So I'm doing a thing...

I pulled off both case covers today, I don't like how the color is not a match for the wheels, not sure what they were thinking. Painting them now in the garage using Sepang Bronze (BMW color A32) and Satin 2k clear. I'm at 550 miles now so I figured I would do the oil change since the cover removal is going to drain it all anyway. Having only had Japanese bikes in the past I just about puked when I saw the condition of the screens and the oil. If I knew it was going to be this bad I would have changed it at 250 and 500 miles. I'm definitely going to do it again at 1000 miles...

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Also, I grabbed the oil kit from ProjektRacing who clearly orders it from AOMC (since a packing list was included that showed what PR actually pays vs what the customer pays). The smaller oil drain bolt and screen were obviously used in my kit, my bolt is on the left. I put my bolt and my screen in the ultrasonic cleaner and reused them.

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I bought the oil service kit (£32) too so I could have a spare set clean and dry ready to fit. Now I just need to buy the filter (£9) and fit the clean screens. The magnet on the black plastic screen had more fuzz on it than yours is showing and more set liquid gasket too.
 
Color match for the newly painted parts is pretty much perfect, the satin clear is just a little shinier.

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When prepping the covers for paint I noticed this - looks like the CNC machine had a bad file loaded, there is no reason to round off this corner, there isn't any interference. Do others have this? Right side cover, rear lower corner.

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I had to enlarge the picture to see the turn signals.

I haven't been paying the attention that this thread deserves and went back and read it in it's entirety.

Man, you do some great work.

The only changes I've made to my Vit are mirror extenders and swing arm spools, lol.
 
Peeled off the outer layer of my protaper grips and added on a leather wrap from TripMachine. Only have one side coated treated with conditioner right now, but I think these will wear in gorgeously.

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toast449 said:
I'm not suggesting you are full of crap, I'm asking if you tried all these pipe combos and the ECU was tuned specifically for them? I don't know what is available in this arena, if you get a Coober or Powertronic ECU is one stuck with whatever tune they put on it or can you datalog and tune it yourself?
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Powertronic allows you to write your own tune.

No experience with Cloober
 
Back pressure isn't for performance but to preserve the lifespan of the exhaust valves so they don't warp or at least that's the wives tale told since we are talking about regular engines here. If it mattered that much then what's stopping the warping of exhaust valves when you turn the engine on from a cold state?

Small block outdoor power equipment lawn mower engines have a tiny muffler on the block itself which merits the use compared to a motorcycle since the small block is having to deal with debris in the air that can get into the exhaust. It's also there to help from any water that may enter since there are times when it rains when you mow. There's also the quite operation of the muffler.

NHRA Drag cars reaching 10k hp run with the lest amount of back pressure. It's impossible to have zero % of back pressure even when running straight. The engines are also rebuilt after a few passes on the track since they are tuned for racing not longevity. You'll notice they even cover the exhaust after they shut down the cars since these atmospheric extremes will prematurely damage the engine when not racing.

Back to the topic. The 401 and 390 have a long exhaust pipe. I see zero reason to believe that running a straight pipe with a custom fuel/air map will provide less performance than with a silencer that causes some back pressure when back pressure in itself blocks the exhaust gas flow from discharging efficiently, decreasing the engine's performance. In general, higher backpressure results in power and torque loss as well as higher fuel consumption and emission to the environment.
 
Yes, that is what I meant without writing so much... I need to find a local motorcycle dyno so I can tune a powertronic live with variable loads before I go removing the resonator, but I really want to get rid of that 5 lb hunk of metal.
 
If I was you I wouldn't be concerned about it. This single cylinder motorcycle can only do soo much. I'd enjoy it for what it is without making it sound like something its not. On the other hand if we were talking about a really fast bike such as the 990 on up then sure go ahead and make noise since the loudness is merited. However on a slow bike it just sounds like you are posing similar to Harleys where they are loud and slow
 
The volume increase without the resonator when you keep the stock muffler is very small, it is more about getting rid of the extra 5 lbs and all the space it frees up.
 
toast449 said:
The volume increase without the resonator when you keep the stock muffler is very small, it is more about getting rid of the extra 5 lbs and all the space it frees up.
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Removing the resonator sounds substantially louder for this bike. It's far from small unless your hearing is bad for you to not be able to hear how noticably louder it is.

Also 5lb at the center won't change anything on this bike nor would you feel a difference changing out the weight from the stock battery to a lithium since they are both small changes of center weight. On the other hand, removing the stock 8lb metal mud guard at the rear which is unsprung weight will be noticable.

These guys did a very nice amount of reduction. I think it's still going overboard for a bike that a small step over a scooter.
hqvadventure.com

Svartpilen Weight Reduction Project

SuperSprox Steel: 15t Front 44t Rear
hqvadventure.com hqvadventure.com
 
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I made edits

Here's a thought. The new 990 duke is 420 wet vs the 401 which is in the area of 340 wet. Naturally the 990 is night and day faster with only a mere 60lb between both bikes. There is absolutely nothing you'll be able to do to make the 401 compare with the 990 for power to weight ratio. The primary issue is cost and availability with the 990. Also it looks like a smorty bike compared to the 401. Perhaps if the 901 svartpilen comes out then it will be similar to the 990 for weight/performance.

Now imagine the 990 with all the weight reduction changes that the guys did in my link in my previous post. That will really be something to talk about.
 
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I have absolutely zero interest in attempting to make the 401 fast. I like it because I can wring its neck and not get tickets. But making it crazy light has a very serious effect on how much fun it is to ride, I have it at 305 lbs with gas right now and I haven't done the brake rotors yet. If I want to actually go fast I will ride my MT09.
 
Have you gone to the extremes with your mt09 as you are doing with your 401 to lessen the weight? They both are very close in overall weight stock vs stock only 60lb difference.
 
I wouldn't call simple plug and play swaps extreme, but yes. It had a tail section like the 401, that is gone and swapped to a tail tidy. Lithium battery, passenger peg removal. It is just under 400 pounds wet now.
 
Spent some time in the garage today. Got a new clutch cable, one end you assemble yourself so that you can choose the length you need, that got rid of the big loop at the top. Next item was making a slave cylinder mount to hold the slave away from the engine. Turned a 5 degree taper on a cylinder and then welded that onto a new mount. Once all the angles were right I welded along the whole length for strength and powdercoated it.

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