[sdsting]

So my buddy has a Yamaha R1 and since Toby introduced us we’ve been riding together quite a bit. He has pipes on his R1 but other than a speed dampner it’s pretty much stock. His bike does something like 170+ and is really nimble in the twisties, typical high-end sportbike. But I was curious how our bikes would compare off the line in a drag race, so today we did a long mountain run and 3 different times we took off from a dead stop and all 3 times my Stryker launched and left the R1 behind off the line. Right about when I’m shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear he blows by me about 30mph faster and pulling away hard. No contest once he gets the RPMs up, but off the line the Stryker definatly gets the drop. My best launch was at a stoplight out on a hwy, as I was accellerating hard through 1st gear (just before shifting to 2nd) the front wheel lifted off the ground a bit, just from pure accelleration (not popping the clutch). He mentioned a couple times how surprised he was at the amount of tourque I had in my bike. And for any of you not familiar with my bike it has a stage 1 upgrade. So 11Stryker you should do very well off the line at the drags, especially if it’s only 1/8 mile.

 

[bigboi18184]

I've had 4 or 5 sport bikes all were 600 cc and I don't think my stryker could touch any of them tbh. I have launched out of first pretty hard on my stryker but never anywhere near what i was able to do on a sport bike. May be wrong but a rocket should be smoking most all v-twins.

My F4i would do 0-60 in around 3 sec's in 1st gear before having shifting into 2nd at about 70mph when my rev limiter kicked in.

 

[toby]

Terry, Johny's R1 1,000 has a fuel programer with manual settings. I'm not sure what he runs it at but he has to lift his back seat to get to the buttons. His bike pumps out 173 hp at the rear tire and he has hit 180+ before. It weighs about 390 lbs. So ya getting it of the line fast is a problem with a bike that light with that much hp even with a supper sticky tire. Then trying to keep the front down is work. So if you were still ahead of him going into 3rd gear means you were hitting 70 to 75+ mph and nearly a 1/4 mile?????? Awesome.

 

[sdsting]

Yeah Toby you are right about the difficulties in launching a light superbike off the line, that’s why John said he installed that speed dampner because the front end gets so light. But he was blowing by me before I got into 3rd gear, usually when I was around 60mph. on my best launch he didn’t pass me until I was climbing through 70mph. That R1 is very impressive but apparently not easy to launch off the line…

 

[11Stryker]

Thanks SD, I have a friend that has a souped up Harley and has done this drag before. He says the key is to get them at the start while the crotch rockets are trying to keep from pulling wheelies. Says at the end of the day, the rockets always win top honors, but some of them can be had easily enough if they miss a shift or have trouble with front lifting. Thanks again!!

 

[sdsting]

Yeah that sounds spot on 11

 

[toby]

Yeah Toby you are right about the difficulties in launching a light superbike off the line, that’s why John said he installed that speed dampner because the front end gets so light. But he was blowing by me before I got into 3rd gear, usually when I was around 60mph. on my best launch he didn’t pass me until I was climbing through 70mph. That R1 is very impressive but apparently not easy to launch off the line…

I'm pretty sure John is conservative on the throttle off the line knowing how easy that kind of power can get out of control and his bike is set up for track not drag. But still I'm guessing his bike probably hits 60 mph in about 3 to 4 sec. and if your there with him that's pretty impressive. I'd be interested in actual 0 to 60, 1/8 and 1/4 mile times you are pulling. I'm thinking his bike gets into the low 11s in the 1/4 and I'd bet you are getting mid to high 12s

 

[gabev30]

The R1 has short gears. Sucks for doing wheelies great for racing.

 

[sdsting]

Yeah Toby I’d also be very interested in those numbers/times out of my bike. Hopefully I get the opportunity soon.

 

[Mr monte]

My other bike is a 2009 FZ1 which is basically an upright seating R1. I would give the launch to my Stryker but by 60 feet the FZ1 would be blazing past like a rocket ;D

 

[sdsting]

**** Mr Monte.. you have both a Stryker & FZ1 ! and I thought my life was good. I’m jealous

 

[Skwerlee]

That's awesome man. Yeah our Stryker's are capable of surprising sport bikes in those short red-light to red-light runs. I’ve ridden and been around sport bikes ah plenty. IMO successful high RPM hard launches on sport bikes come down to rider skill. Like anything it takes practice. When you figure out how to feather the clutch just right you can launch at extremely high RPM’s without pulling the front wheel up too much at all. Another trick for drag racing sport bikes is strapping the front end down with tied downs so it compresses the forks…keeps the front end from coming up. Several years ago I had a friend with a R6 and he would murder the big liter bikes at the 1/8th mile drags because he strapped the front end down and launched at 12k

 

[sdsting]

SKWERLEE you are spot on with your drag launch description. I discussed this very thing with 11Stryker in another thread. I’ve never heard of the tie-down thing though, very interesting!

 

[Darque_Bike636]

SKWERLEE you are spot on with your drag launch description. I discussed this very thing with 11Stryker in another thread. I’ve never heard of the tie-down thing though, very interesting!

Yeah, if you hang with any of the drag bike guys...think Hayabusa and ZX-14 here....then you will hear about guys with their bikes "stretched and strapped." Stretching refers to extended swing arms, strapping is as described above to compress the front suspension.

Regarding the Stryker outlaunching an R1, I think there must be some skill limitations of the guy on the R1.

 

[Skwerlee]

SKWERLEE you are spot on with your drag launch description. I discussed this very thing with 11Stryker in another thread. I’ve never heard of the tie-down thing though, very interesting!

yeah they're called limiter straps...some guys just use tie downs but that's not the safest because they can potentially come undone and dangle dangerously next to the front wheel.

http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/extras/sport+&+tour+accessories/powertye_sportbike+lowering~limiter+straps+for+drag+racing