Does anyone do any drag racing?

Pretty sure @assjuice sim races in drag

 

I'll hafta check. The bike is all business. I seem to recall 8s.

 

At our local track at the end of the test and tune days the track was empty enough that I could do "laps" no waiting time.
Clutch didnt like that, but I did.

 

Your dad still races at 74? That’s awesome.

 

I've done a few bracket races on a street legal SV650 and really enjoyed it. Definitely helped with my road race launches!

On test and tune nights at the dragstrip in Commerce GA I could get anywhere between 6 to 12 passes on a Friday night.

 

Yes he retired from Caterpillar 23 years ago and he works at a local car dealer doing dealer trades to supplement his retirement. He does it to make enough money to fund his drag racing all summer long. The dude only lives for drag racing. It's going to kill him when he doesn't have the strength to do it anymore. That's why I bought one and left it in Illinois. I have to race with him a few times before he can't do it anymore. We raced together from when I was 16-20 and then I moved to Texas after college.

He is stubborn too. His tow vehicle at the track is a scooter that mom uses to pull him back to the pits, after each pass. One track charges $10 or 20 bucks a year to register your scooter, he was pissed and refused to pay, just on principle. So here he is, at 73 years old pushing his dragbike in the heat,with unzipped leathers on, all the way back down the return road to the pits. Sometimes he would get a push/pull from another racer, but he doesn't want to put anyone else out.

I offered to pay and he rants about it's the principle son, I have the money. Then after listening to him bitch about it a few different times, I told him I'll pay just so I never have to hear that damn story again. I know he quit going to that track for at least 1/2 the season and it is the closest track to where Mom and Dad live. Stubborn and spending a lot more money to tow to another track.

It's actually so cool he still races, and I admire him for it. When Tyler raced and I was taking him all across the country, my dad said, "wow you are a better dad than me, I'm too selfish to give up racing for my kid, LOLOL".

He started drag racing in 1976 with a 75 Kawasaki Z1. Then he bought a 78 Yamaha XS11 and then quickly moved to a 79 CBX he raced for a bunch of years. Then he bought a 86 GSXR1100 and drag raced it for 5-10 years while still also racing the CBX, converted both back to street, and then went to car tire dragbikes. He now has a slow small tire bike and a quicker car tire bike.

 

Where in IL does he race? The local track Ive been to is Byron Dragway

 

We have both raced at Byron many times. Also Joliet, Havana, and Cordova in Illinois, Koekuk Iowa, Eddyville, Iowa, Great Lakes, WI. When I was a kid we would race at one track on Saturday, leave after midnight and catch another tracks Sunday race program. I grew up in Peoria, Il. and have never seen the Peoria TT, because we were always somewhere else racing that weekend.

I tried to get my parents to move out to California or Vegas years ago, before houses cost so much out here. They were considering it, but then we checked into the drag racing scene. Bike events out here are almost non-existent.

In the midwest, dad can run a money race paying somewhere between $300-2000 to win a few times a month, all summer long. Now he may have to drive to Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee or Georgia, but there are plenty money paying bike meets all over. If there aren't any worth the effort, he will instead go to a local race at one of the Illinois/Iowa/Indiana tracks around.

 

@rob linders are these races your dad goes to bike only or car/bike events?

 

They have bikes and cars racing same days but never car vs bike, which i find a shame.
I did however do those events at air strips and they did allow to run against cars, that was a lot of fun.

 

I think it's a safety thing.
Imagine linin' up next to Bubba in his bad-ass Grand National. He gets the launch then promptly loses control. Now he's headed your way in a 3500lb metal box and he's gonna pin you to the wall if he doesn't succeed in running you over. That could happen anywhere along that 1/4 mile.

 

He does both. Back when I raced, I always raced against cars, because at that time that was the only way to make any money. Now, from what I understand, many tracks don't even let bikes race the cars. Plus in reality the sport has advanced and it is pretty hard to be as consistent on a bike as a car can be, so often a bike is easy pickings for a good car guy.

 

Nope nope nope....I'd never run against a car while on a bike. Way too much of a safety issue if things go pear shaped. And you will see cars getting out of shape a lot if spend enough time at the strip.

 

totally depends on the turnout and the location... The local strip to me you're usually lucky to get 5 passes in in a night because they only do open nights once a month, they're packed, and inevitably someone pukes coolant or oil and a long clean up happens. When I went with my buddy I race with it was after they were done for the season so we drove to one a couple hours away, I made 15 passes, many back to back, before my clutch starting sticking because I got it too hot and decided that was enough for the night, but could have made at least another 5 before they shut down if I had wanted. Both places I've gone have been mixed bikes and cars for open nights.

 

Great answer above on passes. The first time I ever drag raced, other than once on a minibike, was in 1982 on my Kaw Z1. I got 30 passes, just went round and round, and won 1st place against cars that day.

I had the benefit of having gone every weekend for the previous 6 years with my dad, so I knew what to do, plus we had my bike setup with a slick, wheelie bar and air shifter.

Recently when I went with dad, they now have sessions. You often only get two or three passes, to "dial-in" your bike, before the races start.

 

Best way to practice your starts. Go to a few test n tune nights, bring a spare clutch or 6 and have at it. Try new stuff, or refine what you are already doing and let the data decide whats faster. Then work on consistency.