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[laramie LC4]

so who is actually racing their bike?

i admit to being a complete newbie @ electrics and street riding, but have raced and turned many an hour of angry throttle off-road in the woods and dez.

i thought it would be nice to have a place to gather the collective knowledge, compare experiences, talk some smack', and just hang.

so here we go...

my first day ever at a real track on my FXS.

stats- stock tires @ 32 psi, ambient temps 80, winds SE. track was Mussleman Honda Circuit, host of the 2015 AMA Supermoto Championships.

best time 1.10.266



the brake/accel points are a bit off but speeds are accurate. the markers show the lowest or highest speed of each stretch. if you roll back the last "red/orange" zone to the low speed markers you get a much more accurate map. what can i say, it was free...

first day on track, went from the 1:20's to a 1:10.266

my best recorded lap -

laters,

laramie 

can't wait until sunday when there will be everyone else on the track and we will be racing for rear (well, they may be. i will be doin gmy best.  )

[MajorMajor]

How did your times compare to the competition?

[Lenny]

Any problems with throttling due to motor temperature or low SOC?

[domingo3]

Very cool!  I've thought about trying this out, but don't know how to find the right tracks.  For sport bikes, they have track day organizations you can search for and local shops can tell you about.  I've done a couple of these track days on an ICE bike, but I don't think I'd want to go to one of those on my FXS. Who do you ask or what do you search for to find the "kart tracks"?  What was your experience like on the track?  Any issues with keeping enough charge for the day?  Looks like you're wearing MX gear (as opposed to the full leathers required for sport bike track days), and it also looks like you're the only one on the track (or you're leading the pack?).  I'd really enjoy a more mellow track experience, since I'm not that good or competitive at racing.

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

Like the telemetry, very cool!
I'm in the process of mounting Out*Ex (Japan) vibration/lever guards. Blue ano of course to match emblems. Also building Y-cables (same shipping for 9 Anderson connectors as 3 so...) for charging, just figuring which signal pins go where. Had to get the crimping of the big lugs sorted with correct tool. A friend is machining some custom parts and if they work out I will have them for sale.

[laramie LC4]

How did your times compare to the competition?

no idea, i was the only moto on the track that day. they just rotate depending upon who wants to race. that day there was me, 50cc cart rentals, and 125cc shifter carts, rotating sessions. i was told that the fast guys on 450's w/ slicks get into the low 0.58secs

Any problems with throttling due to motor temperature or low SOC?

yes, motor got hot quick, battery drained as quickly. did i notice not really, not yet. maybe when i get quicker. i did my best lap @ 30% SOC.

Very cool!  I've thought about trying this out, but don't know how to find the right tracks.  For sport bikes, they have track day organizations you can search for and local shops can tell you about.  I've done a couple of these track days on an ICE bike, but I don't think I'd want to go to one of those on my FXS. Who do you ask or what do you search for to find the "kart tracks"?  What was your experience like on the track?  Any issues with keeping enough charge for the day?  Looks like you're wearing MX gear (as opposed to the full leathers required for sport bike track days), and it also looks like you're the only one on the track (or you're leading the pack?).  I'd really enjoy a more mellow track experience, since I'm not that good or competitive at racing.

this is a "local" track that i knew had bike days (SM and sport bikes), plus others. i just had to pony up for the $$$$

until this had i had been "racing" much smaller, tighter, self-designed tracks. nothing like this. it was incredibly fun and also absolutely terrifying flying into turn 1. really made me smile. 

charging will be an issue if you want to do more than 3-4 sessions, depending of course on the track. let's just say battery drainage is high. i plugged in with both the on board and speed charger after session 2. i finished with 15%.

yes, i was wearing moto gear with elbows, knees, chest, leatt neck, sidi crossfires w/ sm soles. i do have a full race leather, i just have never actually worn it. like i said, i'm a dez racer, this SM stuff is all new. didn't want to look like a power ranger all by myself.... 

