The Stranger
17th August 2005, 11:44
First a little history.
Only started riding less than 12 months ago.
Had the mandatory 250 for a while but got my full via the Pass Rite cbta system and as soon as possible took the next logical step up in size. To a Honda Blackbird (1100cc).
Now the bike is awesome. Pulls like a freight train, excellent getting on the gas, smooth as silk, good pillion accommodation, and best of all it’s a Honda so you know it’s reliable.
1 small downside, the fuel usage after the 250 was quite, well surprising.
The 250 was new and as it loosened it got substantially better fuel economy from about 180km on the first tank to about 240km a tank after about 2,000 km.
The Blackbird had done 600k when I got it and I thought hey it will loosen and get better. It didn’t.
So at about 1,500km on the bird I did a fuel usage check. To try and ensure accuracy I did a few in a row and averaged these. The average was about 38mpg I then set about seeing how various factors would influence this.
First thing I tried was a K&N filter. After 3 consecutive tests with the K&N I was getting about 43mpg.
Now as well as improved economy there is an increase in power, most surprisingly torque in the lower revs is improved making the bike more “ridable”. I can’t notice any improvement at the top end but that may be more to do with the rider than any lack of improvement. A Dutch magazine claims they had a stock one of these from 0 to 100 in 2.4 seconds so you see I really would not know if that was 2.3 now or not.
What next?
Well I had been running it on 91 octane because the manual says I can. My SS actually runs better on 91 than 96 so why not use 91, it’s cheaper right?
Wrong!
Running it on 96 octane I now get 47mpg. As well as that there is a significant increase in low down torque, hill starts are easier and if I happen to be in a higher gear than I should going around a corner it really doesn’t matter. Again I can’t detect a change at the top end, I seriously doubt many people could detect a HP or 5 on a bike such as this without the benefit of a dyno.
I have a fairly typical commute so have been careful to only include results for commuting. Open road driving has seen a definite improvement, but I don’t consider that I have enough consecutive results to present a reliable picture here.
Despite petrol increases from 132.9 cents for the 91 at the start to 148.9 cents for 96 now the cost of fuel per km is down significantly and the bike is more responsive, more forgiving, more “ridable” and still goes like hell. The K&N should pay for itself ($132.00) in 10,000km, or less if fuel prices increase.
The SS now sports a K&N filter. I try and drive it as little as possible as it is quite boring after the Blackbird.
These things are famous for being very asthmatic. Orix racing take them from 225kw to over 300kw simply by fixing the breathing and computer.
There is an improvement in fuel economy (seat of the pants only) but also a definite improvement in power, as the rider of a silver firestorm may attest. It now spins both rear tires from a standing start on dry road, which it wouldn’t do previously.
All our fleet is going to K&N air filters now.
I have more ideas to try (anyone know how to remove catalytic converters) so watch out for part 2 in the not too distant future.
Only started riding less than 12 months ago.
Had the mandatory 250 for a while but got my full via the Pass Rite cbta system and as soon as possible took the next logical step up in size. To a Honda Blackbird (1100cc).
Now the bike is awesome. Pulls like a freight train, excellent getting on the gas, smooth as silk, good pillion accommodation, and best of all it’s a Honda so you know it’s reliable.
1 small downside, the fuel usage after the 250 was quite, well surprising.
The 250 was new and as it loosened it got substantially better fuel economy from about 180km on the first tank to about 240km a tank after about 2,000 km.
The Blackbird had done 600k when I got it and I thought hey it will loosen and get better. It didn’t.
So at about 1,500km on the bird I did a fuel usage check. To try and ensure accuracy I did a few in a row and averaged these. The average was about 38mpg I then set about seeing how various factors would influence this.
First thing I tried was a K&N filter. After 3 consecutive tests with the K&N I was getting about 43mpg.
Now as well as improved economy there is an increase in power, most surprisingly torque in the lower revs is improved making the bike more “ridable”. I can’t notice any improvement at the top end but that may be more to do with the rider than any lack of improvement. A Dutch magazine claims they had a stock one of these from 0 to 100 in 2.4 seconds so you see I really would not know if that was 2.3 now or not.
What next?
Well I had been running it on 91 octane because the manual says I can. My SS actually runs better on 91 than 96 so why not use 91, it’s cheaper right?
Wrong!
Running it on 96 octane I now get 47mpg. As well as that there is a significant increase in low down torque, hill starts are easier and if I happen to be in a higher gear than I should going around a corner it really doesn’t matter. Again I can’t detect a change at the top end, I seriously doubt many people could detect a HP or 5 on a bike such as this without the benefit of a dyno.
I have a fairly typical commute so have been careful to only include results for commuting. Open road driving has seen a definite improvement, but I don’t consider that I have enough consecutive results to present a reliable picture here.
Despite petrol increases from 132.9 cents for the 91 at the start to 148.9 cents for 96 now the cost of fuel per km is down significantly and the bike is more responsive, more forgiving, more “ridable” and still goes like hell. The K&N should pay for itself ($132.00) in 10,000km, or less if fuel prices increase.
The SS now sports a K&N filter. I try and drive it as little as possible as it is quite boring after the Blackbird.
These things are famous for being very asthmatic. Orix racing take them from 225kw to over 300kw simply by fixing the breathing and computer.
There is an improvement in fuel economy (seat of the pants only) but also a definite improvement in power, as the rider of a silver firestorm may attest. It now spins both rear tires from a standing start on dry road, which it wouldn’t do previously.
All our fleet is going to K&N air filters now.
I have more ideas to try (anyone know how to remove catalytic converters) so watch out for part 2 in the not too distant future.