883-to-1200: Part IX, Takin' it to the Drags!

Don't know if you've ever been to the Bridgeport Jamboree in Bridgeport California or not but this year I was looking forward to it more than ever because I planned to tow my new monster there and enter it in their 1/8th mile drag race competition.

Let me clear up a couple of things. Yes I towed it because, a) Its a 460 mile 1 way ride through the Mojave Desert which reaches temperatures well above 100 this time of the year and b) my monster only goes 60 miles before hitting reserve. That would mean I'd have to make SEVEN gas stops just to get to Bridgeport!

OK, After a one year hiatus, the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce decided to incorportate run what ya' brung Drag Races in the weekend schedule again.

Besides gettin' high on the view of the beautiful snow-capped Sierra's, getting a chance to run my monster at the drags was the other reason I went this year.

OK, down to the details. I'm not a professional drag racer but if you are, you'll probably get a lot more out of this than I do. I must say, I was REAL impressed with the performance I bolted together.

Here are the numbers. These runs were done over two days. The second day the temperature was about 10 degrees or more hotter than the first, thus the slower ET's and MPH figures. RT Stands for reaction time. Mine were about average for a newcomer although I did red-light once and another time I must of anticipated because I had an unbelievable .261!

One more point that is important for the serious drag racer to note; these drags where being held at an elevation of just over 7,000 feet.

FRIDAY, 26 JUNE 1998
Time of DayRTMPHET
13:31:05.93480.638.783
13:35:52.99780.658.737
13:39:08.90482.178.651
13:41:49.79083.318.512
13:48:15.90082.798.532
13.53:49.74283.798.511
13:59:20.73582.468.732
14:04:23.85882.408.605
14:13:27.85575.60 *9.539 *
* On the last run I started to run out of gas about 1/2 down the strip. That's why the MPH and ET are so poor.

SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 1998
Time of DayRTMPHET
11:31:11.70780.488.811
11:36:35.49079.708.984
11:41:13.71380.708.712
11:51:42.79881.318.576
11:54:57.69580.638.793
12:33:16.75775.93**8.710**
13:26:00.70082.468.8.455
13:59:11.261&82.388.983
14:16:45.77481.80**8.526**
& RED LIGHT run
** These two runs were made during Bracket competition. I dialed in 8.800 and 8.650 respectively and 'broke out' both times unfortunately. I've got a lot more to learn about bracket racing.

To summarize the good numbers: My best reaction time was .490. My best ET- 8.455. And my best MPH- 83.79.

It's interesting to notice that at the end of the second day my MPH numbers started to fall into line with the numbers from the previous day. That might be because the time of day was approximately the same and thus the OAT was probably about the same on both days at that time.

April 25th 1999, Carlsbad California

I haven't been on the track since last June so I wasn't about to turn around and go home after waiting all this time to run my 883-->1200. You see I thought this day was for testing. As it turned out it was a Bracket Racing day. Oh well, I paid the extra fees ($37 total) at Race Tech and rolled down to the pits to get ready.

They allowed 3 practice runs then eliminations began. I was among 7 other bikes that would run this day. Only one other XL besides mine. It was a 96" S&S bottom XL with drag bars. An 11 sec. bike.

The rest were Suzuki's and Kawasaki's. One guy had a brand new 1300r Kawa. First one in San Diego I was told. He turned consistant 10.30's in the 136 to 139 mph range! He said, he was holding back because it was still new and he was just breaking it in! (It was only two weeks old)

My runs were not as impressive as I'd hoped (or predicted from my runs last June). Obviously much practice is needed, but without touching the bike any further I'd say I'll be hard pressed to get it into the 12's as its currently configured.

Here are my times. The forth run was actual bracket race competition. Its obvious, when its for a trophy, the adrendelin pumps and your time improves. My problem was that I didn't consider that possibility and dailed in a 13.60 after my first three runs. I just didn't have enough saddle time on the track beforehand to know what my scoot and me can do. 

Practice
Runs   R/T   60'    330'  1/8ET- mph    1/4ET- mph

 1    .694  2.039  5.906  9.017-80.86  13.866-102.19  
First run since June '98. Pretty sloppy, but just a warmup.

 2   1.037  2.088  5.884  8.865-82.84  13.617-103.86
Day-dreaming when tree lit up last yellow. 

 3    .850  2.086  5.817  8.796-83.68  13.638-101.43
Still workin' on coordination. Poor shift 2nd to 3rd

Bracket
Race  .766  2.007  5.726  8.749-83.05  13.430-105.24
I Dialed in:                          (13.600)
Best run but without a tach or shift light, mediocre results. Hit rev limiter between 2nd & 3rd.
With hindsight I think the best I can do with my current setup is to drop a .3 or .4 seconds if I can get a better launch and get a tach. Then, just maybe, I can get into the 12's.

I did these runs without a tach or shift light; I just used used some pre-calculateded MPH's off my speedo that I felt were the right shift points. Ya' I know; very crude but I was out to have fun than to be competitive.

I've got a few pics taken of the days racing located at Sorry, this link doesn't work any longer. The last one was taken a split second after my Bracket Race launch (note my front wheel is just past the staging light beams). My competitor is still looking at the tree! Of course he was running a 10.6 street bike against my 13.6 street bike so he had a full 3 seconds to wait (haha).

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Date this page last modified: 03/18/2005