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PostPosted: 05 Feb 2019 00:55 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
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Current ride: Buell 1125R
Hi folks,

I thought long & hard about posting this but F**k it here goes. I've Been doing a bit of maintenance on my 1125r & got round to looking at the air box system.

Can anyone tell me if the air box is meant to be some sort of pathetic excuse for a ram air system? Or is it just a Suffocating or Quietening factor?

It looks to me like the lower part of the scoop is far too small for ram air to occur to any great degree, even at high speed. It also looks like the lower air scoop is fed the warm air coming off the radiators & that the air temp sensor is right there in the hot air too which definitely won't help anything.

When I had the bottom scoop off to do the plugs, I noticed that without that scoop there is a clear path for the fans to blow air right across the top of the engine, and also a far better ram air system to be had for cooler air over the engine.

There are also breathers from the engine going into the airbox and this is also a shit idea & does not help anything apart from give the breather somewhere to blow steam & oil vapour where it can't be seen. Directly into the God damned intake.

Now, I've got a feeling simply just from my own 40 years or so experience of modding air intake systems on most of the bikes I've ever had, that this F***er is just asking to be seriously modded.

So with these things in mind I'm about to modify the F**k out of this air box and air flow system.

I'll let you know how I go on.

I think it's going to get very interesting on a myth busters level ha ha.

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PostPosted: 06 Feb 2019 12:43 
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Current ride: The wife
Location: Cofa's tree
https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthrea ... 25-Ram-Air

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PostPosted: 06 Feb 2019 17:42 
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Current ride: Buell 1125R
Finmows wrote:
https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?21458-1125-Ram-Air


Thanks for that Finmows.

I've got it running fine with the airbox inner off again, seems to have made a real difference to both the intake & exhaust since fitting a Race ECM. The Remus exhaust seems to have come into it's own as well & I'm back on to the straight through end pipe again.
All I'm doing is letting it breathe a little better & utilising the gap the ram air scoop being off leaves, to channel air across the cylinder heads to aid cooling the engine.
Some of the articles I've read reckon the top end suffers but it doesn't seem that way on mine, I seem to have gained around 10mph.
Power delivery is different & it isn't as raucous as it used to be but it rides lovely.

I'll keep people informed as I go along.

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PostPosted: 07 Feb 2019 00:41 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
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Current ride: Buell 1125R
Hi Folks,

There seems to be very little information around regarding the ram air effect on the 1125r.
All I seem to be able to find out about it is that it produces an extra 6 BHP at some point higher up the rev range. Seen a few mods to the snorkel to make them bigger & that may be something I look at at a later date.
But for now.
To be brutally honest, I'm not tuning my bike for speed or power and I'm really not as bothered about losing or gaining BHP, as I am about having a bike that is manageable, predictable and gets cooled enough to stop heating the F****n' petrol in the frame & chucking it out of the breather tube.
I've got a feeling these 60mm throttle bodies will draw enough air & fuel through with limited or no ramming effect to satisfy my A Road blasting capabilities.
Be a different story if I was racing or dragging, but for the roads, engine manageability & handling take precedence for me.
Seems though that the more I look at this ram air setup the more possibilities there are anyway, maybe I just need to look at getting cooling air over the cylinder heads to the frame, still got three weeks or so to work something out & there's still the K brackets area to explore.
I'll keep posting as I go along, If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would gladly try to incorporate anything that may be of any use.

All the best Folks. Paul

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PostPosted: 07 Feb 2019 16:23 
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Joined: 08 May 2009 19:54
Posts: 2467
Current ride: 1999 X1
Location: Texas, Gerrards Cross
I wouldn't call it ram air on the 1125 as the intake isn't really in a high pressure area. The fact that air has to travel through the frame limits any meaningful improvements to be made. Forcing air into an airbox that isn't changing in volume as rpms change doesn't really work until enough pressure builds to surpass what it's able to do normally. It'd be better to make it scavenge more efficiently with some headwork and new cams with timing to improve volumetric efficiency.

If you want to see ram air on a Buell, look at the XBRR race bikes with its front fairing scoop in the highest pressure area and double intake tracts going directly into the airbox. That would be the next thing to do but only matters if the top end is designed to make use of it. On a stock engine, you'd be wasting your time.

