Best Time To Shift

[warchild]

I Was Recently Settling A Bet...im Pretty Much A New Rider And I Own A Couple Of Motorcycles.. A 1999 Honda Vfr And A 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa. I Am A Die Hard Vfr Fan And I Wanted To Shut Up A New Rider Who Was Talking Junk About The Vfr. We Decided To Race And Since He Has A Cbr 600 He Thought That The Vfr Didnt Have A Shot.

He Let Me Use The Hayabusa In The First Race And Before He Blinked I Was Three Blocks Away...i New He Was Trying To Hustle Me..i Told Him I Would Use The Vfr And Still Get Him...so The Bet Was On..

The Vfr Is Stock....

His Fear Level Was High..from The Time We Started I Was Ahead, Shifting From 1-3 Was Smooth But Shifting To Fourth And Higher Seemed Choppy..how High Should My Rpms Be Shifting From Fourth Through Six..it Felt Like It Was Getting Stuck.

This Almost Cause Me To Lose But I Pulled It Out...so My Vfr Wheels Will Be Chromed On Him...

Get Back To Me With All Suggestions...i Feel The Vfr Is A Superb Bike...


Warchild++++++delaware+++++1999hondavfr

No Guts, No Glory...

[Rogue]

Originally Posted by warchild

I Was Recently Settling A Bet...im Pretty Much A New Rider And I Own A Couple Of Motorcycles.. A 1999 Honda Vfr And A 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa. I Am A Die Hard Vfr Fan And I Wanted To Shut Up A New Rider Who Was Talking Junk About The Vfr. We Decided To Race And Since He Has A Cbr 600 He Thought That The Vfr Didnt Have A Shot.

He Let Me Use The Hayabusa In The First Race And Before He Blinked I Was Three Blocks Away...i New He Was Trying To Hustle Me..i Told Him I Would Use The Vfr And Still Get Him...so The Bet Was On..

The Vfr Is Stock....

His Fear Level Was High..from The Time We Started I Was Ahead, Shifting From 1-3 Was Smooth But Shifting To Fourth And Higher Seemed Choppy..how High Should My Rpms Be Shifting From Fourth Through Six..it Felt Like It Was Getting Stuck.

This Almost Cause Me To Lose But I Pulled It Out...so My Vfr Wheels Will Be Chromed On Him...

Get Back To Me With All Suggestions...i Feel The Vfr Is A Superb Bike...


Warchild++++++delaware+++++1999hondavfr

No Guts, No Glory...

Thrilled that you love the VFR, as we all do but...

If you can't tell when the bike is in the fattest part of the power then you shouldn't be riding a VFR, let alone a Hayabusa

Rod

[jackson]

Warchild good thought. Reality is the VFR is a solid bike and runs very well against the 600s. I have run against everything from a 600 - a litre bike. I find that I run very well against the 600s with good riders (myself I would say average rider but many yrs in the saddle, not a pro) a good rider on a 600 will bang gear for gear with you (again 800 vfr 04) and a solid head up match. I have not found a need to skip gears as the gears are long enough (mostly stop light running and not track style but have been on 1/4 mile) The nice thing about the VFR is that you can stay in the throttle through every gear without fear of looping, crank the rear pre load down stay on the tank and no problems.

On another note I have run a few newbs that are afraid of their litre bikes and spend more time trying to keep the front end down than racing. So I am usually watching them in the mirrors.

I find that pre PCII if I shifted around 10k bike performed better at that RPM for me, after PCwII I find shifting around redline 11k + was ok. I did not change rev limiter or change sprockets but are under consideration.

Would love to hear other results and would love to go heads up against the new Triumprh 675. Yes the VFR has a bigger displacement but also a heavier bike and if I lost 20-30 lbs against a chubby rider could have an advantage as well ha ha...

[jethro911]

I have to agree with Jackson. I have run my old 91 VFR on the strip against 600's, R1's and Hyabusas with suprising results. I usually got the holeshot as you could ride the snot out of the VFR without concern of a huge wheelie. I generally ened up in front at half track and could hear them catching me on the big end. I was getting around 115 to 117 mph and 12.3 ET's while the liter bikes were anywhere from 130 to 150 depending on who was twisting the throttle. I always kept them honest and once in a while I got lucky. My newer 98, I have not run but it is geared shorter and has more HP so it should net better results.
Shifting in the lower gears has to be done by feel because things happen too fast to watch the tach. You should be shifting just after teh power peaks and starts to drop off. On my 91 I found the best results when shifted at around 10,500 rpm.

[jackson]

Jethro you are running low 12s on a 91, that is good as the 91 had less power. I am in the low 12s as well best time 12.1 (part of my challenge is I have anti lock brakes) so when warming the tires I end up bouncing forward out of the water which create a nightmare. The reality of racing bikes is it is at least 80% rider as long as the bikes are at least in the same class. I do find it amazing how well the vfr does against what most consider beasts of the track and to your point it is because you can ride the hell out of the bike.

