Vapour Lock

Owners of the 1999 and 2000 model of the Suzuki Hayabusa may face this problem when they were to increase the engine compression (in one way or another); resulting in higher ambient temperature under the fuel tank. Add to that equation a in line fuel filter, it's a very good recipe for vapour locking the fuel system.

According to wikipedia,

Vapor lock (also known as vapour lock) is a problem that mostly affects gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines. It occurs when the liquid fuel changes state from liquid to gas while still in the fuel delivery system. This disrupts the operation of the fuel pump, causing loss of feed pressure to the carburetor or fuel injection system, resulting in transient loss of power or complete stalling. Restarting the engine from this state may be difficult. The fuel can vaporise due to being heated by the engine, by the local climate or due to a lower boiling point at high altitude.

The 99-00 model of the Suzuki Hayabusa utilises the external fuel pump as opposed to the in-tank fuel pump from 01 model onwards. This provides the opportunity for vapor lock to occur. The external fuel pump runs 2 fuel lines, 1 inlet and 1 return line. The inlet is gravity fed and is not pressurized. This allows the fuel to vapourize when the engine compartment temperature rises too much due to heat soak.

The fuel pump when moved to the interior of the tank helps prevent vapor lock, since the entire fuel delivery system is under high pressure and the fuel pump runs cooler than if it is located in the engine compartment. Under high pressure the fuel will be harder to vapourize and thus vapour lock is almost unheard of in K1 models and above.

What are the causes of vapour lock?

A vapor lock is more likely to develop when the vehicle is in traffic because the under-hood temperature tends to rise. A vapor lock can also develop when the engine is stopped while hot and the vehicle is parked for a short period. The fuel in the line near the engine does not move and can thus heat up sufficiently to form a vapor lock. The problem is more likely in hot weather or high altitude in either case.

What are some solutions if you have a vapour lock issue?

1. Rerouting of the fuel lines away from heat generating components,
2. installation of a fuel cooler or cool can,
   
3. shielding of heat generating components near fuel lines,
4. and insulation of fuel lines.

Amongst the above suggested solutions, you can also consider swapping to an in-tank fuel pump which requires the replacement of the entire fuel tank, fuel pump some fuel line fittings. I have personally tried items 3 and 4 with good results.

If you have a fuel problem, do check if it is caused by vapour lock. You would want to be caught stuck in traffic with a stalled engine and unable to start due to the vapour lock issue.

Beyond Superbikes: The Yoshimura Hayabusa Fujio Yoshimura talks about the Japanese built GSX-1300R Racer

196 horsepower, 408 pounds, 200mph

"Racing Superbikes is okay, but there is no excitement," deadpanned Fujio Yoshimura as he began his explanation of why the roadracing planet's best known tuning firm is not competing in the Japanese All Japan Superbike championship in 1999.

"The (Suzuki) factory does their own thing, and there's no chance for a (satellite team). I decided to let (the factory) do the all-out war, and we'll do the X Formula class. I think that's more fun."

The Japanese X Formula class bears some resemblance to the AMA's Formula Extreme in that both classes are aimed at the bigger displacement bikes such as the Honda CBR900RR and the Yamaha R-1. There are three significant differences in Japan, and they are that the factories are barred from having in-house racing teams in X Formula, X Formula bikes can be claimed for 2,500,000 yen (~$20,000), and the X Formula bikes compete with the Superbikes on the track. These three significant differences combine to level the playing field between the factory teams and the privateers.

Well, level is a generous statement, as the factory supported superbikes still out-qualify and out-run the X Formula bikes. At least the difference in lap times between the shiny teams and the duct tape teams doesn't approach three to five seconds, as is starting to happen in AMA Superbike races.

"The factory system is so precise now, so efficient," the son of legendary Pops Yoshimura lamented. "Everything must be tested and done well. For a privateer team like us, we just don't have the resources." Yoshimura's claim of being a privateer team lacking in resources defies what is seen at the race track in America, but the purposes of Yoshimura USA and Yoshimura Japan are much different.

The factory wants to do their own development and things, you know," continued Yoshimura. "The U.S. side of Suzuki, they don't have any factory to do such an operation, so we're doing it for them. They have their own team for motocross, but they don't have anything for roadracing. (Suzuki U.S.) have their own team for motocross, but they don't have anything for roadracing. (The U.S. factory bikes) come directly from Suzuki-Japan to U.S. Yoshimura. I own the company, but I let the guys in California do the business."

