A pipe and fuel management systemare the most popular and sought after mods in the sportbike industry. Considering that, we made a few calls for those crucial components.
Muzzys sent us a 4-into-1 stainless exhaust system, and Dynojet matched the freer-flowing pipe with its Power Commander III. After loading in the proper fuel map and getting it all sorted with some dyno runs, we were confident in the effect the exhaust's increased power and reduced weight would have on our elapsed time.
But additional power isn't much good if it can't get to the ground, so we looked to Brock's Performance for a front end lowering strap. This simple device functions with the mechanics of a tie-down strap, but it's been modified to attach to the front brake calipers and cinch down the front to help prevent wheelies (they tend to happen at full throttle on a 160-horsepower bike).
The mirrors were folded back, the stock seat cowl installed instead of the passenger seat and the rear tire pressure was reduced as well-all seemingly minor tweaks, but a lot of little things can equal one big result.
Unfortunately, the goal of a sub-10-second run wasn't accomplished, but we did shave off nearly half a second with these simple modifications that can be done in the garage. The reduced weight and added power of the exhaust and fuel management systems certainly helped, and when combined with the lowering strap and adjusted tire pressures, we found considerable results.
Perhaps we expected a miracle in thriving for a run in the nines, but we wanted to keep our mods very basic and not go beyond what most weekend warriors would venture to do. The largest (literally) factor in limiting our best time to a 10.19 @ 139 mph was the pilot's size and weight-a smaller rider would likely have dipped well into the nines. That's a hard fact for larger riders, but there are options to go faster (they'll just cost a bit more).