Author Topic: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing  (Read 10889 times)

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Offline smcleod007

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Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« on: May 23, 2007, 04:49:00 PM »
Hello to all,

My name is Scott McLeod. I will be driving down to my first LSR event with Jason McVicar on July 15th at El Mirage, and then go to Bonneville in August for Speed Week. My goal is to get into the 200mph club, and any records set in the process would be icing on the cake. It's something I've always wanted to do ever since I was a kid, so I figure its time I crossed it off my list. Last year I rode my street bike to a drag strip to experience wide open throttle with out any traffic. I was instantly hooked. I never realized there was a sportsman level of drag racing.   
   In the last couple of months I've been researching what it takes to go fast on the salt, safely. In the process I've gotten to meet and talk to a lot of cool people. After Bob Bakker told me about his Can-Am wind tunnel testing and sent me a copy of his test results, I did a search for wind tunnel data on motorcycles.  My search turned up empty but to my surprise, I found out there is a commercial wind tunnel just a couple of blocks away from me on the University of Washington campus. I talked to the managers and engineers who run the tunnel and they agreed to use me as a guinea pig during academic testing week to help establish a program for future motorcycle testing. A friend, "Russ Wicks" from the American Challenge team, stopped in and helped me swap body parts with the aeronautical students during the testing.
   Once we found my bike's most aerodynamic configuration with me on it, I challenged a few student engineers who were working in the control room to jump on the bike and try to get a lower drag number. With in two minutes, there was 10 students standing there begging to go for a ride in the tunnel. Jack Ross, who runs the tunnel agreed to let the students try their luck in the name of science. The clever students wrapped themselves in masking tape to keep their clothes from flapping. There was a lot of masking tape used that afternoon.
   Now that I was off the bike, I could compare the riders back profiles and helmet position in relation to the windshield and tail section while watching the raw drag data from the computer. Everyone had to wear my helmet, jacket and gloves, and was tested at 90mph with a left and right rotation of 6 degrees to simulate 15mph crosswinds. I had a blast during the 2 days of testing and got see first hand the effects of wind traveling over different surfaces.
   I can't wait to hold the throttle wide open for an extended period of time on a long flat lake. The slippery surface makes me a little nervous, but going a Bajillion MPH makes me smile.

Scott



































 8-)

Offline 1212FBGS

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2007, 05:06:29 PM »
and your conclusion?

Offline Glen

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2007, 07:15:06 PM »
If only all of our dreams come true. It's a lot harder then it looks sometimes. Good luck on your attempt.
Glen
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South West, Utah

bak189

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2007, 07:16:20 PM »


O.K......now it is your turn......what did you learn??????









.

Offline t russell

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2007, 08:36:14 PM »
Damn cool :-)

Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2007, 09:00:07 PM »
In a nutshell, the smallest framed riders did the best on the Hayabusa. At 90mph the riders ranged from 64 to 78lbs of drag on the same bike. Most of the riders fell into the 64 to 68lbs of drag range.

Big shoulders, hips and thighs that stuck out in the path of the air coming off the front fairing would change the airs direction as it tries to wrap around it. This caused turbulence behind the rider.

The smoother the taper from behind the front fairing to the end of the tail the better.

Taping up all the holes in the bodywork and stretching out the angle where the back of the helmet meets your jacket helped.

The extended tail had less drag than the stock tail and didn't add any more side force when the bike was rotated left and right to simulate crosswinds.

The hump and the under wing reduced the bikes drag. Even in a moderate crosswind. Even with out a rider, which was odd to watch.

All the testing was done with a combination of my stock and drag racing parts. My mission in the tunnel was to find my most aerodynamic riding position and still see through the windshield.
 :mrgreen:

dwarner

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2007, 09:20:28 PM »
"My goal is to get into the 200mph club, and any records set in the process would be icing on the cake."

I am sure that Jason has explained to you that you must break a record to gain membership in a 200 MPH club. If not, there is subject you can discuss on the ride to the the events.

Good luck, nice job at promotion in gaining use of the tunnel, cost?

DW

Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2007, 10:23:26 PM »


O.K......now it is your turn......what did you learn??????


.




Thanks Bob for sending me the Can-Am results. My findings paralleled yours. Reducing the frontal area had the biggest single effect on my bike. Recombining the air that comes off the front fairing and envelopes the rider came in second. I wish I had a rapid prototyping machine that could quickly spit out fairing pieces. There is a bunch of things I would like to try If I had the time and money.

Offline Harold Bettes

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2007, 11:16:22 PM »
Scott,

Thanks for sharing the photos and your experiences. Not many folks ever get to get into the tunnel mode.

Glad that you got exposure and assistance from students. It will mean a lot to them later on in their careers.

Congratulations on such a good session.

Good luck on the next trip down the race course.

Regards to All,
HB2
If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.

Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2007, 12:02:39 AM »
"My goal is to get into the 200mph club, and any records set in the process would be icing on the cake."

I am sure that Jason has explained to you that you must break a record to gain membership in a 200 MPH club. If not, there is subject you can discuss on the ride to the the events.

Good luck, nice job at promotion in gaining use of the tunnel, cost?

