1981 Motorcycle Quick Starts Clutch Control Leaving - 3-Page Vintage Article

Description

1981 Motorcycle Quick Starts Clutch Control Leaving - 3-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
The Art and Science of Quick Starts
Once mastered, the two- or three-fingered
clutching technique can make hard starts
a lot easier. With this method, you can
maintain a firm grip on the bars while also
having precise control over the clutch.
and have a sound clutch. A tired
\ clutch will probably slip during hard
use, making a fast start impossible. All
of the bike's controls must operate
'2 smoothly and be properly adjusted
with a minimum of free play. Fast starts
I are rough on a bike. Even relatively
v new, well maintained bikes should be
given no more than three or four hard
starts consecutively. Then the bike
should be parked and allowed to cool
for ten minutes or more.
Picture yourself sitting at a stop-
light on your bike You’ve prob-
ably done it about a thousand
times, so it shouldn’t be too hard to
imagine. The traffic on the small cross-
street has already gone through, and
now you're just waiting for the signal
to get around to changing, so you can
take off. Then something pretty unusu-
al happens You hear a piercing
screech—the unmistakable sound of
four well-worn Firestone 500s skidding
along the pavement at a good clip A
glance in one of your mirrors reveals
the source of the noise—a hulking
Bulgemobile piloted by a bleary-eyed
commuter is bearing down on you fast,
and your name is written on the hood
ornament He was too shell-shocked
to notice that the light was red or that
you were stopped between him and
the clear street ahead, and in a few
seconds he's going to hit you, hard In
a moment, you're going to look as bad
as the Elephant Man and feel worse
What do you do9 You might be able
to sacrifice your bike and jump off to
the side, but there's a good chance
he'd still manage to swerve into you
And you can't ride to the side fast
enough either. So what do you do?
You get the killer dragrace launch of
all time. The guy in the car can't hit
you if you simply aren't there.
Of course a seasoned dragracer
could probably get a lifesaving hole-
shot under similar circumstances, but
could you? Do you have the experi-
ence and reflexes to get the fastest
possible start out of your bike?
The average street rider doesn’t
usually make a habit out of practicing
engine-shrieking full-goose starts.
Maybe he should And whether you’re
average or not, maybe you should too.
Besides being fun, it’s a skill that could
conceivably save your life. And even if
you never have to use your fast-start
ability, it’s still a very worthwhile skill to
have since it adds to your ability to
control your machine. And the same
techniques can be applied to starts at
more conservative speeds.
There are several factors that deter-
mine how fast a certain bike/rider
combination can get off of the line.
The first is rider skill, and that’s obvi-
ously what we’re hoping to improve
here. The second is your bike’s power
output. Naturally, a weak-lunged
scooter isn’t going to come off the line
very quickly no matter who’s riding it,
though rider skill still plays a big role
The next factor is traction, which is de-
termined by the bike's rear tire and the
pavement surface. All the horsepower
in the world won't get you going quick-
ly if the rear wheel is just spinning use-
lessly. And finally, wheelies are a limit-
ing factor too. If your bike has a light
front end, you can only accelerate so
quickly before the bike will simply flip
over backward. There are many other
minor contributing factors that affect
how quickly your bike can get off the
line, but these are the mam four.
The fastest possible start attainable
with your bike is achieved when all of
these factors are balanced perfectly
Theoretically, the perfect start is one
in which the throttle is wide-open, the
engine is pulling at its power peak, the
rear tire is just on the very verge of
spinning and the front wheel is just
hovering an inch or less off of the
ground That’s the ideal, but chances
are that the quickest launch on your
bike will only have a few characteris-
tics of the perfect launch. It’s unlikely
that your bike has the ideal weight dis-
tribution, traction and horsepower
combination to deliver perfect starts.
The secret is in striking the best bal-
ance of the limiting factors for your
particular machine.
Before you rush out and start prac-
ticing smokey burn-outs in your drive-
way, consider this word of caution.
Don’t even attempt WFO dragrace
starts unless you already have a good
deal of riding experience. You must be
skilled enough to be able to modulate
all of your bike’s controls accurately
and be able to react correctly and in-
stantly if your machine wheelies or
spins its rear tire. If you aren't certain
of your ability to do these things, then
forget about trying a full-goose
launch.
These hard starts also demand that
your motorcycle be as capable as you
are. Your bike must be in good tune
Find a secluded place to practice.
Naturally, a dragstrip is best, but not
always very easy or inexpensive to
use. A deserted road or a big empty
parking lot are both good second
choices. Don't use the street out in
front of your house. Very few of your
neighbors will take kindly to you ca-
reening up and down the street in a
cloud of burnt rubber. When you've
found a suitable place that has clean,
dry pavement, you're ready to begin.
Sit near the front edge of the seat
and lean forward slightly over the
handlebar. Put the bike in first gear,
then keep both feet on the ground to
keep the bike vertical. With the clutch
still disengaged, bring the engine rpm
up to approximately 80 to 90 percent
of redline, or just above the engine’s
power peak. Throughout the start, you
must keep the engine at, or very near,
this rpm. However, to be safe, it’s
probably better to start with too little
rpm and throttle, which will cause you
to bog or simply get away slower than
you could, rather than starting too hot
and getting in trouble.
With the revs up, engage the clutch
partially. Do not dump it all at once.
That will only cause useless wheelspin
or produce a wheelie and possibly flip
the bike over backward. You need to
engage the clutch gradually. The ob-
jective is to let it out as quickly as pos-
sible without bogging the engine, spin-
ning the tire or wheelying. As soon as
the bike begins to roll, put both feet up
on the pegs. As you engage the
clutch, simultaneously roll the throttle
on all the way. If the revs rise too fast,
engage the clutch more quickly to pull
them down to 80 or 90 percent of red-
line. About 50 to 60 feet off of the line
the clutch should be fully engaged in
first gear.
Unless you struck perfection in your
very first try, you probably wheelied.
spun the wheel, bogged the engine or
failed to use full throttle. If so. find the
category that applies to your first (and
each successive) attempt, and then try
the change in technique suggested
below.
Failure to use full throttle. Good. Ob-
viously your were approaching this ex-
ercise with caution. You’ll get faster as
you practice and your confidence in-
creases. Your bike’s horsepower is
probably the main limiting factor in
getting a really quick launch. You start...
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