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Yes a tiny bit, lowered the front, dropped the clip-ons right down to try and get as much weight on the front as possible, lowering the front meant I had to change the exhaust and where the Footrests we're,
Also used nf race formula octane boost
So it's either the exhaust or the additive as top speed is the same as I've been getting, 60ft times are the same, it's just gaining a bit inbetween.
Back in the day, I ran my shift linkage reversed, 1-up, 4-down. Stomp down to upshift, an oldschool trick. Can you slide the megaphone fore/aft? Something tells me to move it back an inch or two...
Yes there should be a couple of inches of movement when you say back do you mean back towards the back of the bike or back towards the front?
I thought about reversing the linkage, was a bit worried I might forget ending with some catastrophic consequences.
Yes any wheel from the period is acceptable will probably look into getting one, the only problem I have with the spoked wheels is they cost a fortune now
When it came to magazine times back in the day the only name that counted was Jay "pee wee" Gleason RIP
Post From the XS11 site "An add for the 1980 Yamaha XS650 Special claimed 13.86 while the same year 1200 Sportster was 14.30"
Back in the 1980s I was stationed in Alameda Ca and a group of us would ride down to a drag strip near San Jose. Back then the motorcycle manufacturers hired guys like Jay Gleason to test bikes and some incredible times were given for stock bikes. None of my group got even close to advertised times, but it sure was fun bracket racing . My called time for my 1982 Vision was 13.8 (If I remember correctly...) and I once raced against a pure dragbike that ran sub ten second time. It passed me so fast between the timing lights It scared the pants off me.
You never knew who was going to show up . A lot of pros tested with the amateurs. I think it cost about $10.00 for four or five runs, and a new clutch now and then.
But I digress.....
I think I just wanted to mention that dragstrip times are misleading in that an old fart like me might be a second or more slower than a young pup with fast reflexes who doesn’t care if the engine grenades !
This was when I was a young man and here are some of the bikes I raced. Now old fart but would love to go back racing. Blue bike SUZUKI was a 8:90 1/4 mile bike KAWASAKI was a 9:20 1/4 mile bike and red SUZUKI was a 10:20 1/4 mile bike . NONE were stock. You really need to do some work on the clutch on the XS650 and I think it will dip into the high tens. Cowboy on here ran mid 10's with a worked motor. Also if you can up the compression it will run faster. I took a stone stock GS1150 into the 9's with carb and compression only. If drag bike only you can leave out the base gasket and just seal with sealer and gain compression.