Wanted to start up a thread that will serve as a journal of my racing exploits with my XS400. Hopefully it will peak some interest in others to come out and get involved as well.
For those that haven't seen my build thread, I've finished my race bike. Here is the link if you'd like to catch up-http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12753&highlight=cafe+racer+build. Started as a 'cafe racer' (I hate using that term these days, as it is supposed to refer to a type of rider, not a motorcycle) but slowly turned into a semi-dedicated race bike.
I currently have it setup for landspeed racing, and that is how it will remain all year. Had to pull my head off and toss it onto a stock motor to meet the 400cc limit in my class. The other bottom end will be used for road racing at a later time.
My first race will be April 29th to May 1st at the Ohio Mile in Wilmington, Ohio. I suppose a little bit of history will explain what it's all about. The Ohio Mile is a sanctioned national landspeed event, run by an official timing organization known as the East Coast Timing Association(ECTA). The ECTA was brought about to bring Bonneville and El Mirage type speed trials to the east coast. Since there are no dry lake-beds in this part of the country, they found that unused airfields made for a nice alternative to the salt flats. The races used to be at Maxton in North Carolina, but the airfield was marked as off limits in 2011. So they found another runway going unused here in Ohio.
The event is run on a mile long course. Your speed is 'trapped' in the final 132ft of the mile. On the salt flats the course is much longer(4-5 miles I think) since they have the room for it, and it allows for the high powered/extremely fast vehicles to get traction on the salt before being timed. The awesome thing about landspeed racing is that there is a class for EVERYTHING, and each class has a separate record that you are trying to beat. You could race everything from a steam powered bicycle to a jet powered truck.
I will be competing for a record in the Modified Partial Streamlining frame class, Overhead Cam Twin(Gas Powered) engine class, 400cc Four Stroke displacement class. My class would be shortened as- MPS/TG-400/4 and my bikes registration number is 9203. The ECTA is great since they separate 4-stroke motors from 2 stroke motors. Out in the salt they don't differentiate between the two, so most of the records are unbeatable in the smaller displacements with a four stroke. As it stands right now, no one in the ECTA has a record for my class, so no matter what I run I will be the record holder. I'm actually hoping that someone else is at the first meet in the same class, would be more fun to have a little competition! To break down my class a little more- MPS means that I have some type of fairing or other items that direct airflow around the rider. My fork swap, rear-sets, frame bracing, bars, etc also default me into the modified category. The 'gas' portion means that I can only run event fuel, which is a choice of about 10 different 'pump' style gases as well as all sorts of leaded/unleaded/oxygenated race gases. If I wanted to run alcohol/methanol/etc I would be moved to the 'fuel' class.
My bike has to meet a set of general rules that all other bikes have to meet as well for the event. It also has a set of rules that fall under the class designation. Luckily while building the bike, I had met most of the requirements simply by luck (more like being OCD). The only things I have left to do safety wise to meet the rules is to build a chain-guard and a better battery hold down. Only other thing I will do is race prep the bike the week before my runs- remove the headlight/taillight and unneeded electronics, remove the starter, remove the mirrors, fresh oil.
I had to get all new gear as well for the event. They require a full leather suit, Snell approved helmet (DOT isn't good enough), unperforated full leather gloves, and the tall style leather riding boots. I grabbed a good deal on a nice new HJC Snell approved helmet. Hi-viz coloring too, so I may use it as my daily riding helmet.
A member from another forum donated a full leather suit to me. It's older but will work perfectly. I just freshened it up with a little paint and leather sheen to make it look less 90's.
Before-
After-
Scored these nice Gaerne road race boots on ebay for next to nothing.
For gloves I just got a cheap set of Icon knockoffs from the Chinese. They are one of the rare gloves with no perforations and not gauntlet style (and only cost $16 new!)
So my goal is to run ~110mph. I would be happy with 100 and even happier with 115. I have spent countless hours doing the math on all this, and 110 seems to be the limit. My calculations were all done assuming a certain ride height, wheel base, center of gravity, coefficient of drag, horsepower/torque curve, gearing, max RPM, etc. So it should be fairly close. The bike will reach top speed right at the half mile point and just cruise along til the finish line. Playing with gearing is pointless, as it will only change the point of where I reach the max speed, not the max speed itself. I can pretty much roll at idle to the midpoint then gun it if I want.
I'll update the thread as I work on the bike and get to the event. Still need to get it on the dyno to look at the curve and find out where my rpm limit is. I'll eventually post race results and gopro vids of my runs.
If you have any questions or want to get involved, feel free to ask!
Links for landspeed racing-
East Coast Timing Association-Ohio Mile
Loring Timing Association- 1.5 and 1 mile races on airstrip
Southern California Timing Association and Bonneville Nationals- Speed Week, World Finals, and El Mirage
Utah Salt Flat Racers Association- World of Speed
Texas Mile- 1 mile run on airstrip
US Mile- Houston half mile, Arkansas mile, and Colorado mile
For those that haven't seen my build thread, I've finished my race bike. Here is the link if you'd like to catch up-http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12753&highlight=cafe+racer+build. Started as a 'cafe racer' (I hate using that term these days, as it is supposed to refer to a type of rider, not a motorcycle) but slowly turned into a semi-dedicated race bike.
