Atco Raceway Quarter-Mile

OK, I no longer refer to them as "cheater straps," since I felt the effect of it firsthand this past Thursday. I met up with GSXRJoe's brother Nick, as well as Josh and a few others, at Atco Raceway in NJ. I brought along my new Schnitz tie-down strap (and the 14mm socket to install it at the track). The strap bolts at both ends to the front brake caliper bolts on both sides, goes over the steering head, and cinches down with a simple cam buckle.

Last month, I was running on 2-year-old plugs - they were so worn that the caps would work themselves loose after every run, and just be sitting on top of the plugs. I made two runs last month, managing just above 12.1 @ 116mph both times. This time, I managed 4 runs on new plugs and using the front-end tie-down. (2001 B1200S, full Holeshot stepped exhaust, stage-2 w/pods, 5-degree advancer.) Times were as follows:

Run 1: Temp 79F, Rel Hum 78%
R/T: .513
60': 2.006
1/8: 7.767 @ 95.47
1/4: 11.922 @ 116.95
Note: Hung right in there with Ben on his R1; he posted 11.408 @ 125.79

Run 2: Temp 79F, Rel Hum 77%
R/T: .193
60': 1.947
1/8: 7.756 @ 95.88
1/4: 11.884 @ 117.15
Note: Beat some dude on a GSXR750 on reaction time alone; he posted 11.859 @ 120.53, with a .389 R/T

Run 3: Temp 78F, Rel Hum 78%
R/T: .554
60': 1.899
1/8: 7.495 @ 98.73
1/4: 11.532 @ 120.58
Note: Again vs Ben on the R1, he got me but I was right with him; 11.494 @ 128.84

Run 4: Temp 74F, Rel Hum 100%
R/T: .077
60': 1.889
1/8: 7.344 @ 100.25
1/4: 11.326 @ 122.34
Note: I ran against a (beautiful) white Hayabusa SE and he didn't quite run away from me; he posted 9.958 @ 141.80

I'm still learning. I have over 17 years of street riding experience, but last month was the first time I've ever had the Bandit (or any other bike) on the 1/4-mile track. Heck, I improved my times by almost 6/10ths of a second in four passes this time. I didn't really have any problem with the front end coming up on me last month, but the Schnitz strap made the bike feel like I could rip the throttle WFO and the front would stay planted. It gave me the confidence to really let it rip this time.

By 8pm, the temp was dropping, and I know I could have done one more pass even faster, but there were so many cars there that night, it was over an hour wait between runs. Besides, I had a wonderful 23-year-old redhead waiting for me at a bar in Philly.

Notable moments at the track:
1.) The blonde chick learning to drag race on a CBR1000RR - she wheelied several times, wobbled down the track, had some dude holding the front of her bike while she did her burnout in the box.
2.) The obnoxious modified 2-stroke quads - the loudest and most obnoxious of them all blew up somewhere down the track.
3.) My FIAMM horn fell off - when I stopped to get my time slip, I couldnt turn to the left; my horn had fallen off and wedged itself between the fairing and the left fork tube. I simply unplugged it and stashed it under the seat.

Josh took video from the stands, so maybe we'll get to see it soon.