Oh what a glorous race day! It was cloudy here in Vegas (rare) so everyone was out today and I of course rode right up to a pack of'em and challenged every one of them to a race....LOL. The whole damn crowd accepted.....Yes!
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First - the players. There were other bikes including a Banshee but they were'nt there to game. They didn't finish strong enough to mention. Not the bikes fault.
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Me_on_my_bike: I hope I have the same look in my eyes as the guy on the AC.

Arctic_Cat_DVX400: this guys had ***** of steel, he knew how to ride, you could see it even when he wasn't moving. He was the guy to beat.

Stock_V: This guy was 100 pounds lighter then me, but he seemed a little scared of his V. But in straight drags he did fine.

Stock_YFZ: this is my buddy I race often, he has a good command of his bike.

Piped_YFZ: My other buddy, he has some issues, he wrecked bad when he was a kid so any danger on the course and he bails out of the race. In straight drags he will stay with it though.

Predator_500: This was a rider of 4 months (I've only been riding 2) he seemed to have a healthy respect for his bike but he lacked that look, the look of a racer willing to go to the edge, the look I hope I have......the one the guy on the AC had. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Still, he seemed to be riding good.
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Now on to the races-
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First was a down hill 1/4 mile with serious whoops. Dangerous whoops I'd say. With a moderate drop off at the end. When the guy on the AC was racing he would win by a couple of bike lengths. I would come in a strong second. The V is famous for NOT being a whoops bike, I agree. When he DIDN'T race I won every time! I beat ALL the other bikes. The only one who didn't race was my buddy on the piped YFZ.

I asked the AC guy to ride the stock V, I wanted someone with some ***** to race me with it. I smoked him! Beat him by mutiple bike lengths. I guess his AC skills don't apply to the V...hehehehehehe.

---Up hill sand Drag 200ft.

I would lose to the AC400 and the piped YFZ450 by less than a bike length. I tied the stock YFZ and Predator500 every time. I've lost to that stock YFZ before on a different hill so maybe he was just off his game today or maybe this hill favors my powerband....whatever.

The V was interesting, he was a 100lbs lighter than me but I was beating him by a bike length everytime. I guess the pipes work after all!!
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My evaluation of the bikes after riding with them all day.

AC400 - clearly with a good rider like today it will hang with anything.

Predator500 - To be fair I'd like to see the AC guy ride this, but I'd say it's very Raptor like. When I was racing it, it just felt like I was racing a Raptor. That's not a bad thing BTW.

Stock V, my bike was clearly a bit faster even though I have a 100lbs on the rider, it didn't win against me the whole day...but it was close in straight drags.
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Finally my advice to other V owners who take whoops fast. Stay on the gas, the torque of the engine kept my nose from diving into the whoop and made it smoother. I was up against some serious bikes today and that is what made the difference. Not for the faint of heart I might add. It's a fine line, probably the most dangerous thing you can do on your V with stock shocks. One mistake and you'r off the bike!

 

Sweet, dude were you just racing in the sand or what? Did the AC 400 have work on it? I just raced a v-force and a pred yesterday on loose dirt and beat both. Both quads were jetted and exhuast plus a clutch kit for the V. I only way like 155lb at 5'10. Thats with out the nos. I have only got to use it a couple of times , the mount for the bottle broke in half. Figures it was made out of alluminum.

 

if it was in the sand what tires were you running and the others running?

 

It was all sand with some small rocks and we were all running stock tires. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

The Arctic cat was stock except for some holes drilled in the airbox.

 

wow sounds like you did great then considering the stockers suck in the sand

 

Yea the V could double as a back hoe in a sand drag launch... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Digs some nice deep holes.

 

so I am guessing you didnt get the whole shot very often then

 

In sand I don't. My bike sure makes a lot of noise, sounds like it's going fast, but the tires are spinning instead of pushing. The other bikes seem to leave the line a little better. Then I catch up.....

Talking about uphill sand drags here. Does much better on flat or downhill.

 

Put paddles on and you will win