Curiosity got the cat, so I did something radical tonight after work --- I had my 900 dyno'd. It was something I wanted to do to see how I'm doing with two of the big three. I have the Baron BAK and Cobra FI2000 PowerPro fuel processor. It was fun!
Caveats aside, the results seem to confirm significant (albeit not huge) benefits.
As a point of reference, I'll use the attached dyno of the stock bike, since I dont have a dyno of my bike in stock configuration. The reference dyno was posted in a thread on the other Kawasaki forum awhile back. The reference bike achieved a max HP of 42.62 and max torque of 48.12, both measured at the wheel. I feel OK about this as a reference given a piece of information the dyno guy gave me---he said there is usually around a 16% drop between power numbers measured at the crank and numbers measured at the wheel. Kawi reports HP and torque numbers at the crank for the 900 as 50 and 58 respectively. Note that a 16 percent drop would yield roughly the numbers in the reference.
My results are also attached. In 4th gear --- my pulley modified 4th, no less, which is very close to the stock 5th --- my max HP was 50.26, and my max torque was 51.76. If you're measuring, this is a 19.6 percent increase in HP and a 7.6 percent increase in torque over the stock reference. The HP number is very encouraging, while the torque number is in the right direction but less exciting. The smaller increase in torque is kinda funny, because my butt dyno feels mainly the torque. In any event, these numbers, if accurate, would seem to suggest significant benefits from adding the BAK and PowerPro to the stock bike. This benefit is also something I feel.
But is the benefit mostly the BAK? The dyno guy told me the PowerPro was making the mixture way too rich in the early and later parts of the power band. He thought I might do even better with no aftermarket processor. He railed against the notion that a processor that does not rely on an oxygen sensor (the PowerPro doesn't) could do very well. If you search the threads, you'll find others raising similar arguments about the the PowerPro. I don't know whether this criticism is traditionalists having a hard time adjusting to the way the PowerPro works, or whether it is valid. This question needs a better engineer than me!
The dyno guy admitted that he couldn't get the oxygen sensor in where it need to be because the baffles in the stock pipes got in the way. So I wonder if the conclusions about excessive richness are actually valid. I really don't know.
That's about it. I'm happy with my mods, and the near 20 percent increase (apparently) in power I've achieved without new pipes. These results will not make make me go looking for new pipes (too loud) to complete the big three. But maybe that would increase the torque further? Or is the processor an issue? Or maybe the two of the big three I've chosen do more for HP than torque? And I may ask Cobra what they think about the overly rich mixture findings. ...There I go again. But it's fun.
Happy and safe riding,
Dan
Caveats aside, the results seem to confirm significant (albeit not huge) benefits.
As a point of reference, I'll use the attached dyno of the stock bike, since I dont have a dyno of my bike in stock configuration. The reference dyno was posted in a thread on the other Kawasaki forum awhile back. The reference bike achieved a max HP of 42.62 and max torque of 48.12, both measured at the wheel. I feel OK about this as a reference given a piece of information the dyno guy gave me---he said there is usually around a 16% drop between power numbers measured at the crank and numbers measured at the wheel. Kawi reports HP and torque numbers at the crank for the 900 as 50 and 58 respectively. Note that a 16 percent drop would yield roughly the numbers in the reference.
My results are also attached. In 4th gear --- my pulley modified 4th, no less, which is very close to the stock 5th --- my max HP was 50.26, and my max torque was 51.76. If you're measuring, this is a 19.6 percent increase in HP and a 7.6 percent increase in torque over the stock reference. The HP number is very encouraging, while the torque number is in the right direction but less exciting. The smaller increase in torque is kinda funny, because my butt dyno feels mainly the torque. In any event, these numbers, if accurate, would seem to suggest significant benefits from adding the BAK and PowerPro to the stock bike. This benefit is also something I feel.
But is the benefit mostly the BAK? The dyno guy told me the PowerPro was making the mixture way too rich in the early and later parts of the power band. He thought I might do even better with no aftermarket processor. He railed against the notion that a processor that does not rely on an oxygen sensor (the PowerPro doesn't) could do very well. If you search the threads, you'll find others raising similar arguments about the the PowerPro. I don't know whether this criticism is traditionalists having a hard time adjusting to the way the PowerPro works, or whether it is valid. This question needs a better engineer than me!
The dyno guy admitted that he couldn't get the oxygen sensor in where it need to be because the baffles in the stock pipes got in the way. So I wonder if the conclusions about excessive richness are actually valid. I really don't know.
That's about it. I'm happy with my mods, and the near 20 percent increase (apparently) in power I've achieved without new pipes. These results will not make make me go looking for new pipes (too loud) to complete the big three. But maybe that would increase the torque further? Or is the processor an issue? Or maybe the two of the big three I've chosen do more for HP than torque? And I may ask Cobra what they think about the overly rich mixture findings. ...There I go again. But it's fun.
Happy and safe riding,
Dan