Well I was going to post pic's, but I haven't used the entire roll of film just yet. So it will be Wenesday before they are up. But I got my Raptor back Saturday morning...I instantly came home and started tinkering. I charged the battery, took off the skids, put the Pro Wedge 2's on, greased everything, and so on and so forth. But I did not have time to take the 4.5" JTM Extension off or install my wheelie bar. But I thought I would be ok anyway. Boy what a screw up....

I got to the track and they were still working on it. Not a huge turn out but with all the rain, I'm sure not many was interested in going to the track. But the track was set up good. It was alittle loose but not bad. So after a delay as they worked the track over, we finally got called to practice. I made three practice runs...

5.539

5.551

5.511

Instantly I am p*ssed. I know this bike can run better times. But I am rather happy as the Powroll 770 I race with was only running 5.3's on motor, and 4.9's on NOS on the slick track. So I flip my Pro Wedge 2's inside to make the rear alittle more narrow for more hook up.

As I wait for my class to come up, I look everything over and head to staging. We finally get called to race and of course I'm up against the Powroll 770 two consecutive times...

5.491

5.529

Both were losing times but the Powroll only ran 5.389 and 5.357, so I wasn't far behind. I was actually happy I was keeping up so good as the 770 was riding the wheelie bar almost the entire way down the track. Me with no bar was spinning way to much.

So I get called for my second and final class of the night...I get up to the line and run a 5.529 against a 500ex and get a win! So now I have alittle confidence as I now go back to race the 770 again. So I pull up to the line and lay back on the plastic between the seat and grab bar. I rev the motor to 3/4 throttle and come off the clutch as the Pro Tree hit's yellow...I holeshot the best of the entire night(no one came close to geting of the light as I did) at a .405 off the light! But as soon as I hit the start of the track I break traction and spin into second gear. I quickly hit third and finish the run at a 5.429, compared to a 5.399 that the 770 ran. I was that close to beating it.

This was the 2nd year the Powroll has run with his set up. This is my second year drag racing, but 1st trip on the 686. Needless to say I was very impressed and I will be set up this week. Tuesday I'm going to finish my drag set up install and finish the roll of film. I got several good pic's from the drag races, and can't wait to post.

This was my first 686 trip to the drag's and I was alittle off on set up, but I'll be closer by this weekends event. Needless to say, I will be prepared for class 4 at Aledo. 5.0 will not be impossible on the 11:1 686, but I don't know if I will get a full season on the 11:1. That 14:1 is looking very promising, and if I make it out of Aledo not packing one with me....I will be shocked. We'll see how it goes, and I'm looking forward to this weekend and having a full drag set up. If all goes well, and the wheelie bar performs, I will be in the 5.1-5.3 range this weekend. Then the Powroll will have some competition.

BTW...TheRaptorMan was at a differnt track, so I didn't get to run him. I also haven't heard his times yet, but he should be dialing in. For the track conditions, 5.4 and 5.5 isn't bad on a first trip out. Anything around 5.0 is fast for a 4 stroke. Under is smoking fast.

The best run for the Powroll was a NOS run at 4.967 which is fast. He was in and out of the gas a lot trying to straighten it out. He stayed around 4.9 and 5.0 on NOS. He stayed in the 5.2-5.3 range off the bottle. But like I said...this was the first event on the track, the rain and flood didn't help, and the track was slick. So you can't expect to be super fast until we get some dry weather, and alittle more time on the track. I can't wait to go back!

I know some might want to see the drag set up, but I was lazy today and had to race my buddies hi-comp EX again, and my other buddy is wanting to do some racing tuesday with his 440ex. So I'm going to lay the smackdown on them again Tuesday before getting into the full drag set up. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Good deal. Pretty good for the first time out.

 

A few changes and I can get a couple tenths. I need to change some gearing, and a couple other things. So we'll see what the next couple weeks have instore for me, and then Aledo. I should be competitive by then, and won't get killed too bad.

 

Yamaha660R, sounds like you had a good time. And it sounds like you have a pretty quick Raptor. What type of track was it? Dirt, packed sand, soft sand? And are the Pro Wedge 2s the ones that look similar to the 4SNOW tires?

I want to see the pictures! I will post some pics of my drag setup tomorrow.

RR1