Drag racing questions for Gen 1 vmax

[Speedybeets Moto]

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance .

 

[gentsvmax]

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance .

Aloha! We've got some drag pro's here, I'm surprised no ones jumped in....

 

[one2dmax]

The HD (PCW) spring is good for most though I like the DD mod. The Barnett (or Early Venture) conversion though I think it easier to launch with since it's a more linear feel. Stay with stock frictions. I've likely got most of those choices on hand.
Swapping over to a 17" rear wheel will let you get a shootout tire and a shorter profile for quicker acceleration.
Most of the commercial straps will also work.
Lowering the seat. Removing parts you don't need (like turn signals and mirrors) plus anything else you can take off to reduce weight.
The rider lose weight too.

 

[Dansmaxresto]

You probably know this info already but when I raced my 86 completely stock I took off the mirrors, lowered rear pressure to 18 psi and launched @ 4,500rpm. No straps or lowering. When final staged get your rpm’s up and let the clutch out to just before it engages then let it out quickly but progressively while pinning the throttle in one fluid motion. I shifted at redline and ran consistent 11.6 - 11.7’s @ 119/120mph. I was a pretty svelte 165 pounds then. Oh yeah, and started the night with about a gallon and a half of fuel.

 

[Speedybeets Moto]

Thanks for the replies. Some great advice. I've already purchased the Barnett coil conversion with frictions and steels too. Are the Barnett frictions much worse than oem? I may have to try to return those and get oem ones if it's imperative

Dansmax, that is an impressive time all stock. Thanks for the tips.

 

[MadMark]

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance .

If you're wanting to maximize your 1/4mi times. A extended swingarm,rear struts, air shifter, ignition interrupter, 85,86 front wheel 2 to 3 lbs lighter, single disk front brake.

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance .

 

[Mac Max]

I have a post on here somewhere of some of my experience with my first gen on the eighth mile. My bike is very similar to yours in regards to modifications. I run a Barnett clutch launching @6500rpm with the result being a best of 1.52 and regular mid to upper 1.5 60ft. My bike has 17" rear with a Shinko sport bike tire and strapped front end. The Barnett has worked great in my experience so far, I have a pile of time slips from the last two seasons and still going strong. This past season the fastest track in our area was closed due to some repairs, my previous best @ that particular track was a 6.92@ 99.??. This season I was only afforded the opportunity to run a my local track which in my experience with the bike had been .15 to .20 slower than times at our quickest track in the area. At the slower track I was able to match that 6.92 this season so I'm hoping to see some 6.8's or better next season at the quicker track when it reopens. You can look up my previous posts for a little better description of my mods. I think you will like the Barnett you have on the way.

 

[Fire-medic]

Out of respect for one of the most-selfless members on here, Joe (alorio1), who unfortunately is now riding his '85, bought new, in the Elysian Fields, I am posting some content from him. It's about drag-racing, and I think anyone interested in the dragstrip performance of their bike will be very interested in Joe's experiences.

https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/dyno-run-today.28539/page-2#post-306769
Here's the copied content. Thanks, Joe, until we meet again.

vmaxrooky, I have an old 85 I bought new. Shortly after she was broke in I took her to the track and brought some 105 Octane aviation fuel with me. I was tripping the lights at the other end @ 127 to 131 MPH. I will now post my ET numbers for the first time ever on the forum. My ET numbers was consistently in the high 10's, the lowest ET was 10.88. I brought my tickets showing my times and top speed back home and put them in my locker at work after showing my fellow workers my time slips. I retired in 05 and cleaned out my locker before I left and found my old time slips tucked away in a box, but they were faded and unreadable after 24 years. I have no proof now of what the bike will run the 1/4 mile in and actually came home after the event thinking I had bought a lemon because I could not squeeze out a 10.60 because thats what PeeWee Gleason had turned when he tested the Vmax for Yamaha. (Ed.: see below) If you calculate the numbers I should be making more than Yamaha claims HP to the rear wheel. The bike was almost new when I did my 6 or 7 runs that evening with no mods to the engine. I have never dynoed the bike and have no idea what will show up if I did. It has 17,800 miles on her today and is as fast as it was when I made those runs. Oh, I weighed about 185 lbs then and don't consider myself an accomplished drag racer. So if anyone can crunch those numbers out to give me the HP # that I needed to turn these times, I would appreciate it. Feel free to blast me if you want, but just remember Pee Wee Gleason did it on a stock Vmax back in the day and 2 tenths lower than me...... [end of alorio1's post]

