Turbo

[Iowadiver]

I'm a fairly mechanically inclinded person, but I've never done engine work to the extent I would believe a turbo kit would require. I don't like others working on my bike, mainly because if something after market is going to be done, I want to do it myself.... a pride thing, and that is why I have the bike anyway. So... after deciding which turbo kit you might want to do, tell me about install... how hard is it? What is all required/involved? Average cost? typically difficulties? Any info would be great...

 

[au03z71]

Never installed a turbo before, but my guess is after you got the fairings off it wouldn't be that difficult.

The toughest part IMO would be setting up the turbo seal lubrication (i.e. you'd probably have to tap into the oil pan/sump)unless the turbo had some type of independent oil system[doubtful]. I could, however, be way off...

 

[suzuki4life]

rccturbo's kit I have been told is fairly easy to install. Velocity kit isn't all that great but a determined person can install it (I recommend the rcc kit over the velocity for MANY reasons)

biggest and hardest thing to do is installing the header.

I use studs on the bottom, bolts on the top and knurled washers whenever possible.

modification of the oil pan is simple, fuel pump a bit harder(on post 2000 bikes)


Double check everything and run a good 50-50 race gas mix until you feel confident the bike is 100% (I run 25% race gas daily as a precaution on the turbo gix butI don't like tearing down engines over some cheap gas or boost creep.

 

[thepushercg]

you want the truth. pay someone to do it. this is from experence. oh yes you can do it, oh yes you will have headaches and get very very angry, my advice pay someone else to do it.

 

[Guclu]

you want the truth. pay someone to do it. this is from experence. oh yes you can do it, oh yes you will have headaches and get very very angry, my advice pay someone else to do it.

(plus 1)

 

[Commuta_Busa]

many people let others do the instal. I think this is because they'll be familiar with the kit and also already have experience with any minor modifications that might be needed. Even though these are kits many times there are little tweeks needed. I've never done a velocity but I've done two ghetto's and now three RCC's. The RCC's are the closest to an actual "bolt-in kit". I've never done a velocity instal so I can't really comment on those. Also, some things during an instal are hard to swallow when it's your first, such as cutting the fairing. Fuel line routing is very critical because there needs to be enough slack for the tank to be raised/lowered without any chance of restrictions.
If you take your time double check everything and have someone to call on the fly to answer any questions then you can do it yourself.

 

[DaCol.]

you want the truth. pay someone to do it. this is from experence. oh yes you can do it, oh yes you will have headaches and get very very angry, my advice pay someone else to do it.

(plus 1)

+2 along with SOMEONE who has done DOZENS BEFORE !!! Remember the MAP (you do have a PC don't Ya ? ) will need to be recalibrated and THAT takes someone who KNOWS what he is doing for the best and LONG TIME results (as in not having to say; " Ya know, there I was and it just BLEW UP"

 )

 

[Iowadiver]

great info.. sorry my topic tracker didn't notify me of your responses... couple questions:

- have someone else do it because its a pain in the ass, or moreso because of potential technical difficulties that others may not be able to handle? I'd really like to do it myself if possible

-what fine details should one look for, beyond what was mentioned about fuel lines, etc.?

-this may sound dumb, but i'm known for dumb questions... what does a turbo do for the bike.. exactly?

-What would cause a poorly installed turbo setup to "blow up" the engine? What precautions/checks should be taken/done to ensure proper performance?

-I don't have race gas handy... can I just stick with the premium i've been using? Is it that bad? What about using some sort of aditive regularly to ensure you are keeping a clean running engine?

Power commander is my next project/purchase... but I'd really like to do the turbo sometime in the near future after that... funds permitting of course!

 

[Dobieman]

-this may sound dumb, but i'm known for dumb questions... what does a turbo do for the bike.. exactly?

I would say you need to learn what a turbo does before you try installing one  

 

[johnnycrash]

https://www.hayabusa.org/forums/?act=ST;f=21;t=73925;hl=turbo%20install



Great write up on a turbo install.

 

[Mr Bogus]

I have installed more than 300 turbo systems over the years and the real rub is "who designed" the thing.. the engineering will make all the difference in the world as to whether you can/will do it yourself..

"Most" turbo kits are a "get what you pay for" item.. Back to engineering... a well designed system takes time to iron out the bugs and maybe 3 or 4 revisions to get things tweaked just right.. All that work garners money out of the finished product.

Call someone like Smithers and get an objective opinion on systems they install. They can also give you advice and help on parts maybe you are not comfortable with..

The bike turbos look to be pretty straight forward (no oil pumps/sumps etc) but unless you have some experience installing them and know the pitfalls, you better be prepared for some frustrations and mistakes..

Take your time however and you should be able to pull it off ok.. (just my opinion)

 

[thepushercg]

the best i can tell you is go new, again go with rcc kits there the easiest to install,
if you really want to do it, get ready to ask a lot of quesions, get frustrated when something is not right,but theres so many that will help walk you threw, pinky,smithers,and a ton of others came threw for me many many times on questions i now look back and say lord how i wished i didnt ask that, it was so simpile. read the heck out of the turbo forums on here, sorg and turbobikes, most answers will be there allready.

the turbo is boost. boost will blow an engine if too much and or fuel/ air ratio is not right

make sure you get a good tuner for a good map and if stage one use smaller boost to keep the motor from saying byby.

 

[Iowadiver]

great feedback guys.... I just want to take time to get educated.... like I said, this project is down the road for me... maybe in the next year or so. I do have a basic understanding of what the turbo is doing, but I was more looking for specifics on the various systems out there and what it is going to do for this bike.

 

[CDiPrecision]

Bring it to me.. we will hook u up with a turnkey package, based on how much more HP you want. It will be tuned and ready to go. this is the only real way to do it without alot of learning curve.