Hooking up a Softail

[SOCS]

Bike is a 2013 Slim, 103" now making 116 squared and it will roast the tire. Planning a 124" this winter and wondered what upgrades would help traction. Currently run a Dunlop 200/55VR-17 D401, progressive monotubes in front and 422 shocks in rear. A stickier tire is obvious, thinking about the shinko hook up. Any suspension upgrades worth trying? This will be a bar hopper, cruise the strip and drag bike only.

[Tynker]

I run a Perilli P7 205/55/17  Car tire, and love it. Great traction, wet or dry,and 30K miles, for half the price of a bike tire. Looks bad ass too.

[SOCS]

I run a Perilli P7 205/55/17  Car tire, and love it. Great traction, wet or dry,and 30K miles, for half the price of a bike tire. Looks bad ass too.

Just going by what I read on the DOT tire thread I am actually thinking about going back to the stock rear fender, struts and wheel so I can run a 140mm for the weight reduction. If Stroker can hook his up with a 140 I should not have a problem. Thinking the car tire would be heavier than a bike tire and more rotating mass is not a good thing for ET

[Tynker]

"Thinking the car tire would be heavier than a bike tire and more rotating mass is not a good thing for ET"

Your bike won't know the difference, but the gained traction will make a big difference.

[Jonny Cash]

I run the Shinko Stealth D, 150/80-16, it hooks really well.  You might also look at strapping the front end, it takes a few adjustments but can really help get off the line.

[Jonny Cash]

You can actually get the Shinko Stealth drag tire in the 190/50-17 about $50 cheaper than the 150/80-16.

[2006FXDCI]

I run a 170/60/17 shinko stealth on my dyna . Great tire

[SOCS]

You can actually get the Shinko Stealth drag tire in the 190/50-17 about $50 cheaper than the 150/80-16.

This is good to know

[SOCS]

I run the Shinko Stealth D, 150/80-16, it hooks really well.  You might also look at strapping the front end, it takes a few adjustments but can really help get off the line.

Strapping to limit fork travel?

[Jonny Cash]

I run the Shinko Stealth D, 150/80-16, it hooks really well.  You might also look at strapping the front end, it takes a few adjustments but can really help get off the line.

Strapping to limit fork travel?

   Have to find the sweet spot, and that can vary depending on the track, but I have found a sweet spot on mine and it has made a big difference.  I have the monotubes also.  Getting the bike down also helps lower the center of gravity.

[pwmorris]

Shinko Hook Up-190/17
http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/hook-drag


No bar-
Daily driven FXR street bike-


60' is the only thing that matters when talkin" hooking up. forget going smaller tire to save weight. that bike has plenty of fat on it to trim...I don't care how much HP you got-
gotta get a soft sticky tire, find the air pressure and burn out that works, and clutch, chassis, rider, horsepower, suspension all come into play. Stiffen the hell out of those softail rear shocks, and put in alot of seat time.
60' ft dont matter where you start, no matter how crappy you launch, its the work you put in. 1.8', 1.7, 1.6, keep hammerin' it and you will find consistency out of the hole-no free lunch on the internet. gotta put in the work-

[SOCS]

Shinko Hook Up-190/17
http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/hook-drag


No bar-
Daily driven FXR street bike-


60' is the only thing that matters when talkin" hooking up. forget going smaller tire to save weight. that bike has plenty of fat on it to trim...I don't care how much HP you got-
gotta get a soft sticky tire, find the air pressure and burn out that works, and clutch, chassis, rider, horsepower, suspension all come into play. Stiffen the hell out of those softail rear shocks, and put in alot of seat time.
60' ft dont matter where you start, no matter how crappy you launch, its the work you put in. 1.8', 1.7, 1.6, keep hammerin' it and you will find consistency out of the hole-no free lunch on the internet. gotta put in the work-

I have the rear shock preload as stiff as it will go, grew up on a hardtail and the first thing I noticed about the Softail was that the rear suspension felt like a sponge...very mushy.
I am going to start hitting T&T at Union Hill and Beech Bend to tweak the bike and get used to a tree again.

[pwmorris]

Shinko Hook Up-190/17
http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/hook-drag


No bar-
Daily driven FXR street bike-


60' is the only thing that matters when talkin" hooking up. forget going smaller tire to save weight. that bike has plenty of fat on it to trim...I don't care how much HP you got-
gotta get a soft sticky tire, find the air pressure and burn out that works, and clutch, chassis, rider, horsepower, suspension all come into play. Stiffen the hell out of those softail rear shocks, and put in alot of seat time.
60' ft dont matter where you start, no matter how crappy you launch, its the work you put in. 1.8', 1.7, 1.6, keep hammerin' it and you will find consistency out of the hole-no free lunch on the internet. gotta put in the work-

I have the rear shock preload as stiff as it will go, grew up on a hardtail and the first thing I noticed about the Softail was that the rear suspension felt like a sponge...very mushy.
I am going to start hitting T&T at Union Hill and Beech Bend to tweak the bike and get used to a tree again.