For those of us old-enough to recall Jay 'Pee-Wee' Gleason and his runs on the then new VMax, his times were lower than what alorio1 remembers. At the SFO Bay area Baylands racetrack, he turned a 10.33. Read the account of the 1984 V-Max dealer introduction at Las Vegas, of the new for 1985 model year Yamaha V-Max, 'straight from the horse's mouth.'

https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/2008/12/1/max-muscle
"It wasn’t long after the big dealer show and that epic burnout (there were no consequences, by the way!) that me and a V-Max were off to Baylands Raceway in Fremont, California, a near-sea-level strip that had incredible traction and near-perfect air. On this one particular day, man, I was on, making passes in the 10.40/10.50-second range. We took a break for lunch knowing that, for some strange reason, I am always quicker after eating (to this day I haven’t figured out why). Anyway, we returned to the racetrack, now with a strip-cooling cloud cover, and on the fifth pass I pounded out a 10.33 second run, a time never to be equaled by me or anyone else on a stock original V-Max."

 

[Woody]

Hmm. I wonder what ever happened . To the 85 pee wee rode.
I hear it's in good hands.

 

[Fire-medic]

Hmm. I wonder what ever happened . To the 85 pee wee rode.
I hear it's in good hands.

The Good Hands people. Jay, Sean.

My guess.

 

[Speedybeets Moto]

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you all an update. Here's what I've had done to the vmax :
-Barnett coil conversion clutch kit installed
-Shinko 230 tires (170 rear, 100 front)
-New wheel bearings
-front Forks lowered 2"
-brocks strap
-auto meter shift light with digital read out

First race is Feb 17th in Maui. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a couple of questions.

1. What do you guys recommend for shift light RPM?
2. Do any of you use race gas for dragging and if so what type?

I'm getting horrible fuel mileage, about 25 MPG, it does smell a little gassy.

I'll post some pics.

Thank you for your replies. Can't wait to unleash this max.

 

[Speedybeets Moto]

 

[Fire-medic]

Looks like you're set, ride safely. We all are interested to hear how things go.

 

[caseyjones955]

1. What do you guys recommend for shift light RPM?
2. Do any of you use race gas for dragging and if so what type?

I'm getting horrible fuel mileage, about 25 MPG, it does smell a little gassy.

I'll post some pics.

Thank you for your replies. Can't wait to unleash this max.

I had the same crappy 25mpg and raw fuel smell, even had a stumble at 4k. It was jetted quite a bit too rich. It seems that jetting kids from DJ have an inlay which guides tuners to get it way to fat, also from the factory they are jetted a bit fat. At 4000' I had to lean it out several steps. I was rewarded with considerably more MPG, no raw fuel aroma, no 4k stumble and considerably more stomp. Just getting the jetting right made it feel like a whole different bike.

I'm know there are other things that can cause this but this is what fixed that for me, by reading posts it seemed like a commin cuase of these symptoms. Carb sync is a good idea to go along with jetting.

I have not done any real racing other than sniping HDs, which honestly does not usually require hitting the redline. Folks that actually race here will have a better answer, but for now I would keep it on this side of 10k. I only bring this up because once I had my jetting sorted out it had no trouble wanting to sweep past 10k rpm, one must be cautious as from the factory there is no rev limiter.

Great looking bike!

 

[Fire-medic]

One of the benefits of the DYNA ignition box or the Ignitech is their rev-limiter. I wouldn't be running the stock cylinder heads and bottom end past redline if you want the bike to last. Pay attention to what the factory said. I expect Sean Morley may offer guidance on this.

I am one of the Stage 7 owners, and it's jetted for two sizes below OEM, that is, smaller. I kept my VBoost and the bike performs well-enough for me. I use a K&N replacement for the OEM filter and the stock airbox. The exhaust is a full UFO system, but with a literbike canister, which is quieter than the UFO Dragstar system it has, but w/a different canister instead of that shorty bologna-cut tip the UFO Dragstar comes-with.

