I would love to go against a VN2000 to see where i need to improve. but I think the +264 lbs (vn900 619.6 vs vn2000 884.2) might just even us up.
vulcan 900 power upgrades
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I think Kawasaki use's 'dry weight', and the magazine had a 'wet weight', what ever the hell those two are. It's a big disparity, and I don't get it myself. Nice if somebody could get an actual weight on theirs and let us know.
Roger that on the baffles and affecting the turbo. [ I wonder how Porsche and other auto manufactures deal with the restrictions mufflers and cat's present on their turbo's. There has to be some sort of back pressure to correctly pulse the exhaust as a rule. But I don't know that much about turbo's. Google, here I come]
Good luck with your project and on what you've done so far.
on a factory car, there is a balance between turbo performance and emissions. The manufacturers abide by the emissions standards more than the performance goals. Ever wonder why Subaru owners go with a ridiculously large exhaust? It's because opening up the exhaust gives a whole lot better turbo response and boost.
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Wet weight is the bike with all fluids in it, so it should be the same as curb weight. Dry weight is the bike without fluids. I don't know the usefullness of that number to anyone unless racing and not filling the tank up all the way.
It was a thought, but I wanted the first try to be as much of a "bolt on" as possible. I am in the middle of finding a smaller turbo so that boost can be adjusted (increased/decreased). As of right now the wastegate is purely added weight. As the turbo is too big and doesn't make "full boost" untill ~6000rpm. and that's only 6-8psi.
It is getting a majority of my free time right now.
I am having all the parts machined professionally for Rev 2 so it will look not so "Home Made". Maybe even a nice heat shield so I don't have to ride bo-legged.
What kind of turbo do you have on there now? What turbo are you looking into? I'd like to see pictures of your whole setup, pipes and things off the bike so I can see what and how you fabbed it all up. You have seriously piqued my interest for making this a project of mine. I found a pretty sweet Garrett Turbo that was only 600 bucks new, so I think I can build a complete system for $1000. Mine would be for fun street riding, not racing, but it would be a hell of a lot of fun.
Have you run into any issues with the boost? How are you tuning this? Is the stock fuel system keeping up or what have you done to upgrade it?
Have you run into any issues with the boost? How are you tuning this? Is the stock fuel system keeping up or what have you done to upgrade it?
I would like to help you out, but as I am kitting this up for sale too, I really can't give out too much. I can tell you this. My projected cost will be compairable to an aftermarket Exhaust/BAK/PCIII setup with a much more satisfying result! I'm shooting for a spring release.
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Can you post a short clip with it running? Turbochargers tend to kill the sound of the exhaust and I'm curious to see if it still sounds somewhat like a cruiser. The clip doesnt have to necessarily be a video, audio is just fine. Running at idle, revving in neutral and a drive by or two would be nice.
All I have right now is the dyno run at Schnitz. I'll see if i can pull out a run or two.
Updated: Just watched it again. The dyno fans are too loud to get an good usable audio out of it. I'll make a note to get some as soon as it's back together this spring. It still has grunt to the sound, but you can tell it has been modified. No where near "sportbike" sound, so I'm content.
ok, i posted my own thread "VN900 Turbo Kit"
My first thought on reading this post is the same as any other race car I've built, performance street machine, or modded engine, and I think the other guys were trying to elude to this. What do you want the end result to be???
Do you want more overall power? Or do you want more bottom end? Do you want to roast a tire on demand? Or run from the pack down the highway? Race it or ride it?
Turbo: yes stock comp ratio of 9.5:1 is too high for effective (note not impossible, just not as efficient as it should be). Then with a turbo you Have to consider spool rates and where you want the power to come in, not to mention cam choice to match and programming that would have to follow. Is it a power band change you need? Just making it come in earlier or later could something simple like a sprocket chg work? (yes I know it doesnt equal the power of a turbo, but you get my meaning)
Air box: cold air is better for power, crap to warm an engine up on, and one of e things that makes cold air better is at it is denser therefore for maximum (note not 100% necessary as many will tell you) efficiency do you need to look at remapping the fuel curve to match? Similar story w/ pipes, what do you want the end result to be? This changes your power band based on different back pressures, flow etc. ( I do believe this was mentioned earlier but can't go get the quote on my iPad).
Like I've seen waaayyyy too many guys do, put 10k$ into a machine that they could have put half of that towards a better starting platform and not needed half of what's left over to get it to do what they wanted in the first place. That's not to say I don't appreciate modding and experimenting, hell I love it, love reading and seeing all about it. But ask yourself the hard question first "is there a better platform to start with that even if I held off for a year or two it would be worth it in the end.". If not then hey go for it, just make sure you do it right and do the research, starting here is a great idea.
Do you want more overall power? Or do you want more bottom end? Do you want to roast a tire on demand? Or run from the pack down the highway? Race it or ride it?
Turbo: yes stock comp ratio of 9.5:1 is too high for effective (note not impossible, just not as efficient as it should be). Then with a turbo you Have to consider spool rates and where you want the power to come in, not to mention cam choice to match and programming that would have to follow. Is it a power band change you need? Just making it come in earlier or later could something simple like a sprocket chg work? (yes I know it doesnt equal the power of a turbo, but you get my meaning)
Air box: cold air is better for power, crap to warm an engine up on, and one of e things that makes cold air better is at it is denser therefore for maximum (note not 100% necessary as many will tell you) efficiency do you need to look at remapping the fuel curve to match? Similar story w/ pipes, what do you want the end result to be? This changes your power band based on different back pressures, flow etc. ( I do believe this was mentioned earlier but can't go get the quote on my iPad).
Like I've seen waaayyyy too many guys do, put 10k$ into a machine that they could have put half of that towards a better starting platform and not needed half of what's left over to get it to do what they wanted in the first place. That's not to say I don't appreciate modding and experimenting, hell I love it, love reading and seeing all about it. But ask yourself the hard question first "is there a better platform to start with that even if I held off for a year or two it would be worth it in the end.". If not then hey go for it, just make sure you do it right and do the research, starting here is a great idea.
Yes they/I do. Currently puts down about a 50% increase. Working on Rev3 hoping to break into the mid high 80s, but more is always better.
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and too much is just enough
sheesh, all I wanted to do was check in on any mods I didnt know about. lol. I've watched several commercials just to say I have a 900 I just got and it was used. Its a 2006 and it looks brand new. 7k miles. To my surprise yesterday, when investigating the tool area that even the saleman didnt know was there (?) , I discoverd a cobra adjuster box fi2000 hooked in the system. It has adjustments for idle, take off, and cruise. I havent touched any settings because the bike 'sh*ts and Gits' quite well. I though maybe a turbo injection air cleaner would help since that cobra box can compensate for the extra air, but at this point I am just concentrating on getting rid of the stock seat which hurst my arse. 
cheers all.
cheers all.
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i also have a 2009 vn900 and truly enjoy the bike. I have done all the obvious and am going into the motor this winter. Port the head , larger pistons, cam regrind, larger valves. I used to drag race PRO Gas Kawasaki's when I was younger. i love to take a small bore bike and kick some larger bore bikes ass. Its fun. If done within reason you can build and have a reliable engine that you don't have to maintain more often then regular care. Thunder Manufacturing in California can help you if needed? Good luck
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the quickest, easiest and biggest bang for your buck is to have just the inlet side cam shaft reground for Longer duration and slightly higher lift. Gives a big increase in Torque and a moderate increase in HP., but dyno it in. The Vulcan 900 Computer is programable.
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