Author Topic: The Erosion of Integrity  (Read 13247 times)

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Offline edinlr

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #15 on: September 06, 2017, 03:22:56 PM »
As another update, I had a call early this morning from Tim Kelly telling me that the bike in question had been changed from production to modified and that my (admittedly slow) record is still intact.  Looks like I will have to get that ECU update and head back to Maine next spring to try to raise that record. 

I think LTA and ECTA have great intentions with their records.  Would I like to see motors measured and fuel checked, yes, but could they do it in the short time spans we have?  Possibly a racer could travel to an inspector to get his motor certified and have it sealed like SCTA does and also get equipment to test fuel.  This would all cost money, so we have to decide how much more we want to spend.  I do appreciate the tech guys and everything that they do.  An extra pair or two of eyes will often spot something you have overlooked in the shop a hundred times.
Honda CX650 turbo, Kawasaki H2 Ninja, Kawasaki ZX750 turbo

Offline donpearsall

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #16 on: September 06, 2017, 03:37:09 PM »
I don't have any skin in this game, but I have an opinion! I don't like the fact that LTA will change the class of a bike that has already illegally run in the wrong class. The runs in the wrong class should have been disallowed - period. It is obvious to me that the entrant tried to sneak into a class when he knew his bike was not legal for it. I am glad you got the record you were entitled to, Ed, but it just seems to me that the LTA is way too lax in their enforcement of the rules and fair play.
Don
550 hp 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa Land Speed Racer

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #17 on: September 06, 2017, 07:30:58 PM »
Since the picture shows a ZX14 -- here are some stories about our bike (Nancy's ride, #439).  Please Note That This Refers To SCTA Rules & Inspectors.

Since it ran in production we could do dang near anything we wanted inside the exhaust cannisters as long as they retained stock appearance (well, the welder back in Japan must have had a bad day, if he's the guy that did 'em :roll: :roll:).  But they were close enough to pass without more than a giggle.  As to the outlet ends:  We retained the stock bits, but - on the advice of the M/C chief inspector at the time -- we drilled down through those perimeter holes through the baffle underlying 'em to hole it, too.  That, he explained, was fine and dandy within the rules.  Yep - the bike don't sound stock, no sir.  But the outlet was bone stock appearing.

Lowering:  We looked very seriously at this since Nancy's short in the leg department.  And we found that the factory ground clearance - isn't easy to determine.  I allow that I might have forgotten now - it's been a few years - but there isn't a factory measurement of the specified distance between the ground and the bottom of the bike.  We found lots of measurements - but not one that we could reasonably expect an inspector to be able to use to determine how much lower we could get away with.  So - we didn't do anything.

I mean -- we weren't allowed to substitute stainless braided brake lines even by claiming they offered no advantage in LSR, so why bother trying to ask for a definite ruling on a spec we couldn't prove that might well help top speed?
Jon E. Wennerberg
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 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
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Offline grumm441

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #18 on: September 06, 2017, 08:25:36 PM »
Production class bikes
These are the hardest thing to police
they will present in tech and be class compliant , then three weeks later you'll see a picture of them
in a magazine, running on the course with a different muffler or the numberplate brecket removed.
Or in the case of one bike here, a picture of two different bikes in two different magazines with the same number on them
G

Edited for my spelling
« Last Edit: September 30, 2017, 03:09:06 AM by grumm441 »
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Offline edinlr

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #19 on: September 06, 2017, 11:10:32 PM »
Slim, I have been bounced in tech for a fuel sleeve as being non stock.  Also, I had written SCTA tech about my stainless fuel lines and was told they would not be allowed.  When a competitor was in impound with stainless steel lines on his bike I went ahead and showed the inspector the e-mail forbidding me to use them.  Yes, production can be a bear.
Honda CX650 turbo, Kawasaki H2 Ninja, Kawasaki ZX750 turbo

Offline SEJ

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #20 on: September 20, 2017, 12:19:21 PM »
As another update, I had a call early this morning from Tim Kelly telling me that the bike in question had been changed from production to modified and that my (admittedly slow) record is still intact.  Looks like I will have to get that ECU update and head back to Maine next spring to try to raise that record. 

I think LTA and ECTA have great intentions with their records.  Would I like to see motors measured and fuel checked, yes, but could they do it in the short time spans we have?  Possibly a racer could travel to an inspector to get his motor certified and have it sealed like SCTA does and also get equipment to test fuel.  This would all cost money, so we have to decide how much more we want to spend.  I do appreciate the tech guys and everything that they do.  An extra pair or two of eyes will often spot something you have overlooked in the shop a hundred times.

A P&G tube could be used to determine displacement, without tearing the engines down.
222.662 MPH in the mile
201.522 MPH in the 1/2 mile
01' Turbo GSX-R 1000 (988cc's)

Offline dw230

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2017, 06:41:07 PM »
How do you keep the valves closed(required for P & G tube use) on a Hayabusa for instance? The tool requires a sealed environment. Also the tool is known to be inaccurate for small displacement engines.

DW
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Offline Truckedup

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Re: The Erosion of Integrity
« Reply #22 on: September 26, 2017, 10:04:49 AM »
 I'm no expert but I believe you need t know the combustion chamber and piston crown dome or depression CC's ? That's not readily available information on many bikes, production or modified...
  It's been my observation that when a tail wind helps speed ,no one complains... :-D
Triumph 650 LTA MPG record holder  133.1 MPH...