Re: OSS "RACE" THREAD
Reply #22 - 25. Aug 2006 at 01:51
DRAG RACING START:
I am a little apprehensive about letting people know the following information but for the good of my OSS Drag Racing M8's I will let the information be available due to the fact that they won't have the same chassis set up as my EFE.
The distance between the Pre-stage beam and the Stage-beam is 8".
By arriving at the race track very early and having my bike teched (scruntinize for my M8's), it allows me time to go up to the starting line and check to see if the staging lights are evenly spaced (measured with my size 10 1/2" Racing Boot). Once I determine if they are the same or there is a slight difference then I will decide which lane will be my lane of choice for the event .
After I do my burnout in the water box, I approach the starting line, at this point the only concern I have is the Christmas Tree, I block everything out. Sometimes I race in front of tens of thousand of spectators, in fact I don't even waste my concentration to look at my competitor, it is just me and that tree.
I always stage my bike first, cause like I just said I don't look or care about who is in the other lane, it just me, my EFE and the tree.
I roll my bike into the Pre-Stage beam, then I roll into the stage beam and turn on the stage light at this point due to the fact that I know from measuring the distance of the beam before the race how much more I can roll my bike into the beam, sometimes a inch or more and the Stage Beam is still lit.
Now I take a deep breath and hold it, and make sure from this point on until I launch my bike that I don't blink my eyes, the second my competitor put his bike into the stage beam I crack my throttle wide open and the 2 step kicks in, once I see a yellow flash from the tree I throw away the clutch, then it's "Sit Tight, Take Hold, Thunder Road"
REACTION TIME:
I have come to a conclusion based on 20 years experience of Professional motorcycle Drag Racing, that there are two critical factors that are manditory if you want to win races and Championships. They are Reaction Time and having a bike that consistantly repeats it's performance potential.
I have won and lossed many thousands of dollars because of 0.001 of a second. Great Reaction Times is a HP equalizer, you could be racing a competitor that has a bike that is a tenth of a second faster than yours, but if you are able to have a two tenths of second faster reaction time then your competitor they will be watching you cross the finish line first.
The first step to better reation times is to have a bike that consistantly reacts / performs exactly the same way everytime you launch it. This is accomplished by weight distribution utilizing the potential adjustment of the polar inertia that is transfered from the front suspension to rear wheel. The front fork spring pre-load tuning is a important factor. Bikes that have rear suspension will also need to have their compression rate adjusted accordingly. Bikes with out rear suspension are able to control the polar inertia effect utililing rear tire air prssure.
The second step to a reduction in a riders reaction time is to reduce the ammount of time that it takes for the rider to see the Christmas Tree lights change. Normal human reflex time is .500 of a second, yet here in on this side of the Pond the Pro-Classes run with a .400 of a second starting system, in fact if you don't consistantly have reaction times in .402 to .410 range you are not going to win many races and certainly not win any Championships.
During a daytime race I am very happy see a lot of my competitors using tinted face shields or sunglasses, what these individuals don't understand is that it takes a longer time for you eyes to react (see) when the incoming light is shaded. So using a clear face shield and no sunglass will reduce you reaction times, remember I said that I won and loss thousands of dollars because of 0.001 seconds.
The third step to having better reaction times is the front tire of your bike. If you want to reduce the time it takes for your bike to brake the starting line beam increase your front tire pressure, if you find that your bike is red-lighting (foul start), then reduce the front tire pressure. The increase / reduction of the front tire air pressure is a tuning factor of the roll-out of the front tire.