Proof that GenII is faster than GenI

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Barry (Bustanut) showed up to watch the battle, but he was too scared to race:

barry_observing.jpg
Man it's no wonder the wemin folk was hangin about our area..I be one handsome sumbitch ;)

jus layin back like a hawg rider.

:jester:
 
Many Thanks for this very nice Drag Race Report, UselessPickles! This will be my new screensaver, once I learn enough PhotoShop to erase that ugly fecking Jackass off of that really nice Gen1 FJR. The Jackass!

barry_observing.jpg


 
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As for the beginner's handicap, I don't think there was any when comparing our best runs. The 60ft time is an indicator of how well you launch, which is the toughest part of drag racing. Comparing our best runs, the 60ft time was 1.824s vs 1.840s, which indicates that we launched almost exactly the same.
Agreed, a good run is a combination of reaction time and 60' time. He cut some great lights, but my point was that with near zero experience, their's much to be had with clutch control during launch - and that comes from making more than 10 runs down the strip. I spent a few years bracket racing a 340 Duster back in my yoot. My best runs were ALWAYS those that cut a good light and the car hooked up.

As for racing bikes. Except for being a hoon occasionally I've never run a bike in a timed environment. A world of difference!

 
Barry (Bustanut) showed up to watch the battle, but he was too scared to race:

barry_observing.jpg
Man it's no wonder the wemin folk was hangin about our area..I be one handsome sumbitch ;)

jus layin back like a hawg rider.

:jester:
Yep! That's a hansome sumbitch right there! (And I don't mean that in a Ghey Way)! :fans: :blum:

 
Let me say that the first most impressive thing I've seen in this thread is Jason's performance as a rider. If this is the first time he has ever run down the drag strip and his personal performances at the lights, 60' and down track are that good, he may want to consider quitting his day job :)

The next most impressive thing I've seen is the performance of the ol' '03 with fabled 'introduction HP'. When bike mags got hold of the first US FJRs, their fly weight professional riders with a box of tires, a day at the drags and some factory unauthorized suspension tweaks got the FJR down the track in 10.7 seconds. Later years seemed to run 11.0-11.2s and the AE 11.7-11.8.

UP has done a good job getting his Gen II under 11.0 but it hasn't been easy or inexpensive. Were similar tweaks done to the '03 I believe all UP would see is '03 tail lights.

Tip of the iceberg - Thread 1 Thread 2 Thread 3 there is a lot more detail about trials, tune ups and details in other threads.

 
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How much were you backing off to prevent wheel spin at launch?

The reason I ask is that I wonder how much having a car tire on the back would have helped.

 
UP has done a good job getting his Gen II under 11.0 but it hasn't been easy or inexpensive.

Tip of the iceberg - Thread 1 Thread 2 Thread 3 there is a lot more detail about trials, tune ups and details in other threads.
It's important to note that most of the time/effort/money I put into the changes mentioned in those threads has been reverted (luckily it was some spare insurance pay-out money from my totaled 2007 FJR, rather than hard-earned and saved money). I no longer have the "Wicked Webby" air box mod. I went back to a stock air box, but opened up the right side of the box and cut the funnel off that covers half of the air filter (free and simple mod). I've also gone back to a stock header, as the Holeshot header didn't seem to play nice with the Remus Hexacones. The end result of the Motty AFR tuner is really no different than a PCIII with a custom tune. Only difference is that the Motty will evolve the fuel map for me if I make any changes rather than requiring another additional custom tunes on a dyno.

So in the end, my bike really only has slip-ons, a free/simple air box mod, and a custom fuel map. My path to this was not easy or inexpensive, but to go straight to this point without getting side-tracked into uncharted territory would be comparatively simple and inexpensive.

BTW - I agree that Jason's performance was very impressive. I think I didn't get 60ft times like that until my 3rd or 4th visit to the track. I'm a bit of a pussy, though, and tend to be a bit too cautious.

 
How much were you backing off to prevent wheel spin at launch?

The reason I ask is that I wonder how much having a car tire on the back would have helped.
I wondered that too, but decided that the added mass of the CT would negate any gain in width/contact patch.

Still, it would be fun to find out for sure!

 
How much were you backing off to prevent wheel spin at launch?

The reason I ask is that I wonder how much having a car tire on the back would have helped.

Jason mentioned that he lost traction a few times. I was being a pussy and not launching hard, so I never lost traction this time. I have lost traction a few times in past visits to the strip. I'll post a screenshot of the data log from my best run later tonight so you can see exactly how much throttle and slippage was going on. Too bad Bust had a bulge in his tire, or we might have found out if the car tire is an advantage.