Like the telemetry, very cool!
I'm in the process of mounting Out*Ex (Japan) vibration/lever guards. Blue ano of course to match emblems. Also building Y-cables (same shipping for 9 Anderson connectors as 3 so...) for charging, just figuring which signal pins go where. Had to get the crimping of the big lugs sorted with correct tool. A friend is machining some custom parts and if they work out I will have them for sale.

the app is free and i just built a simple mount to the top of the triple clamps to hold my phone.

i will actually be racing against the real ICE bikes this sunday at the same track. i have "acquired" another speed charger, bought a Power Pack Module Charging Adapter, and have source the ability to build my own y-adapter. so my plan is to have both batteries @ 100%, race with 1 battery, hot swap to the other after the race, charge drained battery off the 2 speed chargers, hot swap again after first moto.

cross fingers, twist throttle, solve the problems that arise, smile 'till the end.

laters,

laramie 

[MajorMajor]

1 battery will reduce your performance though

[Biff]

I have found the trick to getting a good track day out of an FXS is to keep the batteries cool.
When you are done a session, pull the batteries out of the bike and charge them off bike in the shade with a fan on them if you want to get more than 2 sessions out of them in a day. Pulling the batteries out helps keep them cool .. the motor has a lot of heat stored in it when you come off the track and will warm up the battery if you leave it in the bike, and getting them out gives you more surface area on them to cool.

If you don't cool your batteries, and are discharging them from 100% to about 20-30% in a 20 minute session, you will not be able to charge the batteries due to high temperature (50C or hotter) likely after the second session, very likely after the 3rd session.  If you have 4 modules it makes it much easier to do a track day as each battery has twice as much time to cool, and half the time to heat up.  For a race day, 2 batteries will probably do well since you don't get as much track time (typically practice in the morning,  one heat before lunch, one main after lunch).  When competing in the 2014 M1GP 24H race, the team had 14 batteries , and were draining them in 45-50 minute stints.  Battery pipe-line looked like this: 2 batteries in bike , 2 batteries cooling, 8 batteries charging (each with a delta-Q "quick charger"), 2 batteries fully charged ready to go into the bike.  That worked out well; when you get down to it you need to be charging at the rate you draining the batteries in the bike (about 5kWh every 45 minutes = 6kW) so having 8kW of chargers allows you to keep ahead of the bikes rate of discharge when possible.

When riding with one module you will be limited to about 22hp output power .. and with the weight of the bike you would probably be competing against 150CC 4-strokes and the like,  or possibly a beginner full-size bike group even if you are an intermediate rider.  I have found that I prefer the battery in the front when riding in a single battery configuration.  don't forget that you need to put the "blanking plug" in the un-used battery location to get the bike to run.

Once you get serious about racing, you may want to get a 75-7 motor in your bike (like the Hollywood Electrics Pikes Peak bikes).. that will give you an extra 10hp or so, but only for a bit because all that power will discharge / heat up your batteries pretty quickly and they will become the power limitation.

-ryan

[gman669]

Where are you located?  Looks like northern Colorado?

[laramie LC4]

awesome info. thanks ryan.

Where are you located?  Looks like northern Colorado?

not quite, track is in Tucson, AZ.

laters,

laramie

 

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

14 batteries!!! Faaaack, that's like $42,000.00!
"The quickest way to become a millionaire in racing, start with 3 million!"

[laramie LC4]

14 batteries!!! Faaaack, that's like $42,000.00!
"The quickest way to become a millionaire in racing, start with 3 million!"

 

that's exactly what i was thinking....

i got my other deltaq last night. off-board adapter should be here tomorrow. have not sourced parts to build y-cable though. looks like sunday will be me racing the qualifiers until i run out of juice or get eliminated. 

either way, i'm still tickled pink with the bike and what it does for me. if i can take it down to the track every sat & sun morning and have have as much fun as i can, i'm golden. 

now, with that said.....the racer in me will do everything i can, to do more. 

laters,

laramie 

[Biff]

14 batteries!!! Faaaack, that's like $42,000.00!
"The quickest way to become a millionaire in racing, start with 3 million!"

