S/E (Super Eliminator) Newest Class: STOCK - STREET FIGHTER

[water cooled]

NHDRO - Summer Sizzle at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis: Suzuki took top honors this weekend in Super Eliminators newest STOCK - Street Fighter Class.

S/E continues to expand its interest and participation in 2-stroke drag racing welcoming all multi-cylinder 2-stroke bikes and offering subclasses in 5 different engine capacities ranges, 7 different chassis classes including: Stock, Modified, Altered, Dragster, Gas, Experimental Gas and Pro-Street along with two Racer Weight catagories: Under and Over 200 lbs.

The Suzuki GT750 driven by Richard (Teazer375) was the number one Qualifier this weekend and broke the existing FF/S-HH record held by UK's Rick Brett set in 2008 on his Kawasaki.

[Old School]

Is this a new class, or a current one?

[water cooled]

Hi Dave,

The subclass already existed. Rick Brett set the record back in 2008 when he was over here in the U.S. But recently, there has been increasing interest in running in these stock classes and more and more people are talking about it. Its a great way to get into drag racing and great place to start in Super Eliminator.

[tz375]

Nice picture Kevin. Thanks for all your help and support over the weekend - much appreciated.

Not that I have checked, but there are several engine sizes where the STOCK class has no existing record. For example a GT380 or RD400 or RZ350 could easily set a new STOCK up to 490cc record. There is a lot of room to break the one I think I set this weekend and there's a couple of records in the over-bored (or overboard ) STOCK class for those with 1 or 2mm oversized pistons in a 750.

And there's a Superstock class that needs some serious Suzuki attention.

And Drag Racing is a relatively low cost low pressure way to try your hand at racing without worrying bank managers and healthcare plan managers. Bikes can be anything from totally stock to wild as all get out and there's a suitable class.

For STOCK classes, engine size has to be within limits and stock carbs and wheelbase, working suspension and DOT tires. Motor can be ported or stock inside. No wheelie bars or long swingarms, but there's scope for anyone to go out and have fun. You don't need trick ignitions and 2 steps and million dollar flat slide carbs and chrome- moly or unobtanium or any of that nonsense, just a desire to stretch throttle cables aka the need for speed.

I fitted a speed shifter and to be honest that is not making a blind bit of difference to my times. I lose all my time at the start line, which is where any decent rider could write their name in the books. To win the races takes consistency rather than speed. The slowest bike can win with a clever rider who is consistent.

[Craig380]

That's a very cool pic, and congratulations to TZ!

On the street, I guess we can all get away from traffic lights pretty swiftly, but I wouldn't know how to do it on the strip to get a good launch and 60-feet time.

Is it best to bang the clutch home quickly and try to get the tyre to spin just a little? Or does it depend on the individual machine?

[Old School]

Richard I really love what you've done with your bike, mines a mess compared to it. What seat/tail section is that and how easy was it to mount?

[water cooled]

Is it best to bang the clutch home quickly and try to get the tyre to spin just a little? Or does it depend on the individual machine?

This is part of the process to figure out what your bike wants in order to launch effectively. With a stock clutch, cable and lever, there are a couple different techniques but this is the main idea: You can bang the throttle home an instant before you release the clutch lever and feather the clutch out to keep the engine from pulling down too much (bogging). With a DOT rear tire, you can adjust pressure up or down and try to drop the clutch without feathering and see if you can find the sweet spot where the tire will spin very slightly on the way out. If the tire bites, it will pull the motor down. All this is easier said than done. The serious racers usually have slider clutches which allow the bike to take off at a predetermined motor rpm. The clutch will slide a tiny bit at lower rpms when the bike comes out of the hole but as the rpms rise after the launch, the slider can apply grreater clamping force to the stack which prevents driving through the clutch on the far end.

If you race often enough, you can get good at launching with a stock setup. It just takes a lot of practice to find what your bike wants and to develop the skill to hear the motor and feel the bike through the launch. Every bike is different and every rider is different so you have to practice and see what works best.