 
Oddly, I haven't had a problem with traction at New England Dragway (NED). I always wheelie before I loose traction. Normally I find NED slicker than Lebanon Valley Dragway (near Albany, NY). I always have better 60' times and quicker ET at LVD with my car, which makes FJR wheelies but no tire spin at NED more interesting. My 60' times are usually in the 1.78x range so I'm not babying it.

 
Too early in the morning, I posted in Bob Fords thread before I realized he had put your video in it. <_< You guys had perfect weather saturday. I thought about coming up but ended up spending the day in the garage listening to the U of M vs State game and giving my truck one last good cleaning/wax before the weather turns.
Keep the 29th open if ya can. We're heading back down that way ;)

:jester:
And by "29th", he means "30th"; it's a Saturday. Or maybe he really did mean to say "29th" to throw you off...
Probably on purpose, did I ever tell you the time my parents moved while I was in school and didn't tell me. ;)

 
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Oddly, I haven't had a problem with traction at New England Dragway (NED). I always wheelie before I loose traction. ... My 60' times are usually in the 1.78x range so I'm not babying it.
Wow; nice 60ft time. I wish I could do that. If I got a 60ft time in that range, I'd probably be down around 10.7s for the ET.

Let's just say that Lapeer is not the smoothest/cleanest/best-maintained track, so it could have something to do with the traction losses.

 
According to your video, all this really proves is that it takes at least a few mods on the GenII to beat a Gen I :)
Absolutely! My GenI is bone stock and in need of a tune up and there was only a few tenth's between are best run. I know when I get my launch down those mods are not going to help much.

 
Seriously though, Saturday was a great time. First time I ever did anything like this. Jeff gave me some good pointers before the first run, which helped get me started then I just had to sort things out from there.

I hate to say it but the GenII was fast! I was surprised how he pulled from behind that quick :angry: . I feel if his bike was stock, like mine, things would be different.

I just can't wait until we do this again, it's a adrenaline rush! I can see how this can be addicting. Hopefully the weather will be good on the 30th so I can have another crack at that GenII.

It would also be nice to have a few more GenI's there.(Barry, we have to find you a tire!)

 
Jason (FlyingJ) put up a good fight at the drag strip with his 2003 FJR, but my 2008 FJR secured a victory for team GenII!

Here I am giving Jason all the wrong advice to ensure my victory:

talking2.jpg


And I think this is when I was getting ready to spit in his eyes for good measure:

talking1.jpg


Barry (Bustanut) showed up to watch the battle, but he was too scared to race:

barry_observing.jpg
If you guy's could only see what Barry was looking at :dribble: .

This is what it looked like from Barry's vantage point:

racing.jpg


Jason's best time (#4 is me; #5 is Jason):

time_slip_2010_10_09_jason_best.jpg


My best, which is a personal record (#4 is me; #5 is Jason):

time_slip_2010_10_09_jeff_best.jpg


And proof that Jason really did put up a good fight and won a few races (#4 is me; #5 is Jason):

time_slip_2010_10_09_jason_wins.jpg


I also attached my GoPro HD camera to multiple places on my bike and pieced together this video evidence from various clips. Full-screen it to enjoy it in all its HD majesty:

 
I feel if his bike was stock, like mine, things would be different.
But then I might lose, and that wouldn't be any fun. It's more exciting to stir up some controversy with unfair comparisons :D I'm really wishing I had mounted my camera to look across the track at you to capture just close some of those finishes were as I caught up with you. What we really need is about 6 of those GoPro HD cameras so we can record multiple angles from both bikes at the same time.

We need to get Wayne (extrememarine) out there. His 2009 is stock except for a power commander, but that doesn't significantly affect full throttle performance by itself.

And here's the screenshot of my data log that I promised earlier:

data_log.png


 
For anyone that still thinks that it was only my prior experience that made my bike faster, study this time slip:

time_slip_2010_10_09_jason_best.jpg


The reaction time is not included in any of the numbers, except for the final number that shows how much the winner won by. In this race, Jason had an awesome launch, and mine was mediocre (see 60ft times). He also beat me to the 594ft mark. By this point, launching is well over and it's just a matter of how fast the bike can accelerate, and making sure you don't mess up a shift (which neither of us did in this race). I caught up to him by the 1/8 mile mark and beat him by 0.77s (~15 feet) (pretending that we had equal reaction times). That's all pure top-end acceleration with no differences in launching skills interfering.

 
Had I not been there I may have said the same as most here, that your past experience was a factor.

This simply wasn't the case folks. :no:

I seen Jeff catch and pass Jason a couple times when they were near the end of the pass. Though Jason may have over revved I never heard it.

It's simply a case of Jeff's bike Accelerating at a more rapid pace. ;)

:jester:

 
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UP, you've obviously done an awesome job with that Gen II. Congrats! So now we know that there is one Gen II that is faster than Gen I's....

 
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