Over the weekend, my brother and I, who both have VTR's, tried each others bikes for comparo. We both bought them new on the same day, have virtually the same K's on the clock (approx 3500km). We have performed quite a few little improvements and/or mods and also set up the bikes suspension to the way we both like them. One slight bitch that we both had was the lack off "off-the-mark" punch that big V-Twins are supposed to have. It was there but felt more like a slap with a wet bus ticket rather than a punch...
Not really ever being a V-Twin guy in the past, we both decided to ride a tamer type of bike this time, with more usable power for scooting in and out of hills without the fear of having the rear tyre step out from underneath us because of the mountains of horsepower the bike pokes out. Always in the back of our minds was the possibility of buying a V-Twin. Well the price was right ($12,500-NZ)and the time was right so we bought them. The bikes never seemed that grunty but as they were run-in they loosened up and became more like the reputation they had, yet off the mark punch was lacking. One mod we both became aware of was the air filter mod, which involved cutting off the lip which goes across the filters back and also removing the slotted mount that it slides into on the inside of the filters housing. This for some reason restricts breathing at lower rpm's, just why I will never understand. My brother was a little unsure just how much better it was over a few good rides, until he put the original filter back in, so he quickly put the modded one in again them we both set off for a comparo. We swapped bikes down the road and I immediately noticed that the bike would pull away from 2500 rpm or even lower in top gear, whereas on mine, I had to change down a few gears to stop it from rattling itself to death until up and over about 3500 rpm. The difference was very noticable when you had two bikes to compare, on the spot. As soon as we got home, out came my air filter as well as the hacksaw and in 5 minutes my bike was modded.
Lastnight we took the bikes for a quick blast to see... For the first time I managed to go over a small twisty hill road in top gear, all the way. Previously I could not do this without tap dancing on that gear lever. One guy over the internet quoted about 30% power increase noticability at 2500 - 4000 rpm. I would like to add that it may well be much more than that, if you go by feel alone. The difference was quite unbelievable. It's NOT the kind of difference you notice when you "try to notice" it on a straight piece of road but when exiting a corner and powering on, it becomes more than apparent. I almost ended up on my arse as I negotiated a tight "S" bend in the road through some hills a bit further down the road. I went into the corner as per normal then powered out as per normal, then as the bike began to exit proper, I sat up and prepared to lean over the other way only to realize that the front wheel was sliding straight toward the edge of the "S". There was a real nervous moment here as the slide was more than just a small one. I honestly thought I was going to dump it for an instant, but luckily I kept the power on and sat it up straight, where upon the tyre bit again giving me a chance to swing on the brakes and line up for the second part of the bend. The handlebars had actually turned right in towards the direction the bike was heading, almost as if I had lifted the front wheel off the road and gave an almighty flick as the tyre bit in again. At this point I sort of tended to slow down a wee bit and take care, well at least until the next corner, where it was "business as usual" again, only a tad more cautiously....
This mod really works...!!!
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Originally Posted by jonbuoy
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