Tbird short pipes

[DaveM]

Dale I never thought of this and I think you are right. I can now see how just the difference in length could make an impact never mind the design elements that come into play with the flow of the gasses

 

[dazco]

What seems odd is that it must be less restrictive to make so much difference in power over the long TOR's, yet it doesn't seem louder. I love that but don't get it. I always figured louder=less restriction=more power. The long TORs were really disappointing when i put them on because i felt no difference. yet the shorts added a load of power, much more than the thunderbike pipes did on my speedy, and enough that i'm no longer jonsing for the BB kit. I'd say they made as much difference on this bike as I got on the speed with the thunderbikes, drilling out the airbox, re-jetted, added irridium plugs and nology coils. The longs may as well have been stock except louder and harsher sound. The longs are straight thru and i think the shorts are too. So it must be the length that is just right to create the perfect balance of back pressure and lack of restriction, and in getting it just right the engine runs more in balance and therefore less vibes.

I'll tell you this, and i'm not exaggerating....if all the reviews on the bike were done with a bike equipped with free flow filter and shorties like mine has, as good as the reviews have all been they would have been considerably better. It's a different bike now, really.

 

[DaveM]

Have you done the air box mod on it yet as the better the air flow the better the performance will be as you know. I always enjoy hearing about these tweaks on these bikes and what you can get out of them

 

[dazco]

No, i can't till i can change the fueling. When i get that dobeck performance device i will.

 

[DaveM]

Yes I think that would be a good time to do it as it will be along the same lines. I am really interested to hear what the dobeck is going to do for you and what you will gain out of it. Of course these small mods will only last you a month or two before it is BIG BORE time

 

[dazco]

One of the Tbird guys said his dealer told him that with BC customs pipes, which from what i read offer the same sort of gains as i got from shorties, that it opens up the bike better than the BB kit. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist of what he said seems to be that the pipes do more overall than the BB. I don't know that i'd believe that necassarily, but one other member with both said before he got the BB his pipes gave it the higher RPM power better than the BB kit but not the low torque which the BB kit brought. Again paraphrasing. But i found the pipes gave me low and high, all around power. So my thinking is that with the airway opened a bit and better fueling that the ridiculously lean condition it seem to have now, it will likely be as good or better than the BB kit. Of course not as good as the BB + pipes and optimal fueling. maybe down the road i will want more but for now i think this will do it for me because even the pipes and stock TOR fuel map has me pretty darn happy.

 

[DaveM]

Well going by my experience with the Speedy I could not believe the difference I got by doing the pipes, air box and jets. So I can well believe that on a motor this size you would have a huge gain by doing these few mods

 

[dazco]

seems so since pipes and filter alone did quite a bit. Funny....i was just thinking about when i bought it and was talking to my dealer about buying some TORs and he said i should get 7-8 HP. Later i told him i felt nothing (long TORs) and he was stumped. next time i see him i will have to mention this, as i bet he still has not idea the shorties work so much better.

 

[DaveM]

Pity you did not know this before you got the long ones. Hopefully if you do tell him it may save some other a bit of cash. I wonder if after you have done all these mods and you go to the BB kit will it still add extra HP on top of what you have already pulled out of it now

 

[dazco]

[quote author=DaveM link=topic=10126.msg50600#msg50600 date=1284617276]
Pity you did not know this before you got the long ones. Hopefully if you do tell him it may save some other a bit of cash. I wonder if after you have done all these mods and you go to the BB kit will it still add extra HP on top of what you have already pulled out of it now
[/quote]

i'm sure it will. The question is how much and whether it's worth it. It's really not so much a BB kit as a set of cams. thats where most of the power likely comes from being that the BB kits does not change the compression ratio and is only 100cc. And i talked to my mech about putting just the cams in when i do the 12k valve adjustment and he said i can, and they are available seperately. It would cost me another $600. But i'm really not sure if i want to or what results i would see. That fueling module is in the mail as we speak, so if i find that with that and air mods i gain a good bit, i don't see myself really wanting more to the degree i'm willing to do cams or entire BB. If i can get say double the increase i got with the pipes doing this, i will be too happy with the power to be thinking of kits !

 

[DaveM]

A lot hinges on that fuelling module and what extra it will give you. I would also not really go for the cams unless you really have to. I am not one that likes doing mods like this. I suppose I have just struggle too much messing with mechanical mods in the past such as this

 

[dazco]

I'm not, at least i have no intention of getting them at the moment. But before the bike is ready for the 12k i will have already seen what the mods and module can do. I can't imagine i would get any less of a gain than at least what the shorties gave, and i think i'd be very happy with that. but i think it will yield more than that.

 

[DaveM]

How happy are those guys that have had the full BB kit done already. Pity you could not find one with the full kit to try out and then you could actually feel how close you have come to this.

 

[dazco]

I might be able to, but all the dealers are far away and It's a lot of trouble. Some swear by it, some say they don't seem to notice anything thing except at high RPM's, one even said pipes made more difference. it' goes from one end of the spectrum to the other and i'm sure there are many reasons for the variance in opinion. at the moment i'm more concerned with what i can get out of what i have including the soon to arrive TFI device. I'm not going to worry about anything beyond that for now. then i'll play it by ear and may even sell and go for a new one in '11 or '12 and make that a 1700 and my last bike that i'll take to the grave with me. I just don't know yet. But my gut tells me if i want the 1700 to wait and get a new bird with the 1700 already when they either do another run of those or start making that the default size or optional size from the factory.

 

[DaveM]

Personally I would rather go for a factory done one as well. Not too keen to mess around on a new bike with a dealer doing this type of work. It would be nice to get your take on one once you have done all these mods so we could hear what difference you found between the two