At first it does seem like a lot, I think it is actually around $30k in additional batteries .. if you don't include the cost of the 2 that came with the bike. 
When you break it down it isn't that bad, we had 6 riders on our team, if they all brought their own batteries, that would have been 2.3 batteries per rider.  If they were all regular FX track riders each rider would have had 4 modules and we would have had 24 batteries total, charging would have been easy.  Once there are more racers riding electric it will be easier to enter in endurance races.

[laramie LC4]

to say i learned a lot today would be an understatement.

first day on the track with other bikes. only 1 had less experienced rider than me and he was 12yrs old. 

the other were all seasoned, current or former racers, 1 currently racing in the AMA Supermoto series, another a vet AMA expert.

the first bomb shell was they raced the track in the opposite direction from what i had practiced all last weekend.  the 2nd was they still wanted to race the dirt. this kinda sucked for me because as soon as i got in a race, they were jumping off into the dirt and i just had to carry on with the asphalt.

overall, my bike was faster than all of them on the straight, when fully charged and cool. as the laps progressed the inevitable took over.

i did the first practice with only 1 battery hoping i could somehow be happy with it. not bad, but on the straights i was just dying.

got off the track and i hit  the next problem. battery temps. it would not charge. bike was freaking out. i thought it had to do with the fuses i pulled for the headlight and brakes. turns out it was just way to hot. the next session was gonna start so i just threw in the 2nd battery, and raced. bike did fine.

now i pull back off the track, it was a shorter session, bike seems fine when plugged in, so i add the delta-q charger on top.

fast  forward to race time, i gear up, un-plug, and get ready. we head out on to the track and i can tell almost immediately something is up, i don't have the power i should for my SOC (@78%). as the session progresses i just keep losing power.  the straight i usually can hit almost 70mph, i'm now doing 37mph? so, i pull off the track and hit the pits....

first thing i did was remove the batteries from the bike and put them in the shade. i plugged in a big fan i brought (but was a little embarrassed to use earlier) and hit them with as much air as i could. there was no time for charging and even if there was i was afraid i'd cause the same problem. so, i just threw them back in the bike and headed out for the next session.

this one went much better. no battery temp issues but of course by the end the motor wa screaming.

pull back into pits, pull batteries, start fan, this time i have a little more time. i know i only have 1 more session and i'm @ 24% SOC.  i need to cool them as quickly as possible, then get as much charge as possible while the 2 cart sessions are going, and still have enough time to cool the battery after the charge cycle. i get the batteries to take a charge, add the delta-q, place the fan on the left side foot peg/brake lever and blast it with air while charging. i keep charging until the 2nd cart session begins, then unplug and keep the fan blowing.


i knew i would burn +20% in the session and wanted to make sure i had as much as possible when i did pull the plugs so that i could be respectable. the guy's had agreed to a "asphalt" only race so i really wanted to be able to compete. as a kicker, they decided to flip the order and have me and the kid start in pole.

so, i roll out onto the pit lane, click my gopro to record, and wait with a smile on my face...

then i hear a familiar beep. a beep that tells you your a dumb ass, and you have left your camera on to long. you are now about to loose the best footage of the day. great job! you hope it was just a glitch so you restart it, but are rewarded with the same soul crushing beep. add this to the issues all day with my telemitry, wtf?

oh, well you say. let's race and roll out on your out lap. line up on the 1st spot, they wave the flags, you grab the throttle, and it's just not enough. i was faster all day and thought for sure i'd have a bit of a gap into turn 1 but not @34% SOC. i did hold turn 1 but was immediately passed by 2 coming out of it. i held the others until the next straight but had nothing for them there.

all in all, it was awesome. i learned a lot and will hopefully refine my process as well as finding more batteries...

my best lap time for the day.  - 1.09.392sec



once i have video processed i will give a link of the session. once again the app wasn't working well and decided the start line was in the middle of turn 5, but the speeds relative to slowest/highest for each stretch are good.

edit- VIDEO LINK

next month's moto track day i will be faster and hopefully have my process refined. if not, i hate to say it, but i might have to find some 17's for the 525. this SM stuff is FUN!

laters,

laramie