Hence in Japan Yoshimura is completely on his own for turning the Hayabusa from a street bike to a race bike.

As for the modifications to the Hayabusa, the answer was classic Yoshimura:
"You can't do anything."

Uhhh .... Nothing? Fujio, come on.

Yoshimura then admitted to his Hayabusa having special pistons.

And a special camshaft.

And specially made close ratio gearbox.

And the Superbike kit GSX-R750 fuel injection system, with higher pressure and in-tank pump.

And the GSX-R750 Superbike kit swingarm.


"We're researching this bike for the people in America, Europe, and also in Japan. I know they love those things," Yoshimura explained. "These special parts will be available in another two months. I'm sure the people in the States will want a lot of tuning parts."

"Right now we're putting out about 196 hp. We began at 165. So we added another 30 hp without spending too much money, just changing the camshaft and the pistons."

Besides the swingarm change, Yoshimura has worked hard at reducing the weight of the Hayabusa. "It's down to 185 kg (408 lb.) now, about 100 lb. lighter. But it's still 50 lb. heavier than a Superbike. It's quite a handicap."

Even with the extra weight, the Yoshimura Hayabusa can accelerate to an impressive top speed figure. "I think we're the fastest on the track, 284 kph (176 mph). We're getting 10 kph on the Superbikes."

Suzuki race kit swingarm =$15,000Further weight reduction and further horsepower improvements can be realized, but at this stage in the Hayabusa development the concern has been transmission durability. "It comes down to the size of the motorcycle. The actual transmission gears are so heavy duty for the size of the bike. It will not shift as well as the racing one, because the gears are so heavy. I don't think there's so much we can do about that, we have to live with that. That's my concern though, how the transmission would hold up with that much horsepower and torque."

If Yoshimura had stayed with Superbikes, this kind the question of transmission capability would probably never come up. There lies the appeal of the X Formula class: the lack of technology creates opportunity for new technology more so than a situation where technology is plentiful.

"A lot of people ask me, 'Why you start racing the Hayabusa?'," Yoshimura admitted. "I keep telling them that I can't go back 25 years when the original Superbike racing started in the States with the Kawasaki Z-1. Those days are gone. Superbike is not like that anymore. The fans are a lot more enthusiastic about the out come of that bike (the Hayabusa) than Superbikes. With me, it's the same."

-- Images and text by Tracy Hagen. Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved

SPECIFICATIONS	POWER：142kw(193ps) / 10,000rpm TORQUE：142.2Nm (14.5kgm) / 8,000rpm WEIGHT:198kg (DRY) STD : 215kg
MOTORCYCLE	GSX1300R 2000Model
ENGINE PARTS	Tri-Oval Titanium Cyclone Exhaust System Pipe : Titanium / Silencer : Carbon φ81 High Compression PistonKit (12.0:1 Forged) ST-1 Camshaft Set
TUNING UP (ENGINE)	Cylinder Head Porting Valve Polished & Lightened Dyno Tested Re-assemblled by YOSHIMURA FACTORY BMC Air Filter
TUNING UP (CHASSIS)	Original Oil Lock Piece,Piston Valve Shim & Oil Height
CHASSIS PARTS	Aluminium Fuel Tank	Capacity : 24Litter
	Fairing Kit	Upper,Lower, Carbon Front Fender, Seat, Screen, Tool Box, Seat Rail, Mirror, Head Light (High : Halogen / Low : HID),Turn Signal etc.
	Fairing: Coloring	YOSHIMURA Original Colour(Red & Gun Metal)
	Magnesium Step Kit	Adjustable Back: 19 or 31mm/UP: 49 or 61mm
	Hydraulic Houses	Front Brake, Rear Brake and Clutch Hoses
	Digital Dual Temp Meter Set	Water & Oil Temperatures,Voltage,time & Stopwatch
	Chassis Protector
	Brake Pad Set
OTHERS	Racing Stand Serial Number : Cylinder Head Serial Number : Original Name Plate Yoshimura Hayabusa X-1 Book

1100cc 2-stroke triple Superbike

Imagine the power to weight ratio of what the Superbikes are getting these days. Imagine adding 50% more to that! Imagine no more as there's a bunch of crazy enough people to build a 1100cc 2-stroke engine making more than 250hp.

