jetsetter
Registered
I traded my 06 Busa for an 08 back in late December. Since that time I have had very little time to do much spirited riding, mostly due to the weather, road conditions, and the fact that I travel for a living.
That being said, I have obviously not had any practice launching this bike for a drag race. I have never claimed to be a world class rider, but I have always felt that I could launch my 06 pretty well. Ok, enough with the excuses.
I rode the bike to Ga for a job (that's on the way to the Bash)
and I met some fellow bikers. They are all cool guys and we went for a ride after work today. The ride was very nice, with some nice scenery and weather. We were riding along when all of sudden the lead rider (who's on the K6 1000) pulls over and mentions that this is where they do their racing. It's about an eighth mile down a hill with a curve at the start and a little rise in the middle (not what I would consider a drag strip, but what the heck).
He wants to race so we line up at the top of the hill. We raced two times, with the same result. I figured I needed to launch the 08 softer than the 06. I ended up launching way too soft and bogging the motor while he took off right. He put about 4-5 bikes on me before I could recover. From that point on I quickly matched his speed and began to overtake him. We had an extremly short track, so I didn't get around him, but given a longer distance (probably less than a half mile, maybe even in the quarter) I know I would have went around him. And of course, given a better start, I would have beat him in the eighth.
After that, I raced the same guy on his friends 2000 Busa. That bike had slip ons, a power commander, and has been lowered about an inch. That race was about the same as the first races, I screwed up the launch, but was pulling him in afterward.
So the bad news is, I really need some practice launching the bike. Looking back at what happened, I really think launching this bike is going to be a lot more like the 06 than I thought it was going to be.
The good news is, I have finally witnessed first hand how the 08 stacks up against two very fast bikes, and I was very happy with the result. Of course I lost all of the races, but I know that was all me on the launch and not the bike.
That being said, I have obviously not had any practice launching this bike for a drag race. I have never claimed to be a world class rider, but I have always felt that I could launch my 06 pretty well. Ok, enough with the excuses.
I rode the bike to Ga for a job (that's on the way to the Bash)
He wants to race so we line up at the top of the hill. We raced two times, with the same result. I figured I needed to launch the 08 softer than the 06. I ended up launching way too soft and bogging the motor while he took off right. He put about 4-5 bikes on me before I could recover. From that point on I quickly matched his speed and began to overtake him. We had an extremly short track, so I didn't get around him, but given a longer distance (probably less than a half mile, maybe even in the quarter) I know I would have went around him. And of course, given a better start, I would have beat him in the eighth.
After that, I raced the same guy on his friends 2000 Busa. That bike had slip ons, a power commander, and has been lowered about an inch. That race was about the same as the first races, I screwed up the launch, but was pulling him in afterward.
So the bad news is, I really need some practice launching the bike. Looking back at what happened, I really think launching this bike is going to be a lot more like the 06 than I thought it was going to be.
The good news is, I have finally witnessed first hand how the 08 stacks up against two very fast bikes, and I was very happy with the result. Of course I lost all of the races, but I know that was all me on the launch and not the bike.
