Motorheads, give me your input

I was looking at this today -

the hp increase is quite large

What are the potential drawbacks here? I am a tinkerer, not a mechanic so any advice would be appreciated. I read stuff, but I just don’t get how this is going to negatively affect the bike other than running higher octane fuel, possible increase loss of tire and the requirement of better tires for traction, and possible premature belt (CVT) failure.

I don’t drive long distances, I mainly do loops around the mountains and I like to accelerate to the posted speed limit once I start coming to the end of the turn/curve.

I got plenty of time to consider this, it is 20 degrees out, snowing, and the wind is howling.

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I’ll bet there is a FB group full of gurus for the exact bike you have. They will have the best advice. Bolt-on sounds easy but I’ll bet it’s not that simple. I was looking at putting a turbo on my “hot rod” at one point & ended up just doing an engine swap instead. I also increased my exhaust size which costed me a little bit of low end torque but it really comes alive in the higher rpm’s. Naturally aspirated engines often don’t have the bottom end to handle a lot of boost because they weren’t designed for it. Some folks that go all out with adding turbo chargers end up swapping out rods, cranks, etc… to support the added performance, not to mention all the tuning that can come with it. Reliability & longevity are compromised when you soup up an engine. Easiest solution would be a different bike but I’ll bet there are some intake & exhaust options out there that will get it breathing better. Won’t compare to a turbo but you’ll definitely notice. @MuscleMyHustle would be the guy to talk to around here.

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Good little kit. With that being said it’s hardly ever straight forward. no mention of any type of boost control, fuel upgrade, or intercooling. All 3 are a must for longevity. Ecu tunes sent via email and reflashed into the ecu are a big no no in my books, one size doesn’t fit all with tuning, it can’t because of different climate, altitude, fuel quality etc it just doesn’t work like that with standalone ECU’s. Also no mention of turbo exhaust compressor and front housing size, this matters for drivability you don’t want it to be a light switch in terms of power. If you look at the provided dyno chart you can see all the power is made up top, how much of your time do you spend in the upper rev range while out on the road?, with turbo anything it’s give and take where the power is, I would sacrifice top end power for low end drivability in a street setting any day of the week, I’ve had 1000hp turbo sixes and v8’s they’re a pig on the street. In terms of CVT they’re largely unreliable in most application by way of design be it in anything, something to weigh up if it’s worth dealing with CVT issues with another 40% in hp. I’m a turbo man at heart but for small 900cc engines With street duties I wouldn’t go the turbo route unless it’s a hack I’m having fun on.

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Thanks.

I don’t do facebook at all. I did at one point in my life until I attended a security training and then I closed it all down. I do go to another forum for this particular bike that isn’t very active. That place goes from the keep it stock don’t mess with it group, to the extreme, and not much in the middle. Most people are content with putting stickers on it, painting, doodads and lights etc, not too many seem interested in maximizing it’s performance. Like I said, I am a tinkerer not a mechanic. Maybe I’ll just get their performance header and flash the ecu for the header, intake, and exhaust mods, get a pedal commander and leave it at that.

Thanks a lot. This is what I needed to know. I wouldn’t have thought about it all being at the top end, when I want it at the bottom end. I want to go from zero to the posted speed limit in .2 seconds. I don’t drive on the highway too much, mainly mountainroads, but I do wind it out to the posted speed limit regularly and pass vehicles often. Seems like the performance header, the exhaust and intake mods I made, plus the ecu flash (going to get it mapped to fine tune it later) will be all it is. Maybe some other doodads and whatnots as they become available on the market.

Not trying to trash the bike, I enjoy it way too much, but I didn’t buy it to look at it. It I had a money tree in the back yard I would mod it to no end, and throw it in the gutter and buy another if it didn’t work. But alas, no tree groweth.

Going from 3 wheels to 2 helps with the speed :wink: In all seriousness those Rykers are so much safer than the Trike Goldwings and Harleys, we keep trying to get my grandpa on one since he now tips over his streetglide every other ride. ECU flash will help tremendously especially down low, reason is manufacturers are currently limiting throttle input to the engine depending on the speed which is very easy with fly-by-wire throttles. My new Aprilia and my 1290 SuperDuke R were both limited to about 70% throttle in 1st and 2nd gear. Turn off the safety crap and let her eat!

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