[jethro911]

It has been two years since I have run the bike on the strip. After a while, with stock gearing, I was tearing up the clutch and had to replace it. When I got my first time slips, I was really dissapointed but not nearly as much as the other guys on their liter bikes. They were expecting to be in the 10's but in order to do that, your 60 foot time has to be right on. When a 13 year old VFR is beating you to 60 and 600 foot marks, you have no chance of getting into the 10's. I may have been able to get down to 12.1 if I had regeared.

The bottom line, it was fun!!! Then I met Jason Pridemore and now I'm focused more on road courses.

[warchild]

Originally Posted by Rogue

Thrilled that you love the VFR, as we all do but...

If you can't tell when the bike is in the fattest part of the power then you shouldn't be riding a VFR, let alone a Hayabusa

Rod

ITS NOT THAT I COULDNT TELL...IT JUST WASNT AS SMOOTH AS ALL THE MOTORCYCLES I HAVE RIDDEN..MOST OF THE BIKES I HAVE RIDDEN ARE HIGH TORQUE BIKES. ZX-12R...HAYABUSA. THEY SEEM SO MUCH SMOOTHER ON SHIFTING. I REALLY WANTED TO KNOW IF OTHER VFR RIDERS HAD THIS PROBLEM.

BELEIVE ME, RIDERS IN MY STATE ACT LIKE THE VFR IS A WEAK BIKE. I AM GETTING A KICK OUT OF SHUTTING PEOPLE UP. AT LOCAL EVENTS IF YOU SEE 2 VFRS YOUR DOING GOOD..

I JUST GOT A PC FOR THE BIKE, AND ADDED A D&D PIPE..SO PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO LIKE THE BIKE WHEN I COME AROUND TO GET A RACE.

I GUESS IM TRYING TO PUT VFR ON THE MAP IN DELAWARE....

[warchild]

Belive Me..i Love The Look On Peoples Face When They Realized They Just Got Beat By A Honda Vfr...i Took The Vfr Stickers Off..some People Know But The Ones Who Dont Are In Shock...

Just Wish I Had A Few More Vfr Supporters In My State...

For now, Im Going To Hold It Down For The Interceptor...


Warchild+++++delaware+++++++1999vfr


No Guts,no Glory............

[JRotten]

Were you clutching or speed shifting? I used to drag my zx750r all the time, but learned the type of shifting makes a difference if your transmission can support it. The funny thing is it is not the bike (most of the time), but the rider. Now, I just love the art of cornering with finesse.

That may change, since I am now in Illinois and haven't found any roads yet that will allow me to get down low. I do see a quite a few more Hayabusas here than I did in California.

[antirich]

"We Decided To Race And Since He Has A Cbr 600 He Thought That The Vfr Didnt Have A Shot.

He Let Me Use The Hayabusa In The First Race And Before He Blinked I Was Three Blocks Away...i New He Was Trying To Hustle Me..i Told Him I Would Use The Vfr And Still Get Him...so The Bet Was On.."


Please tell me you were challenging this squid on the track and not on the street. Atco's only an hour or so from Delaware, and they allow bikes on open track days.


By the way, you don't stand a chance against a 675. I had on out on the track in Barcelona and it's wicked fast. The ability to power out of a turn was great enough to keep up with liter bikes on the front straight. Increadible race bike in every category.

Before you get into the "my bike beat a 600 therefore I can beat all 600s" frame of mind, just remember that rider ability is what really makes a bike go fast. Take your VFR against a licensed AMA racer on a 600 and your results may vary. Drag racing a bike is tough, lots to do in the first few seconds that can win or loose a race. Get that VFR on a road course and you'll fall flat on your face. Sure, Reg Pridmore and Freddy Spencer can do some quick laps on a VFR, but put them on a CBR600RR and they'll much faster.

[warchild]

Actually The Race Was A Street Race.. We Have A Back Road Near 95 Thats About A Quarter Mile. I Believe Its The Rider Not The Motorcycle.

I Knew This Guy Was A Little Nervous And Was Just Running His Mouth Cause I Was On My Vfr And He Wanted To Show Off His 600.

Believe Me If I Was On The 600 The Outcome Would Have Been Different. I Just Like That People Cant Believe A Vfr Can Be Pushed To The Limit Like That. I Got My But Kicked Many Of Times By Great Riders, But I Have Made A Mark For The Vfr.

Of Course A Pro Rider May Kick My But, But This Is Street Racing I Dont See To Many Pros Out There....

[cb400]

the VFR banner at Mid-Ohio...

vfrt10small.jpg

Nice to be here.

--jeff