Plasma booster and ram air?

[Justlar]

Air intakes and ducting for Suzuki’s SV650S?
by Viento Designs San Diego, CA
$70 USD

www.svrider.com/adbanners/utilities/click.asp?bid=9&zid=1

Looks interesting, anyone have an opinion on this item? Do you think it will be a boon for performance or a bust?

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Cheers.

[buymenow00]

There was a pretty active thread on the old main boards awhile back about that ram air thing...most people thought it was a joke, especially considering the PRICE! You pay $70, for $7 worth of ducting? Ridiculous! And there are no documented performance gains, plus you'd have to rejet your carbs big time...I think the proof is that I have yet to hear of anyone actually trying these (or maybe they are too embarassed to admit it!!;) ).

Caveat emptor!!!! :grin:

[dnakase]

I have a ZX-12R and even there I don't think Ram Air really provides much of a preformance gain under most driving conditions.

You'd have to go to some mechanical forced induction system like a turbo to really cram more fuel/air into the jug. Then you have to address a lot of other issues...

But if it looks cool, hey $70 aint much. :clown:

[Setter32]

Correct me if I'm wrong.............most people do.......

But, I think ram air is only beneficial at really high speed. Under normal traffic conditions, that ain't gonna happen.

It'll probably help you out at the track though.

:D

[Burst]

If the intake was well insulated from engine heat there would be some VERY MINOR, and probably un-noticeable benefit. At lower speeds the air from the intake would be cooler than air flowinf directly across the enginge. But, since we are talking about thin plastic tubing, this would not be the case. The tubing will heat up and probably warm the air even more than if it were not there at all.

So yes Rod, you are correct. Also, if this is the ram air kit I am thinking about, even at high speeds you would be unlikely to see any benefit. The tubing is "ribbed" and would cause considerable turbulence when the air passes through it. This will slow down the air quite a bit. If you make a home made version of this kit with some smooth tubing, you will see much more gain from it. See SVRider.com tips and tricks. I think there is something in there abou tdoing a home made version.

[shearer216]

i heard that there is a new ram-air air box out for the sv and an ignition booster supposed to be good for another 4 horses. anybody know anything about it?:evil:

[bwarbiany]

An ignition advancer will boost HP by a few, I'm not entirely sure why... But I've heard that you don't want to go more than 4 degrees of advance. Again, no idea why...

I think that ram-air is pointless on an SV though... You need to be hauling to make it worthwhile, and I don't know anyone on an SV that's concerned too badly about top speed, or they wouldn't have bought an SV...

Brad

[shearer216]

the plasma booster is supposed to increase the spark energy, giving a hotter spark and a quicker more complete fuel/air burn which makes more power. the advancer makes the spark go off a tad sooner to get bettter throttle response in the midrange.
the ram air i think is more of a track day thing to help the sv not fall quite as far behind on the straights but i dont know if it works i found this link but thats it. http://www.bdkraceeng.com/Ram-Air%20Systems.html
anyone out there correct me if im wrong its been awhile, last time i was up on my motorcycle mechanics was at AMI in daytona in 96.
steve:geek:

BTW theres a carbon tank there to for ya no_brakes

[SoCalRPM]

WOW! You guys beat me to the punch.

I have the ram air on my bike and noticed a difference after installing it. Here's the story on the Ram Air (it supposed to be funny). It's only $59.95, and I "felt" a diffence and was really easy to install. But that's subjective. I hope to dyno the ram air with real #s this Friday at Bamm Motorsports.

http://www.socalrpm.com/SoCal_Web/News/Project_SV/CPR/cpr.html


I will be selling a ignition solutions plasma booster for the SV once the prototype is done. Guys have installed them on other bikes have gotten better gas mileage and better throttle reponse. The spark output on the SV is supposed to be a little weak, so I can see a HP advanatage to running a booster. I'll be dynoing it as well to produce real #s.

[shearer216]

hey socal how do you test ramair on a dyno? ive always wondered, really big fans?:confused: :D cant wait to see the results
steve

[SoCalRPM]

Actually yea... Most dynos have... You guessed it... Really big fans that feed fresh air into the bike.

