GT750 Drag Bike

[ja-moo]

What's next?

The riders sitting in the stands with RC control boxes?

Drag racing and Road racing seems to be getting to that point, you hold the throttle WFO and push a button. Or hit the brakes, paddle or throttle and are only sending signals to a computer to do the actual job, at the right time.

It's all cool stuff, but has really only taken out the "human" factor out of the competition. I would rather run a second slower, knowing it was me in control of the whole process.

Guess I'm old fashioned..........

[Suzukidave]

Kevin are you saying the GS1000 clutch plates will not fit into a GT750 basket ? I looked for a clutch plate size reference but counldnt find one .

[tz375]

What's next?
Drag racing and Road racing seems to be getting to that point, you hold the throttle WFO and push a button. Or hit the brakes, paddle or throttle and are only sending signals to a computer to do the actual job, at the right time.

In some modern classes no button pushing required. Shifts are made by an RPM activated switch sending the "shift now" signal to the shifter and ignition cutout. Those are not allowed, but my clumsy clutch and throttle control is competing against against guys with an "Automatic clutch" that allows them to be much more consistent And what all the "crosstalk" on is about goes straight past me. The bikes are actually adjusting settings based on what the OTHER bike is doing. That's just weird and wired........

Fortunately, none of that is required to have fun or to set new national records.

[D&D CHASSIS]

the "cross talk" is how the tree activates for certain classes, like ProET..............it shouldn't be on for us

[water cooled]

Drag racing and Road racing seems to be getting to that point, you hold the throttle WFO and push a button. Or hit the brakes, paddle or throttle and are only sending signals to a computer to do the actual job, at the right time. It's all cool stuff, but has really only taken out the "human" factor out of the competition. I would rather run a second slower, knowing it was me in control of the whole process.

John,
Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of motorcycle drag racing is ET based where you either dial in a number or are given one to hit. Whoever comes closest after adding in reaction time wins and moves to the next round. It requires a great deal of consistency from the bike and from the rider.

Why would it be ok to modify a motor with porting, add reeds to handle the porting, improve handling and braking with better shock and modern brakes, or add steering dampers but not improve controls or electronics?

....Drag racing is about consistency of the bike and of the rider. It is also relatively intense competition. Controls and electronics wont "take out" the human factor...it exposes it. If the bike is theoretically perfectly consistent, than the deviation is the track, air and rider. The rider needs to know a fair amount about all these to be competitive... Put a data logger on your bike and try to launch it twice the same while keeping your reaction time and 60 foot within 1 tenth (which still gets you beat 50% of the time). No one in S/E has a computer or any electronics doing this work at the right time. Its all done by skill and understanding. Who cares if its off a button or lever? The guy that reduces the variables and deviation (error) the most wins....all this while your heart rate is slightly elevated. Plus, who wants to go slow.

[water cooled]

Kevin are you saying the GS1000 clutch plates will not fit into a GT750 basket ?

Dave, I kept trying to download the ALTO Clutch catalog this weekend to verify some details for you but the link is not working. They might be updating their motorcycle catalog. ALTO Clutch provides a lot of dimensions that help cross reference clutch plates from one model to another.

I went to the Barnett site which is less informative but so far, the only match is between the GT750 and GS750 which both use the same friction and steels (the GS uses one addition steel).

The GS1100 and GS1150 are the same and the GS1000 has a different P/N from the GT and the GS1100/1150.

Once the ALTO catalog is available, I can look up the dimensions and confirm everything but it appears the GS1000 is more like the GS1100/1150.

[ja-moo]

John,
Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of motorcycle drag racing is ET based where you either dial in a number or are given one to hit. Whoever comes closest after adding in reaction time wins and moves to the next round. It requires a great deal of consistency from the bike and from the rider.

Why would it be ok to modify a motor with porting, add reeds to handle the porting, improve handling and braking with better shock and modern brakes, or add steering dampers but not improve controls or electronics?

