What you need to know to race the H-D Destroyer in an AHDRA event:
1.
First: Join the AHDRA at www.ahdra.com,
and send them your physical/medical
certificate.
2.
Safety equipment: My personal recommendations are
higher than the minimum requirements put out by AHDRA.
Your safety is of utmost importance, and a little additional investment
in your gear up front will save you money in the future.
a.
Helmet: Full coverage helmets only! Must be Snell-2000
approved with full visor. Get the highest Snell rating you can afford.
b.
Protective Clothing: You must get full-finger leather
gloves, with knuckle armor and palm reinforcements, one piece or full
circumference zippered leather suit with knee, elbow and shoulder armor or
reinforcements, spine/back protector and above the ankle leather boots with toe
area reinforcements. Vanson
Leathers is a good place to start looking, in my
opinion. A good set of leathers will
last a long time, and additionally will cover most rule changes in the near
future.
3.
Before you get to the track: I
hope that a dealer or someone knowledgeable has prepped the bike for you ahead
of time. They should have gone
through the break-in procedure on the motor, and everything should be somewhat
set up. For example, your shift
light should be programmed, the two-step adjusted, and the race tuner software
loaded, and so on. If not, call and
we will direct you to someone that can get you ready for the track. Next,
go through the manual again and check everything two or three times, just
to get familiar with the bike. A few
things here -- U4 gas only, in a new can, poured in with a new funnel -- don’t
run any other kind of fuel through the bike, because you will not pass the fuel
check at the race track. Make sure
you have the Pingel fuel check installed, too. Next,
find a flat surface for the bike. Put
10 lb air in rear tire, sit on the bike, and while using a level on the steering
head, adjust the wheelie bars to 1 ¾” from the bottom of the wheels to the
ground. To make certain the wheelie
bar is adjusted properly, you will need to measure the distance from the bolt
hole to the end of the wheelie bar on each side, making sure that the two
dimensions are equal. Additionally,
measure diagonally from the bolt hole on one side to the end of the bar on the
other side. This will ensure that
you have your wheelie bars set up as square as possible.
Failing to do so will make your bike not want to travel straight down the
track. Then you will remove them
before taking your bike to the track.
4.
When you get to the track: Typically,
you will show up early Friday. (Always
check with the track for each race, as their schedules can and do vary!)
You will be directed where to park by officials when you arrive. Once
you’ve set up, take your membership card to the registration trailer, (usually
somewhere close to the staging area, but not always) and register.
Next, you’ll go to the back of the trailer to get the appropriate
contingency stickers for your bike. Go
back to your pit area and put them on – this is a good time to put your number
plate on, too.
5.
Dyno: Now is a
good time to find us, and / or meet your fellow Destroyer racers. For
the dyno pull, you must put the RED spring in your clutch!
If you have not done this before, please have someone check that it is
installed right – we don’t want any mistakes here, OK?
J
Then, remove your rear tire. Now,
take your pit bike down the return road to the Dyno, and pick up the street tire
they require you to use. Install the
tire, put fuel in the bike, get your race tuner module, warm up the bike and go
back to the Dyno. When you are done,
go back to your pit area, remove the tire and quickly take it back so the next
person can use the tire.
6. Put the slick (10 lb
air) on; make sure it is straight. Then put the wheelie bars on. Put
your leathers on, get you helmet, gloves, boots and filled out tech card, and go
to the scale to see what you weigh. 730 lb is the target weight. It
is a wise precaution to shoot for around 733 or 734 lb, just to be safe.
If you become a little dehydrated throughout the day, or have too little fuel in
your tank when you run over those scales – you will be disqualified. If
you weigh in OK, then go to the staging lane for your tech inspection.
Now, you can relax for a little bit -- that was a lot of work!
7. Pre-ride: Now, remove the
RED spring, and put the medium spring with .050 shims back in the clutch, and
have someone check it. At the Dyno, they put a stock map in your bike.