 

[Big"A"]

Aloha everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I'm excited to fine tune my 97 vmax to race 1/4 mile. Here is a little info on the bike.
-30k miles
-original clutch
-UFO intake and 39 mm kehnin racing carbs
-Full UFO exhaust
-steering dampener

I took it to the strip and ran low 12s. Experienced a little clutch slippage and difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'd like to address the clutch, tires, etc.

1. CLUTCH
I want a stronger clutch for drag racing so I'm deciding between the Barnett upgrade, PCW clutch kit or DD mod. I don't want something too aggressive and not stock either. Somewhere in the middle. I think the PCW kit is a good compromise? Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

2.TIRES
It seems lots of people like the Shinko TM 230s. My question is on sizing. Would it benefit me to go with a 170/80/15 rear? I've thought about going with a shorter front tire 100/90/18 for less rotating mass and lower the front a bit. Any thoughts? I'm considering the following combinations
-110/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 170/80/15
-100/90/18 + 150/90/15

3. STRAP
Is there a specific strap you guys recommend? Also would lowering the Forks help?

I don't think my bike has the vboost anymore because of the UFO intake and carbs? I'd like to launch the bike around 6500 but open to suggestions. I don't want to hurt my driveshaft or transmission if I can help it!

Appreciate all your help in advance .

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you all an update. Here's what I've had done to the vmax :
-Barnett coil conversion clutch kit installed
-Shinko 230 tires (170 rear, 100 front)
-New wheel bearings
-front Forks lowered 2"
-brocks strap
-auto meter shift light with digital read out

First race is Feb 17th in Maui. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a couple of questions.

1. What do you guys recommend for shift light RPM?
2. Do any of you use race gas for dragging and if so what type?

I'm getting horrible fuel mileage, about 25 MPG, it does smell a little gassy.

I'll post some pics.

Thank you for your replies. Can't wait to unleash this max.

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you all an update. Here's what I've had done to the vmax :
-Barnett coil conversion clutch kit installed
-Shinko 230 tires (170 rear, 100 front)
-New wheel bearings
-front Forks lowered 2"
-brocks strap
-auto meter shift light with digital read out

First race is Feb 17th in Maui. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a couple of questions.

1. What do you guys recommend for shift light RPM?
2. Do any of you use race gas for dragging and if so what type?

I'm getting horrible fuel mileage, about 25 MPG, it does smell a little gassy.

I'll post some pics.

Thank you for your replies. Can't wait to unleash this max.

Six finger centrifugal lock up clutch. Can run 3 fingers or 6 fingers. The fast it spin the more lockup you have.

 

[one2dmax]

I am not sure I would run the front strap over the frame. I run them over the lower triple personally so that I have uninhibited turning.

 

[Speedybeets Moto]

The February race was canceled so first race is now this Saturday. Do you guys do a burnout with the Shinko 230? Thinking about setting the shift light at 9k. Going to run some race fuel and launch at 6500. Do you guys use the clutch to shift or just off the throttle slightly and shift with no clutch? I don't use the clutch shifting my cbr600rr but not sure about this vmax. Would appreciate any advice. Can't wait to go racing

 

[Parminio]

Frankly, you're doing just about everything you can to make your bike slower.

Do NOT use racing fuel. That is high octane fuel intended for very high compression engines, which you do not have. Your performance will be worse, not better. Use regular or plus unleaded, ethanol free fuel.

Shift lights are relative (and in my opinion, totally useless). Nobody can tell you where to set it. The engine dictates that and it takes practice. You set it where the engine first begins to stop pulling. At that point, you're wasting power by increasing the revs without getting the benefit of additional pull, so that's when you shift. You can feel it much better than any light is going to tell you on a Vmax.

Launch also depends on the track and how much grip you get. There is no set RPM to launch at. If you can get the power to the pavement, launch at 6500. Odds are though that you won't; you'll break the back tire loose and get left sitting there. I would start around 4,500 to 5,000. But again, if the grip is there, use it.

Use the clutch. If you haven't been shifting the Vmax without the clutch to this point, on the line at the tree is not the place to learn.

Good luck!

 

[Giantkiller]

I always giggle to myself. When people say they are going to run race gas in a stock non turbo engine. I once put Premium in my daughters 90cc atv. Because that's what I had I the can. Couldn't even get it started until I drained the tank. And got some regular and put it in it. Lol. Started right up.