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Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:58 am
by Bawked
After contemplating buying a new car.... I decided screw it, I'm getting a bike instead.

For those not in the know, it's 1993 Kawasaki zxr250c... 40hp, 18,000 rpm, 4 cylinder 250cc. Plan to get a derestricted CDI at some point so I can enjoy the full potential this engine can deliver (pre 93 were 45hp).

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Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:12 am
by potownrob
nice bike!! did you ditch the car?? i assume you kiwis can get away with just having a bike; not a good idea or common practice up in here :shock: :o :| :lol: 8)

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:42 am
by Bawked
na i've got my trusty 1990 honda accord still, this will be my toy not my daily commuter ;)

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:46 am
by potownrob
Bawked wrote:na i've got my trusty 1990 honda accord still, this will be my toy not my daily commuter ;)
PHEW!! :o :D :lol:

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:50 am
by Bawked
I just realised I don't own a fuel injected vehicle still :lol: #carbs4life

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 4:06 am
by potownrob
Bawked wrote:I just realised I don't own a fuel injected vehicle still :lol: #carbs4life
and i just realized i've never owned a carbureted car :|

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:13 am
by theholycow
Seems like a cool bike!
Bawked wrote:Plan to get a derestricted CDI at some point so I can enjoy the full potential this engine can deliver (pre 93 were 45hp).
What does that mean?
potownrob wrote:and i just realized i've never owned a carbureted car :|
You're missing out! Finicky automatic chokes, difficult starting, sitting there in the 6F winter holding it at 2500RPM for 5 minutes when it's stone cold so it will keep running, mechanical fuel pumps that require you to crank the engine for 20 seconds before fuel even reaches the carburetor, idle never coming down below 2000RPM in certain temperature ranges, none of those pesky OBD systems to tell you what's wrong when something is wrong, stinky fuel smell when you shut it off, dieseling, tiny little fuel filters, complete lack of qualified repair personnel, extra sensitivity to fuel quality and additives, idle speed higher during shift than in gear, sensitivity to air filter maintenance, cleaning required, parts unavailable, big ol' chunk of machinery sticking up off of your intake manifold, vacuum-controlled EVERYTHING, crazy Flintstones technology everywhere (there is an actual dodo bird on my intake manifold that says "you think YOUR job sucks!" when you open the hood), etc... :roll:

I have a dream, a dream that someday I shall have fuel injection!

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:36 pm
by noob5,000,000
Noice!

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:57 pm
by AHTOXA
Nice. Getting a bike is on my bucket list.

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:57 pm
by tankinbeans
AHTOXA wrote:Nice. Getting a bike is on my bucket list.
Would tankinbeans get laughed off the site if he said he'd ride a Can-Am? He has balance issues and a bike isn't a possibility.

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:48 am
by Bawked
theholycow wrote:Seems like a cool bike!
Bawked wrote:Plan to get a derestricted CDI at some point so I can enjoy the full potential this engine can deliver (pre 93 were 45hp).
What does that mean?
potownrob wrote:and i just realized i've never owned a carbureted car :|
You're missing out! Finicky automatic chokes, difficult starting, sitting there in the 6F winter holding it at 2500RPM for 5 minutes when it's stone cold so it will keep running, mechanical fuel pumps that require you to crank the engine for 20 seconds before fuel even reaches the carburetor, idle never coming down below 2000RPM in certain temperature ranges, none of those pesky OBD systems to tell you what's wrong when something is wrong, stinky fuel smell when you shut it off, dieseling, tiny little fuel filters, complete lack of qualified repair personnel, extra sensitivity to fuel quality and additives, idle speed higher during shift than in gear, sensitivity to air filter maintenance, cleaning required, parts unavailable, big ol' chunk of machinery sticking up off of your intake manifold, vacuum-controlled EVERYTHING, crazy Flintstones technology everywhere (there is an actual dodo bird on my intake manifold that says "you think YOUR job sucks!" when you open the hood), etc... :roll:

I have a dream, a dream that someday I shall have fuel injection!
Haha carbs aren't that bad, my honda is the amazing.. it starts, idles and runs like a fuel injected car. The bike just needs a touch of choke until warmed up, otherwise no probs

CDI "Capacitor discharge ignition" is the type of ignition system used on bikes, basically uses capacitors instead of high induction coils to store up the charge for the sparks... so is a lot better suited to high revving engines. Any way.... the units restrict the bikes output by backing of the timing, pre 93 there was a 45hp limit for the 250cc bikes... so the manufacturers pulled timing to bring them under this, in 93 the power limit was lowered to 40hp... so even more timing was pulled and the limiters were dropped (same engine). So yea basically theres a 10%+ power increase waiting for me if i find a derestricted cdi...

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:52 am
by Bawked
here's a video that shows how these things sound.... different bike but same engine and good sound quality


Re: Not a car....

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:43 am
by theholycow
Bawked wrote:Haha carbs aren't that bad, my honda is the amazing.. it starts, idles and runs like a fuel injected car. The bike just needs a touch of choke until warmed up, otherwise no probs
:lol: Yeah I was playing it up a bit. I sure wouldn't describe mine as "starts, idles and runs like a fuel injected car" though, except on occasional good days (usually in the summer).
CDI "Capacitor discharge ignition" is the type of ignition system used on bikes, basically uses capacitors instead of high induction coils to store up the charge for the sparks... so is a lot better suited to high revving engines. Any way.... the units restrict the bikes output by backing of the timing, pre 93 there was a 45hp limit for the 250cc bikes... so the manufacturers pulled timing to bring them under this, in 93 the power limit was lowered to 40hp... so even more timing was pulled and the limiters were dropped (same engine). So yea basically theres a 10%+ power increase waiting for me if i find a derestricted cdi...
Nice!

I wonder if it's possible to modify a 40hp CDI unit instead of having to find the 45hp unit that's probably in high demand.

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:11 pm
by Squint
tankinbeans wrote:
AHTOXA wrote:Nice. Getting a bike is on my bucket list.
Would tankinbeans get laughed off the site if he said he'd ride a Can-Am? He has balance issues and a bike isn't a possibility.
No, I feel like that's fine. They are surprisingly expensive though.

Re: Not a car....

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:31 am
by Bawked
theholycow wrote:
Bawked wrote:Haha carbs aren't that bad, my honda is the amazing.. it starts, idles and runs like a fuel injected car. The bike just needs a touch of choke until warmed up, otherwise no probs
:lol: Yeah I was playing it up a bit. I sure wouldn't describe mine as "starts, idles and runs like a fuel injected car" though, except on occasional good days (usually in the summer).
CDI "Capacitor discharge ignition" is the type of ignition system used on bikes, basically uses capacitors instead of high induction coils to store up the charge for the sparks... so is a lot better suited to high revving engines. Any way.... the units restrict the bikes output by backing of the timing, pre 93 there was a 45hp limit for the 250cc bikes... so the manufacturers pulled timing to bring them under this, in 93 the power limit was lowered to 40hp... so even more timing was pulled and the limiters were dropped (same engine). So yea basically theres a 10%+ power increase waiting for me if i find a derestricted cdi...
Nice!

I wonder if it's possible to modify a 40hp CDI unit instead of having to find the 45hp unit that's probably in high demand.
Yeah my honda is amazing, I dont know how they made it run so good?! the bike has a little thing you can twist to adjust the idle.... so you can adjust as needed so i usually just use that instead of the choke, once the idle has gone up from 2k to 4k i just dial it back down.

Yea... i'm not sure? Lots of the bikes get crashed as they are learner approved bikes , so getting the cdi wouldnt be hard or expensive

Yea i'm not sure