Hungarian Drag Racing - 2012

[Lotsokids]

I'm looking at 23 June to run my FJ down the track again. This will be my third year racing there. My concern is that I ride almost 6 hours to get there, run the bike super hard for a couple days, then ride it home. If anything breaks, I'm in BIG trouble. It's very hard to pass up an opportunity to race all weekend for about $20. That's such a blast, even if I have the slowest bike there. She's running SUPER good these days, though. Maybe I need to search for a track closer.



http://www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu/jsite/events.html

[racerman_27410]

no reason why you cant ride to the track make some passes and ride back home again.

take a tie down with you to compress the front end  (better weight transfer on launch) and have fun!


the most i would worry about would maybe be burning the clutch out but you could easily take some new friction discs and a clutch cover gasket with you and swap them at the track ( if necessary),  dont even need to drain the oil just put the bike on the sidestand.

really clutch problems wouldnt even be an issue if you let the clutch cool off between runs.

KOokaoo!

[Dads_FJ]

Spare chain, even used, might not be a bad idea.  Do you change gearing @ the track?  What ET and Speed are you running?  btw, sounds like fun!

[Lotsokids]

Do you change gearing @ the track?  What ET and Speed are you running?

I don't change the gearing at all - it's stock. My best ET was 11.74 @ 117.42 MPH. My reaction time is pretty good, but I just need more experience on the launch.

You can follow last year's post here:
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=4735.0

[andyb]

Stock gearing is a little long for you currently, but as you get better, you'll grow into it so to speak.  You should be trapping through in fourth, with quite a bit left in reserve (around 8.5-9k or so on the tach).  A 40, 41, or 42 rear is most likely correct, so at worst you're two teeth from perfect, not enough to worry about unless you're seriously into it.

I'd bring a spare master link (clip type).  Make sure that your chain is tensioned properly before you make a run.. and before you ride there, as far as that goes.

Clutch should be fine to run even back to back all day if it's in good shape to start off.  You're only slipping it for a second and a half at most, so no extreme wear there.  If you're using the stock diaphram spring setup and it's slipping while you're going down the track it may be difficult to notice in the excitement, but that could hurt things.  If you take it apart at home (I'm assuming you hit redline at least occasionally in "normal" use here) and it's okay, then you're likely just fine, but a second spring is the cheapest insurance around for keeping it healthy.

A tiedown strap is a great idea if it's firmly attached.  I use a proper strap when I race (you'll want longer bolts for the calipers when you mount it), put it on before you go and leave it loose, tighten it at the strip, loosen it to go home.  And loosen it to park if you want the sidestand to work, or if you're not a superman trying to hoist the bike onto the centerstand!  In a pinch, I've used a trailer tiedown once, and it worked out okay, but it wasn't something I had a lot of faith in.  Got me through the day, though.  If the strap comes loose or breaks, you're going to not only deal with a suddenly unloaded fork, but also will have some very strong nylon flapping right next to important things like a spinning wheel, brakes, and your steering head.  Not a place to take many risks!

Adjustable dogbones are handy as well, turbuckle types are pricy but hard to beat for their adjustability.  I raise the bike half a inch from stock to ride and lower it between 1.5 and 2 to race.  As an added bonus, it means I can fake chain adjustments a bit with just a pair of 3/4" wrenches, as changing the height will change the chain slack.

It's a streetbike.  Ride it there, have some fun with it, ride it home.  The only record that you should be trying to break is your own, and that's just as fun as beating the guy in the next lane.  Make sure that things are healthy before you go (fresh oil, nothing's leaking, etc), but that holds true for any 12 hour round-trip ride that I take, if racing is involved or not.

Biggest thing that I always wish I had at the track?  Sunscreen.  Ride there and back (mind you, 42 miles one way is all) each time, and I'm usually there about 10-15 times a year.  It's not significantly harder than a good hard romp through the gears on the street coupled with some clutch abuse like playing the cut and thrust game with stop and go traffic.  Probably easier on things all told, seeing as you're less likely to keep it running until it overheats while at a standstill.