One, two free, floor!
OK - me waving my "I don't know shit" flag here..
I have an RF900, I got it all tuned up and it's going nice now... but it is stock standard. What are the basic/common tricks to getting more horses at the backwheel.
It also raises the question - what are the best ways of measuring that difference (other than a dyno or tracktime)...
Hmmmm???
MDU
$2,000 cash if you find a buyer for my house, kumeuhouseforsale@straightshooters.co.nz for details
Mobile Oil Stain
Carb's,pipes,Power commander,Cam if your keen.
Seat of your pants.
Forum whore
It's really hard to improve on what manufacturers do these days, and an improvement at the top end can often mean a bike that is a little harder to commute.
Having said that the Internal Combustion engine is a big air pump. Get it to flow more air and it can burn more gas so you have more power.
The standard breathing mods, are a different muffler, and air filter combined with some careful jetting setup work for your carbs (I'm assuming the RF is carbed).
Unfortunatey (or maybe not) Dyno runs are the best way to do a before and after comparison. Seat of the pants tends to tell us that its going better whether it is or not, because we just spent some cash!
Have fun.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
e mare libertas
Indeed. If you give it to a shop to tune, and they're not doing dyno runs after each setup change, then unless they're following a proven recipe for that bike they're as likely to bugger it up as to make it better. Actually solving the air/fuel combustion and flow dynamics of a carburetor and chamber is a hugely complicated problem. Even race mechs just swap jets around and see how it looks on the dyno.Originally Posted by Jim2
In fact the tuning process for injected engines is similar, it's pretty seat-of-the-pants, tweak the injection mapping tables with a ROM emulator plugged into a laptop until the power curve on the dyno looks the way you want it, then flash it to a chip, plug it in and hope nothing is stressed past its design criteria. The major advantage of injected fuel systems during tuning is the ease of changing the flow parameters, just push a button.
Still, with most factory bikes, you can have them make more power at the expense of emission standards compliance and fuel economy. Like Jim says, a new 'zorst system and air filter, followed by appropriate jetting (if carbed) or remapping (if FI) will probably be your best bet.
Forum whore
Wheelie the bastard
That effectively doubles the horsepower put onto the back wheel
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it's been a while..
depends a lot on where you want the performance gains. cheapest seat of the pants gain is throw a larger rear sprocket(1 or 2 more teeth) & it'll take off faster in the gears but ultimate top speed will come down by a few mph & it'll throw out your speedo. don't waste your money on pipes,filters etc unless you have a specific goal in mind. once you throw on a pipe then filter you will need to retune etc which can chew up the cash also if you're doing jets blabla & clocking up dyno time. imho, spend it on suspension & your bike will eat up the road better & you'll be able to travel quicker with more confidence.
e mare libertas
More ponies! He did mention that specifically you know. Going to different sprockets doesn't give you more power, it just changes the torque multiplication constant. Yer right though, I think it's good to be clear about the time and cost implications of performance tuning. In the end if you want more power you have to burn more fuel in the same amount of time, either by being more efficient with what already flows through, shoving a greater amount of fuel and air in with each combustion cycle or running more cycles, ie revving higher.
wot 'e said. New Ohlins rear shock and a fork swap to a GSXR1000 front end (if that's possible on the RF) and you'll be going faster than you ever thought possible on that wheezy old thing...
Deus ex ukulele
Hmmmm, I see that somebody wasn't listening during 6th form physics...Wheelie the bastard
That effectively doubles the horsepower put onto the back wheel
"Standing on your mother's corpse you told me that you'd wait forever." [Bryan Adams: Summer of 69]
Deus ex ukulele
Surely this depends as to whether your speedo sending unit works off the final drive or the front wheel?
"Standing on your mother's corpse you told me that you'd wait forever." [Bryan Adams: Summer of 69]
it's been a while..
yep sure does
LMAO
OK, so who's next?
A decent full exhaust is a good start.Most will net a good gain on an older bike and usually shave a fair bit of weight off too,which also benefits handling.
Also just a good freshen up/tune can do wonders if she's a bit tired.
Next is aircleaner/carb kit,then cams.all bolt-on.Look into big-bore kits,this will give good hp/torque gains but requires engine dissasembly,while you're in there may as well get a good port job done too.
If you want real gains then a turbo is the go,but you're getting quite serious if you go this far.
The 2nd option would be the pipe,and a re-valve/rebuild on the suspension.Or a complete front/rear swap.PB did a test on a blade a while back spending the same on suspension and hp and got much faster laptimes outta the bike with the suspension work.And fit the best tyres you can afford.
The other option is loose everything that you can off the bike/yourself.Power to weight is where acceleration comes from and losing weight is as good/better than gaining hp as it will benefit handling too.
Take her down the quarter is the way to measure real gains in acceleration,and of course a track to measure yer handling gains.
One, two free, floor!
Cheers guys...
Yup more ponies is specifically what I want - I can then gear up or down from there...
Something I note has been avoided is playing with the fuel. Additives or changing the octane rating works? I realise there will be knock on effects with timing etc which also raises the question...
How much difference will 91 Octane vs 96 (or 98) really make?
MDU
$2,000 cash if you find a buyer for my house, kumeuhouseforsale@straightshooters.co.nz for details
Forum whore
My TRX runs better on 91. Depends on what the manufacturer specifies.
Higher octane fuels actually have a faster flame front and can in effect make the engine run cooler due to being more efficient. Too cold is as bad as too hot, but the stuff you get from the pumps isn't going to make that much difference.
Additives are bollocks. Some of them are just vegetable oil.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
One, two free, floor!
...noted...
$2,000 cash if you find a buyer for my house, kumeuhouseforsale@straightshooters.co.nz for details
e mare libertas
hoo boy, opening a can of worms there! I think we've thrashed the technical side of octane ratings pretty well in past threads.
Higher octanes are more resistant to pre-detonation, ie, they will burn smoothly in a higher-pressure environment. Hence they tend to be necessary for harder tuned engines. If your bike hasn't damaged itself running on 91 so far then you're not going to see anything better happening on a higher octane fuel.
But try BP/Mobil 98 anyway, can't hurt. You might notice the power coming on smoother. I know I do on the FXR.
Really though, if you want them ponies, you need to do like Death says and get that new exhaust and a retune as a starting point. Call the nice men at Colemans for quotes and advice.
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