I do not need to start drag racing again, I do not need to start drag rac.......

[jeremyjustic]

I do not need to start drag racing again....

Man , I was pretty heavy into drag racing years ago, even opened my own 300' sand drag strip for a while. Opening the track is what pretty much ruined drag racing for me, pretty much ruined me financially too. I sold everything off and pretty much put it out of my mind until now.

fast forward a decade and my buddy is building a 1980 kz750 motorcycle in his living room, we start talking **** and he starts making some pretty big claims about how fast his bike is going to be. " yeah this bike is going to run low 12's easily, maybe 11.5's" my bullshit meter was pegged. months of **** talking ensued and a $100 bet was made

I bet $100 the bike couldn't break into the 12's

long story short, we took the bike out to the track for a test-n-tune the other night. Man I had a blast! Even though I had a hundo bet against the the bike I couldnt help but root for my buddy and help him out in every way I could. His first pass was a 15.44, with some rider instruction and some fine tuning of timing and air pressure we got him down to a best pass of 13.36, 98mph. Even though he lost the bet I couldn't take his money, we all had so much fun it was worth every penny to me.

now here is the problem, I immediately came home a started looking for a bike on craigslist....... dang, I really dont need to get back into drag racing.

 

[mkane]

Get yourself a smoker. An aircooled Rd Yamaha can be had for a reasonable sum, hot rodded to the tune of 11 sec. passes and quicker. Rebuilds are cheap compared to a 4cyl. valve engine.

 

[jeremyjustic]

oh man , you are speaking my language. I ran an alcohol drinking banshee for a number of years , 3.8sec 90mph in the 300 foot, that thing was a beast! I always wanted an RD because I was so familiar with that engine. I love two strokes.

maybe you didnt understand my point of this thread is to talk myself OUT of racing again, hahahahahaha nice bike man!

 

[2526]

You can tune the hell outa those mills.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Step away from the crack pipe.....

Guys like you help fund my audio adventures. :yes:

 

[petehall347]

Get yourself a smoker. An aircooled Rd Yamaha can be had for a reasonable sum, hot rodded to the tune of 11 sec. passes and quicker. Rebuilds are cheap compared to a 4cyl. valve engine.

had one of those RD bikes back in the day ..was the 400 .. i had a job doing 100mph on it ..it didn't feel safe . let someone have a go on it that used to race them he said it was fine at 100 and above . i was more used to 4 strokes ..i would think an old kawasaki might be better . i remember the advert for kawasaki .. this bike will get you from A to B in a straight line in the fastest possible time .it wont handle on cornering .
well it was something like that anyway was a long time ago now .

 

[davidb1]

RD's are awesome and haul butt! My tweaked out 77 would smoke anything I came across up to about 100. Perfect for the 1/8th mile. Even ran up the tail of a KZ900 to 100.

 

[Yamaki]

Don't give it a second thought...LOL

 

[opa1]

I suffer from this from time to time. When the bug hits. This is what I do.
1. Add up all the costs of building another machine. Then add in all necessary equipment, fuel,(c10-c12 aint cheap.) time and track fees.
2. Since your down south like me. Think of sitting in the staging lanes at 105 humid temps in leathers.
There's a bunch of other reasons not to.

With that all said. I still like the thrill of it. I still go to the track. I just don't race anymore.

Mark
PS. That's a nice looking RD. I had two Daytona 400's. Fun bikes.

 

[eteller]

I'll never forget seeing that brand new RZ350 Kenny Roberts edition on the showroom floor circa 84'

 

[dragondad]

Your second sentance says it all. When a hobby turns into a business is often when it ceases being fun. I hear about this all the time. If you do something as a hobby to escape the everyday grind, keep it that, an escape. Don't turn it into something that your livelyhood depends on because then it becomes a job. As long as it is a hobby, even an expensive one, you can put it away for a while if you need to save money or get tired of it, unlike if it is your job.

My wife makes jams and jellies and quick breads, and she is very good at it. She even started a cottage business and got permitted and such, but she still does it how and when she wants. Any more and it would not be fun.

If drag racing makes you feel all tinglly, then go for it! But keep it as your escape to, don't turn it into something you want to escape from.

Good Luck

 

[eteller]

Wanna go fast on 'test and tune' night, the right 600cc sport bike will break into the 9's with just a sprocket change for as little as $3,500.

 

[grillebilly]

Drag racing is cheap thrills. Problem is you always want to go faster. I'm sure you know how that drug works.

In the mid 80's they had an all Harley Drag Race pretty close by, so the gang went down to watch. I had a very fast Ironhead Sporty so I entered in the stock displacement XL class. I won the class and set a national record ET. Man I was hooked. Went to North Carolina for the National Finals, won again and set another record.
My glory was short lived, they got the Evo's running fast the next year so my junk was noncompetitive. Naturally I took it all apart and built a big stroker to race in another class, and as you guessed, the Evo strokers were even faster. It was fun while it lasted.