I have been over 250
both on salt,
and in the mile.
Here's a thought or two:
1) Pavement
a) There is NO time to waste, unless you are at the power peak
in top gear as you go through the lights.
b) If you are on an air-cooled 125cc,
you risk overhearing and slowing
if you nail it the whole way.
c) If you are hitting the rev limiter in the lights,
try gearing a little taller, like 1/2 tooth.
d) keep some sort of record of the wind speed and direction
AT the lights AT the time of the run. A tail wind
will not always be available when you need it.
e) Control your launch traction. Lifting because of a "wheelie"
means you are not managing acceleration as well as possible.
f) Use some sort of data to isolate your
best practices when acceleration from stop.
g) Use this same data to identify possibilities
from the 1/4 mile onwards. Body position counts a lot,
and it is empirical, not intuitive
(See picture of Shane at 260 mph above)
h) Become comfortable with speed and body movement.
i) Become comfortable with speed and bike movement.
j) Practice, practice, practice.
2)Salt
a) This is a changing, hostile environment.
b) Good traction on Course #1 does NOT mean good traction on course #2
c) Good traction at 10:00 am does NOT mean good traction at 2:00 PM.
d) The tune up for sea-level is not always right for 4,250 feet at Bonneville.
e) Traction will vary between the 2-mile and the 4-mile.
f) Traction will be different between the left side of the course, and the right side.
g) There may be standing water on the course.
h) In summary, traction is where you find it.
i) When you find it, use it !
j) If you don't have it, don't kill the tire by spinning (too much).
k) You will spin the rear tire - grow to love it, it means you are making power !
l) Every good run at Bonneville is a gift.
m) Every bad run is an opportunity to learn.
Rich Yancy several times complimented my for having a "good launch"
on the famous BUD #8, which put me in the 250 club at Goliad - the
track record at the time. The first time he said it, I was both very
surprised and very pleased, since I never done "squat" as a drag racer.
Later, I was able to capitalize on the good points, and reduce the bad points.
Walt Kudron once kindly complimented me for running within 1 mph
on a number of consecutive runs,
FOOT SHIFTING to about 241 mph at Maxton.
If you can control what you do,
you can control the outcome.
If you can't control what you do,
than it's just dumb luck
TAKE the dumb luck every time,
but don't convince yourself you are a hero...
I have been active in LSR for more than 40 years,
and have more than 200 official time slips over 200 MPH.
I cannot remember one perfect run out of any
of the maybe 800 LSR runs I have made.