Bone stock, the 1125 is pretty good for a road bike. Discomfort from engine heat is one of its shortcomings as is heated fuel in the frame. Plenty of people have added thermal tapes to the inside of the frame to help. Doesn't solve getting the heat out of there though. Apparently that was of secondary concern to Erik.

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PostPosted: 08 Feb 2019 10:16 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
x1glider wrote:
I wouldn't call it ram air on the 1125 as the intake isn't really in a high pressure area. The fact that air has to travel through the frame limits any meaningful improvements to be made. Forcing air into an airbox that isn't changing in volume as rpms change doesn't really work until enough pressure builds to surpass what it's able to do normally. It'd be better to make it scavenge more efficiently with some headwork and new cams with timing to improve volumetric efficiency.

If you want to see ram air on a Buell, look at the XBRR race bikes with its front fairing scoop in the highest pressure area and double intake tracts going directly into the airbox. That would be the next thing to do but only matters if the top end is designed to make use of it. On a stock engine, you'd be wasting your time.

Bone stock, the 1125 is pretty good for a road bike. Discomfort from engine heat is one of its shortcomings as is heated fuel in the frame. Plenty of people have added thermal tapes to the inside of the frame to help. Doesn't solve getting the heat out of there though. Apparently that was of secondary concern to Erik.


Hi X1glider,

Thanks for your comments.

Yeah, I'm definitely not going into the engine. These engines are tuned enough as they are for my liking, I'm far more concerned about manageablity and being able to release & use what it already produces.

I also think the ram air thing is a bit sketchy on the 1125r although I have read that it gives 6BHP at 8 to 10 thousand revs. I personally think that the 60mm throttle bodies are capable of sucking whatever air they need from normal atmospherics just through the gap round the underside of the outer box cover. If not I can always try letting more in by altering the cover, probably more by lifting the front slightly (which will probably do a better job of any ramming that needs to be done) rather than cutting holes in it.

Looks like I'm just going to remove the bottom ram air funnel & let some of that air run over the Cylinder heads & frame to aid with cooling for the time being. Once the air box is open it doesn't do anything being where it is anyway.

To be totally honest the Remus Exhaust has had the biggest impact on engine cooling so far as it transfers the heat to the rear underside of the engine & what I'm hoping is that the air flowing through the central area of the frame will exit onto the exhaust box & draw heat off that also.

I'll keep posting how it's going although looking, thinking & figuring how things may work is more what's happening at the moment & probably for the next few days.

Thanks again for your comments, much appreciated. If anyone can see any (Black Holes) in my thinking feel free to let me know.

All the best Folks. Paul.

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PostPosted: 17 Feb 2019 11:09 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
Hi Folks,

Right, I've worked out what I'm going to do. Remember this mod is about better running across the range rather than power or top end speed.
I have a spare air box that I purchased for the K&N filter & top lid when I was trying to get this 1125r running correctly when I first bought it. And yes it does run pretty well with everything as standard other than the K&N Air filter, race ECM & Remus Exhaust. I can put it back to standard air filter if this modification for some reason doesn't provide what I'm hoping for.
I've already run it with the air box lid removed & although power loss at lower revs is apparent, it runs smoother & free-er. Low rev power loss is under 4,000, after this it balances out better. Top end power doesn't seem effected & so far speed seems to have increased.
Now, I'm going to remove the ram air scoop from under the bottom fork yoke & shorten the ram air funnel so that it is out of the way of the air flowing over the cylinder heads, mainly because it's functionality is compromised with the air box lid off anyway.
I'm going to mount the Mass air Sensor out of the warm air under the cockpit somewhere I guess, as it has to be somewhere it can reach without cutting/elongating the wires as this will f**k up their operation anyway via resistance.

I'll post pics of the modded air box & what it does before & after I've got it fitted if anyone's interested.

All the best Paul.

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PostPosted: 25 Feb 2019 15:09 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
Hi Folks,
I'm a bit further on with this now.
For those unfamiliar with the 1125r ram air system, the snorkel is tucked behind the Steering Head & only presents itself when it cuts into the air passage above the front cylinder head. This is further extended by a wider Snorkel that clips onto this and presents itself into the airflow behind the radiators & Fans under the bottom yoke. The ram air snorkel effectively cuts off lots of air flow across the cylinder head & inside of the Frame area. The air box unit is also sealed to enhance the ram air system, so the snorkel is the only route for air to get to the throttle bodies.
What I have done is remove the ram air system to allow better cooling of the cylinder head area & enhance the airflow through the inner frame area to stop the frame getting hot.
I don't mind sacrificing the power gains from the ram air system to enhance the cooling process overall as the benefits of a cooler engine in my humble opinion are far greater than 6 more BHP at 120+. I'm also pretty sure that the throttle bodies will give this engine all the air it needs from the open air box.
Obviously the air box is no longer sealed & the Throttle bodies have access to draw air up behind the steering head via what used to be the snorkel area as well as under the Air box outer cover

See pics.