Call Works Performance and get some better rear shocks-
http://www.worksperformance.com/html/softail.html
Glad you are willing to put in the work to get where you want to go....
Most love to talk HP, bar talk, laminated sheets, and fantasy predictions without putting in the work. You makin' 116 square? Wow- Street Harleys are making 170 plus and sport bikes are over 200-this ain't 2000, where 116 was a big deal-
You have to find out how bad you want it. The Internet is false hope...read the posts of guys who never have even sacrificed to get to the track, make a hundred excuses, yet brag about  "dyno" numbers.
Post up your recent times slip with 60' -good or bad-and it will remind you where you need to be. Respect.
Put in the work and you will get where you need and want to be.
There is nothing more satisfying than that.

[SOCS]

Shinko Hook Up-190/17
http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/hook-drag


No bar-
Daily driven FXR street bike-


60' is the only thing that matters when talkin" hooking up. forget going smaller tire to save weight. that bike has plenty of fat on it to trim...I don't care how much HP you got-
gotta get a soft sticky tire, find the air pressure and burn out that works, and clutch, chassis, rider, horsepower, suspension all come into play. Stiffen the hell out of those softail rear shocks, and put in alot of seat time.
60' ft dont matter where you start, no matter how crappy you launch, its the work you put in. 1.8', 1.7, 1.6, keep hammerin' it and you will find consistency out of the hole-no free lunch on the internet. gotta put in the work-

I have the rear shock preload as stiff as it will go, grew up on a hardtail and the first thing I noticed about the Softail was that the rear suspension felt like a sponge...very mushy.
I am going to start hitting T&T at Union Hill and Beech Bend to tweak the bike and get used to a tree again.

Call Works Performance and get some better rear shocks-
http://www.worksperformance.com/html/softail.html
Glad you are willing to put in the work to get where you want to go....
Most love to talk HP, bar talk, laminated sheets, and fantasy predictions without putting in the work. You makin' 116 square? Wow- Street Harleys are making 170 plus and sport bikes are over 200-this ain't 2000, where 116 was a big deal-
You have to find out how bad you want it. The Internet is false hope...read the posts of guys who never have even sacrificed to get to the track, make a hundred excuses, yet brag about  "dyno" numbers.
Post up your recent times slip with 60' -good or bad-and it will remind you where you need to be. Respect.
Put in the work and you will get where you need and want to be.
There is nothing more satisfying than that.

I wasn't saying the bike has 116/116 to brag. I said it has that power , won't hook and I intend to build further so I know it needs work. I don't mind putting the time in, just wondered if it was as simple as a good tire.
Most of my racing is and always has been on the street , conditions aren't as optimal as the track and you don't have a time slip to break down your times. Kinda why I intend to hit a few T&T nights.

[pwmorris]

Shinko Hook Up-190/17
http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/hook-drag


No bar-
Daily driven FXR street bike-


60' is the only thing that matters when talkin" hooking up. forget going smaller tire to save weight. that bike has plenty of fat on it to trim...I don't care how much HP you got-
gotta get a soft sticky tire, find the air pressure and burn out that works, and clutch, chassis, rider, horsepower, suspension all come into play. Stiffen the hell out of those softail rear shocks, and put in alot of seat time.
60' ft dont matter where you start, no matter how crappy you launch, its the work you put in. 1.8', 1.7, 1.6, keep hammerin' it and you will find consistency out of the hole-no free lunch on the internet. gotta put in the work-

I have the rear shock preload as stiff as it will go, grew up on a hardtail and the first thing I noticed about the Softail was that the rear suspension felt like a sponge...very mushy.
I am going to start hitting T&T at Union Hill and Beech Bend to tweak the bike and get used to a tree again.

Call Works Performance and get some better rear shocks-
http://www.worksperformance.com/html/softail.html
Glad you are willing to put in the work to get where you want to go....
Most love to talk HP, bar talk, laminated sheets, and fantasy predictions without putting in the work. You makin' 116 square? Wow- Street Harleys are making 170 plus and sport bikes are over 200-this ain't 2000, where 116 was a big deal-
You have to find out how bad you want it. The Internet is false hope...read the posts of guys who never have even sacrificed to get to the track, make a hundred excuses, yet brag about  "dyno" numbers.
Post up your recent times slip with 60' -good or bad-and it will remind you where you need to be. Respect.
Put in the work and you will get where you need and want to be.
There is nothing more satisfying than that.

