best performance 1/4 mile technique ?

[Motopsycho]

Hoping Micah, Cochise or someone else might have the answer to this.
Is peak horsepower on the Mana at 7000 rpm as Micah's dyno says? The only other reference I can find is for peak HP to be at 8000 rpm which seems unlikely. Secondly, has it ever been confirmed that the shift lights are set at 6500, 7500, 8000 and the red light at 8250?
If all this is correct then I guess the bike should be shifted between the first and second light or at least by the second light to keep the engine on the "boil" and close to peak horsepower when making a pass at the strip. Theory might say that the sport drive is faster but i'm not quite convinced of that. In one of the earlier blogs there is a quote from a european mag that shows the sequential times of 0-100 kph and 0- 200 kph as compared to the touring, rain and sport times and the sequential time is notably faster.
I understand that from a dump on or short sprint from a light the sport drive might be quicker but for an all out assault on the quarter mile it seems like the shifter would be the way to go. Any thoughts on this? It is unfortunate that the owners manual doesnt seem to have any info pertaining to the lights or peak horsepower.

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

For me the technique of drag strip launches was simple.

20 psi in rear tire, brief 5-10 second burnout to clean rear tire. Sport Automatic mode. Preload the clutch with about 1/4 throttle at staging lights by holding front brake. Release brake to launch and roll onto full throttle. Keep pinned for 13.6 seconds and cross the line at 98-100mph for me?

For me, sport gear mode was slower.

[Motopsycho]

Thanks for the info but still wondering about the peak HP RPM. Your Dyno sheet answered that but I think you said something in the post that you weren't sure if the RPM was right or not. Also, when you raced it in sport gear did you happen to notice which light you shifted at?

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

Basically put, I have rarely looked at the tach when drag racing, not that a tach is an option on the Mana but when it the power tapers I shift. Your ass dyno is a pretty good tool, when you feel acceleration peak, shift...

If going by the lights on the dash I would just try to shift at the same point every time.

I do not think you are going to beat the computer though.

[Motopsycho]

alfamoi
apriliaforum prov-nov


Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 69 what I have collect from journalists essays:

From 0 to 100km/h (=62mph)
4'44 (séquentiel)
5'78 (rain)
4'82 (touring)
4'68 (sport)

From 0 to 140km/h (=88mph)
8'70 (séquentiel)
10'44 (rain)
9'48 (touring)
9'12 (sport)

100 meters from 0
5'50 (séquentiel)
6'12 (rain)
5'62 (touring)
5'58 (sport)

200m from 0
8'44/9'15 (séquentiel)
9'24/10'3 (rain)
8'56 (touring)
8'46/9'25 (sport)

400m from 0
13'436 (156km/h)

acceleration from the 7th gear:
50km/h to 90:
2'3

60km/h to 90:
1'9 Sport
2'2 Touring
2'4 Rain

90 à 130:
4'1

60 à 100:
4'8 (séquentiel)
3'1 (rain)
3'1 (touring)
2'9 (sport)

100 à 140:
5'8 (séquentiel)
7'3 (rain)
4'3 (touring)
4'1 (sport)

consumption:
Sport 10l/100
Touring 7l/100

[Motopsycho]

Thanks for the drag racing lesson but............. I have built two national record holders for drag racing ( one for a stock bike and one for a modified street bike) and believe in getting the most performance out of each bike I own by first understanding the power band of the bike and shifting around it. My ass dyno and my brain tach have never been great so I prefer to know the facts. Again, please tell me the shift points for the lights and at what RPM does the Mana achieve peak horsepower. If AF1 and Aprilia don't know these figures, I guess in time I will seek out a dyno and pay the money to discover a few basic facts that should be readily available for any motorcycle. At the end of all that if I find that the sport drive is the fastest..... I will gladly agree with you

[JodyH]

The ECVT is programmed to maintain optimal torque/horsepower... good luck doing consistantly better.

