Performance tuning... Part 2

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have managed to increase the top speed of the bike.

But first!...

Winter is coming so I decided to ditch the stock "Manlung" tyres off the bike and replace them with something a bit stickier and softer. The Manlungs have a particularly hard compound which is great for the summer but in anything slightly damp grip does decrease dramatically.

So dropping it off to the best local motorbike shop I have, "Redditch motorcycles" (a full 16miles away) isn't one of these glistening, clean showroom's where men having their mid-life crisis's go to spend hideous amounts of money on shiny kit, No, It's a wonderfully simple workshop with piles of exhuasts in corners and old british bikes slowly maturing in the background.

Chris, the owner, had my bike for 2 day's to fit new tyres and do some "engineering" to her as well, but tyres first, 

I had ordered a set of Metzeler ME7 and ME22 tyres and was quoted £120 fitted, I got a call the next day and unfortunately the Metzeler's were out of stock, So instead I have received a set of "Sava" MC7 tyres.

Sava, are a european tyre manufacturer and are part of the "Goodyear" brand, so they aren't cheap tat, like what came on it,  They are also being sent out on new bikes as stock tyres.

They aren't as "knobbly" as the stock tyres, and they have a slightly more sporty look to them.

With any brand new tyres you are meant to go very slow and they are generally very slippery when new, these however seemed much stickier than stock tyres straight away! 

I haven't ridden them in the wet yet but I will report when I have.

These were fitted for just £100! A bargain for such a good tyre.

But that's not what I promised you is it? Nope you're here to see how the top speed has been increased...

Whilst in the workshop Chris kindly offered to cut my exhaust's in half, pop out the very restrictive catalytic converters that our fitted to our bikes for euro emissions, then re-weld.

Chris got as far as the cat and decided it wasn't going to budge, so he re-welded the exhaust with a piece of pipe off a triumph, with very neat welds.

It ditches the bulges that houses the cats and the exhaust now runs very freely, On test it has yielded just a notch over an indicated 70mph, (65ish actual) on the flat.

So it hasn't transformed the bike into a raging sports bike but it has meant that I'm keeping up with traffic along busy A-roads without issue and furthermore, I can even overtake a few vehicles slower off the mark after junctions. 

Without the cats in the exhausts the EGR valve at the front of the bike is now redundant, So i merely nipped the hoses running to the engine, blanked them with a bolt in the end of the hose, secured with some electrical tape.

It's a non-permanent fix until I find some little blanking plates. 

But Just with this, i've found a slight increase in eagerness from low to mid rev's and a bit more throaty exhaust note.

so there we have it, need a bit of speed to keep with busy traffic? take a hacksaw to the exhaust, 

though if you're doing it at home I suggest you read this blog instead.