• There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.

F3-S Daytona at the drag strip tonight - original March '23; update June '25

B

BCNewell

Active member
Found myself at a car dealership late this afternoon, and remembered that our local drag strip is open Friday nights for 1/4-mile test-and-tune, so ....

Just got teched in. My Daytona is all stock, except for the tires and Route 129 windscreen. Rolled 4001 miles on the odometer when I entered the gates. I used to bracket race for 10+ years, but quit that in 2001. Since then, have been only a handful of times, just to see what a few of my bikes and pickups would do. And, tonight’s the night for the Spyder!

Will post up results later. Have no idea what it’ll run. Hoping for a 13.50 or quicker. But ... :dontknow:
 
Last edited:
Let it cool down about 40 minutes, then put it on the line. SM6 manual transmission, ran with traction control off.

Quite pleased with the first run. Babied it off the line a little too much, and spun a bit in 2nd. Ran 13.534 sec @ 100.11 mph. My 60-foot time was 2.241 sec, and 1/8-mile was 8.720 @ 84.14.

Will make at least one more run, then head the 50+ miles home.

image.jpg - image.jpg
 
Last edited:
2nd pass, 35min later: 13.398 sec @ 101.47 mph. 60’ was 2.109 sec, 1/8-mile 8.590 sec @ 83.38 mph. Hazed the tire a bit at the top of 1st and into 2nd, and am trying to shift right about 7,000rpm. Thought about leaving traction control on, but I don’t think it’ll be faster if it pulls down the power in a run. Usually takes it a bit to let it have full power again.

Will try one more time here shortly.
 
Third pass, 44 min later: ran 13.527 sec @ 101.99 mph. My 60’ was 2.324 sec, 1/8-mile 8.751 sec @ 84.27 mph. Slipped the clutch wayyyyy too much in first ... but it did keep it from hazing the tire!

Came right back around and ran again 10 min later: ran 13.582 mph @ 100.70 mph. My 60’ was 2.256, with my 1/8-mile of 8.751 sec @ 83.21 mph.

Had lots of fun, and didn’t hurt any parts on the byke - or the ryder!! This night was pretty typical of the nights I ran my ‘14 Honda CTX1300 and my ‘98 Honda Magna - first run is decent, second run is faster, and then times start to get slower by the third or fourth run. Start over-thinking things, trying to *make* it quicker, instead of just ryding the darned thing.

Just thought I’d post up some times just so you’d know what these things are capable of. BTW - some particulars on the track: elevation about 50’, air temp 75*F, humidity 90%, dew point 72*F. Oh - and I weigh about 195lbs.
 
Well, decided that “on my way out” I’d run one last time. About 40 min after previous run. Good launch, everything felt great. Got to the timing booth and ... they ran out of paper in the printer! And, since another vehicle ran right after I did, my times had been cleared and had no way of getting them. Craaaapppp !!!! Oh, well, next logical thing to do is ... run again! Ten minutes later, posted a 13.617 sec @ 98.23 mph. Spun pretty hard in 2nd gear. Those are the breaks, though.

Again, was good, clean fun. You oughta try it sometime!

image.jpg
 
Good to know it will break out of the 14's, I desperately want to run my 22 RT-L and my butt dyno is telling me it's a mid 15 second trike and that with me shifting at 7200 RPM.

I use the interstate on ramp to get up to the posted speed limit from a dead stop and I can hit 72 MPH at the top of 3rd gear.

Thanks for the results.

Stephan.
 
Best I remember, I was over 6500 rpm in 5th at the finish line.

Did not speed shift it w/out clutch. Just using a quick clutch and partial letup on the throttle. Same as I have done it on my VMaxes, the CTX, and the Magna.
 
Thank you so much for this!!!! I am a drag racing fan for sure. I have taken a lot of my cars to the track and my ford lightning. But I never had the nerve to take any of my bikes. The one that I truly regret not taking to the track was my 2010 Vmax. I will definitely be taking my wife's 2016 F3L to the track. I will probably take my 2021 RTL too. It would have been interesting if you had the pedal commander or pedal box on your bike. Seems like you are launching hard enough, but maybe the times would pick up with the top of 2nd and maybe into 3rd. What gear was you in at the end of the 1/8 and 1/4 mile?
 
Not sure at end of 1/8-mile, as I’m a little preoccupied trying to keep the bike in the middle of the lane, keep my body tucked down, and hit my shift points. But I would bet I was already in 4th at the 1/8-mile mark, and definitely at the top of 5th at the finish.

Oh - and, years ago, got my ‘86 VMax down to a high-10sec pass at 124mph.
 
Last edited:
Ahhh the good ole days! Congrats on having fun out there.... Last time I did 1/4mi stuff was waaaay back when I had my 2007 Ducati S4RS with carbon everything, including the WHEELS! Best run was 9.98 @140.88 and dabbing the rear brake to keep the front down. Traction is a bitch ain't it? ;-)
 
Back in.........'68 at the Sunshine Dragway, St Petersburg Florida, I won C Stock drag bike at some big meet with a 13.1 and 101 MPH on my '68 BSA Lightning. Only time I was on a drag strip, mostly Motorcycle road racing on BMW's until about 3 years ago. Lot of fun.

Looks like you had a great time on your F3-S.
 