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

I believe my dyno numbers for rpm and peak power at the that rpm to be accurate to withing a few hundred rpm. I had to use an external inductive tach to set the tach ratio on the dyno so there is some room for error based on past experience.

See youtube username: micahshoemaker for dyno vids, poor quality but all I got right now.

I would like to have a tach on my Mana demo but am hoping it sells pretty soon so I do not want to do it right now.

[Motopsycho]

Thank you very much, that should pretty much verify that peak power is within a few hundred RPM's of 7000. Now if somehow one could verify that the lights are set off at 6500, 7500, 8000 and 8250 for the red as stated ( without proof ) in an early post, it would give me and others a starting point to compare. Unless the auto clutch is dialed in at 7000 for all but launching under hard acceleration as compared to a gear box with a 600 rpm drop between gears ( shift at 7300 ) the gears COULD be faster as described by some unknown moto journalists up above. Trust me, I just want to understand the bike better and use it fully.
BTW, the latest Cycle world ( Aug 09 ) wherein they name the RSV4 superbike of the year has an article about the Dorso where they are not so kind but talk about tri mapping and that the tach red light is programmable and is even programmed lower for break in. Aprilia has something in mind with all this but doesn't communicate it very well.

[shadyman]

Sport drive will be hard if not impossible to beat. The engine is always at the peak hp. rpm. Think about it, almost all drag cars using an auto trans use a 2 speed powerglide & a loose coverter. that setup keeps the engine in the power band longer. If you use a manual trans, a 6 speed will always out perform a 4 speed for the same reason. A top fuel dragster uses clutch slip the whole quarter mile to accomplish the same thing. Peak hp. is a very specific number, go over it & hp falls off very quickly. When you shift manually, you drop out of the peak hp briefly until the rpms recover to the peak hp. Granted the mana has 7 gears so you can keep it close. Also if your running quarter miles, mph can be deceiving, I've often had quicker times with my car when my opponent had a car with faster mph. If I can ever get my wife to go vacation without me, I'll sneak the mana to the strip & try things out.

[teknofbi]

my friend has increased the cylindrate of his gp 800 to 1.000.. it's very fast!!

[Motopsycho]

Very cool Tekno! I like your web site but not smart enough to read Italian :(
Shady, power to weight ratio is mostly what determines how many gears to use. A dragster uses one gear for this reason and a pro stocker uses two etc. what do you make of the numbers Alfamoi posted from the journalists in Europe some time ago. The bike appears faster from 0-62, 0-88 mph and also 0-100 and 0-200 meters using the sequential shifting. unfortunately the 0-400 meters ( close to a 1/4 mile? ) doesn't say what mode they used. In the dump on tests ( 60- 100 etc ) they just left it in 7th gear so that doesn't say much about that. I agree that the auto drive should be perfect but few things are and there must be some compromise in the set up. Is the sequential shift built in as a vestigial item for nostalgia buffs or did Aprilia intend to have a truly dual mode motorcycle ?

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

Vestigial tail, one more selling point for those who were on the fence about an automatic motorcycle.

Making the Mana into a proper drag bike would be a fascinating project and forced induction via turbocharger is totally the way to go since launching rpms would make tube lag more or less no existent even with a reasonable sized turbo for the application. There is also a LOT of weight that can more or less be unbolted. A GT15V set up right, charge cooled and tuned would be sick on the Mana dragster!

See what has been done with the same motor in the Gilera chassis by these Greeks!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MARINOS180#play/all/uploads-all/1/EhFdDeDYhIg

http://www.youtube.com/user/MARINOS180#play/all/uploads-all/0/a5ueYSbqOJU

For bracket racing....you could build quite a weapon out of the Mana. At 15 psi intercooled boost a real rear wheel bhp of 110-120 should be possible, consistent high 9's or low 10's and a paycheck almost every night at the strip....too cool!

