ENDURANCE K8!!
- Thread starter Warchild
- Start date
kstanberry
Registered
Why?
Good luck & Be Safe
Let us know how it goes!
Good luck & Be Safe
Let us know how it goes!
kstanberry
Registered
roadkingclassic
Registered
good luck!...Putting it all to the test TONIGHT!
Going to ride straight down HWY 395 to Nevada on a little 1500-mile LD Recon mission. I depart at midnight tonight (Fri, 11 Apr 08) and be back on Sunday.
Later, gentlemen....
Warchild, Russel also will make excellent custom seats for ST bikes. The Daylong on my FJR for example is outstanding. I am very interested in how you judge your rig after testing. Lights you installed look excellent. Great job
It should be close to daylight for your vision.
I'm not an electrical expert mind you, but how do you manage to run the mods given the low 400 watt output from the busa? Oh ya, how do you like your auto oiler ?
3505panther
Registered
Good Luck,
I second the questions about power draw for the lights and heating element from the battery. Do you have an additional supply or alt?
I second the questions about power draw for the lights and heating element from the battery. Do you have an additional supply or alt?
EtrnlSoldier
Registered
Very nice!
Luvanicebum
Registered
This IS cool.
I imagine you are on the road right now...Good luck.
I want some of those lights.
I want some of those lights.
Awesome.... As to be expected from Warchild!
Godspeed, take care.
aurorabusa
Registered
Sweet
Nice light setup. Did you have to make mounting brackets for it?
Warchild
Banned
OK, I am back.
Sorta had mixed results.... and I guess there is no real surprise here; the Hayabusa is not exactly designed as an uber-comfortable, long-range sport-touring platform. But with enough dedication and appropriate mods, it can work, and work rather well.
Some general observations from this 1500-mile blast this past weekend:
- I was kinda bumming to learn first-hand just how much Suzuki has "built-in" the rider's body as part of the airflow design. Not that you are all that well protected on the Blackbird, still, the XX coddles the rider like he's riding in a plastic bubble compared to the Busa. Lower legs (indeed, most everything from the waist down) is largely exposed to the airstream. Head, shoulders and arms are also similarly exposed unless you elect to ride "tucked" all the time, which just isn't too practical on a 1000-mile day. Now, all of this is fine if riding in warm ambient temps, but its a huge problem when the temps drop below 35-40 degrees. I had the Warm-N-Safe liner pegged to the max on the Heat-Troller, and I was still one cold bastard riding through 25-degree ambient temps at 6000'-7000' summits at 2 AM, believe me.
- Fook me, there isn't room to carry $hit on this bike. My Joe Rocket tankbag looked like a Stay-Puff marshmallow, it was stuff so much. Similarly, every little pocket/stash area on the Linda Tanner aux cell tankbag was stuffed to the bursting point. Looking more and more that there is a Ventura Rack in my future.
- I was quite pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Hella Micro DE's.... not just their tremendous light output for their size, rather, the apparent efficiency of the electronics. With the HID low-beam and the Hellas lit up, the Datel would only sink to 13.9 volts! I can then crank up the Warm-N-Safe liner to about 70%, and the Datel still stays relatively happy at 13.5 volts. Score!
- I need to re-design the aux fuel cell mounting brackets to raise the cell's overall height up about another inch or so. Due to the shape of the stock tank and the (relatively) low mounting height of the aux cell, I am not transferring the complete contents of the cell by gravity alone. There is always the best part of a gallon remaining behind.... maybe a bit less. If I could just get the cell mounted a little higher - perhaps an inch, maybe 1.5" inch - I think I would have enough "head pressure" to complete the transfer. If not, I can always install a small 12v pump, should it become necessary.
- The chassis on this K8 is just stunning. It is the one of two areas that really outperform the Blackbird (the other being that 175hp motor!). The engine is almost glass-smooth, not quite as creamy-velvet as the Blackbird, but it has less vibes than my FJR! The ability of this bike to hold a fast line through some fair stiff sweepers is extraordinary, and this is with all factory suspension components.
Bottom line: If the temps are warm and the weather decent, the K8 can be an extraordinary Long Distance platform for the 24-36 hour Endurance Rallies. However, it is a sub-optimal platform for muli-day events, or cold/inclement weather events.
Sorta had mixed results.... and I guess there is no real surprise here; the Hayabusa is not exactly designed as an uber-comfortable, long-range sport-touring platform. But with enough dedication and appropriate mods, it can work, and work rather well.
Some general observations from this 1500-mile blast this past weekend:
- I was kinda bumming to learn first-hand just how much Suzuki has "built-in" the rider's body as part of the airflow design. Not that you are all that well protected on the Blackbird, still, the XX coddles the rider like he's riding in a plastic bubble compared to the Busa. Lower legs (indeed, most everything from the waist down) is largely exposed to the airstream. Head, shoulders and arms are also similarly exposed unless you elect to ride "tucked" all the time, which just isn't too practical on a 1000-mile day. Now, all of this is fine if riding in warm ambient temps, but its a huge problem when the temps drop below 35-40 degrees. I had the Warm-N-Safe liner pegged to the max on the Heat-Troller, and I was still one cold bastard riding through 25-degree ambient temps at 6000'-7000' summits at 2 AM, believe me.