I currently have it setup for landspeed racing, and that is how it will remain all year. Had to pull my head off and toss it onto a stock motor to meet the 400cc limit in my class. The other bottom end will be used for road racing at a later time.
My first race will be April 29th to May 1st at the Ohio Mile in Wilmington, Ohio. I suppose a little bit of history will explain what it's all about. The Ohio Mile is a sanctioned national landspeed event, run by an official timing organization known as the East Coast Timing Association(ECTA). The ECTA was brought about to bring Bonneville and El Mirage type speed trials to the east coast. Since there are no dry lake-beds in this part of the country, they found that unused airfields made for a nice alternative to the salt flats. The races used to be at Maxton in North Carolina, but the airfield was marked as off limits in 2011. So they found another runway going unused here in Ohio.
The event is run on a mile long course. Your speed is 'trapped' in the final 132ft of the mile. On the salt flats the course is much longer(4-5 miles I think) since they have the room for it, and it allows for the high powered/extremely fast vehicles to get traction on the salt before being timed. The awesome thing about landspeed racing is that there is a class for EVERYTHING, and each class has a separate record that you are trying to beat. You could race everything from a steam powered bicycle to a jet powered truck.
I will be competing for a record in the Modified Partial Streamlining frame class, Overhead Cam Twin(Gas Powered) engine class, 400cc Four Stroke displacement class. My class would be shortened as- MPS/TG-400/4 and my bikes registration number is 9203. The ECTA is great since they separate 4-stroke motors from 2 stroke motors. Out in the salt they don't differentiate between the two, so most of the records are unbeatable in the smaller displacements with a four stroke. As it stands right now, no one in the ECTA has a record for my class, so no matter what I run I will be the record holder. I'm actually hoping that someone else is at the first meet in the same class, would be more fun to have a little competition! To break down my class a little more- MPS means that I have some type of fairing or other items that direct airflow around the rider. My fork swap, rear-sets, frame bracing, bars, etc also default me into the modified category. The 'gas' portion means that I can only run event fuel, which is a choice of about 10 different 'pump' style gases as well as all sorts of leaded/unleaded/oxygenated race gases. If I wanted to run alcohol/methanol/etc I would be moved to the 'fuel' class.
My bike has to meet a set of general rules that all other bikes have to meet as well for the event. It also has a set of rules that fall under the class designation. Luckily while building the bike, I had met most of the requirements simply by luck (more like being OCD). The only things I have left to do safety wise to meet the rules is to build a chain-guard and a better battery hold down. Only other thing I will do is race prep the bike the week before my runs- remove the headlight/taillight and unneeded electronics, remove the starter, remove the mirrors, fresh oil.
I had to get all new gear as well for the event. They require a full leather suit, Snell approved helmet (DOT isn't good enough), unperforated full leather gloves, and the tall style leather riding boots. I grabbed a good deal on a nice new HJC Snell approved helmet. Hi-viz coloring too, so I may use it as my daily riding helmet.
A member from another forum donated a full leather suit to me. It's older but will work perfectly. I just freshened it up with a little paint and leather sheen to make it look less 90's.
Before-
After-
Scored these nice Gaerne road race boots on ebay for next to nothing.
For gloves I just got a cheap set of Icon knockoffs from the Chinese. They are one of the rare gloves with no perforations and not gauntlet style (and only cost $16 new!)
So my goal is to run ~110mph. I would be happy with 100 and even happier with 115. I have spent countless hours doing the math on all this, and 110 seems to be the limit. My calculations were all done assuming a certain ride height, wheel base, center of gravity, coefficient of drag, horsepower/torque curve, gearing, max RPM, etc. So it should be fairly close. The bike will reach top speed right at the half mile point and just cruise along til the finish line. Playing with gearing is pointless, as it will only change the point of where I reach the max speed, not the max speed itself. I can pretty much roll at idle to the midpoint then gun it if I want.
I'll update the thread as I work on the bike and get to the event. Still need to get it on the dyno to look at the curve and find out where my rpm limit is. I'll eventually post race results and gopro vids of my runs.
If you have any questions or want to get involved, feel free to ask!
Links for landspeed racing-
East Coast Timing Association-Ohio Mile
Loring Timing Association- 1.5 and 1 mile races on airstrip
Southern California Timing Association and Bonneville Nationals- Speed Week, World Finals, and El Mirage
Utah Salt Flat Racers Association- World of Speed
Texas Mile- 1 mile run on airstrip
US Mile- Houston half mile, Arkansas mile, and Colorado mile
Weight is weight. Also don't forget the driver
Another thing to concider is using aluminum and titainium fasteners. I replace most of them on my 80 ( at least the smaller easier to get to ones) and saved me about 8-10lbs. If you do axels, sprockets and the swingarm it can add up fast. Or better yet chromoly frame.
