LAUNCH TECHNIQUES

[OB_speed]

I found a way to launch semi repeatable with the stock clutch mechanism. I did the following:

1After coming to a full stop.

2. while holding the front brake start leting the clutch out. you will feel the motor cycle start to pick up but dont spin the tire or it might not work.

3.Get ready for the light!!!

If you have ever looked at the cam assembly in the clutch, what step 2 actually does for you is cause the cam to lock.

The graby effect caused by the fact that when you stop the cam follower is somewhere in the middle of the cam and fully engaged and when you lauch.. during the release of the clutch (at random times) the cam assembly locks up and you get the clunk & the wheelie .

Now this seem to work with me fairly reliable for me. I must say that I did have the clutch mod done to my bike. I can slip the clutch a lot better than with the stock set up but the transmission is really clunky now, plus&minus.

Good Luck


I

 

[OB_ducmanic]

Try coming off the light in second gear, and
gently slip it up till you want to dip the clutch and nail it.
ducmanic
Los Angeles

 

[Gixx1300R]

Launch at 4000 rpm and slip the clutch

 

[OB_terra1]

DP, out of curiousity, are you saying 1/ the Busa has a slipper clutch [!!] and 2/ slipper clutches don't work for racing?

I obviously don't know much about them, or I would know whether I had one. I have another bike that I know has one [isn't it part of the rear hub assembly?], and it seems to help when I downshift into first for a hairpin under braking -- alternative is slipping the clutch to avoid wheelhop, tricky under heavy braking.

I've read that [expensive] adjustable aftermarket racing versions are available that can be set loose enough to freewheel like two strokes. Not that riding a Busa like a 250 would be particularly effective.

So if you can clear up the confusion, have at it.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

NOTE TO MEMBERS: THIS IS AN OLD THREAD THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE TOP OF THE LIST FOR GREG GILLIS.

Short of installing the Schnitz clutch mod, has anybody figured out a way to get the Bus off the line fast on the street without making an *** of one's self?

If I want to go hard off the line at a light or intersection, I have to apply enough power to spin the tire and stay on spin cycle for most of first. Unless I'm seriously dragging the guy next to me, I find this big display of noise and rubber embarrassing. It's great for the strip, but overkill on the street.

If I launch with anything less than wheelspin power, that dang clutch grabs in and bogs the motor. Which is also embarrassing. I've even had the clutch grab at the moment of launch and ratchet the bike up on the sprocket in an unintended near-vertical wheelie.

This clutch crap leaves me with only two options: Make a big production of your launch, or roll out slow and let some silly little Honda take you out for the first 100 feet.

Has anyone got a quick launch technique that works without making a big production of it?

I don't want to got the Schnitz route until someone says its a solid, reliable fix.

One last gripe to The Creators of the Bus: Why did you do this clutch thing? No racer needs such help on heavy downshifting, and you've pissed off all the street racers! A friend has suggested to me that you're catering to the lowest denominator to cover your *** in case the engine's torque on deceleration overwhelms rear tire traction when some novice downshifts in a corner while stabbing the rear brake.

Do you have to allow for every possible misuse of a product when you design it?

Guess so.



[This message has been edited by Dirty Pete (edited 14 October 1999).]

 

[OB_Bob]

Big display of noise and rubber. Thats it with this crap clutch.
Your either lauching to win or why worry about the big production. I am very selective of who i race anyway.
Bob

 

[OB_hiabuser]

well, i've found that if just before you launch, put the bike into neutral, pump the clutch a bunch, thereby building pressure in the lines, then slip it out of the hole. this is the only way i've been able to avoid both the wheelspin and the bogging grabby clutch feeling. works for me very well. pulled a 1.7 short time this way.
mike

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Thanks for relating your experiences.

Gixxer1300R: Your technique works well for me. The clutch doesn't never grabs and I can keep the tire right on the edge of spin and the front end skipping for max traction. Thanks. Saves tires and doesn't make too much fuss, but it's hard on the clutch. Win some...

Speed: Trying your method nets me slow, squeaky burnouts. I dropped the bike yesterday trying it and got about 50 miserable little white scratches I've got to touch up now. It's all YOUR fault!! Waaaa! I'd get better at your method with time, but it still makes a big production at the light. I'm wanting to be able to take off without either signalling my intent to my intended victim or thrashing the tire.

Ducmanic: Too much clutch burning and noise for me, but if the Bus has the right grunt and gearing in second, it might work at the strip. It'd be interesting to see if you could spin the tire off the line in second, but I ain't going to try, out of respect for my clutch and the rest of the drivetrain.

Terra1: Yes the Bus has a slipper clutch. Obviously they work for you in racing. What kind of bike do you have it on? A light one? None of the racers (600 cc & up) I've raised this subject with have expressed any need for rear wheel lock up protection. They match revs to clutch speed on downshifting. I've never had the need in racing either. I think this is mainly because I, and most of the racers I know, NEVER touch the rear brake unless they fly off into the weeds. I know there are some famous exceptions to this in racing's big leagues...guys who use rear brake to throw the ass end out then apply rear wheel spin to get around as in flat track/speedway racing.

Bob: Each to his own. When a rider and I have a agreed to drag with a wink and a nod or at the strip, all subtlety is off. I paint a black stripe through first and half of second and it's a noisy production. But I have this long term personal policy that nobody ever beats me off the line or anywhere else unless I can help it; not cars, friends or strangers. Most times I can make this policy stick, sometimes not. When I'm on the line and no race has been agreed to, I want to be away just slightly quicker than the guy beside me then, if he tries to make a race of it, I'm in a good position to pin it. If that guy beside me has hardware that could give me a hard time, I like to come off the line very hard WITHOUT MAKING A FUSS ABOUT IT. Why? It's embarrassing to beat a guy who's not racing you (the politics of street dragging!!)...and it wastes valuable clutch & tire material.

On a V Max, for instance, it's real easy to launch hard without a fuss. Serious grunt, long wheel base and a short first gear (55 mph) let you push the rear tire hard while you appear to be just boulevard cruising. The Bus may have as much bottom grunt as the V Max or even more, but the 85 mph first gear dictates either violent starts or lots of clutch slipping.

For me, Gixxer1300R's solution is the best compromise. The Bus will never be as subtle as I'd like it to be for stealth dragging, but it gives you lots of other good stuff to make up for it.

This winter, I'm going to do something to correct the gear thing...install a couple of sprockets. Thanks to this website, I've already got the formula to do it.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Hiabuser: Just got your post...you were writing while I was. Thanks. Unusual idea. I'll try that today...like now.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

There you are, Greg.