- Fook me, there isn't room to carry $hit on this bike. My Joe Rocket tankbag looked like a Stay-Puff marshmallow, it was stuff so much. Similarly, every little pocket/stash area on the Linda Tanner aux cell tankbag was stuffed to the bursting point. Looking more and more that there is a Ventura Rack in my future.
- I was quite pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Hella Micro DE's.... not just their tremendous light output for their size, rather, the apparent efficiency of the electronics. With the HID low-beam and the Hellas lit up, the Datel would only sink to 13.9 volts! I can then crank up the Warm-N-Safe liner to about 70%, and the Datel still stays relatively happy at 13.5 volts. Score!
- I need to re-design the aux fuel cell mounting brackets to raise the cell's overall height up about another inch or so. Due to the shape of the stock tank and the (relatively) low mounting height of the aux cell, I am not transferring the complete contents of the cell by gravity alone. There is always the best part of a gallon remaining behind.... maybe a bit less. If I could just get the cell mounted a little higher - perhaps an inch, maybe 1.5" inch - I think I would have enough "head pressure" to complete the transfer. If not, I can always install a small 12v pump, should it become necessary.
- The chassis on this K8 is just stunning. It is the one of two areas that really outperform the Blackbird (the other being that 175hp motor!). The engine is almost glass-smooth, not quite as creamy-velvet as the Blackbird, but it has less vibes than my FJR! The ability of this bike to hold a fast line through some fair stiff sweepers is extraordinary, and this is with all factory suspension components.
Bottom line: If the temps are warm and the weather decent, the K8 can be an extraordinary Long Distance platform for the 24-36 hour Endurance Rallies. However, it is a sub-optimal platform for muli-day events, or cold/inclement weather events.
Warchild
Banned
Lemme try to answer a few questions:
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Is that the seat you are going to ride on?[/quote]
Yep, the Suzuki "Gel" seat. It did okay for me, for the most part. Still considering shipping off the stock seat to Rick Mayer for his custom work.
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Warchild, Russel also will make excellent custom seats for ST bikes. The Daylong on my FJR for example is outstanding.[/quote]
Yep, I am well versed in the Russell Day-Long; they are using my FJR on their web site seat gallery. Here is my FJR with the Russell Day-Long seat done up with the "small squares" pattern to help promote airflow down in the nether regions:
http://www.day-long.com/seat_pages_11_03/warchilds_fjr1300.html
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
I'm not an electrical expert mind you, but how do you manage to run the mods given the low 400 watt output from the busa?[/quote]
You know, it's strange, 'cuz I shouldn't be seeing the electrical output that the Datel voltmeter suggests I have. When I had my halogen bulbs in, high and low-beam together (120 combined watts) would send the Datel tumbling down to 13.6v. Sure, the HID low beam saves a few watts (42-watts, compared to a halogen H7 of 55-watts), but the *pair* of Hellas should draw around 80-ish watts, 15 more than the stock high beam, yet the Datel suggests it's a lot less. I am not exactly sure how this is working; perhaps the Hella's electrical components are just tremendously efficient, who knows...
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
What makes the tank bag up front - looks a good size and fit im off to france in a months time need some space[/quote]
That is a somewhat dated Joe Rocket tankbag, and they don't even make this version anymore, sadly enough.
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Nice light setup. Did you have to make mounting brackets for it?[/quote]
Yes, I did. I designed the brackets, but had a machinist buddy actually fabricate them off my design. Then I powder-coated them a matte black so they would be unobtrusive on the bike.
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Is that the seat you are going to ride on?[/quote]
Yep, the Suzuki "Gel" seat. It did okay for me, for the most part. Still considering shipping off the stock seat to Rick Mayer for his custom work.
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Warchild, Russel also will make excellent custom seats for ST bikes. The Daylong on my FJR for example is outstanding.[/quote]
Yep, I am well versed in the Russell Day-Long; they are using my FJR on their web site seat gallery. Here is my FJR with the Russell Day-Long seat done up with the "small squares" pattern to help promote airflow down in the nether regions:
http://www.day-long.com/seat_pages_11_03/warchilds_fjr1300.html
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
I'm not an electrical expert mind you, but how do you manage to run the mods given the low 400 watt output from the busa?[/quote]
You know, it's strange, 'cuz I shouldn't be seeing the electrical output that the Datel voltmeter suggests I have. When I had my halogen bulbs in, high and low-beam together (120 combined watts) would send the Datel tumbling down to 13.6v. Sure, the HID low beam saves a few watts (42-watts, compared to a halogen H7 of 55-watts), but the *pair* of Hellas should draw around 80-ish watts, 15 more than the stock high beam, yet the Datel suggests it's a lot less. I am not exactly sure how this is working; perhaps the Hella's electrical components are just tremendously efficient, who knows...
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
What makes the tank bag up front - looks a good size and fit im off to france in a months time need some space[/quote]
That is a somewhat dated Joe Rocket tankbag, and they don't even make this version anymore, sadly enough.
<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
Nice light setup. Did you have to make mounting brackets for it?[/quote]
Yes, I did. I designed the brackets, but had a machinist buddy actually fabricate them off my design. Then I powder-coated them a matte black so they would be unobtrusive on the bike.
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