| Author | Message | ||
     Scott_in_nh |
So you may have seen in other threads that Damnut and I were considering going to New England Dragway last night for street night. Rain was in the forecast and the skies were getting grayer by the hour. When I checked the weather radar I could see it was already raining in Massachusetts, so it was no surprise that Damnut bagged coming up. I had ridden to work and when I left at 5 it was threatening, but the clouds were high, it really didn’t look all that bad and I had a dry ride home. My brother and I rent a garage together where I live and he was there when I go home. He had said earlier in the day that he wasn’t going, but he now said he had a crappy day and even if he only got 2 runs in before it rained, it would be worth it and he’d have a rain ticket good for another night. Since he had a point I decided to go (first time this year). I pulled out the driveway and remembered that I didn’t change into the new riding boots I bought. I wasn’t going to go back until I remembered I also still had my JR overpants on instead of my leathers! Luckily I had only gone 100 feet. I rode out to the track, went through tech and when they went to put a number on my number plate I realized I forgot my number plate too - twice.  But since the track was so empty (because of the weather) they let me get away with putting the number on my tail section. As I was putting the number on the bike, a truck pulled in with a pearl white S1 in the back. It’s always great to meet other Buell riders, but even better when they come to the track as I know I’ll have somebody to run with besides my brother.  If you have ever followed any of my drag racing threads, then you know that my brother has a Duc M900. When I bought my Buell he gave me a bunch of crap about how it won’t run 11’s and he is going to put a hurtin on me. That never happened. ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) This year, he put new high compression pistons in it, had the valves adjusted, basically put the equivalent of a carb kit/rebuild kit in it (the carbs were never right on that bike), and most importantly stretched the swingarm 4 or 5 inches! With these changes he kills the 60’ with low 1.60’s and runs 11.80’s! He also has a 9 second ’82 Suzuki, so he has thousands of passes, cuts good trees and has very skilled bike control. It was so empty that they called us up right away. I went out with the kid on the S1, cut a crappy light and had a big wheelie, but still ran a 12.05 to his 12.8. On the way back to the pits I remembered that I hadn’t tightened the front end strap or lowered the back of the bike.  Man I don’t know why I am being so forgetful tonight, that’s not usually like me. So I tighten the strap, lower the shock and take a solo run for a 12.15 (hit the rev limiter). Next run I line up with my brother. He cuts a better light, jumps to 60’ and while I am running him down he beats me by 2-3 bike lengths. My 12.01 to his 11.89. 1 or 2 more solo runs and I line up with the S1 again. I’m in the right lane and have an uneventful run, I look up to the right at the time board as I pass the finish line and see I have run another 12.10. I look to my left and see the S1 right next to me, no, he is slightly ahead of me. No - it can’t be, can it? I get my time slip and I lost - he ran a 12.05! NOOOooooooo!!! Now I’m pissed!  I unstrap my bike and go for a ride to get the AFV to adjust to the weather. My next pass is still in the 12.1’s. Damn it, time to get more aggressive! Next run a solo 11.96, with a long, but low 1st gear wheelie. Now I remember that riding it like this is how I got my best runs last year too! Next run is with my brother. I try to chop down the tree and red light big, but I did run an 11.83 to his 11.92. Next run with the S1 I redeem myself with an 11.83 to his 12.24. Run him again and throw up an 11.79! Now I’m ready for the run of the night with my brother! I cut my best light of the night - a still sucky .163 against his .082. I have my best 60’ of the night with a 1.795 to his stretch enhanced 1.659. He still has me at half track on time and track position, but he is going 90.93 mph to my 93.61 mph. At 1000’ we are dead even on the clock - my 9.795 to his 9.792, but he is still ahead because of the tenth he put on my at the tree. I have my chin on the tank, my elbows are tucked in and I’m chasing him down, chasing him down…… I am so low on the bike I can’t really see the track ahead of me, but I can see him ahead of me to my right and I can see the finish line coming! He is tucked in the same way and can’t see anything, but he can hear me coming! It is going to be close! I look up as we cross the finish line and I get the win light! Oh-Yah! I ran an 11.78 to his 11.86 and took the win by .0010 seconds! Now I can go home   Sorry I didn't take more pictures. Along with everything else I forgot - I forgot that I had my camera with me. It started raining right after this photo. I got in 9 passes for $20. | ||
| Leftcoastal |
You'd better watch out - The Fun Police are gonna write you up for being WAY over the limit!! Thanks for the great descriptions - It's like we're right there on the bike with you! We await the next installment! AL | ||
| Ezblast |
Mucho fun! EZ | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
Great story! Thanks for posting it! | ||
| Etennuly |
Great write up! Sounds like a great time. | ||
| Damnut |
Damn......... now I'm pissed I didn't suck it up and just go. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Next time try to get some video. It would be sweet to see some action. | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
I'd love to get some video, but we didn't have a spectator with us to take it! You did miss a good chance to get a lot of runs in Jim, but I don't blame you - it wasn't looking good. I have an advantage being just a few miles away. The next opportunities for me are: Street Night on Friday May 30th Streetfighter on Saturday May 31st Wednesday Street Nights are usually open for me as well. Anybody interested in going - post here or pm me...... | ||
| Livnlo |
i have video and am local as well and healing from surgery it would give me something to do | ||
| Blake |
"I ran an 11.78 to his 11.86 and took the win by .0010 seconds!" Not much more exciting and gratifying than a come from behind win. Thanks for sharing your evening at the strip. Cool stuff. Makes me want to get back out there. | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
Gratifying? Sure! Lucky? Definitely! With that stretch and his experience, he is ALWAYS going to post a better 60' time, so I HAVE to cut better lights if I expect to beat him again! The hardest thing in drag racing is not beating yourself..... Thanks for the kind words and support, I hope more of you will go out to the track and give it a try! If there are nothing but stretched liter bikes at your track, don't get discouraged - encourage guys you know with similar or lower performance bikes to come out with you or enter a bracket race where everybody gets to the finish line at the same time! |
