Rode 80 miles today to Eddyville, Iowa to an 1/8 mile drag strip. They were doing a street bikes competition so I thought I'd go have some fun. On the down the weather got funky so I pulled over and took this picture of some bizarra cloud formations. I am quite certain there were UFOs hiding in there and that they were laughing at me but I have not physical evidence. Anyway, I kept going on my journey and eventually the sky's opened and started dumping buckets of rains on my and my leather gear. That's fine. Needed to clean bug guts off anyway. I don't care for rain driving so I slowed down from average 110 to about 70 since my wheels are getting a little low on tread. Once I reached the next little town I was gonna pull over an deat/dry but then throught, "Eh, I'm already riding in the rain, might as well keep heading out. Notice how this is like one big run on paragraph? Anyway, while in town I thought I'd mess with my Diablos in the rain, so after hitting second from a stop light I gunned it just enough to break it loose.... but it didn't and I took off instead. It's raining all around, the pavement is running water and it still gripped! I was shocked. I didn't try it in first, cuz I knew it would work. 
Back to my derailed train of thoguht... got down to Eddyville 1/8 mile drag strip, paid $35 and waiting in line with about 30 other street bikes. There were those that had the teathered kill switches, those with modded street bikes, those with the typical fat rear tired & wheelie barred drag bikes... I suspect I might have been the ONLY stock bike there. Which tells me this: dragging is probably not for me, but something I wanted to screw around with at least once anyway.
There were a couple other Busas of people I didn't know and your standard set of GSXRs and KAWs along wtih some really bizaar rides I could not even identify. Teh few Harley's that showed up, seemed fairly slow compared to everything else, and teh street bikes looked like the Harley's next to teh Drag Bikes! Those things shot out and flew! Of course they are worthless on a 178 mile ride to Kansas City on the weekend.
New paragragh just to mess with you. So, I'm lined up next to a 750 with some mods and I start picking his brain since I have never ever ever been to or on a strip before. He explined this was the last of the time trails - I got there late - and the wheelei contest and Eliminations were after that? Eliminations? I drove 80 miles jsut to be eliminated? Great. So yeah, you race in yoru time bracket and if you win you go on and the other guy has to pay $15 to try again. Hmmmmm that sucks, I just paid $35 to get in, and since I am a total n00b, I know I will be eliminated quickly. I observe the flow of bikes: line up, burn your tires off, rool sup to starting point, wait for lights and go. Easy enough. Oh wait! I forgot to lower my tire pressure to 10 PSI!!! Oh well, to late now and I'm used to launching quickly on full PSI anyway. Guys ahead of us go, and Mr 750 and me roll up to the tire meltdown area - is that called the stanging area? Told you I'm new. Guys ahead of us take off, slow as street bikes look after teh drag bikes, and a lady gives us a sign to burn the tires. I grab my front break hard and let the clutch out and hear the engine rev and feel the rear seat under my butt start to slide around, so I push it back and forth for a couple seconds and let off and roll up to the lights. Let's see now... something about rolling just to the edge of the lights.... so I roll up and the first set of yellow lights pop up. The 750 does the same. I hunch down and feel out the clutch until it starts to grab and I rev up to about 4000 rpm. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the center guy waving us to move forward a but more. I guess there's a second set of sensor lights. OOPS. we both push forward a second set tics on, followed by the tree count down... I hadn't really positioned myself yet or settled from my adjustment..... dink! dink! GREEN!!! OH crap! I see the 750 shoot off on my left and I'm trying to bring my revs up and let the clutch out slow wnough I dont pop a wheelie. So, I get a horrid launch and it affects pretty the whole run. I roll on full in 1st like I'm used to doing but still about 5 bike lengths behind the 750. I finally get her going and clutchless jam her into second.... NOW we're swangin! To my left I see the 750 creeping back toward me pretty quick ,and I feel the front tire just skimming on the nice flat strip surface. For just an instant, I'm thinking, hey I might take this guy - of course my engine is also twice as big.... but then we fly past the timing lights and start to slow down. The GIXXER is almost stopped already and ready to proceed down the short return road. I fly past at around 110 and was happy to notice another 2nd and 3rd return road.... I'd never seen the whole strip yet, and didn't know what to expect as far as breaking area. I take the second return road, pull up next to th elittle white shack who hands me a printout. I sucked! But I also had zero previous experience on any drag strip so I was glad to have the opportunity to get be by that 750. I pulled over and taked to the guys that ran ahead of us and the 750 that just ran. They give me some show polish or paint or whatever and now I'm supposed to guess what I can hit next time, since the tim trails were over, and write that on my bike so I can race some one simialr in Eliminations. I have no clue so i put down 6.9 and then the rain starts unloading on us again. Rained hard for about 30 minutes and when it clears the announcer tells us they rescheduled for the 29th and we can all come back then. The track might not get dried off the restof the day so the show is over. BLAH!