[dodgy]

Hmmm... Plasma Boosters (gee) a new name for an old (1920's?)idea. If it's what I think it is, then you will be paying money for a quarter inch break in your plug lead.
Basically the ignition coil builds up energy (lots of volts) until there is enough across the plug gap to create a spark. When you have the extra gap it has to build up more volts, therefore a "stronger" spark. It's useful for cleaning fouled plugs and that's about it...
In theory it would probably retard the spark slightly,
but there's no way you'll get extra power because the spark only ignites the fuel and once the fire starts the plug has done its' job, so providing the fire starts who cares...

Wanna make your own, for a buck.
You require: two small round head screws (about 1/32" thread x1/2"long)
a knife
about four inches of clear plastic tubing just big enough ID to slide over your plug leads.
Step 1. cut plug leads
Step 2. screw screws into the cut ends so the threads go down the core
Step 3. Slide ends of leads into plastic tubing leaving about 1/4" gap between ends of screws

HAPPY TIME WASTING...

P.S. a note of caution, I have heard that using these things on some new "high energy" ignition systems can be detrimental to the CDI boxes, but (IMHO) I think it might be a myth

[bloodclot]

Originally posted by SoCalRPM

http://www.socalrpm.com/SoCal_Web/News/Project_SV/CPR/cpr.html

ummm you could do the same thing with two funnels and 5 bucks worth of tubing. so whats the point of paying $60 for it ............?????

[chazmox]

The $60 solution just won't work. First, you have to pressurize a closed cavity. Since cavity above the airbox is not closed and has large openings to either side of the tank, then the pressure will equalize with that of the outside air.

Also, as mention earlier, the turbulence created by the ribbing would cause airflow problems as with the almost 90 bends in the tubing. This is probably why the guy creating this setup did not put a "t" at the top of the airfilter to channel the air from the hoses into the filter - performance would be worse with the "t" because the engine would have to work harder to pull air through the tubes.

The airbox solution looks interesting. I wonder if that box mates flush with the tank? I still worry about the bend in intake hose, but it definitely is a better start...

The $60 solution would work better as a beer bong!

[Ikazuchi]

yeah..both those kits look like a rip off...
the first link didn't work so I'm really just going off the second one...

Any increase in airbox pressure helps power...the more air is fed in, the better.....but you'd have to rejet or you're going to run lean (bad!).

Also....the cooler the air the better...the air around the engine can be anywhere from 90 to 120+ while you're moving...moving the intake away from the engine to out front could drop the intake temp 20-30 degrees...giving you 2-5HP (no joke)....

Now if it's done right...and the air velocity stays up on the way to the throttle bodies....you can get another 3-6HP at 80mph. The ari pressure at the front of the bike can be enough (though maybe not where the fake air intakes are) to give you airbox pressure that's closer to neutral (instead of the standard vac in there).

With that $50 kit the intakes are waaay to small and the hose is crimped so the air will slow waaay down before it gets to the airbox...you need smooth tubing with easy bends...the straighter the better...


Hmmm...maybe this would be a good development project...anybody want to loan their SV to be a test mule?

[Tillers_Rule]

Originally posted by bwarbiany
An ignition advancer will boost HP by a few, I'm not entirely sure why... But I've heard that you don't want to go more than 4 degrees of advance. Again, no idea why...




Yea, the same is true for older cars. I advanced the ignition on my mustang from 10 to 14 degrees and noticed a very nice difference, was also told not to go any more than 4 degrees, but like you, Im not sure just why.

[Ikazuchi]

much more than that and you're sparking before the piston is all the way to the top....that always screws things up :D

[Freedom]

I recently read an article that concerned testing ram-air systems. For the Kawasakis tested, at least, it looks like ram air can make a difference. I've read that the ram air effect is noticeable on the ZX-11 from low speeds (30 mph or so) and that the engine won't run well without it, at least at any appreciable rpm.

Wish I could find the URL to that article...

[Freedom]

Here's that article on ram air:

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9910_ram/