Vacuum guages for data?

[infidel]

It seems to me that it can be very difficult to tell if some modifications have helped performance, or just made things different. Sometimes wishful thinking gets in the way. Sometimes the butt-dyno lies. Sometimes louder just seems more powerful.

I was thinking that before I swapped in a performance air filter or modded the airbox, I could try to find a way to collect a little data to see if anything actually changed. My idea is to run two vacuum guages. One in the dirty side of the airbox. One after the filter. Then just run the bike with a camera to record all the guages (speedo, tach, and vacuum) at once. Then, pop in a Pipercross filter, and try it again. And then, maybe a small airbox mod, and try again.

I know there are a lot of folks on this forum with vastly more experience with engine modding than myself.

My questions are-

Will the difference in vacuum (if any) be indicative of performance gains?

Is there another way I could measure actual gains with some kind of simple guage? (Dynos are great, but I don't have one.)

Should I just quit being such a wuss, and start hacking on my bike without making everything so damned complicated?

If it matters, my Busa is an '06 with gutted, shortened stock mufflers. Pair valve removed. No other performance mods.

Thanks

 

[outlawbusa]

My thoughts are with a simple air filter swap and air box mod the guages are not going to tell you much.

Even with an advanced data logger system the runs could vary enough to make up for the small amount of improvement you might see.

 

[infidel]

Ok. That makes sense.

Regular vacuum guages may be a little too vague to learn anything from. I have a friend that may be able to get me some kind of air-flow meter. If I can get those to work, I'll update this thread.

 

[Busashot]

Quit messing around and just do the small box mod with a BMC Race Filter. It has been proven to be a benefit since 1999. Just dew it!! Oh. You'll probably need to tune a little for the new extra airflow. Hard to say with your stock exhaust and gutted canisters especially on what you mean gutted.