Ran the Daytona this afternoon/evening at a “motorcycle only” event at the local drag strip. Was supposed to have separate classes for stock American V-Twin, stock Metric, and a Pro class for those w/ power adders, extended swing arms, slicks, etc. Well, due to a low total bike turnout (~24 or so), they combined all 3 groups into one class. Definitely put us “stockers” at a disadvantage. I managed to win my first two rounds (both against Pro class bikes!) mostly due to cutting pretty good reaction times. Cut my worst light all day in the 3rd round against the fastest bike there, and it was close at the end, but not good enough. Oh, well - he ended up winning the event, so I guess I can say that I only got beat by the winner!!!

Ran 6 time trials, and 3 elimination rounds. Ran a best 1/4-mile ET of 13.621sec, best 1/4-mile speed of 97.60mph, best 1/8-mile ET of 8.640sec, best 1/8-mile speed of 81.96mph. I cut pretty good lights all day, but my ET’s were not very consistent due to traction problems, occasionally at top of 1st gear and most all runs when hitting 2nd gear. SM6 trans, running w/ traction control off. Had a good time overall, but was a little miffed that I didn’t ca$h in because of the combined classes. Did enjoy sending my first round Pro class opponent home, since he was laughing to his buddies that his race against my Spyder was gonna be a “gimme”. HA!! I got home with both ryder and byke unscathed, and added 126.5 miles to the odometer for the day. Beautiful day with high temps about 80*F. Life is good!!!
 
BCNewell said:
Ran the Daytona this afternoon/evening at a “motorcycle only” event at the local drag strip. Was supposed to have separate classes for stock American V-Twin, stock Metric, and a Pro class for those w/ power adders, extended swing arms, slicks, etc. Well, due to a low total bike turnout (~24 or so), they combined all 3 groups into one class. Definitely put us “stockers” at a disadvantage. I managed to win my first two rounds (both against Pro class bikes!) mostly due to cutting pretty good reaction times. Cut my worst light all day in the 3rd round against the fastest bike there, and it was close at the end, but not good enough. Oh, well - he ended up winning the event, so I guess I can say that I only got beat by the winner!!!

Ran 6 time trials, and 3 elimination rounds. Ran a best 1/4-mile ET of 13.621sec, best 1/4-mile speed of 97.60mph, best 1/8-mile ET of 8.640sec, best 1/8-mile speed of 81.96mph. I cut pretty good lights all day, but my ET’s were not very consistent due to traction problems, occasionally at top of 1st gear and most all runs when hitting 2nd gear. SM6 trans, running w/ traction control off. Had a good time overall, but was a little miffed that I didn’t ca$h in because of the combined classes. Did enjoy sending my first round Pro class opponent home, since he was laughing to his buddies that his race against my Spyder was gonna be a “gimme”. HA!! I got home with both ryder and byke unscathed, and added 126.5 miles to the odometer for the day. Beautiful day with high temps about 80*F. Life is good!!!
Click to expand...

I had similar results at Two SpyderFest drag race events done at a genuine Drag Track, with my 11 RSS I won a first in class & 3 rd overall. in 2014 .... Then in 2020 I came in second in class, after leaving the track I noticed I had been running in " ECO " mode all day :gaah: :banghead: ...... These events were 99% spyders and a few two-wheel mtc's , they didn't do as well ..... Thanks for sharing .....Mike :thumbup:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Took the ‘17 F3-S Daytona SM6 back to the track tonight. In the last couple months, have had Wick-It do a Stage 2 reflash w/ airbox lid mod, I changed the RLS primary pipe for a Lamonster straight pipe, and I installed a Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS extreme summer performance rear tire. Wanted to compare its times in current configuration @ 16,480 miles to its times in March 2023 @ 4,001 miles.

The combo of the tire and the tune is absolutely amazing! It went from a best of 13.39sec @ 101mph, to a best of 12.72sec @ 105 mph. My 60-foot times went from a best of 2.109sec to a best of 1.87sec. All the other times I’ve had it at the track, I had to really baby if off the line to keep it from spinning the Rikon Raptor rear tire it had. Never did get the Potenza to spin tonight. Did a quick spin in the water box, and a very short burn out to get the tire warm. And, MAN, does that tire hook up! Still lots of room to get my launches better. Had one run where I let clutch out fully a little too quickly, and it kinda bogged down for a split second. Average 60-foot time in ‘23 was 2.229sec; average 60-foot time tonight was 1.960sec. Air temp tonight was a not-so-cool 85*F at 10pm, with a ~10mph tail wind. First couple passes were shifted @ 8,000rpm, the rest were about 7,500rpm. Revs at the finish line were over 7,000rpm in 5th gear.

IMG_5060.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Pretty good times I'd say. These things are heavy.

Do you use the clutch when shifting on the strip, or just momentarily snap the throttle closed?
 
I do quickly use the clutch and quickly snap the throttle during shifts. With it being a ride-by-wire electric throttle and not a mechanical cable, the rev’s don’t really come down much. May be better to do it another way, but muscle memory has me doing it this way - like all the other bikes I have run. It’s all I can do to keep myself sitting straight up on the launch, to keep weight over rear tire, and not lean forward until after I grab 2nd gear. Too many times leaning forward trying (in vain!) to keep the front wheel on the ground with the VMax!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top