[tz375]

Richard I really love what you've done with your bike, mines a mess compared to it. What seat/tail section is that and how easy was it to mount?

I bought it "pre-loved" from Gordon Lamb who used to be a regular on this board some years ago. I believe it is from Hotwing Glass and was for a Gold Wing. I extended the rear a few inches and added light mount and a trunk.

What I did for mounts was to weld a couple of brackets to the top frame tubes and I mount it with dome head screws and rubber grommets and steel sleeves. The seat surface I made to be removable, so it's a thin skin of Carbon Fiber with cut down original foam and a local auto upholsterer covered it. That is retained with lots of velcro patches.

[Craig380]

This is part of the process to figure out what your bike wants in order to launch effectively.

Interesting stuff, thanks!

[ja-moo]

RB got the record because the class was never run before....... He could have pushed the bike down the track for the record.

I haven't drag race a lot, but a road race start is the same. "Dumping" the clutch is good for slider type clutches and bike with wheelie bars. Other than that, you will either spin badly, wheelie/loop the bike, or bog.

It takes practice of course, and clutch abuse, but for good starts, run the motor up to just under the torque peak at the lights, don't do the "rev, rev,red" as you will never be in sync with the lights. When you take off, roll on the gas deliberately while slipping the clutch holding the rpm at peak torque until the clutch is all the way out. Then shift without the clutch, by super quick backing off and on the throttle and clicking up a gear. DO NOT try and shift the shift lever quickly, like with a stab at it. (you will miss shifts that way) Click up and hold it up until back on the gas.

Here is a vid of the Brit meet from last Sunday, for some reason they love to dump clutches, and you can see the results. Which are not good.

http://vimeo.com/70298073" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[water cooled]

Hi John,
True about RB but each class has an Index wherever a Record has not previously been set. The Indexes can sometimes be a "soft" target but you still have beat them and that means you've got to be able to launch the bike and it needs to be reasonably well tuned.

A stock GT750 is probably capable of 14.3 - 14.1. TZ rattled off a 13.1 ET which is pretty good for a street GT750. The GT can fit into the FF class at 738 cc. RB was on an H1 so there is a decent advantage going to the GTs based on displacement ranges. The H2's are in the EE class by bore size.

When I rode a street bike, it was all fun and games and a little exciting when you got to pull away from a traffic light....but when you have to learn how to do a burnout for the first time and then launch the bike at about 6 or 7000 rpm in front of 25 guys (that are really good at this stuff), it will definitely get your attention and raise your heart rate a couple beats. Before long.....you cant get enough of it!

[tz375]

John,

I got used to clutchless shifting at the race track, so the roll off to unload and click it in technique works for me. I did use an air shifter this weekend but it doesn't save me much time if any. It's odd to hold the throttle wide open and just push the horn button when it's time.

I suspect that I was holding not the revs too long and should have shifter earlier. I'll look at the internal gearing charts and compare those to the data logs and dyno curve to work out where I should have changed. or I could just do a couple of runs with changes at different revs to see what difference that makes to ET and MPH.

I used top be able to launch my road race bikes using the technique you described and keep the front wheel skimming the deck, but I seem to have lost that fine touch so I need more practice.

The FF class does allow for an H1 which weighs around 405 pounds and makes 60 catalogue HP. A GT750 supposedly weighs in at around 480to 560 depending on what you read and supposedly makes 67 miniature Japanese hp, so they are a pretty fair match up. That works out to 6.8 pounds per HP for the H1 and 7.2 - 8.3 pounds per HP for a GT750. So the H1 is getting a break.

[ja-moo]

So true, front wheel hovering is your best weight transfer.

I got to thinking, and I did have this vid from 06. Good for a laugh.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y-MHwM1_ak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tz375]

13.22 is pretty impressive.

[ja-moo]

Thanks, have to wait till next year, to make my 8 year spread of going to the track....lol