Bump up the VFR’s horsepower?

Has anyone been able to bump up the VFR’s horsepower?

Several years ago there was a supercharger kit available but that is not quite what I am looking for. I’ve been riding a Ninja 1000 lately and, while I love my VFR, the extra horsepower of the Ninja is really nice.

Has anyone been able to get significant horsepower gains by tuning the bike on a dyno, with a power commander with or without aftermarket exhaust or air filters? I am really looking for before and after dyno runs and cost estimates to see if it is worth the effort.

 

What model/year you have?

There's not a ton of stuff that can be done. Sure, you can gain a few extra ponies here and there with the PC and professional tune. But what are looking for? 10hp? 40hp?

It'll never be a Ninja - short of using the super charger. You can shave off some pounds, tune her, and if you're willing to give up some top end, swap out the chain and sprockets. Maybe go down 2, up 1 or similar. That will at least have you doing wheelies at will.

 

There just is not any way to get the kind of power I think you are wanting withoot spending a pile of money.

 

it is a 98 5th gen

I thought I would ask...but I wasn't hopeful. If there was a dyno tuning payback we would probably all know it by now.

I ask because over on the COG board they have been able to take the C14 from around 130ish HP in the factory state of tune to a max of 160hp. These are dyno number from, aftermarket exhaust, tuning the fuel maps, and changing the secondary intake butterfly schedule. These are achieved by either a Power Commander or reflashing the ECU with new custom maps. It's a completely different engine and fuel and air management system, but I thought I would ask.

I think your suggestion of a sprocket change might be the best bang for the buck.

 

-1 up front 520 D.I.D. sprocket kit is an awesome bang for the buck upgrade, loads of fun around town and at the drag strip, while not being too bad on the highway. Dropping weight off of these heavy bikes is the most rewarding, but if you want to know how to pull some extra power out of these bikes let me know.

 

General rule of thumb for Jap sportbikes:

Full exhaust and PC can get you ~7%, sometimes a little more with airbox mods, but airbox mod gains are almost always offset by drivability issues on the low end. Figure around a grand, maybe half of that if you find used stuff and DIY.

Cams are good for another ~7%. Install and time new cams or regrinds, then re-rune: another grand. Less if you DIY.

Good head work gets another 3-5%, but can be spendy.

After that, you get into money. Blower or major engine work, but you can make another 15-25%, depending on what you do.

Bottom line: full pipe and PC can get you decent gains for least money, but beware the fixation on ponies. If you get excited about a jump from 98 to 106 and then spend a lot of time and effort to tweak 108, you made the 10% threshold, which is pretty decent actually. Any stock gxr750 from the last 12 years will still demolish you short long and everywhere in between.

A hot-rodded vfr is still a vfr. You can't make them into something else w/o spending big bucks, and then when you run into that guy who did the same work on his 600 racer, you're still doomed if he can ride. Better to enjoy it for what it is, or sell it and buy a liter bike.

The quickest easiest cheapest way to uncork a vfr is go down a tooth in front, and if you still want, go up one or two in the back. It will get nasty in a hurry, but only up to 128 or whatever. The nice thing is, you can quickly go back to taller gears for touring. Good luck!

 

Yeah, what he said & see my 10year refresh threads. Y2K Model, Motad headers, Delkevic small can, my own cams (std RC45 based) airbox mods & K&N filter, custom map. Takes it from 95 to 107rwHP. More cheap mods to test soon, plus check my VFR848 thread for a more involved project !

 

I have a '98 with K&N, Power Commander and full exhaust.
The difference is noticeable but it's not a sport bike by any means.
If that's what you want (sport bike) your money would be better spent somewhere else.

 

:thumb: Can't believe I forgot SlickFitty! You can double your HP if you put it in your oil and coolant.

 

you got a full exhaust? pics or i didnt happen.

 

The bike has been stored at a friend's house lately because I need to do some work on it so no pics at the moment.
It looks mostly like this but on a red bike:


Mine has an oval Ti can. I think the logo on the can looks different there but still shows the old slip-on style.
I put that sucker on in my apartment's asphalt parking lot. Don't repeat my mistake.

 

weight loss = free HP

Start dieting and eating lettuce Muhahah

-Drew

 

The ratio I've heard is 10lbs = 1 HP

 

A Lithium Iron battery is supposedly 1/5 the weight of a regular lead acid battery.
Remember that the next time you need a new one.

 

I added one of those batteries, the standard lead battery is 4.35Kg, a super lightweight version is 0.75KG & the full fat 10A/Hr one I built is 1.2Kg, so a healthy saving. By building my own it only cost me £75gbp

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...t=pcb.481139341961508&type=1&relevant_count=2

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...185&set=pcb.481139341961508&type=1&permPage=1

Not sure if those pictures will work- and I am limited at work as to what I can do so here goes nothing.

-Drew

 

Facebook says the content is unavailable

 

How did you build your own?

 

Good advice. I'm not looking for modern sportbike performance, just a little more power. Best solutions so far seem to be,

1) drop a tooth in the front sprocket (cheap and easily reversible). No more power but low end torque
2) lighten then bike and the rider. Aftermarket exhaust, battery
3) power commander + pipe + airbox + tuning. Starting to get expensive and probably least bang for the buck.

I'll probably stay with one and two.

Thanks