The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Went racing again yesterday at our 1/8th mile strip here in Evanston, Wyoming. This was my 3rd time racing the Warrior and I have improved tremendously since my first time out. I had just installed a new Shinko soft rear tire and Churchkey vbak, Dolbek fuel controller. The bike is otherwise stock except for propipe. Yes, I know, I should have gotten the pc3, I took another dealers advice and will never again buy something without checking this site first. Anyway, goals for the day were a 8.4's (my best time before was 8.67, we are at 7000 ft if times seem slow) and to beat at least one 600 sportbike. The Shinko tire is well worth the money by the way and hooked up great. I actually pulled small wheelies off the line and ran very consistent 8.52's all day but missed my goal of 8.4's with a best of 8.51. I beat a couple of 600 class sportbikes and lost to a Vmax by about 2 bike lengths (got absolutely smoked by a modded R1, but so did everyone else). I think that this was the first time that I have actually beat anyone on this track. They had bracket racing at the end of the day, 10 bikes entered and I came out in first place at the end of the day so I am pretty stoked!  Just wanted to thank those who have helped with my questions, Vall345, Megawatt, Churchkey, Ehacker and many others. On to the next level!  Anyone in the Salt lake area, come up for the next race, we are only about an hour away.

Front pulley size?

Strap the forks?

Congrats on the bracket win!! 

I've heard of strapping the forks before... what exactly is that?

Check the rulebook for your track, they differ, however "new or near-new" motorcycle-specific fork retention straps with boltdown eyelets are often allowed as long as the straps are in excellent condition, and most often the track will require at least an inch-and-a-half fork travel. The straps compress the forks down to limit front end rise and help control wheelies when you lean way forward.  The straps for sport bikes and dirt bikes may differ, your straps need to be specific to your type bike.  Some guys say straps lower wind resistance by making the frontal area of the bike smaller.  Downside is if a strap breaks its possible to go down.

I've heard of a mechanical device out there that retains the forks only until after the first shift but I can't find it out there on the web so it might not exist.

wyomingwarrior:

I've heard of strapping the forks before... what exactly is that?  

I failed to mention that I am already running a 31 tooth front pulley, I think the fork straps are a good idea, probably should think about lowering the whole bike a bit. The nice thing about the straps is that they can be easily removed for the street. Right now I feel like I need more power. Hookup is good. The small wheelies I'm getting don't seem to slow me down any, but maybe I am wrong. They say the horsepower drops 3% for every 1000 ft rise in elevation so at 7k ft I am down 20%. So if I am at 75 hp at sea level, I am only getting about 60 hp here. Of course everyone else is in the same boat.

As far as the mechanical device to hold down the forks, I have seen them on mx bikes but not seen them used on a drag bike.

BTW, If I had $400 to spend on a stock bike to go drag racing, I would be for the Shinko tire and Churchkey VBAK. I don't think you could do better speed for dollar. 3rd thing would be propipe.

Universal strap available here:

http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=2744216&showprevnext=1

For $20.95 I might just give this a try. Seems odd that they are strapping over the frame. Seems like you'd want to keep it on the forks, over the top clamp since that moves with the forks. The way it is shown here it has to affect steering. Also thought it smart that they charge less for the one with their logo on it. Cheap advertising. 

Arizona Warrior:

The straps compress the forks down to limit front end rise and help control wheelies when you lean way forward. 

huh...  guess i'm just use to thinking cars.  You actually want the front to sit up a lil bit to get the weight transfer to the rear wheels creating more traction.

Intended use is for a straight line run. You can still turn enough to stage & make it back down the return road. You could use two straps, one on either side of the fork stem around the trees. That should allow full lock to lock  steering.

That sounds better to me, maybe just because I'm a rookie. I don't like the idea of limiting my steering.  As far as getting transfer back to the rear tire, I think that would still happen, my traction is very good, its just that I want that traction to push the bike forward not lift the front end. Right now it is not lifting enough to back off the throttle, but if that time comes, its definatly slowing you down.

ive got 87hp out of mine with a big air kit pc3 samson shoguns and ais block with custom map no pulley changes yet but i probably will

Man I spent alot of time in echo Ut as a kid I didn't know there was a drag strip in evanston. I do remember porters fireworks and liquer. Only place to buy things that go bang and a keg of beer cuz you couldn't get it in utah

Awesome job, I am glad for you.  You may not of hit your goal but you still improved and you have something to reach for next time.  Which Shinko?  Is it the sticky 003 or the 005?

I use a strap on my Busa when I go to the track but I never consider one for the Warrior and my Warrior is putting out a lot more HP than a stock bike.  My opinion is you don't need one, save the $$ (ebay has them all the time and good quality), it is something that you have to put on and take off for the races if you get one.

I'm running the sticky one and it works great. Trying to figure out what I can do to this bike next without tearing into the motor. I just don't want the down time right now as summers here are short. I've got alot to do that can wait till winter I guess. The bike fell off the kickstand this morning after I pulled out of the garage and put a nice dent in the tank. I've been trying to decide wether to do paint and I think this made my decision for me. Might get done a bit sooner now.

knyland:

Man I spent alot of time in echo Ut as a kid I didn't know there was a drag strip in evanston. I do remember porters fireworks and liquer. Only place to buy things that go bang and a keg of beer cuz you couldn't get it in utah