and is THE factor that determines how good your e.t. is with regards to the bike you have. Oh and check to see how much your bike weighs with you on it if the track has a scale. I'd expect 11.80's your first time out. If you are making around 95hp and you+bike weight is less than 640 you should get 11.50's. I hope this helps...

[illinoiskat]

Thanks for the tips
I will post when I get to the drag strip next time.
I weigh 260lbs.

[BLACKDEATH]

Guy, You are full of so much info!

[guy2600]

Thanks for the tips
I will post when I get to the drag strip next time.
I weigh 260lbs.

Nice to see other people running the 1/4! Well I'd try the 14/47 combo and see what gear your in/rpm your running when you go threw the traps. Being 260 you need to use all gears so you should be tached. You more than likely will need to go to bigger gearing, maybe 49 tooth rear. The only problem is you will need to splice in a few links of chain cause the stock unit will only support up to 47. If you run a 525 pitch chain I have some I could send you if you need it. Being 260 it's more realistic that you will run 12.2ish around 112-113...

Guy, You are full of so much info!

Not my first time

[BLACKDEATH]

I noticed the tire you reccomend. Great tire but pricy. I run a shinko 003. It is a lot cheeper. But a gram heavier if I remember correct.

[guy2600]

I got my 180 pilot power rear for $84 off ebay So is that the shinko street tire? How do you like it? Never ran a shinko. I had a trailer for my 9r so I was able to run a 2nd wheel with a shootout tire. The one thing I learned was that if you find something that works stick with it. I changed my set-up WAY to much on my last bike, never was able to focus and the riding part. Hey what events are you running this year? I'm planning on a few mirock, 1 prostar and maybe a nopi event. With out a question I WILL be the slowest bike there At least I'll be able to run though, more than I did last year.... not looking forward to the driving, live in massachusetts

[BLACKDEATH]

Gees. Thats a heck of a price. I get my shinkos localy so they arnt that cheep. But 150 mounted and ballanced locally isnt that bad. (no one will mount and ballance unless I buy from them) They get pretty good mialage too. which matters right now. I hope to get a second rim soon. so I can run an 009 for street. They Ill get a 003u for raceing. I got 9k out of my 009 racing it every friday. That was unreal. But if it was below 75 the 009 wouldnt grip on track. You could do great rolling burn outs on the street thow. At about any speed you wanted which was scary. The 003 is hard to break in but grips about like the Pilots. By that I mean they grip in anything with heat in them.

Ill run in any event that Gateway in st luis has that I can get to. I ordered a kill teather to be leagal. And my vanson pants are on there way. I ran in Sikeston drag strips anual race last year. Got 5th out of 2o something. My buddy that rode with me took home the top honor with his busa. I jacked up and beat myself. There are a few other tracks Im going to keep an eye on this year. Anything within about 3+ hours ill think about. I mainly plan to work on my form. I want my 1/8 at low 6.4s by the end of the year.

[guy2600]

I just bought the pingel flush mount kill and black wrist strap. Up until this point I did the paperclip-bent-under-the-kill-switch trick but I'm a little tired of that. Also got the schnitz dial-a-number plate, has the bars that flip over to write your dial-in, kinda neat. My best in a national event was at atco nj for a prostar race, out of like 150 bikes in pro e.t. I made it to the final 8. Dude those guys are good! I ran .02 over my dial with a .523 reaction and lost! I was so on that day but it wasn't enough. The pilot had 200 mile on it but you could still see the nubbies and wasn't even fully scuffed in. Hey there's a guy on psychobike selling shinkos cheap I just seen. This year my goal is 10.50's with the set-up I have. I keep putting on weight though I just weighed myself and I'm 205, that's 20lbs heavier than when I was racing with my 9r. I'm back into lifting so the outlook doesn't look good... perhaps I'll have to run the 60 hp jets with my NOS kit I'm looking forward running at atco this year, THEY HAVE A FREEKIN BAR DUDE!! Like 50 ft from the staging lanes, live music too. They are so liberal there. You can stand 2 feet away from from the bikes as they launch, total madness when grudge racing starts at night. Rockingham should be fun too, those are where the real racing is... I love running in all bike events. I start putting my bike together next week, I have so much work to do..

[BLACKDEATH]

I feel for you. I start getting mine back together tomarow. My head bearings came in today. I got the PMR kill switch that goes on the break leaver mounting point. Final 8 with that # in pro et? thats smoking. I was runing in street et running within.o1 of my time all day. I ran .03 in the run I got nocked out in. With a .6 reaction time. And I bogged the start. I was mad but it was my fault. I weigh in at 155 so weight isnt an issue. Ure right. Grudge is the wild side. Next winter I plan to do a 1 mill bore and 50 shot of progressive NOS. Stock wheelbase and a ballast if possible. Then Ill mess with that. (probably still not enough thow) That is if I get to my goal 1/8 et. I wont do anything till I get my times whare they should be stock. I finally got brocks kit to get rid of my slipper clutch. Maybe my clutch will last a little while now.

[BLACKDEATH]

illinoiskat

I know I asked this before. But whare you at? Im right south of Mt Vernon.