20 October 2008

Nissin EmCees are in da house!!!

Finally!
3 weeks of procrastinating and its finally done.

I managed to scour the vast wide world of eBay and snagged a nice deal for a radial master cylinder brake pump off a K5 600 for less than SGD$50 including shipping.

A bit rashed with missing lever tip, reservoir and L-connector.





Sunday morning, thanks to EJ and Dark Lord for giving 2 hands each to help out, finally got it installed and fluid bleeded out for replacement.

Apologies for the low quality pics. I'll update more later with better quality ones.






Radial calipers next? :D

21 September 2008

PAIRS no more (nope, not marital status)....

I'm in a partially lazy mood right now so I let this webbie do the explanation with an extract:

http://www.moccsplace.com/images/pair/pair1.htm

The Pair Valve is a pollution control "Pulsed Air Injection" device, designed to "wash out" the purposely rich exhaust of the new metric bikes in order to pass EPA restrictions for import in the United States and other countries with similar restrictions. Many foreign designated models do not even come with a pair valve, although all other aspects of the bike's engine are the same. (The triangular (or oval) box is a tool box on most foreign models)

The sole purpose for the Pair Valve is to passively "Inject" fresh air into the exhaust system at the exhaust port, to cause ignition of unburned fuel vapor *before* it leaves the exhaust pipes, or to thin out the mixture with enough air to fool the sniffer machines. Unburned fuel vapors enter the exhaust system whenever you back off the throttle, or gear down. When you close the throttle, as in gearing down or slowing down, the drop in vacuum at the intake port allows the Pair Valve to relax and open and allow air from the air filter box to be "siphoned" into the exhaust port by the negative pressure at the exhaust ports. (there are reed valves in the pair valve to prevent backflow from the exhaust to enter the pair valve and airbox during roll-on and subsequent positive exhaust port pressure)....


For the uninitiated, PAIR system simply injects a bit of fresh air from the airbox into either the header (for older model EFI bikes) or into the cylinder heads (for certain newer models) to simply to lower the CO content of the exhaust gas to pass emissions requirements. This is pretty important in certain states in US (California have pretty high emission standards compared to other states) and most European countries.
Fortunately, Singapore do not have this high of a standard.... yet. Being a Italian model, the Ghost naturally has the PAIR system installed (thanks to a local fellow Gisser for pointing it out despite my objections).

Now, what's the point of removing it, you ask?

Simple.
For stock exhaust systems, no point. Or rather, not that much of justification to spend 1-2 hours of an nice warm Sunday afternoon sweating it out and getting more cuts on your hands and palms doing the PAIR system removal.
But for those with aftermarket exhaust system, the annoyance is pretty apparent when you go near WOT at 1st or 2nd gear and close the throttle immediately to slow down.
You suddenly have a flatulent donkey for a bike.
Where did that come from?

Well, I won't explain the physics much because the link I posted very much explained everything.
Instead, I'll get down on what needs to be done.
The PAIR valve consists simply of a solenoid valve with 3 I/O ports (1 input and 2 output), a reed valve buried somewhere inside the top head of the engine and 3 hoses. The solenoid valve is controlled by the ECU to when it should open and let the air into the cylinder head and when it should closed. The reed valves simply prevents exhaust feedback into the airbox. 1 hose goes from the airbox into the solenoid valve and 2 from the solenoid valve into the cylinder head to the reed valves.
Simple, capiche?

A friend from the UK GSR forums (thanks Bazz!) dropped a line to me on the steps. Essentially, there's the easy way and the hard way.
The hard way involves fabricating some sort of steel plates to block off the reed valves and thus eliminating the need for the reed valves as well as blanking off the output at the airbox, etc, etc.
Being a shortcut bastage that I am, I go for the easy. It'll costs about SGD$1 and about 1 hour if you have the tools right.

What you need:
3 x M14 bolts of 25mm length. No longer coz that's all the length you have to play with.
Heat-resistant silicone. I didn't have any and it'll take 24 hours to dry properly lest bits are sucked into the cylinder head. So I use the next best thing: plumber's white tape.
Tools to lift up the tank.
A small plier (not cutters, mind you).
Lots of bandages.

Steps:
Lift up the tank and prop it.
Take off the airbox. I'll give a little tip I learnt: you don't have to take off the cover and the filter as the tech manual suggested. Just unscrew the 4 screws clamping the airbox to the throttle bodies, unhook the 2 air hoses (clue : one of them leads to the PAIR solenoid valve), the IAT sensor plug underneath the airbox and the IAP sensor attached to the back of the air box. Done. you can lift it off.
Look at the space just above the radiator on the inside of the chassis. There's a little black plastic thingy with 3 hoses going into it.
Can't figure it out?



Using a plier, unhook the clips and pull out the hoses. Leave the solenoid valve where it is and hooked up to the ECU. This is important and I'll explain it later.
Now, take the 3 M14 bolts. Before you begin... erm.. screwing around, take the silicone and start applying it on the thread. Me, I use plumber tape. The idea is to seal up any possibilities of the thread letting in air once its screwed into the hose.
Now, start screwing. The bolts into the hoses end, of course. Take care for the hose that leads to the airbox. Make sure you screw the right end in (the one with the thicker hose clamp).
Once you've screwed the bolt in the best you can, use the pliers and slide up the hose clamp to secure the hose tightly against the bolt. If you have some spare cable-ties of suitable length, go ahead and have fun also.
Once that is done, you're done. Put the hoses back into the front space of the chassis. I took some spare cable ties and looped both hoses to the solenoid valve to keep it from moving around too much.
Next, put back the airbox and the rest of the tank back on.