If you have your own dyno map for your bike, install it now and/or set your rev
limiter at 11000 rpm. Now, set the 1st to 2nd gear shift point at 10000
rpm, and set the remaining shift points at 9800 rpm. You are out of the HP
band before 10500 rpm anyway, so there’s no need to over-rev your motor.
Set your two-step at 7500 rpm. This is a good starting point.
Fine tuning will come later. This is Important; tighten the steering
damper to where you like it, then tighten it a little more. This is
something you’ll need to check often – they have been known to loosen up.
Next, you’ll put 35 lb air in front tire, and 10lb in rear tire. Now
is the time to get into a routine of doing the same thing each and every time,
the same way. Put the fuel in, put air in the shifter tank at 130lb, warm
the bike up, put your leathers on, and check rear tire air again to make sure it
is at 10 lb, grab your gloves & helmet and head to the staging lanes.
8. Test & Tune: On Friday’s
test & tune, you get your tickets from the registration trailer and will be
assigned a lane to run in for the sportsman's class with a pro tree. One
thing that you'll need to remember is that bikes with slicks run in the inside
tire track, street tires run in the outside tire track. Relax, this is not
a race -- just a shakedown. Focus on being safe, being smooth, and having
some fun!
9. Qualifying: There is a
mandatory rider’s meeting first thing Saturday morning. You will get
lane assignments and other important information there. Go through your
pre-ride routine, and be ready. We are typically the second or third class
to run. The tower will call us by class. In the staging lane,
introduce yourself and meet some of the other racers. Remember, we line up
on the inside tire track. There should be cones in place. Do not
move them! We use courtesy staging, which means that you turn on the
pre-stage light and wait for the other rider to do the same before you stage.
Qualifying is not a race. This is just you and the clock, and here your
reaction time means nothing. Go straight, hit your shift points and be
smooth… Smooth is fast. After the run, you will have to stop at
the scale for weight and to have a fuel sample taken. Do not go by or your
run will not count! Also, do not have anyone meet you until after you’ve
come off the scale. That was fun! Two more to go. After
qualifying is over, they will post the ladder at the registration trailer.
Check it and count what pair you are in (32 rider field), as this is how you
will line up Sunday.
10. Race day: Typically, eliminations start
about 9:00. They will take the sportsman classes down to 16 riders before
the 1:00 PM start of the race. This is usually two back-to-back rounds of ET,
then Destroyer, and then Super Gas. You’ll be in the same lanes you were in
Saturday. When you get to the staging lanes, there will be numbers on the
pavement. These numbers will correspond to your qualifying position
on the ladder, that was determined yesterday. The higher qualified or
faster racer has lane choice. If you win, you must stop at the scale and
have your fuel checked. If you didn't win, stop anyway and congratulate
your competitor! Make sure that your competitor passed the scale &
fuel check before you return to the pits. If you make it through the first
round of eliminations, you will have until 1:00 before the start of the race.
They will usually run the Pro classes first, then the sportsman classes.
This will take about an hour. If you make it to the last round, both
winner and runner-up will go over the scale, then have fuel checked, and then
finally back on the dyno one more time before being allowed to take your bike
back to your pit area.
Obviously, these are just a few
tips for new racers. The more seat time you get, the better you will be.
We have contacts that will help you go to the next level with instruction
on dyno tuning, clutch setups, riding schools, using the race tuner and data
logger, etc. These are all things that will help you gain more knowledge.
Some other advice -- your first
motor freshen-up should be done somewhere between 100 and 125 runs. This
is a service that we offer, and more information is on our Freshen
Up page.
We all remember what it is like
just starting out, and most of us are more than willing to help -- just ask.
For those of you who are new to the Destroyer class -- Welcome and
remember… Relax, have fun, and be safe.
Good Racing! – Steve
Due
to the nature of drag racing, and
high-performance racing products and
services, SR Concepts products and services are provided and/or sold without any
express warranty or any implied warranty of fitness for a specific purpose.
SR Concepts shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for any
special, incidental or consequential damages including, but not limited to,
damage or loss of which may arise from sale, installation, use of any product,
services or advice provided.
