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CBX
DRAG RACING |
From Hawaii: February 11,
2004 Jon Bratten turned a
10.91 at 122 mph.
Here's some recent correspondence
from Jon:
Everyone talks about mph
and ET, but the real truth
in dragracing? It is in the
first sixty feet, aka the "short
times". Most of the
guys that have raced the
quarter mile can look at
your short time and tell
you all you need to know
(and more) about you, your
bike, your riding/launching
style, the works.
Why is that so magic? Because
that first sixty feet is
sort of a Readers Digest
version of the whole race.
Kind of hard to explain,
but if you race a stock CBX,
your short times will probably
be in the 2.0 to 2.5 second
category. And if you're serious
about dragracing or want
to try and duplicate those
magical 11.65 ETs published
for the CBX 25 years ago?
You'd better get a short
time in the 11.6's or low
11.7's. After you make a
pass or two down the strip,
and get your own 2.1-2.3
short times, you may be asking
yourself, how do I get a
1.7x sixty foot time on a
stock CBX? You hammer it.
Totally. RPMs, throttle,
body/weight shift, the works.
Mostly sacrificing your clutch
to the God of Low ET's. Have
a Pro Stock rider make a
pass or two on your bike,
I'll bet they can easily
get 1.9x shorts, and possibly
1.8's, pretty much the limit
for stock rubber on stock
rims.
But to answer your question?
I never got quicker than
11.6 with a stock CBX motor.
And trap speeds were 112mph
at best, usually 109-110mph.
And those times were with
uncorked pipes (Kerker 6->2's
with open megaphones); gearing
switched to the 530 with
a bigger rear (47T), and
running DynoJet kits with
stacks on the Keihins. Hardly
your stock setup. Later I
discovered how much easier
it is with the CB1100F swingarm
and a Kosman widened rim,
then 1.7 short times are
the norm and even 1.6's are
possible with sticky rubber
like a Michelin Pilot race
sneaker.
My current setup, that ran
a 10.99 last week, and an
11.04 tonight (actually tonight's
pass was *much* stronger,
indicating a low 10.9 or
high 10.8 is possible) is
a highly modified engine,
with MegaCycle cams, ported
heads, very high compression
pistons (15.2:1), etc. And
the CB1100F swingarm with
the 5" Kosman rim running
the Michelin Pilot (Race)
160/60-ZR17 rubber. Struts
help ETs also, *if* the tire
can hold it..struts put all
the power to the ground,
shocks eat up 15-20% but
make the bike much more rideable,
softer on launches and getting
downtrack.
My times, and especially
getting into the tens? Not
OEM, not even close. I've
raced the stock CBX for 3
years, and loved every minute
of it...but just got tired
of being spanked by my best
friend on his FatBoy Harley.
So the new motor is providing
a little payback...at least
I've beaten him a few times
after losing to him for hundreds
of rounds in the last 3 years.
We're in our last few weeks
of the winter doldrums here,
even though we're racing
every weekend in January
and February, not much of
the serious iron has been
out. Tonight we had some
of the stronger local equipment
out there, one of our 3000HP
Funny Cars plus VHT treated
track to help the F/C hook
up. The final run of the
night for me was a strong
11.04@122.69, I was out front
until halftrack with the
SuperCharged Dodge Viper
drove around me and left
me in the dust, he won by
.17 seconds, and he was elated
at his new personal best
of 10.81@131mph when he caught
me from behind and horsepowered
ahead for the win. I was
ahead until halftrack, then "Viper
Mike" shifted into 3rd
on that red racing machine
and left me and my red '79
in the dust. The crowd went
wild, but then again the
stands are all in the front
half of the track when I
was out front and carrying
the wheel most of the 1/8th
mile. They didn't get the
perspective of watching the
Viper show up in peripheral
vision, catch me, pass me,
and drive away easily for
the win. Man that stung!
Thanks for the congrats
on the ten-second pass, I
hope to log many more...but
if you guys on the stock
CBX's clock anything in the
low-12's, give yourself a
pat on the back. If any of
you get into the 11's? Look
for a highly modified CBX
or one *heck* of a rider!
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