[teknofbi]

gp800.. http://www.youtube.com/user/ESOTERICO73#play/uploads

[Cochise]

Hoping Micah, Cochise or someone else might have the answer to this.
Is peak horsepower on the Mana at 7000 rpm as Micah's dyno says? The only other reference I can find is for peak HP to be at 8000 rpm which seems unlikely. Secondly, has it ever been confirmed that the shift lights are set at 6500, 7500, 8000 and the red light at 8250?
If all this is correct then I guess the bike should be shifted between the first and second light or at least by the second light to keep the engine on the "boil" and close to peak horsepower when making a pass at the strip. Theory might say that the sport drive is faster but i'm not quite convinced of that. In one of the earlier blogs there is a quote from a european mag that shows the sequential times of 0-100 kph and 0- 200 kph as compared to the touring, rain and sport times and the sequential time is notably faster.
I understand that from a dump on or short sprint from a light the sport drive might be quicker but for an all out assault on the quarter mile it seems like the shifter would be the way to go. Any thoughts on this? It is unfortunate that the owners manual doesnt seem to have any info pertaining to the lights or peak horsepower.

Saturday I ran both Sport mode and Sport Gear mode. Sport is more consistent, but in gear mode I used the thumb shifter and gained about 3-4 mph and dropped about 2/10 of a second. I was shifting just when the 3rd yellow light lit. So in sport mode it is not shifting at peak rpm, but is pretty close to it. If you really want the trophy, sport mode is the way to go, that way you only have to worry about your reaction time. In gear mode if you blow the shift and hit the red light the limiter kicks in and the engine braking really bleeds off speed.

[Motopsycho]

Were you racing 1/8 mile on Sat or 1/4 ?. Thank you for posting this. Over the weekend i went back through dozens of road tests and found several dyno sheets that show peak HP at 8000 as well as factory press releases at 8000 also. All of them were close in HP and torque. From the one that looks the most convincing here's the figs for the yellow lights.... 1st yellow 6500 rpm = 48 HP, 2nd yellow 7500 RPM = 53 HP, 3rd yellow 8000 RPM = 54.24 HP and the red 8250 RPM = 53 HP and then drops suddenly. I am not a bracket racer but sure can appreciate the trophies and cash. I simply want the fastest configuration for my bike for when I am forced to throw down against my buddies later on who think there is no way an automatic motorcycle can compete with their mid 13 second Harleys and Triumphs ( new and old ) :)
I get the impression that it is like riding a video game and with seven gears ya gotta keep wanging that handlebar shifter ( book says its faster than the foot shift ). What gear did you go through the traps in? Was it difficult to blip the shifter at the third yellow or just some practice?

[Cochise]

Normally we run 1/4, but last Saturday it was 1/8. A little too much rain, they couldn't get the track to dry after the 1/4 mark, so they ran everyone at 1/8. Punching it on the 3rd light just takes practice. Just so you know it is $25 to race, but we need 9 bikes for a payout. The real money for us is in the Dialin for dollars. You put in $10 and make one pass whoever is closest to their dialin wins, $5 of the $10 goes into the pot. Saturdays pot was about $300. I was off my dialin by .05, and lost so it can get pretty tight. Not sure what gear I was in when I went through the traps. Also, I am running with the factory windshield in place and the sidebag brackets on the bike. I have removed the foot shifter. I am a pretty big guy, about 245 lbs and can run low 14's, so if you're lighter without the extras, you should be able to get 13's.

[Motopsycho]

Wow, thanks again for taking the time and effort to explore this. 2/10ths in an 1/8 is quite a bit of gain from the sport mode and jives with the journalist report. one could surmise 3-4 tenths in a 1/4. The rap is that it's a 13.5 second bike with an average rider and no accessories but I have yet to see anybody at all, that has like you, taken the time to try both modes and puts the shifts at the third yellow which seems to be the one to use. Hmmm........... remove air cleaner, find 120-130lb rider, practice a lot........................ high 12's ?

[Motopsycho]

BTW, there is no way my reaction time or technique could be as good as yours but ill come up there in the fall when the bike is broke in and fatten the pot for you while I practice the shifting technique :)