I wasn't saying the bike has 116/116 to brag. I said it has that power , won't hook and I intend to build further so I know it needs work. I don't mind putting the time in, just wondered if it was as simple as a good tire.
Most of my racing is and always has been on the street , conditions aren't as optimal as the track and you don't have a time slip to break down your times. Kinda why I intend to hit a few T&T nights.

I know-didn't think you were bragging...
Just saying don't focus on the HP-doesn't really mean much for what you are trying to accomplish. You can spin the tire with 100, 120, 150 or more.
Focus on everything else at this point. Tire, clutch, suspension, chassis, weight, launch rpm, and most of all-Seat time. Become a regular at T&T. Make changes one thing at a time and test again.
Fail, fail, fail, spin, and spin again till you start to hook and keep going till you start leaving with confidence and consistency.
You will find the set up your bike likes and launch that beast like a pro.
Best of luck.

[pwmorris]

Have you and this bike bike ever been to the track?

If so, post up a time slip and let's see where you are as a starting point...everyone, and I mean everyone starts somewhere...

[strokerjlk]

I run a Perilli P7 205/55/17  Car tire, and love it. Great traction, wet or dry,and 30K miles, for half the price of a bike tire. Looks bad ass too.

Just going by what I read on the DOT tire thread I am actually thinking about going back to the stock rear fender, struts and wheel so I can run a 140mm for the weight reduction. If Stroker can hook his up with a 140 I should not have a problem. Thinking the car tire would be heavier than a bike tire and more rotating mass is not a good thing for ET

the lighter tire will make more hp as well. i run the stealth 150/16 on the blower bike . i run the 140 mm shinko 777 on the 96 ci , 13.0 sec bagger.
you will have all the tire you will ever need with a hook up or stealth. play with pressure at the track. trying to dial a tire in on the street or a unprepped track is a waste of time.

[1FSTRK]

I run a Perilli P7 205/55/17  Car tire, and love it. Great traction, wet or dry,and 30K miles, for half the price of a bike tire. Looks bad ass too.

Just going by what I read on the DOT tire thread I am actually thinking about going back to the stock rear fender, struts and wheel so I can run a 140mm for the weight reduction. If Stroker can hook his up with a 140 I should not have a problem. Thinking the car tire would be heavier than a bike tire and more rotating mass is not a good thing for ET

the lighter tire will make more hp as well. i run the stealth 150/16 on the blower bike . i run the 140 mm shinko 777 on the 96 ci , 13.0 sec bagger.
you will have all the tire you will ever need with a hook up or stealth. play with pressure at the track. trying to dial a tire in on the street or a unprepped track is a waste of time.

Constructive advice from an active racer.

[Racepres]

Have you and this bike bike ever been to the track?

If so, post up a time slip and let's see where you are as a starting point...everyone, and I mean everyone starts somewhere...

I agree
Also...I rarely see Traction Problems with any street tire...See lots of Poor technique,and even more Bonzai Crazy stuff...
Not gonna be competitive like that!!!
Believe it or not, those guys standing at the Head of the Track [all day long] pretty much Know what the track is doing, and have a Clue where ya might have the best luck with your set-up....ASK

[tommy g]

My Heritage has about the same power, though I don't race (legally) I can attest to the Works shocks stiffening up the suspension as you would need.

[Racepres]

My Heritage has about the same power, though I don't race (legally) I can attest to the Works shocks stiffening up the suspension as you would need.

Be Carefull, If Stiffer shocks were an advantage, then Struts would be even better...Right??
Squatting at the start is a good thing, long as the shocks don't rebound so hard that they unload what you have established....

[slodsm]

Shinko stealth will give you all the traction you need. I've been 1.33 on a gsxr 1000 with a stealth and a good left hand. Bike was 65" wheelbase with a stock style clutch and mobile 1 car oil (don't buy the bs about friction modifiers for wet clutches blah blah blah, I staged at 9000 rpms and left WOT for more passes than I can count plus a lot of street miles on a stock clutch with heavy springs). I never once had a traction issue once I got the tire pressure and burnout ironed out to where the tire needed to be.

And as was stated before, don't make the bike too stiff, squatting equals weight transfer and that's a good thing. Just gotta keep the rebound under control as well.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[SOCS]

Have not been on the forum in a while (2 months), been extremely busy. Thank you to all who replied

[Ape-Hanger]

Lots of good advice!... Get a Shinko Hook up 200/55VR-17, start air pressure @ 20psi and go down from there....IT WILL HOOK! on a prepped track....wish I had known this before I went to a real track!!!...Looking at the sky instead of the end of the track ain't so fun!

[westcomb]

My Skinko hook up is lots of fun on the street as well! ........... 3 gear wheelies can be fun sometimes