Was about to pull trigger on the RCC stage 1, but now...

[Dr. Gonzo]

I've got a line on a complete stage 2 Hahn setup for not much more than the RCC kit and it comes already attached to a low mileage 2001 busa. The seller has already modded for an external wastegate and has installed a BOV. The bike is slammed with a 6" stretch and is basically track ready. He said he installed the kit in 2005.

My concern is that he's running 14lbs of boost on stock internals with a questionable map. He says he's only been to the track a couple times but one bad run could have done unspeakable things to the motor I'd think. When I ran it I didn't see any smoke. Are there any other telltale signs I should be looking for? My plan would be to drop the boost down to 10 lbs or less, buy a SS header from Frank, get a solid dyno, and head to the track.

Thoughts?

Thanks
G

[Dr. Gonzo]

BTW, I'll be taking a test ride late this aft and may be buying yet today so any advice between now and then would be greatly appreciated.

G

[BikeMasterBahrain]

Dont quote me on this but i read somewhere that the Hahn stage 2 is eqivalant to the RCC stage one ecu kit. i would look further into this before moving forward..just my 2cents.
whatever u decide..good luck.

[GsxrBots]

"low miles?"

As in 1/4 mile increments...

[Dr. Gonzo]

Heheh... yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. He says he only had it to the track a few times. It's got 11k on the clock with 3kthe of that blown.

BikeMaster, that's my understanding as well about the RCC 1 vs. the Hahn 2. All things being equal I'd buy the RCC in a heartbeat, but he's practically throwing in the bike for $1k more than the RCC kit new. I'm just leery about what an 11 year old bike with a heavily boosted 7 year old blower looks like on the inside.


G

[GoldenChild]

lmk if you dont buy it have a guy looking for a bike...

[turbo11]

you know what they say "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is" you might be buying someone else's nightmare, so try to check out as much as you can.

[OZBooster]

at 14 psi it must be decompressed and running good fuel, and tuned pretty well
stock rods and pistons will cope ok if nothing is going wrong , detonation and leanouts can upset them pretty quickly though
its looking like a good deal on a fairly basic setup ,ask the owner lots about the tuneup and who did it, are there dyno printouts available showing a/f
has he done any real maintainence since the install,
is it realy running a true 14 psi and what is the wastegate spring

[Dr. Gonzo]

So the verdict is, title trouble... so didn't get to take ownership today. Hopefully he gets it figured out on Monday and I can pick it up next weekend.

As far as the setup, no dyno chart for a/f. In fact, he's running a map that was not generated with his bike on the dyno. I did a short test ride today and it seemed to run ok. I only ran in town so the best I could get to on the boost gauge tattletale was 0. Goosed it a few times and it had some power building.

The plan is to get it back home and get it on a dyno pronto to see how good or bad things are.

Thanks for all the responses. I'll post results when I get it officially.

G

[OZBooster]

Does it have the bigger 20g turbo ?? usually the 16g is hard to keep out of boost

[Dr. Gonzo]

OZBooster: I went back to some video I took of the bike and the turbo had 49178-5 on it which seems to indicate that it's the 16G. I was in town so couldn't get over 35-40 mph. Not much option to get into boost unfortunately. All open highway coming home so will be hard to resist opening it up a bit then.

Goldenchild: Will let you know if it doesn't pan out. At this point as long as he can clear the title the deal is done.

Turbo11: Exactly my concern. He says he just doesn't ride it anymore so hopefully it's sound. I know I'll have some tweaking to do since for instance I weigh a lot more than he does and there's almost 0 ground clearance when I sit on it with how slammed it is. I also suspect either an alternator, wiring, or battery issue since he's had it on the charger both times when I came to check it out. I noticed the gauge lights had a little flicker when riding as well. He had done some rewiring there and there such as putting in an air shifter (since removed) on the horn button. There are also some connectors dangling in the undertail which I believe are for the turn signal? I may have to undo some of the customiztions. All part of the fun though I guess.

