Turbocharging

Speaking of speed, I came across this book and I liked it right away. The author starts by comparing Top Fuel dragsters to the Formula 1 cars of the late 1980’s when turbos were king. Guess which cars put out more power per cubic inch? Formula 1, hands down, they were producing about 1300 to 1400 horsepower! And the neat thing about it is that the Formula 1 cars had about 90 cubic inches, that’s motorcycle engine territory. Chew on that for a while.

It’s no wonder turbos are the power adder of choice for a lot of applications. Quite a few companies have turbo kits for late model motorcycles. I remember when I first came across Terry Kizer, “Mr. Turbo” and his kits for the ZX11. Motorcyclist magazine tested one that went 230mph and would wheelie just about anywhere, anytime in the powerband. Gotta love that. Now, the Hayabusa seems to be the bike of choice for added boost and 300hp and 400hp ‘Busa’s are popping up here and there.

There’s the crowd that likes nitrous, but that never held any attraction for me, pushing buttons, refilling bottles, whatever. If you need the speed, bolt on boost. It’s always there at the twist of your wrist.