I'll post pics of enhanced air flow over the cylinder heads later.


Attachments:
Snorkel Modded.jpg
Snorkel Modded.jpg [ 1.05 MiB | Viewed 1567 times ]
Snorkel 2.jpg
Snorkel 2.jpg [ 1.34 MiB | Viewed 1567 times ]
Snorkel 01.jpg
Snorkel 01.jpg [ 1.38 MiB | Viewed 1567 times ]

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PostPosted: 26 Feb 2019 15:18 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
Hi Folks,
This is inside the 1125r frame tubes under the bottom yoke with the outer snorkel removed. What you can see if you look closely is the end of the inner snorkel. See also how it's shaped to fit over the Cylinder head & that actually how restricting it looks for air flow to the throttle bodies, never mind practically stopping any air from cooling the heads.
This part of the snorkel that you can see protruding into the air flow is what I've removed by altering the air box, (see previous pics 1st one). The air path to the filter & throttle bodies from this area is now thrice the size & the snorkel's now rounded end only just enters the air flow on the rear edge, (and can be adjusted by extending if necessary) so should scoop or deflect some of the rammed air up where the snorkel used to operate.
Any air that used to be deflected by the front snorkel being in place (remember Ram air only works when you're going fast enough) can now freely flow through the inner frame over the cylinder heads drawing heat away from the engine & frame spars & can also be sucked up the snorkel chamber by the throttle bodies.
I think that's probably job done unless anyone wants any more pics or info.
Thanks for reading, anyone has any comments I'd be glad to hear them.
Thanks Folks.

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PostPosted: 26 Feb 2019 15:19 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
Sorry forgot the pic.


Attachments:
Inner snorkel.jpg
Inner snorkel.jpg [ 797.54 KiB | Viewed 1534 times ]

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PostPosted: 27 Feb 2019 11:56 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
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Current ride: Buell 1125R
Ram air my arse.

This is purely about staying within noise limits.


Attachments:
Air box sealed.jpg
Air box sealed.jpg [ 1.25 MiB | Viewed 1507 times ]

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2019 18:13 
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Joined: 05 Mar 2018 00:09
Posts: 334
Current ride: 1125 CR, XT500, 750S
Location: Tiddly village near the throbbing metropolis of Rugby
[quote="Jazzbutcher"]Ram air my arse.

Is this a statement or a request?.....Moderators!!!!!

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2019 19:19 
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Joined: 07 Nov 2011 18:10
Posts: 4041
Current ride: Buell ulysses
Location: Telford
:potm: :rotfl: :rotfl:

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PostPosted: 01 Mar 2019 00:44 
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Joined: 01 Aug 2018 19:58
Posts: 1710
Current ride: Buell 1125R
Ohsteveo wrote:
Jazzbutcher wrote:
Ram air my arse.

Is this a statement or a request?.....Moderators!!!!!


Statement!

It's a pile of horse shit plastic silencer for the induction, disguised as a F****n' ram air system.

I'll be damned if my bike doesn't run like a Honda in town but screams like a F****n' Banshee burning in hell fire over 70mph. Straight through end pipe is back on to allow some of that extra air it's gonna be breathing to get exited better.

I'm looking forward to riding it as it's now March & my maintenance is done other than the front tyre but I can't stand another load of strained muscles again just yet & I ain't got £40.

See you in April Buddy. Looking forward to it.
All the best folks, see you around the events I'm sure.

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PostPosted: 01 Mar 2019 22:31 
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Joined: 05 Mar 2018 00:09
Posts: 334
Current ride: 1125 CR, XT500, 750S
Location: Tiddly village near the throbbing metropolis of Rugby
"I'll be damned if my bike doesn't run like a Honda in town but screams like a F****n' Banshee burning in hell fire over 70mph. "
:rotfl: The stuff of dreams and an excellent description of the 1125 when it's running well!!!!
Like it....

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