One for the "Because We Can" file: What do you do when you're bored with the paltry horsepower from a garden-variety Japanese superbike? We've seen power output from the Japanese fours plateau around the 150-hp mark (at the rear wheel on a dyno) for a few years now, and the OEMs seem to be focusing more on rideability rather than the exponential increases in torque and horsepower we've grown accustomed to over the last three decades. If they can make 220 hp MotoGP bikes, they can make them for us. If they wanted to.

Stephen Rothwell of The Two Stroke Shop, located in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, decided to tackle this crisis by using tried-and-true technology: the two-stroke engine. Rothwell had heard enough of legendary two-strokes like the Yamaha TZ750, so he decided to build his own legend. Rothwell and partner Wayne Wright (who designed two-stroke motors for GP race teams in New Zealand) were already building complete top-end kits for Yamaha two-stroke motors, so they already had some of the parts and the know-how for such a project.

"What the world needed was an answer to the current literbikes, which we find anemic," Rothwell told me over the phone. "If a bike can't hoist the wheel in 4th gear off the throttle it's not a superbike." The 1100cc three-cylinder TSS1100GP should have no such problems; when completed, it should make 250 hp at the rear wheel and 160 ft.-lbs. of torque. A powervalve will keep things rideable, with a characteristic hit of power as the revs climb. The chassis will be a lightly-modded Kawasaki ZX-10R ("it's beefy enough") and Rothwell expects the wet weight to be under 340 pounds: "when you dismantle a literbike and see how heavy that four-stroke motor is, it's just sad, really." The next project? The 112-hp TSS500 engine installed in a Yamaha WR450 supermoto chassis. "There's nothing 'super' about a four-stroke supermoto," sniffed Rothwell.

Not crazy enough? Rothwell and Wright can build you a 2200cc four-cylinder that could pump out 500 bhp and 300 ft.-lbs. of torque (add 10% if you want to run alcohol), although he admits that would be "far too much for a motorcycle, even by our standards." But the goal of TSS isn't to crank out demented one-off specials for wealthy lunatics. Rather, it's to bring attention to the efficient, powerful, and even environmentally friendly (Rothwell says these engines could be Euro3 and CARB compliant with the use of direct-injection technology) potential of two-stroke motors. The hope is that the Japanese factories will return to the smokey, wheelie-ing ways of their youth (minus the smoke) and build light, fast and durable motorcycles that can scare the crap out of us.

For more information: click here

New Map Loaded

Loaded a new map into the power commander just now. Made some adjustments based on all the rides I've been doing over the months.

Lean down some of the regions for fuel economy when going touring and chugging along in stop-and-go traffic. Also tried to keep a certain level of richness in that mixture to reduce the running temperature of the engine.

Overall throttle response have improved, toned down a bit of the torque at the lower end to help the engine rev up faster through the lower ranges. Pulling harder now with the faster revs. Shall do a separate dyno run to verify the results on the 2 maps.

Dyno will be posted at a later date when I get some time to go do the runs.

New Toy arriving

Morgan CarbTune II.

It gives four simultaneous readings so you can balance the throttle valves on carburettor or fuel injection bodies. (In the instructions the term “carb” refers to both fuel injection throttle bodies and carburettors.) Stainless steel rods indicate the vacuum on the scale. The clear tubes are made from high impact plastic. Damping is by a small airflow restricter in the rubber connecting tubes.

Motty AFR Tuner

The Motty AFR Tuner is an all in one package tuning system for providing all the necessary features for automatically custom mapping a typical naturally aspirated fuel injected motorcycle engine.

The Motty AFR Tuner is aimed at the motorcycle engine enthusiasts and offers a never before seen flexibility and level of control over the fueling of the engine.

Modifying motorcycles for racing or street riding was always popular with their owners. Installing aftermarket performance components such as exhaust systems, air filters or even internal engine modifications are very common. However the stock engine management systems found on the motorcycles of today do not compensate for the improved air flow of these aftermarket components which leads to the engine being operated out of its optimum air-fuel mixture range. In most cases this only means that the output power is below what the given modification would be capable of with correct mixture ratio, but in extreme cases it can lead to engine damage from internal overheating or detonation.

