Try starting off in second gear. I know it's not for everyone but I feel the DS's first gear is too short. I was drag racing a slew of YFZ, 450Rs and even my Stage III buddy on a dirt track about 100-150FT long. I was eating everyone out of the hole till the finish line. The DS is a good dragster cause it has a bit of front weight bias. Rev her up a bit and dump the clutch.. You'll be surprised how well she launches.

 

ditto entomber,
I used to get smoked outa the hole bigtime by 450's until I stepped up to 22" 8 paddle haulers
14 tooth front sprocket with these bigger tires in the sand, or a 15T if running 20" knobbies on turf
wind up to about 6K in 2nd gear and dump it, the launch can be incredible if running the right gearing/tire combo in the right terrain with a high rev and a dump.
if you haven't upgraded clutch springs you definitely need to running haulers and high reving the holeshot

 

Hey, cumdaddy this may be late, but remember to look at the rear engin frame bolt make sure the head of the bolt is on the sprokit side and the nut on the gear shifter side. Or it will rub the chain whith a 14t. PS I run 14t with mudlites 22".

 

My boy's LT-Z400 will get the drop on me coming out of the hole too. He's running an Alien slip-on with 20" Skat-Trak Haulers (straight paddles, 8 per tire), and I'm running an FMF slip-on, with 22" Skat-Trak Edge's (V-paddles, 9 per tire).

We both launch in 2nd gear, he gets about a 2 bike length on me almost every time, and I catch and pass him midway thru third gear almost every time. We've tried all sorts of different tire pressures, I tried some 20" Edges, and he's tried V-paddles also, the difference is almost always the same. I think it's just a matter of physics, my bike weighs 120 lbs more than his, plus he weighs 110, I weigh 220. When he launches, he's on top of the sand right away, I'm just digging trenches for the first few yards. The fun really happens when he rides the DS, it's tough to beat with a 110lb rider!

 

im ordering the 14t front sprocket and the nine paddle "extreme's" all from rockymountain today. how many pounds should i run the back tires ?

 

I hope you ordered 22" tires....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]