Performance improvement

501 The Answer Is painfully simple .
We , you , are riding the Prius of Motorbikes , the greenpeace attempt from Honda's planning division to meet 2008 emissions . simple . The biggest problem is , and we're all like this , power is limited by all these mods , and I simply cannot Bare to ride something when I know that the engineers DESIGNS something to be limiting .
The first thing you MUST do is the Pair Valve Block-off . Use an Irony , works like a charm . Go look for it .
I live so far south of you bud , the chances of you ever meeting up on a bike is virtually Nil .I read every Mod with such caution .
there's a guy on Vfr Discussion forum building a SUPERHCARGER onto his VFR !! unbelivable the amount of engineering going into that bike . Im AMAZED .

 

To call this the Prius of motorcycles is pure BS. The Prius is an underpowered hybrid that carries a half a ton of batteries and skinny little tires for rolling resistance that doesn't handle for spit. This is a pretty fast bike that handles like a dream. Sure it's not as fast a supersport but on a scale of 1 to 10 where a 1000cc sportbike is a 10 and a Harley is a 1 this bike is a solid 8 or 9. I have noticed a distinct lack of dyno information about these mod's. The infamous butt dyno means nothing. Louder always seems faster and no one works for hours and is mentally ready to accept that it did next to nothing. Note that I am not mod averse. I put a pipe and jet kit on my Bandit because it added a dyno proven 10 hp. All the actual dyno info if have seen on a modern FI engine have shown gains of 1 to 2 hp after pipe and programming changes. I for one doubt if there are big gains to be made with this bike and will leave it alone until someone shows me some dyno results. Some people can never leave anything alone and will screw around with every vehicle they own. I wonder if some of that is going on here with all this O2 unplugging and such.

 

A guy named "tinyminds" did, sort of. He put on '99 pipes, which are catless and larger in diameter than 02+ pipes.
Here's his quote from another forum:

"Results are in. Picked my bike back up from the tuners. Took him almost 3 hours, 26 miles, and 1/2 tank of gas. So much smoother now. As some of you know, I installed 99 VFR Headers on my bike ( Catless Headers ) and already have several mods done before this one including Staintune Exhaust, K&N Air Filter, Power Commander 3, and 02 Sensor Eliminators. Heres my before & afters.

Before:
2004 Honda VFR800 (Staintune Exhaust, K&N Air Filter, Power Commander 3 "Running Cozye's Map )

After:
2004 Honda VFR800 (Catless 99 Headers, Staintune Exhaust, K&N Air Filter, Power Commander 3 "Dynotuned Map")


Before ------ After

@ 20% Throttle Opening
HP: 23.6 ----- 32.8
TQ: 31.8 ----- 36.3

@ 40% Throttle Opening
HP: 47.9 ----- 64.6
TQ: 45.2 ----- 47.1

@ 60% Throttle Opening
HP: 78.3 ----- 87.6
TQ: 51.2 ----- 53.3

@ 80% Throttle Opening
HP: 94.8 ----- 100.3
TQ: 54.6 ----- 56.1

@ 100% Throttle Opening
HP: 101.2 ----- 109.3
TQ: 57.7 ----- 59.2

Vtec is smooth as butter, and the mapping at highway speeds should be any different than I was getting with Cozye's map w/o catless headers. Something I realized he did in the mapping is put a 4 in the 2000rpm 0% slot and a -8 in the 1000rpm 0% slot, to help remove the fuel injection delay, made a huge throttle response difference. Below is a link of the map thats on my PC3 now. Note: This made is designed for catless headers, I wouldn't recommend using it on stock headers.

Heres the map file: Attached File Vtec_CatlessHeaders_Staintunes_K_N_PC3_N2s_.djm ( 2.19K ) Number of downloads: 131


Time to go ride!"

I am using essentially the same setup and difference from a stock bike is astonishing. Rideability is vastly improved, This is what you get when modify the 'perfect bike'.

 

Well stated Rwortman.

 

This is interesting but the comparison is not from stock. There are lots of ways to look at this. If we believe the dyno numbers are comparable (a big if because dynos vary) then we have a guy that has invested well over a thousand dollars in modifications and gained nearly nothing but better sound. Then he put on a different exhaust header and had the fuel map professionally tuned and got another 8hp. How much was from the new header and how much could have been gained by tuning alone is impossible to tell. Also the fact that a 99 header makes more power says nothing about how a 2004 header with the catalyst smashed out will perform. Exhaust tuning is not that simple. It isn't impossible that smashing out the catalyst actually loses horsepower due to the fact the the rest of the header is designed with that catalyst restriction in mind. That said, I know the primary reason guys mess with their bikes is because they like to and because they want it to be different from the next guys. Have fun!! I kind of enjoy working on em too. Most times though, I would rather ride.

 

Well, sir; you wanted proof - so there it it. Power is up across the rev band, as is torque. The point is not increase at peak, but increase throughout, with the most being at VTEC transition, and where hp and tq cross. It is a much more enjoyable ride - the engine is more flexible.
Ho hum is OK for most, those who prefer to take the safe path and stick to the envelope of just stock. But, some of us like to improve upon the merely good. That includes installing different handlebars, better footpegs, improving the suspension, and creating a more flexible engine characteristic. The effort makes riding all the more enjoyable, and makes your ride, "your ride".
You can go on doubting the evidence, or you can try it yourself. Or, you can take the safe route, stick to stock, and just ride, satisfied with merely "OK". But don't denigrate the effort those take to improve the machine. Individualism and thinking outside the box is what made America great.

 

Honda leads the world in R&D the bike is plenty fast and handles extremely well, Cycle World didn't name it the worlds best street bike cause it needed vast improvement. I switched out a few things cause I was unhappy with the sound, not the HP, speed or handling, now I think my ride is darn near perfect for my needs.

If some want to spend thousands for minute improvements, more power to them, to each his own.

 

As I said. It shows two things. One that a 99 header and professionally tuned fuel map adds a small but significant horsepower gain. It says nothing about the performance of a gutted 6th gen cat equipped header and it also shows that adding a staintune exhaust, air filter, and PC with somebody's map in does next to nothing for power. Tweak away. I never said the bike can't be improved. OTOH I haven't seen much improvement on any machine from merely disconnecting factory equipment. And I have seen many a machine running like dog doo doo and/or expensively damaged by folks that thought they always knew more than the factory engineers.

 

Hey, easy on the Prius digs.
It has enough power to get my fat @$$ to over 100MPH and it gets better gas mileage than my VFR!
Same size tires as on a ton of economy minded cars.

 

The improvement is not insignificant; those of us so inclined to try are much happier for the effort. We are not content to have our performance parameters dictated by engineers trying to stay within box drawn by lawyers.