You're done!

Why leave the solenoid valve hooked up to the ECU?
Simple. The solenoid valve is acting as one of the active sensors for the ECU. Removing it and you'll get an annoying FI warning light up.
Bazz told me a 20ohm resistor will do the trick. He's working on that and will update me.
Ditto for me to here.

I've tested it on my carpark and it seemed to work well. By my rough guesstimation, at least 70% of the backfires on a closed throttle from WOT at first gear is gone. Some still exist but right now, my PC3 is off and I'm back on O2 sensor until I get the time to have Racewerks fix it back on.

Later tonight, I'm riding to a friend's place a distance away and I'll be able to fully test it.

Do stay tuned....

31 August 2008

The Ghost's working out...

She has an aftermarket exhaust, she has a PC3 equipped onboard.
So its naturally dyno mapping time.



I asked for a more smoother fuel curve and a smoother general acceleration.
The Ghost is still on stock spark plugs (NGK CR9E) and stock air filter.

Well, the end result is not as what most performance avids would want.



Pretty modest numbers.
Norman, the dyno operator and the boss, noted that there is plateau (flat-spot) after 11K RPM onwards. He suspected its due to overpressure building up in the Y-section where the header pipe splits into the 2 endcans. Me, I suspect the stock air-filter is not feeding enough air in.

But the real test is on the road.
And, me thinks, its worth every cent I paid for the tuning.
It was much smoother on the acceleration. No more bogging down when I open the throttle from a stop. I used to had this reluctance to accelerate with the Giannellis on when moving off from a stop.
Its all smoothed out now.
The accleration is much more smoother on half-throttle up with not much jerkiness as I used to had on stock config, especially in the transition between low-range to the middle-range on the tachometer.
But the best was saved for last.
The next day, I gave it a run to test out the mapping on the NSH.
Starting off was smooth and ok. But the acceleration from 5K to 11K was like a jet taking off.
I've never had it accelerate that fast, ever.
It was so enjoyable I'm now afraid of playing it too much on the road.
Like that's going to be a worry. :D

01 January 2008

Ah, the New Year.
Time for new resolutions and fretting over ones I didn't fulfill (or rather forgotten about) the previous year.

I'm going back to school. That is for sure. I'm going to have a child soon and I'm damn sure as hell gotta provide the best for him/her. And that means I need a good job. Which means I need a good qualification. Naturally, a degree's gotta come.

I need a side-rack. When my baby's out, for sure I need to do more grocery shopping. So this time, I really to spend the cash on the racks.

The others, I've decided to adopt a "let's cross the bridge when we come to it" methodology.

25 December 2007

I'm all Italian now...

Its real, its legal
And its sooooo sweeeeet!!!....

Can't afford Arrows?
Mr. Giannelli to the rescue..



They're from the same manufacturer as Arrow (Arrow Special Parts S.P.A.).
I got them off a special clearance sale from the local dealer. Aluminium ones.
Not exactly the carbon fibre of my dreams, but hey, beggars can't be choosers and these cans will do the job as well.

Installing them is an act I can never want to re-enact.
If it weren't for my brother-in-law on a Sunday afternoon, I would have never gotten it done alone. Even if I did, it'll probably take me 6 hours. As such, we took 3 hours. All greased up, sweaty with bloddy hands from cuts.
Damn.

14 December 2007

GSR600 a cheap bike? Fazer the king? 08 Hornet will reign? I don't think so...

Finally, PB mag (God forgive me for not reading them anymore since the late Ronnie Smith was no longer amongst the living) did a shootout that did a 'in-your-face' factual analysis on the budget bikes.
The Yamaha Fazer6 S2 vs the new 08 Hornet CB600F against the Triumph Street Triple 675 taking on the Suzuki GSR600.

The result is surprising to many but not for this avid rider.

Budget bike shootout (right-click to save)

C'mon, everyone. Suzuki did put some thought in this bike. Looks isn't EVERYTHING. Just because the Fazer S2 looks more aggressive, in reality its just a sheep in wolf's clothing. Its origin is as a tourer, for God's sake.
I'd give more credit to the Hornet for its all-out performance and intent.
But a much-heckled GSR takes the fight to the Street Triple closer than anyone expected.

25 November 2007

Airtight lid (literally)...

Phew....
The Striker I got was really too tight for comfort.
Cheek-wise, it was ok. Snug, warm and comfortable.
But it was kinda tight on the crown. A hour or more and I was feeling the beginnings of a major migrane if I don't take it off.
That would not do on a long haul ride or touring.

So I sold it off to a nice gentleman and went back to the shop. This time, I really wanted a GP-1.
But, damn, it was EVEN tighter, even for a XL. The cheek pad was a hellraiser in trying to get past my crown (perhaps a statement of my well-endowed brain size....).
So I tried out the plain-vanilla matt-black Striker.
WTF? It was as light as the GP-1 and certainly lighter than the design Striker.
So I asked for the largest plain Striker they had. And it was a great fit.
No threat of a major migrane or anything. After 15 minutes of dicussions with the young chap whom I dealt with if the boss wasn't around, I managed to haggle it down to the same price I paid earlier.

And this time, I'm really happy.

The Striker in my office:



The Striker field-stripped:



Next toy, please....