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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Dyno Run

Today after installing my new horn I brought the VFR to my friends Rich and Benny at Redline Motorsports to run it on their state-of-the-art Dynojet 250i dyno. The purpose of this visit was just to get a baseline measurement of the power and sate my own curiosity.

I had to "peel" the bike to lift the tank and gain access to an ignition wire. This allows the dyno to measure the engine speed of the bike, and therefore its torque output.

I've been seeing this girl for months and this is the first time I've got her naked. The fairings are surprisingly easy to R&I, as long as you read the manual. The clips and screws have to be removed and then the side panels slide forward and off.

Looks pretty good with her clothes off:
This is what it looks like under the tank:

The dyno results were about what I expected. I asked Benny to record runs in 2nd, third and fourth gear to show where the power is restricted.

This graph shows the power output in 2nd gear (restricted) compared to 3rd and 4th (unrestricted).

The upper 3 curves are the torque (with calibrations on the right side) and the lower 3 curves are horsepower (with calibrations on the left) The 2nd gear dip in horsepower and torque between 4000 and 6000RPM is very obvious. It's almost a 20hp / 20 lb-ft deficit. First gear is the same way. 3rd and 4th gear are overlapping on the chart, with virtually the same output.


Next, I asked Benny to plot the VFR's (4th gear) power over top of that of a modern litre bike. He had a dyno run from a stock 2010 GSXR1000 on file. Black lines are horsepower, grey lines are torque. The longer lines belong to the GSXR, as it has a greater rev ceiling. You can see how the VFR has a substantial power advantage up until 10000RPM, at which point the Honda peaks (142hp) and tapers off quickly while the GSXR continues building to its peak (152hp) at around 12k RPM, then over-revs right to 13000.




Someone needs to figure out how to trick the ECU into thinking that the transmission is in fourth gear, thereby reverting to its full-output throttle map. That would get back the lost power in the lower gears.

Here's a little video of the dyno run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMI06vATebc

6 comments:

  1. Hey man. Good to see your blog. I'm from Chicago and got my VFR1200 in May. I appreciate your comments and especially pics and reviews of accessories. I got the Honda Bags - which I agree are awesome and super easy and also the Honda Top Case. With the luggage rack installed, it's just as easy on and off and looks great. Obviously doesn't hold as much as your givi, though. I need a tank bag for it - I can only assume the Honda one you got would be the best bet. Is it black? Some pics made it look almost silver.
    I love the bike now. I questioned the purchase a couple times at first with the riding position and with a passenger, but I have no doubts now. Recently topped 4,000 miles. Thanks again for the blog. Happy riding.

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  2. Thanks for visiting, chewie. I'll be posting again soon... piss poor weather here this summer has meant not enough riding. I'll be doing some work to the bike soon and I'll detail it all in here.

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  5. Thanks for a very useful VFR Blogg.
    It is certainly possible for the dealer to update the 2010-2011 models to the 2012 software. You will not get the TC, but it should give the improved power curve of 1 and 2 gear. I consider to doing this SW update at my 2010 during the fall.

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  6. "Someone needs to figure out how to trick the ECU into thinking that the transmission is in fourth gear, thereby reverting to its full-output throttle map. That would get back the lost power in the lower gears."

    What about the top-end in 6th gear, is it restricted?

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