....Drag racing is about consistency of the bike and of the rider. It is also relatively intense competition. Controls and electronics wont "take out" the human factor...it exposes it. If the bike is theoretically perfectly consistent, than the deviation is the track, air and rider. The rider needs to know a fair amount about all these to be competitive... Put a data logger on your bike and try to launch it twice the same while keeping your reaction time and 60 foot within 1 tenth (which still gets you beat 50% of the time). No one in S/E has a computer or any electronics doing this work at the right time. Its all done by skill and understanding. Who cares if its off a button or lever? The guy that reduces the variables and deviation (error) the most wins....all this while your heart rate is slightly elevated. Plus, who wants to go slow.

We can agree to disagree.....

Racing to me, is who gets to the finish first. The bracket stuff, is like worrying about fuel mileage in a MOTOGP race.

Consistency? not sure how that came about in drag racing. Just an example, at the semi-local drag racing track there was a guy that took his bracket for 10 years, in a Javelin. He ran like a 20sec 1/4 mile. It was an automatic, he sat there, and then floored it, there was barely any difference in his times. That's consistent, and freakin boring.

Now in the top classes, the "human" part is basically nothing more than pressing a button on the green, and keeping in your lane. (And not falling down.... ) The race is all about reaction time, and not a lot more.

I'm not putting it down, it's just gotten to a point where it's not about racing anymore, IMHO.........

[water cooled]

John, thats cool! I understand where you're coming from. The 60s and 70's were the golden era for drag racing. It's definitely changed.

[ja-moo]

Cool! Time does march on, I do miss the good old days........

[tz375]

Kevin,
Did you get that bike into the record books yet?

Thanks for a great weekend at US131 Drag Race Park. Great bikes, great people and great food on Saturday night. And thanks for the water, shade etc over the weekend. I promise to remember to bring more stuff next time.

Not so sure about the red light special group you were hanging out with though

[water cooled]

R,
Waiting to hear the official response on the records. Should know by mid-week. It was a great weekend and certainly one of the most exciting FINALS in Super Eliminator since I started racing 5 years ago. Margin of victory between LRE Redline Racing and Dave Derrick (D&D Chassis) was 3" at the finish line. It may have been the closest race in any class sled or motorcycle during the entire weekend. These S/E racers are some of the best out there.

We should also know the official response regarding the Yamaha record set in GG (350cc)-Stock. Very well done on the first S/E outing.

Too bad the good air from Sunday morning didnt hang around longer. More records would have been set. I also believe LRE Redline (Kevin Woodal Stevens) set a new record as well in EE-XG which is experimental Gas and Dave Derrick may have snagged a new PB at 9.09 ET in DD Altered-HH. Not sure how many others though but they will post later this week on the S/E Forum.

Glad you and Cindy came out and congrats to her for some exceptional times on the Yamaha during Friday.

[water cooled]

[Herman T]

What's the latest on your bike Kevin? I'm hoping to see that 9 second run at Indy in May. I have a feeling that it's going to happen.

[water cooled]

First S/E meeting of the year. The race was held at Indianapolis - Lucas Oil Speedway. We had (8) 2-stroke bikes. Six Kawasaki H2's and two Suzuki GT750s. Bob Prior flew from Australia to compete on the Michigan (Dave Derrick) built GT750 Altered. During testing the week before, the RH piston and connecting rod let go damaging the cases and Flannery ported block. Crew Chief - Dick Fortino and Bob Prior worked around the clock to get another GT750 motor ready and six days later they were in the staging lanes at Indy. Here are some pics of the event borrowed from the Super Eliminator Forum:

http://supereliminator.myfastforum.org/ ... ut591.html

After dodging rain for two days during TNT and Qualification rounds, both GTs ran strong. Bob Prior ran just above his sub-class record and I ran just below mine but got eliminated before i was able to back up that pass.

The second S/E race is back at Indy in July.

[jeff kushner]

Congrats and hopefully July will treat you a little better. Also thanks for posting the link to the pics. I LOVE seeing big two stokes ready for battle. I've been tempted to run mine down at Capital Raceway (about 10 miles from my house) but I know that if it runs well, I'll have yet another hobby that I can't afford and if it runs poorly, I'll just HAVE to take it apart to find out why it didn't run as well as I'd hoped......so I'll just continue to leave it to you pros!!

jeff