20" or 22" tires? 500' drag racing

[baker420ex]

hey, racing 500' stock drag this weekend. should i run my 22'' gators or my 20'' 6-ply razrs? i have stock gears. any additional insight may be useful, thanks.

[lilyamaharacer4]

20s less weight to have to spin

[baker420ex]

i'm not concerned with the weight difference. i was more concerned with the top-end difference, and how fast i'll be able to get to in 500 feet. (and besides, the 20's are 6 ply, so there's not much of a weight difference anyway)

i'm competing against other 400s and possibly 450s, any (noticable) advantage would be useful.....while still keeping the bike "stock".. i was gonna play around with some different sized front sprockets, but i don't have time, the race is in 2 days.

[Snipe]

Go to a local shop and get a 16T front and 22" rear tires will be slower take off but if you have the motor modded for drag racing it would get you there faster.

[odog]

i say 22s it should give u about 2-3mphs on the top end i f not more the only way i would say use the 20s is if your bike is not topping out in the 500 ft. and when ever u get a chance switch to a 16 tooth front sprocket it makes a big difference on the top end

[odog]

i check the gearing calculator and in stock form just by switching to 22 inch tires u should gain about 7mphs on the top end but you would probley lose a lot out of the hole.

[Snipe]

I have seen ppl going as big as 18T up front but that is major huge and would be really tight fit with the chain.

Calc figures hitting rev in 5th gear would take it more than being stock to hit rev in 5th gear I would think.

[baker420ex]

man 18t? thats a major jump from my 13. i'm planning on getting a 14 or maybe 15. btw my bike is mostly stock. could someone post a link for that gearing calculator?? oh by the way i found out on thursday that it was 300' drag not 500'..anyways the race was at 6 tonight and it rained like hell all day, the entire drag was a mud pit...but i actually decided to run the razrs, and i'm glad i did, cause i didnt come close to topping out. i pulled a 450r twice:blah:

[honda400ex2003]

http://home.earthlink.net/~gellett/400ex.htm
heres the link, sounds pretty cool to beat a 450 in the mud. steve

[baker420ex]

excellent link, thanks honda400ex2003

[honda400ex2003]

no prob, steve

[MyKe2g3]

Umm why you want to have such a big tire for drag racing. Id say go 18 if all possible but def 20. 22's on a drag bike will have hook up and make you catch air while the other guy is on the ground winning. If you have the engine and gearing right you can run 18s and kill em all day long.

[baker420ex]

Originally posted by MyKe2g3
22's on a drag bike will have hook up and make you catch air while the other guy is on the ground winning.

i guess i'm not sure what you mean by "catch air" while drag racing. and its not a drag bike, its a stock 400ex - which i mentioned three times prior. so since you didn't catch that i'm sure you didn't realize that gearing is what we're talking about. and i don't have any 18s, just 20s and 22s.

[Snipe]

20's are stock and 18's would actually drop top end down. I thought you ment like drag racing on a ATV drag strip like Pave or something.

Bigger tires actually wont make you catch air it would make it harder for the front end to come up as your back end would be higher the lower 18's in rear would pop up like crazy and are usually only run on MX tracks.

[baker420ex]

yeah well i probably would have considered the 18s if i had a set laying around, but i dont. the track was supposed to be packed dirt but it rained so hard it turned to mud before it had even started, so by the time my class was called it was pretty greasy out. anways next time i race i'm gonna strap the suspension down in the front and back so i wont have to worry about it coming up on me, but if its muddy out again i wont have to worry about that anyway. with my 20'' tires, 13t front and 38 rear it was like the perfect combo for 300'.
well just for fun i ordered a 16t front and 36t rear, a little off the side of drag racing, but i think it will be the perfect trail combo for what we have around here. with 20'' tires the calculator says i can achieve 77mph top speed, so i'll definately be noticing some grunt action on the ol 400. with my 22s it says i can hit 85! anyways if anyones interested just speak up and i'll keep you all posted.