The Motty AFR Tuner was created to solve this problem. It automatically controls the air-fuel ratio of the intake charge according to the user defined target air-fuel mixture ratio map and it continuously maintains this even if new modifications are made to the motorcycle or slow changes like air filter clogging or engine wear take place.

Main features

• Digital wideband lambda sensor controller for high precision air-fuel mixture ratio measurement. The wideband oxygen sensor technology allows measuring the air-fuel mixture ratio accurately in all possible engine conditions from idle to full load.
• Fuel injection control with two high resolution 14x73 cell fuel injector control maps. Off grid map values are calculated with 3D interpolation and the map resolution is especially detailed in the low throttle regions to deliver the smoothest off throttle engine response.
• Automatic fuel injection self mapping for providing the engine with user defined air-fuel mixture ratios in all engine conditions. The two fully user editable target air-fuel ratio maps share the same 14x73 cell resolution and sophisticated interpolation algorithms as the injector maps allowing optimizing the engine for different goals in different engine conditions. For example a rich mixture for best power in the high load areas, a leaner mixture for good fuel economy in cruising conditions and a richer mixture for good throttle response in the low throttle regions.

  The automatic self mapping feature utilises the real-time wide band lambda measurement and the fuel injector control capability of the Motty AFR Tuner to progressively reach the target air-fuel ratio by simply riding the motorcycle.

  

• Integrated data logger for recording the most important engine parameters: air-fuel ratio, engine speed, throttle position, gear position (on models equipped with the sensor), coolant temperature, vehicle speed and an external 0-5V user input.
• Top speed derestriction for Suzuki GSX-R1000 and GSX1300R Hayabusa motorcycles. The maximum engine revolution of these motorcycles is limitted to a lower value in top gear by the ECM. The Motty AFR Tuner can overcome this restriction by enabling the full RPM range also in the 6^th gear.

Supported motorcycle models

The Motty AFR Tuner can be installed on most naturally aspirated fuel injected motorcycles. The engine can have up to four cylinders, has to be equipped with high impedance injectors, and the design of the exhaust system should route the exhaust gases from all cylinders into an exhaust collector pipe where the wideband lambda sensor can be installed.

These requirement are met by all current Japanese inline motorcycles with either the stock or an aftermarket exhaust system with lambda sensor bung.

The Motty AFR Tuner is sold with a generic wiring harness which requires custom installation to the wiring harness of the vehicle.

Price: €459.90

This seems a lot better that the WEGOII I'm looking for, full access to the setting of the AFR (air/fuel ratio) to allow for custom power delivery and fuel economy. Direct driving of the fuel injectors means that the response time of the system should be quite good. It also offers the logging of the AFR (which will be quite redundant after it auto corrects for itself).

The downside I can see is that the degradation of the lambda sensor over time needs to be monitored closely as it will severely affect the tune of the engine. Some thing to consider in the shopping list definitely. When this unit comes, I'll be saying good bye to the old Power Commander.

Piggyback Fuel Management System: Dynojet Power Commander

What is a Power Commander?

The PC is a fuel injection and ignition timing (on some models) adjustment unit that plugs "inline" with the bikes' stock ECU. The PC uses original equipment style connectors so that no splicing or cutting of the harness is required. Most installations take less than 15 minutes, some as little as 5 minutes. Changes are made to the bikes fuel and ignition curves via the PC's onboard microprocessor. Using this technology we are able to offer a large area of adjustment without making any permanent changes to the bikes' ECU (electronic control unit). Removing the PC returns the bike to its previous stock condition. The Power Commander can be ordered preprogrammed with a your choice of several settings, based on the modifications to your bike. The unit also comes complete with software and cable link that allows you to change between different maps or make adjustments to a map file.

How much power gain?

"The perfect air/fuel ratio will ensure that the engine can produce the maximum possible horsepower for that given combination". A typical street rider spends a great deal of time riding in part throttle conditions. Shown below are two graphs of a motorcycle before and after installation of the Power Commander . The top graph shows the horsepower curve accelerating at a 40% throttle opening and the lower graph shows the corresponding air / fuel ratio. You can see a large horsepower increase between the two. The red curve shows a typical stock motorcycle with minor performance modifications (slip-on exhaust). The blue curve shows that same combination with the PC installed and you can see that the line is nearly straight. So the rider will feel a large improvement while riding the motorcycle and it is very possible that the peak wide open throttle horsepower is unchanged. The correct air/fuel ratio number (say 12.9:1 or 13.2:1) depends upon many factors like combustion chamber design but what we want is that figure at every point in the curve (straight line).

