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Ram air on the road
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:53 pm
by Drunkn Munky
Anyone run a ram air setup on the road? Been toying with the idea along with a bigger airbox, programable cdi with TPS from a cbr.
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:27 pm
by Lope
where would you get the intakes from? the top side air intakes on my NC24 ferring are not big at all, like barely 2" by 4" each.
I've also been thinking about doing some ducting from those air intakes to the airbox with some plastic sheeting, pool pipes and hot glue :)
afaik, loose ducting brings cold air to the intake, but well sealed ducting brings the extra air pressure worthy of being called 'ram-air' :)
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:35 pm
by Drunkn Munky
I already have the ram air intake, just need a fuel pump and mod the carbs to complete. Bike is going to be a road/trackday bike so more power from the ram air setup but i want it ridable for the road.
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:55 pm
by Smev
I was going to try this with my NC30
However the intake would interfere with the lights for the road set up and I seem to remember that the ram -air wouldn't be of much use on the road, probably more of a hinderance
fueling would be and issue too as I recall that it works best at higher speeds.
For all these reasons I decided to give it a miss.
Is it Chris at DynoPro or BMC that are the guys to speak to
Smev
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:05 pm
by wullvfr
apparently ram air is only more beneficial at much higher speeds,upwards of 130+mph.
wull
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:42 am
by Lope
wull: i'm sure the speed required depends on the size of the scoop.
but I imagine it ram air would only work well on the road if you have FI and a clever CDI.
post some pics!
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:41 pm
by wullvfr
Lope wrote:wull: i'm sure the speed required depends on the size of the scoop.
but I imagine it ram air would only work well on the road if you have FI and a clever CDI.
post some pics!
the good old zx9r uses ram air induction yet its still carbs.........apparently upwards of 140mph the bhp gains are in excess of 10bhp.they did a test on a rolling road with and without a massive fan.cant remember where i read this.
wull
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:13 am
by Cammo
wullvfr wrote:Lope wrote:wull: i'm sure the speed required depends on the size of the scoop.
but I imagine it ram air would only work well on the road if you have FI and a clever CDI.
the good old zx9r uses ram air induction yet its still carbs.........apparently upwards of 140mph the bhp gains are in excess of 10bhp.they did a test on a rolling road with and without a massive fan.cant remember where i read this.
Plenty of carbied bikes use ram air to good effect. A lot of the early kwaka ninjas used it, as did the last of the carbied cbr600's. EFI isn't necessary, but being electronic it's nearly infinitely adjustable to suit the engines fuel needs in all scenarios.
Maybe this is what you're referring to, and some good technical reading:
http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9508_ram/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9910_ram/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9912_ram/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Given the amount of mods required (carb float bowls modified, fuel pump, ram air tubes and airbox) it might not be a very logical mod for the road.
There's no doubt that ram air on NC's will give more power, but it will probably only be a benefit at high speed (>100mph). I have no idea how this would ride on the road, there might be some drawbacks compared to race bikes that are mainly looking for power from a wide open throttle situation (compared to low rpm response etc on a road bike).
From what I've read, the maximum pressure you could expect at the carb intakes from a good ram air system is probably 3psi pressure, which might equate to 1 extra hp at 60mph on a road bike.
The serious racers here on the forum will probably be pretty quick to tell us it works a treat on the track (which it does at speed!), on the road I'm not sure if it would be worth all the effort.
FWIW I'm not for or against it on a road bike, but you need to sort the fact from the bull before modifying your pride and joy!
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:16 am
by wullvfr
just buy a zx9r and experience it first hand
wull
Re: Ram air on the road
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:25 am
by Spike16
of course its gona make more of a difference at speed, the faster your going the more air gets rammed into the engine so doing 100+ is gona get your engine performing better than sat on the road at a traffic light.
Also if it was no good on the road then why has it become the norm on virtually all road bikes now, If I had the money to play about with this for my roady then id certainly do it, but id try and make an airbox that can hold an air filter aswell. however I am planning it for the racer, probably aa winter project now tho
and If you talk to Simon Ed he's just fitted it to his racer and said its given him something like 7-10bhp in the mid range, thats got to be good on the road