tinkering

[Ed]

Been busy with projects here, as well as getting aligned with a new sales gig... haven't had much time for riding, unfortunately so I've been taking my frustrations out on my long-suffering Bandit 1200 for the umpteenth time.

I ran the bike turbocharged back in the 2001- 2003ish timeframe, which was pretty entertaining... that combination needed as much weight as possible over the front wheel so I put it together with some very low clip-ons:



Even with the low bars and a +6" swingarm, engine torque would pull the front wheel off the ground in fifth gear at ~100mph... pretty exciting , although for 90% of riding it's more fun with a warm normally-aspirated engine (which is has now).

Haven't had the bike set up that café-racerish in ~10 years, but still had all the crap stashed to put it back together... still needs a few minor details dithered out, but it's about ready to hit the road:





Seating position isn't really that extreme, but I'll certainly need to get my wrists limbered up... waiting for a fresh PR3 for the rear, will probably take a run out to 181 next week to see how it gets around.

[Bob]

It looks GREAT! I bet the ole Bandito is actually feeling loved for a change, lol. Can you post one more pic, showing the "before"? Maybe from the approximate same angle? And, are you still running the ext. swingarm?

[Brick]

She does look good! Zoooom!!!

[PirateRiderBen]

This scares me to read. That's a crazy awesome bike though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ed]

It looks GREAT! I bet the ole Bandito is actually feeling loved for a change, lol. Can you post one more pic, showing the "before"? Maybe from the approximate same angle? And, are you still running the ext. swingarm?

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

I have a couple of other "before" pics stored online, not sure about the image sizes though so it might be safer to just hyperlink:

http://ironcreek.net/~ed/B12t02.jpg
http://ironcreek.net/~ed/B12t04.jpg

One liability of that particular turbo kit was the muffled exhaust; as you can see from this shot:

http://ironcreek.net/~ed/B12t05.jpg

...it crossed underneath the bike in such a way that ground clearance in left-hand turns was kinda problematic.

I found a somewhat practical solution to the problem :



...although the noise from the unmuffled exhaust was pretty fatiguing.

Bob, I sold the extended arm several years ago; in its' place I have a modified Hayabusa swingarm, which is much stiffer torsionally and nicer to ride.

FWIW, a couple of dyno pulls with the Rajay just about max'ed out:



It was ...fast

[Bob]

Looks like the sweet spot is between 4500 & 8000 rpms.

[Ed]

Between the acceleration and the wind trying to tear you off the bike, it was pretty exciting to roll open the throttle

A decent turbo build on a Hayabusa can put 450+ horses to the wheel; I'd like to ride one, to see what it's like.

[LeeDavis]

Very cool! Unless it's a kit you can simply bolt on that somebody else already figured out modifying engines is way past my mechanical skill set.

[Ed]

I like taking 'em apart

[Bob]

Ed, I think maybe you should have been a surgeon.

[Broz]

WOW!! Ed how about letting me borrow that. I've always wanted to do a wheelie going over 100 mph. Maybe I could go out Friday nights on 485 w the yocals on their Busa's.

[Ed]

Back when the bike was turbocharged, 485 was just a stub which ended at the Lawyers Road exit; traffic and enforcement were practically zilch, and it was tailor-made for stretching your legs a bit

It's perhaps only 165 at the wheel now, Broz instead of 250 but you're welcome to run it through the gears

[Broz]

You know what the difference between "Practically zilch" and zilch? My buddy would not agree. He got busted drag racing coming back from bike night in Concord. They got him at 168. Lost his license. This was prior to the law change of it being a felony if you double the speed limit.

[Ed]

Before 485 was connected, and you had to get off the slab at Lawyers it was pretty easy... if you got nailed it was your own fault

Worst part of that road now, for me is that cruel joke of a guardrail in the median- you might get banged up hitting concrete or Armco, but even a brush against that cable could slice pieces off of you.

[Brick]

I agree NC's love of that interstate cable in the center is just attempted murder for motorcycles!

[PirateRiderBen]

A Felony to double the speed limit? That's such crap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ed]

Some states now have "super speeder" laws in place, with astronomical fines attached... it's nothing but a bullshit money grab, but good luck fighting it.

[Ed]

Marc, you asked me yesterday what the controllability was like when the Bandit was turbocharged... here's a graphic which addresses that a bit:



Run 038 (166/95 tq) is the final normally-aspirated combo I ran prior to turbocharging; the engine combination currently in the bike is very similar power-wise, not quite as peaky although the torque should be improved (now it's a 1277cc, that was a 1216). I don't need to run this one to 11 grand.

Runs 042 and 043 were among the first pulls made on the turbocharged setup, feeling out initial settings for the wastegate. With a mild turbo setup overlaid on top of a pretty hot street/strip combo, you can see how the picture changes once the hairdryer woke up... you needed to be holding on when the boost started coming in.

Off-boost, it was a kitten- low compression, mild cam timing- really a little too Clark Kent for riding around, 90%+ of the time... a warm normally-aspirated combo is much more entertaining overall, if somewhat lacking in the gee-whiz effect.