Power Commander Versions

Power Commander I
The original Power Commander was introduced in 1997 and was available for the Suzuki TL1000S, TL1000R and 98 GSXR750. This Power Commander offered "Fuel Only" adjustment and proved very successful. Only a limited number of units were sold worldwide and the product was discontinued in 1999 when the Power Commander II was introduced.

Power Commander II

The Power Commander II was introduced in 1999 and featured the latest surface mount electronics. Additional features were added like the faceplate button adjustment. The Power Commander II also allowed fuel and ignition adjustment on select models. The PCII utilizes "sensor offset" technology to adjust the fuel curve. Signals from the various sensors on the bike are monitored by the PCII and these signals are recalculated and sent to the ECU in order to achieve the required fuel curve.

Power Commander III

The Power Commander III was introduced in 2000 and is externally similar to the PCII. The PCIII utilizes "direct injector control" technology to control the fuel curve for models that do not possess the appropriate sensors to allow sufficient fuel adjustment using the PCII technology. The PCIII takes the injector pulse from the ECU and changes the pulse width signal to the injectors.This unit allows "Fuel Only" adjustment.

Power Commander IIIr
The Power Commander IIIr was introduced in November 2000 and utilizes the same "direct injector control" technology as the PCIII. The "r" version contains additional circuitry and in some cases, additional connectors, which allow Ignition adjustment as well as fuel adjustment. Ignition adjustments can provide very positive results on the race track, where factors like special fuel and highly tuned engines are used.

Power Commander III USB
The Power Commander III USB was introduced in 2003 and utilizes the same "direct injector control" technology as the PCIII. The USB (Universal Serial Bus) port provides an instant, no-hassle way to connect the Power Commander module to a computer. This model also features an expansion port for future add-on modules like an ignition module.

The Power Commander III USB with Wide Band Sensor technology The Power Commander III with Wide Band Sensor technology was introduced in 2005 to deal with the closed loop area of the BMW motorcycles. This module includes a Bosch 5 wire wide band sensor that replaces the stock narrow band sensor. With the wide band sensor in place the Power Commander is able to monitor the air/fuel ratio and constantly adjust the fuel curve to the target ratio which can be set in the software.

-taken from exoticsportbike

Currently I'm running the PCII and the availability and additional options available on the PCIII USB makes it very tempting to get one.

Fuel Injection (Part 1) - Fuel Delivery

The bikes these days are now slowly replacing the use of carburettors with fuel injection (FI) systems. The carburettor itself is quite an amazing piece of component controlling the amount of fuel that gets into the combustion chamber. It is something that the modern fuel injection system tries to emulate with the use a wide array of sensors and a microprocessor.

The following are a few essential components of the fuel injection system. This part will just be covering how fuel is actually being delivered into the combustion chamber (injection as opposed to suction). The amount of fuel delivered (injection duration) will be covered in a later part.



Fuel Pump - an electric powered motor that draws fuel from the inlet port and pushes it out through the outlet port. This provides a source of pressurised fuel that is essential in the functioning of the fuel injection system.
Fuel Regulator - a mechanical component that as it name suggests; regulates the fuel. A spring valve system in the fuel regulator ensures that the pressure of the fuel system is maintained. This allows the amount of fuel injected to be precisely controlled. Any changes to the fuel pressure will result in a drastic change in the fuel delivery into the combustion chamber.Injectors - a solenoid controls the plunger that connects to a needle valve. When a voltage is applied, the needle valve is opened and due to the pressure in the fuel system, the fuel shoots out from the injector. The injectors will used in the normal operation of the engine, the injectors will be turned on and off in pulses, known as injector pulses.


Knowing how the fuel delivered is the groundwork to explore how to properly deliver correct amount of fuel based on the engine's requirement. That's another topic for another time.

Fuel Pump

Something that is mechanically quite simple but costs quite a lot. Arrived today and was fixed up immediately.