05 Speed Triple Drag Race Results

[crashmasterd]

I had my new, blue, Speed Triple out to the track tonight for it's first experience drag racing. For those of you into such things, here is the pertinent information.

The Races are held at Portland International Raceway in Portland Oregon, USA.
Temperature was 54 degrees F.
Humidity was 82%
Barometric pressure was 30.15" Hg.

My Speed Triple is unmodified and has 860 miles on it. The first service was performed last night, and new synthetic oil was added. I weigh 197 pounds dry and was wearing full leathers. The fuel tank was 3/4 full.

A total of eleven runs of 1/4 mile were completed, with variations to try to learn the habits of this new bike. The results are as follows:

Best 1/4 mile time: 11.858 seconds @ 116.51 miles per hour

Best 1/8 mile time: 7.72 @ 96.74 miles per hour

Average of best four 1/4 mile times: 11.92 seconds.

Worst 1/4 mile time: 12.242 @ 114.67 miles per hour.

Average of all times: 12.062 seconds

Average of all speeds: 113.964

Motor Cycle News reports that the '05 S3 gave them 1/4 mile times of 11.53 seconds and 120.1 miles per hour. I assume that with time performance will increase, and my familiarity with this bike will get better as well. It's also possible that the person riding for Motor Cycle News weighed less than I do, and that it was done with a nearly empty tank of fuel. In any case, I think these numbers are fully within the bikes capability without modification.

[crashmasterd]

I had my new, blue, Speed Triple out to the track tonight for it's first experience drag racing. For those of you into such things, here is the pertinent information.

The Races are held at Portland International Raceway in Portland Oregon, USA.
Temperature was 54 degrees F.
Humidity was 82%
Barometric pressure was 30.15" Hg.

My Speed Triple is unmodified and has 860 miles on it. The first service was performed last night, and new synthetic oil was added. I weigh 197 pounds dry and was wearing full leathers. The fuel tank was 3/4 full.

A total of eleven runs of 1/4 mile were completed, with variations to try to learn the habits of this new bike. The results are as follows:

Best 1/4 mile time: 11.858 seconds @ 116.51 miles per hour

Best 1/8 mile time: 7.72 @ 96.74 miles per hour

Average of best four 1/4 mile times: 11.92 seconds.

Worst 1/4 mile time: 12.242 @ 114.67 miles per hour.

Average of all times: 12.062 seconds

Average of all speeds: 113.964

Motor Cycle News reports that the '05 S3 gave them 1/4 mile times of 11.53 seconds and 120.1 miles per hour. I assume that with time performance will increase, and my familiarity with this bike will get better as well. It's also possible that the person riding for Motor Cycle News weighed less than I do, and that it was done with a nearly empty tank of fuel. In any case, I think these numbers are fully within the bikes capability without modification.

[bikeordie]

i think i could do it better! haha, just kidding, thanks for the stats!

[bikeordie]

i think i could do it better! haha, just kidding, thanks for the stats!

[kevf]

I think youll definately a better time after some time on the bike. I havent drag raced mine but motorcyclist magazine got 10.9 on a stock 02 S3

[kevf]

I think youll definately a better time after some time on the bike. I havent drag raced mine but motorcyclist magazine got 10.9 on a stock 02 S3

MCN publishes times achieved by professional riders. Not to knock you, but professional drag racers can knock up to a second off simply by reaction time and rpm/clutch management. Don't expect these results unless you are at the trees every weekend.

I would guess the bike may get faster as it gets broke in, and likewise so would the rider.

[crashmasterd]

On 2005-04-30 15:01, Koltzy wrote:
MCN publishes times achieved by professional riders. Not to knock you, but professional drag racers can knock up to a second off simply by reaction time and rpm/clutch management. Don't expect these results unless you are at the trees every weekend.

Actually my reaction times are okay-to-very-good. I had one that was .035 seconds, which was a personal best for me without red lighting. That's 35 hundredths of a second. Sure, the guys who race three times a week are averaging .020 seconds or so, but 95% of the people down there are averaging .45 seconds, or 45 tenths of a second. Or worse.

Either way, reaction time doesn't effect elapsed time. The ET clock doesn't start until after you cross the starting line. That is, after your reaction time is measured. Getting a better reaction time doesn't take any time off your elapsed time.

Clutch and RPM management is another matter. It's all experience with the bike. I've had it a total of two weeks, and one night at the races. Give me a break!

For instance, John has been racing my old Trident. The funny thing here is he was getting his best times of the night when launching at 3000 RPM. This seems ludicrous when it's power is up around 9000 RPM, but experience taught him different. Launch at 3000 RPM and his times were 12.33 consistently. Launch as much as 500 RPM higher or lower and got consistently worse. 4000 RPM yielded 12.45 seconds. 5000 RPM yielded 12.50 seconds. Weird.

I would guess the bike may get faster as it gets broke in, and likewise so would the rider.

Absolutely. All of my Triumphs have run harder at 5000 miles than at 1000.

[DEcosse]

On 2005-04-30 20:52, crashmasterd wrote:

Actually my reaction times are okay-to-very-good. I had one that was .035 seconds, which was a personal best for me without red lighting. That's 35 hundredths of a second.....

You're even better than you think - 0.035 seconds is actually 35 thousands of a second. 35 hundredths would be 0.35 or ~ 1/3 sec.

[crashmasterd]

On 2005-04-30 21:40, DEcosse wrote:

You're even better than you think - 0.035 seconds is actually 35 thousands of a second. 35 hundredths would be 0.35 or ~ 1/3 sec.

You are absolutely correct. Durn those higher math's! (Lower math's?)

Some days I can't remember my phone number and can occasionally have problems with my age!

The numbers are correct though. I copied them directly from the slips.