I REALLY THOUGHT 1/8 mile would be way too short, but out there on it, getting ready, riding it and slowing down it was a great distance, and alot of fun being in the environment if even only for one run. I'm going down there again on the 29th and probably get my inexperienced butt handed to me by more smaller bikes, but I will have partaken in the last piece of "Isn't the Busa amazing how it can do so many things really well" Madness and add another page to it's history book.
Clouds forming or secret UFO cloaking device? Only the government knows for sure:
Back to my derailed train of thoguht... got down to Eddyville 1/8 mile drag strip, paid $35 and waiting in line with about 30 other street bikes. There were those that had the teathered kill switches, those with modded street bikes, those with the typical fat rear tired & wheelie barred drag bikes... I suspect I might have been the ONLY stock bike there. Which tells me this: dragging is probably not for me, but something I wanted to screw around with at least once anyway.
New paragragh just to mess with you. So, I'm lined up next to a 750 with some mods and I start picking his brain since I have never ever ever been to or on a strip before. He explined this was the last of the time trails - I got there late - and the wheelei contest and Eliminations were after that? Eliminations? I drove 80 miles jsut to be eliminated? Great. So yeah, you race in yoru time bracket and if you win you go on and the other guy has to pay $15 to try again. Hmmmmm that sucks, I just paid $35 to get in, and since I am a total n00b, I know I will be eliminated quickly. I observe the flow of bikes: line up, burn your tires off, rool sup to starting point, wait for lights and go. Easy enough. Oh wait! I forgot to lower my tire pressure to 10 PSI!!! Oh well, to late now and I'm used to launching quickly on full PSI anyway. Guys ahead of us go, and Mr 750 and me roll up to the tire meltdown area - is that called the stanging area? Told you I'm new. Guys ahead of us take off, slow as street bikes look after teh drag bikes, and a lady gives us a sign to burn the tires. I grab my front break hard and let the clutch out and hear the engine rev and feel the rear seat under my butt start to slide around, so I push it back and forth for a couple seconds and let off and roll up to the lights. Let's see now... something about rolling just to the edge of the lights.... so I roll up and the first set of yellow lights pop up. The 750 does the same. I hunch down and feel out the clutch until it starts to grab and I rev up to about 4000 rpm. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the center guy waving us to move forward a but more. I guess there's a second set of sensor lights. OOPS. we both push forward a second set tics on, followed by the tree count down... I hadn't really positioned myself yet or settled from my adjustment..... dink! dink! GREEN!!! OH crap! I see the 750 shoot off on my left and I'm trying to bring my revs up and let the clutch out slow wnough I dont pop a wheelie. So, I get a horrid launch and it affects pretty the whole run. I roll on full in 1st like I'm used to doing but still about 5 bike lengths behind the 750. I finally get her going and clutchless jam her into second.... NOW we're swangin! To my left I see the 750 creeping back toward me pretty quick ,and I feel the front tire just skimming on the nice flat strip surface. For just an instant, I'm thinking, hey I might take this guy - of course my engine is also twice as big.... but then we fly past the timing lights and start to slow down. The GIXXER is almost stopped already and ready to proceed down the short return road. I fly past at around 110 and was happy to notice another 2nd and 3rd return road.... I'd never seen the whole strip yet, and didn't know what to expect as far as breaking area. I take the second return road, pull up next to th elittle white shack who hands me a printout. I sucked! But I also had zero previous experience on any drag strip so I was glad to have the opportunity to get be by that 750. I pulled over and taked to the guys that ran ahead of us and the 750 that just ran. They give me some show polish or paint or whatever and now I'm supposed to guess what I can hit next time, since the tim trails were over, and write that on my bike so I can race some one simialr in Eliminations. I have no clue so i put down 6.9 and then the rain starts unloading on us again. Rained hard for about 30 minutes and when it clears the announcer tells us they rescheduled for the 29th and we can all come back then. The track might not get dried off the restof the day so the show is over. BLAH!
I REALLY THOUGHT 1/8 mile would be way too short, but out there on it, getting ready, riding it and slowing down it was a great distance, and alot of fun being in the environment if even only for one run. I'm going down there again on the 29th and probably get my inexperienced butt handed to me by more smaller bikes, but I will have partaken in the last piece of "Isn't the Busa amazing how it can do so many things really well" Madness and add another page to it's history book.
Clouds forming or secret UFO cloaking device? Only the government knows for sure:
