First trip to the dragstrip... ugh.
 

Holy crap I suck. I knew I wasn't good, but I didn't think I was this bad. The important thing is having a good time, not a good timeslip, right?!

My fastest 1/4 ET turned out to be: 11.886@117.72.

not bad considering its your first trip out. what'd you have the most trouble with?

Thats great for the first time out!!!! :) It should have been a learning experience but it should've also been fun!

What was your RT and 60'?

I think the best times I've ever seen for a Zed1 was about 10.7 at 125ish, so for your first time out of the gate you did well.

My quickest ET run had a 60' of 2.2831 while I did manage to cut a 2.2302 on a different run. Most were in the 2.3 - 2.4 range.

My reaction times were real high too. The winning run I had a .7019 (yikes) but my best was a .4821. I know my launches are really lacking. Cars are so much easier.

Other than launching, I was having some shifting issues. Bouncing off the rev limiter, hittign neutral, and simply not getting it to upshift. I played around with my clutch which only made it worse. Lol. It dawned on me later that I lowered the bike when I got to the track and never checked my chain tension. Doh. So I don't know how much of a part that might have played in my shifting trouble. The fastest runs are where I actually managed to just squeeze the clutch in while staying on the throttle, but I only managed a couple runs that way. The other times I would try to shift and it wouldn't then i would stare at the RPMs bouncing back and forth until I could finally shift again. Once I even hit neitral and had to sit there and coast until I could get it back into gear.

I'm sure the bike could have been set up better, but it was really all rider error in end. I need to learn how to launch. And, I need to learn the trickiness of shifting at high RPMs without letting off.

air shifter

Just powershift. Don't use the clutch at all.

It's very easy, I would recommend trying it on the street a few times first. All you have to do is pre-load the shifter by putting pressure on it, basically stick your foot under the lever and press up to the stop, and then slightly blip your throttle. As soon as your throttle starts to come off there will be a slack in the drive-train and the bike will slip right into gear. And it will not hurt the bike, they're designed to do it.

clutchless shifting if something every rider should know how to do. its tough doing it from first to second smoothly because most sport bikes first gear is wound so high, but with practice it comes with ease.

Some transmissions don't do it smoothly... ahem- Buells (or so I've heard)

I can shift without the clutch on the street but it never seems to work at the strip. Perhaps just more practice.

Here are several pictures from the day.

A couple of runs
http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3575s.jpg

http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3579s.jpg

Chit chat in the lanes
http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3636s.jpg

A couple more runs
http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3575s.jpg

http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3730s.jpg

http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3740s.jpg

Uh oh. I see Mark. He asked if I wanted to go for one more :)
http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3746s.jpg

And I think it's fitting for the final pic to have the finish line
http://mei.net/~becca/Temp/Z1000/IMG_3767s.jpg