G

[GNBRETT]

personally I think buying a ticking time bomb from everything you have stated. been to the track a couple times means he's been to the track dozens of times if not more. not many slam their bikes and stretch them 6 inches with a Turbo kit and go to the track a "couple times". some do I guess but most dont.

and with a questionable map and the fact that he unloading it means he's likely hurt the motor and wants to dump it before it scatters all over the highway. just my opinion but id save urself the aggrivation and keep searching. there are plenty of Turbo bikes out there without the drama you've stated including whatever title issues ur referring to. and with wires hanging everywhere it leads me to believe it was a hack job.

I think ur buying this with ur heart and not ur head. Turbo bikes are like Herion. Once uve ridden one you tend to stop thinking straight and want to get back on it asap without really thinking it though.... like you said "One bad run could do unspeakable things to the motor".

it only takes a micro second to lean it out and hurt the motor. its ur money but imo soon it will cost you way more then ur anticipating. 3k Turbo miles on an 11k mile motor with questionable tuning is not a wise decision. I would think long and hard before you finalize that deal.

the summer is ending soon. there will be plenty of good deals poping up.

[Dr. Gonzo]

All good points though at the price we've negotiated I'm pretty sure I could rebuild the motor and still be quite a bit under a pristine bike. I looked around this area and pickings are pretty slim for a decent turbo busa. What I have seen has people asking well over $10k for late model gen 1s. Wisconsin is kind of a wasteland for modified Japanese bikes. Now, if you want to buy a Harley on the other hand....

You're right though of course. It's a crap shoot at best. The upshot is that by getting a 2nd bike I'm not reliant on it for a daily driver. If I turbo my 2007 and f it up then I'm pretty much screwed.

G

[OZBooster]

I would be cautious about opening it up on the way home , your best bet would be trailer it home and take it to an experianced turbo tuner before riding it hard , second best to get a datalogger like the Innovate or wego and check it yourself
only takes a second or 2 running lean to do damage , there are many of us here that can post pics of "damage" , its not uncommon on a setup like your describing
sounds like you are able to troubleshoot the wiring issues , battery would be my first replaced part ,

[Dr. Gonzo]

I'm convinced. Talked to a buddy who has a hitch. I didn't know it was only $15 for a bike trailer at uHaul so that's the new plan.

Thanks!

[Pit Bull 13]

Good Luck with it

[GNBRETT]

yea if u can steal it for a great price then a motor build is no big deal then. GL

[Murderedout07]

That bike sounds schetchy as hell. There's no way in hell I'd ever buy a turbo bike off someone I didn't know personally. It dont take much to melt a motor with a turbo. Hahn kits aren't known to be exactly the best.

Perfect example, I got a bike at my shop. Was sold for a guy by a known (shady) racer in town. Told my costomer that it was an Rcc kit with a built motor/trans, it made x amount of power at xx.xx afr. Well first ride taking the bike home, rolled into boost and melted the motor.

Well it melted 2 pistons that were stock, needs a complete head/valve job, the rods were stock so had to replace them, the trans was all stock. Oh, and that Rcc kit was just some junk home made kit, so we bought a new Rcc kit.

These are the types of nightmares you could run in to buying a turbo bike from an unknown person.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Well, the deed is done and for better or worse I'm now a turbo busa owner. As recommended, I opted to trailer it home. First call when I got back was to the nearest dyno to line up a baseline run and see if it's even remotely safe to get into boost. Hopefully I can get in early next week. Going to be hard to stay off it till then. In the mean time I need to undo or at least downplay some of the strip mods so it's at least somewhat 'streetable'. Right now it's slammed so much it almost is on the ground when I plop my big a$$ on it. Thanks for all the insights and I'm sure I'll have more questions along the way.

The fun begins!
Gonz

[The Big Red One]

Good luck Gonz and welcome to the world of boost......we're a rare breed