I can lose a good 20 lbs just by taking a good grumpy in the morning.

 

shutgun is right, on cars i think its like for ever pound of rotate mass you can loss is equal to 12 pounds off the car, so think if you can lose 2 pounds of rotating mass thats about 25 pounds right there, go with a larger rim and a smaller sidewalled tire to get your outter diameter right, rubber is heavier then alum rim , try to lighten anything that the motor has to turn

 

Everyone is onto the lighter weight thing, but I think everyone is over looking the something. I wasn't at FSW11 and know nothing about sand racing, but racing like pulling is all about traction, along with power.

Sometime you can learn more my watching than racing. I only saw two videos of the Sparks bike racing, but in both of them they got a rolling start, not only them but most bikes did, the starting line appeared to be on a down hill start. Half the distance that the bike won by, over the other bikes was made in the first 200 feet or whatever the distance was to the first whoops. The second half of the winning distance was made in the whoops. I didn't see any distance gain or lost up the hill, I think some of the bikes even gain on it.

I would be working to find out what the differences were on start of the race. Why do they have more traction with a lighter bike, are their tires sharpened, so they get a full bite. Is it the air pressure, type of tires, number of paddles, is it their set up, does their exchaust give more torque and power on the bottom end, did he have a better line, what was his gearing?

I don't know the answers, but I would be willing to bet that because the bike was lightened wasn't the only reason it won, there are other reason, what are they?

 

I definately agree with shotgun that weight is only part of the equation, but it is not a variable that changes from race to race. This is why it is very important. Anything you can shave off this constant, gives you more room for error in the other variables.

And I know that if my bike went on a 100lbs diet, I would still get PLENTY of traction. Especially hauling around my 260lbs a$$. It is possible that you can have so much power, that you can't effectivly transfer the power to the ground. However, the DS is a tank, and I don't beleive that you could ever get into that situation. At least not with any of our budgets.

Also, keep in mind that there is specific equipment required to be legal. In most states front and rear brakes are a REQUIREMENT. I know this is definately the case in CA and WA. You can get a hefty fine for not having the proper safety equipment on a bike. Especially running on public/blm lands.

 

Ummm Have yet met Jeff? LOL
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

while we are on the subject of weight... how much difference is there in weight between a powdercoated frame and a painted frame if any?