DW

DW

Jason told me the 200 MPH Club is very doable this year as long as I pick a class with a low qualifying minimum.

The wind tunnel only cost me my time. The business manager who runs the tunnel agreed that it would be fun to have a regular motorcycle testing program. I volunteered to help fabricate the motorcycle mounts and supply the bikes for testing. We worked on safely hoisting customers motorcycles 30 feet into the air and then lowering them into the concrete tunnel. We then discussed what kind of data would be valuable to manufacturers and race teams. This included everything from aerodynamics to engine cooling.
     
     I learned a lot of math that week. The kind of math that makes your head hurt! Unfortunately, the next time I go into the tunnel, I will have to be a paying customer. The tunnel costs $395.00 per hour and you have to schedule a minimum of 9 hours.

Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2007, 01:50:19 AM »
WOW.....The stuff of dreams......

Dying to know the COMPLETE results....

I am SOoooooo jealous.......




Scott,

Playing in the wind tunnel was totally cool. It's an odd sensation to have the force of the wind screaming past you with out the sound or vibration of the engine. I closed my eyes a couple of times and listened to the fairing whistle. It felt like I had suddenly ridden off of a very high bridge.
    I will bring my notes to El Mirage and Bonneville. I'm going to pick Jason's brain on speed and traction.

Offline RZ350

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2007, 03:41:40 AM »
That is really cool!!

Do you have any coefficient of drag number that you could share?

Any measurements of the test riders, I'd like to know how I compare!!

Is the Busa stock bore?

Questions, and more questions!!!
238 MPH at Bonneville

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2007, 09:20:00 AM »
"Jason told me the 200 MPH Club is very doable this year as long as I pick a class with a low qualifying minimum."

You're going to have to do some  careful checking to find a "soft" record -- since I see what looks like a wastegate exhaust, which I presume implies this bike is turbo-ed.  Three of the four blown records with stock (or exact replacement) bodywork/1350 cc at Bonneville are over 240, with the fourth one at 233+ (in other words, M/PS/BG (or BF) 1350.  Take off the bodywork and go naked and you've got a much softer target for a record.  Note I said record -- I haven't looked up 2 Club minimums in the classes, so a red hat might still be hard to get.

In 1650 cc the story is about the same -- 230+++/240+ with bodywork, and perhaps doable in naked bike -- except M/BG, which appears to be open.  You should be able to get a record naked - but again -- check the 2 Club minimums before you comb your hair to fit under the new hat.

BUT:  Naked bike (i.e. no streamlining in front of the rider means that most of your windtunnel work will have given you answers that you ca't apply very much -- except for the tail piece and hump on the back data.

I'm not trying to throw cold water on your dreams.  You'll never get the hat if you give up before trying.  Knecum, Yacoucci, Noonan, McVicar, Guthrie, and so on -- You've aiming for some good company by going after the records these riders have established.  Good luck.
Jon E. Wennerberg
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 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2007, 04:30:26 PM »
Scott,

Thanks for sharing the photos and your experiences. Not many folks ever get to get into the tunnel mode.

Glad that you got exposure and assistance from students. It will mean a lot to them later on in their careers.

Congratulations on such a good session.

Good luck on the next trip down the race course.

Regards to All,
HB2






HB2,

The wind tunnel was a great way to experience aerodynamics with out worrying about running into things or blowing the engine.The students who worked in the tunnel were awesome. Some are interning with Boeing. They all had a thorough understanding of mechanics, and can run circles around me in the math department. Most of the guys and gals were nervous once the two 15 foot props started pushing a lot of air at them and the bike was rotated left and right. But everyone of them had a perpetual grin once the helmet came off. I think only one of them has ever been on a motorcycle. I imagine at least one of them will get involved with motor sports in the next few years.



Offline smcleod007

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Re: Prepping for some Land Speed Racing
« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2007, 04:53:34 PM »
That is really cool!!

Do you have any coefficient of drag number that you could share?

Any measurements of the test riders, I'd like to know how I compare!!

Is the Busa stock bore?

Questions, and more questions!!!




RZ350,

    I don't have any coefficient of drag numbers yet. I will have to go back to the tunnel and have them convert some of the data for me. All my numbers are in pounds of drag. I didn't have time to do any frontal area measurements during the testing. Once the bike was mounted to the beam, it was leveled and balanced. Any incoming wind would now show a force against the bike in pounds.
    As I changed parts and taped up holes I was able to get the bike a little more slippery. As a rider in the tunnel, I moved side to side, forward and backwards, up and down, changed the arch of my back, changed where I griped my handle bars and moved my helmet around. I stuffed a chatterbox intercom in my suit so the person watching the raw data on the computer could tell me if the drag went up or down. So far, my best measurement with stock parts are 64 LBS of force pushing against me at 90 MPH. I am 5' 10" and 175 LBS. The riders weights and heights were not given to me since half of them were female. Oh wells.
My Busa is a stock bore stage 2 turbo. I ride around with a passenger during the week, and snap the hump and a drag seat on for the Summit drag racing series at Bremerton and Pacific Raceways on the weekends. I just discovered drag racing last year and found it to be a great stress reliever. I will try my luck in the 1350 MPS Class this year.