Thu Jan 30 16:14:40 1997 - Message No. 329
From: Jorn Ronnow

Subject: Re: Why tune an @???


At 07:56 97-01-30 +0100, you wrote:
>But, I think that nearly everybody would like to have some more hp on the 
>street.

I've never envied the Super Tenere-rider's 70 hp, because they have no
torque. But I rode a Tenere with a TDM 850 engine, and that was wonderful
because it had low rev grunt (=power)! It's very simple: Horsepowers are
fun, but character is just as important. 52 deg V Twin has loads of it, but
some more hp could be useful, see below.

>And as I think, the most of us are driving their @ on the street and not 
>offroad; for the case of offroad, I can't state my opinion because I don't 
>have the experience, but for onroad, I sometimes miss some hp's on my @.

On gravel roads that are a little "hard packed" you need power to get the
bike sliding predictably. This means high revs on the @. It would be nice to
be able to do this in the mid range in stead. And for the fun part: haven't
you dreamed of being able to start a power slide from 150 kph?

The needs depend on geography, of course. In Sweden, with it's long
gravel/dirt roads, you can use a lot of power. On winding alpine paths with
lots of hair pins, the @ already has more power than I could handle.

As for geography, it seems the MOT / TUEV / legal aspects also depend on
where you live. All my bikes have been a little (only a little... :-) )
illegal in some way. Too short rear mud guard, twin lights with both bulbs
burning (not allowed in Sweden), and mufflers that let you hear it's a
single/V-Twin (but not too loud, I hate Supertrapp noice levels). Nobody's
reacted so far (for 15 years).  If a policeman has a bad day, he could of
course give me a fine for this. 

However, engine tuning is another business. There are almost no limits. Many
people do it and the MOT can't check it (unless you add a Turbo, NO2
injection or other too obvious items).

>But if you have to spend nearly 4.500 DM for e.g. getting 70 hp and an 
>engine that maybe explodes after some thousand km's, the game is over for 
>me.

Has anybody ever bought that tuning? A short engine life is the LAST thing
you want in an @!

>For this extra price plus the price for my @ I can buy a R1100GS, that 
>has even more hp's, an engine that will run more than 50.000 km, etc.

19 inch wheels, wide tires, etc. Isn't that an ON-road bike? ;-)

Sorry for the length of this, but one last question:
Ray Fels tuning tips seem healthy for the bike. Does anybody have a similar
recipe for the RD04 (different carburettion and air filter)?

Keep sliding
-Jorn



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