Hacking's Crew (left to right) Tom Halverson, Jefferson Burks, Jun
Suganuma, Mark Bull and Jeff Myers.
the stock R6's 107 hp and approximately
40 foot-pounds of torque.
The tranny and water pump bearings on
the OE bike were replaced with cerami c
bearings. The clutch plates were replaced
with hardened aluminum plates, which
together with the 0 EM fiber plates are
replaced prior to each event. As you'd
guess, drag racing clutches suffer much
more than road racing clutches even
though neither rider actually uses them for
shifting. But a road racing bike only gets
launched once.
The Orient Express team rebuilds their
engines a few times during the year, but they
also have a couple of different engines at the
ready, built to the specs of different tracks.
For tracks with less traction a mid-range
motor is used, and for tracks with good traction a top-end motor is best. Unlikethe road
racing rules, drag racing has a spec fuel. Also
unlike road racing, in drag racing there is a
combined rider/bike minimum weight of
560 pounds, and the bike and rider are
we ighed at the end of every run.
Although Krawiec fell just short of the
championship at the finals, he posted two
wins during the season and six runner-ups,
finishing second in the points. His best
numbers were 9.79 seconds and 139.5
mph, set on different runs.
For years one manufacturer dominated
Supersport drag racing, but now with
Yamaha having a bike built for all seasons,
that lock on the series has come to a probable end . Suzuki has joined the battle with
Kawasakiand Yamaha, showing that a com petit ive bike is a competitive bike no matte r how it's raced . But California is still, and
always will be, a long way from Long
Island. And ne'er the twain shall meet. CN
Order line : 868-221·9093
WWW.HEUIETHARBOR.COM
STREET&
COMnnllON
Order line: 8000328-5487
WWW.smEETANDCOMP.COM
DEALER ENQUIRIES
WELCOME
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CYCLE NEWS • MAY 12, 2004
59
