From 0 to 237 kph / 147 mph in 10 seconds — let’s warp some space-time :)
The Idea
Owning a BMW S1000 RR or any Super Bike really, makes you wonder how hard and quick you could get your bike launched from a dead stop. Spec says 0–60 in 2.9 seconds — Sure I can do that too ! Right !? So what better place to test it, than on a super grippy and professional drag strip ?
So let’s get to work. A while back I did a google search for Drag Strips in the San Francisco Bay Area and found a lot of strips that existed in the past. Racing a vehicle in a straight line against somebody else seems to be deeply ingrained into America’s culture.
One of the few remaining Drag Strips I found is the Sonoma Raceway Drag Strip, which hosts professional drag challenges and every Wednesday drag races for amateurs.
So I fueled one warm Wednesday my bike up, put my leathers on and drove up to Sonoma — not a single clue what to expect …
The First Time
After finding my way through a lot of traffic due to a Bernie Sanders rally, I exited the highway, paid 25$ to compete in a drag race and was in. After a moment of searching I found the small contingent of motorcyclists. Just 5 other guys on bikes were apparently duking it out in a serious of 1 vs. 1 rounds. 3 minutes after I signed my paperwork and a guy had barely a glance at my bike — we got the signal.
“Motorcycles are up next.”
I had barely an idea how this will work. Where are the sensors that trigger the start? What lights blink when it is time to go ? Tons of questions, while you are surrounded by howling engines of supercharged cars, visitors eyeing your every move and the sun glaring in your face (tinted helmet visor really, but face sounds more dramatic ;-) ).
The first run was a lesson on how to read the lights. Which is a nice way of saying : I blew it and the run did not even get measured. For the second one I put together this video and I hope it translates a little bit how excited, nervous and amazed I was by the whole scene.
BMW S1000 RR specifics
For the video above I ran in User Mode: max acceleration and reduced wheelie control. And for those that listened carefully you can hear that I have launch control engaged. For the tires I would recommend running them a bit under the bike maximum spec, but traction will really be not a problem unless you run in the center of the lane, where you could find some oil from cars. Please avoid that are to not high-side.
After the setup of the bike is done it is all up to you — I lean as much forward as possible to avoid the bike from wheeling and it worked pretty well. The front stayed planted and I didn’t even had to short shift. Depending on the situation you could use lightly your rear brake or try to short-shift to avoid the tendency to wheelie and lose a lot of time. For me however my setup worked on that day well, so that the bike produced stable times around 10.2, 10,3 seconds with a trap speed of constantly 147 mph.
For launching the bike like that you need to get a lot of feel for the clutch in launch control. Learn to trust the electronics and let the clutch out smoothly. If you get scared and hesitate it will cost you valuable tenth of a second. Smooth is fast is also true on the drag-strip.
Once you are off the line and both tires are on the tarmac life is easy and hella fun! Throttle completely open, bang with the quick-shifter through the gears every time you hit the redline. Enjoy the rush of being on one of the fastest accelerating production vehicles on this planet !
(If you wonder why you should wait until you redline: for the second gear you usually lose anywhere between 20–40% torque so you want to stay in the first gear as long as possible, without running into the rev-limiter).
How to Improve
Like I said before: Find the feeling for the clutch in launch control. Which is not easy as you have the throttle fully open and there is a lot of power between your legs that wants to go berserk on you. Second one is to learn the lights and get your reaction time down to 0.1 or 0.0x seconds.
Final Words
Drag racing on a sport bike is intense fun and the best and safest way to satisfy your need to accelerate like crazy on your bike. It is much much harder than it looks like and you will learn a thing or two about you and your bike while doing it.
Do you have questions ? Did I miss anything ? Please leave comments below.
Your German Engineer
