[SmokenJoe]

On here, everyone seems to say the Stryker is set on the lean side. Adding exhaust & air filter you need some type of tuner.
??????? How do we know it IS set that way from the factory ????? Some info would be appreciated.
Some tuners can only add fuel, and some can remove fuel from the equation. But everyone that has one says it runs better after than before, seat of the pants kinda feel. Is it that we spent all this money and now I believe it runs better??????????????????
Holding off on my decision for a while longer.

 

[bozzly]

Joe, That is a great question and the answers that we receive on this subject seem pretty baseless. Whithin 3 months of purchasing my stryker I added pipes, intake and a tuner. I did notice that the bike seemed to be peppier, I also noticed that my gas consumption went up.

The following summer I sold my tuner and pipes and went back to stock setup with only the resistor mod. I have to tell you that the bike still has awesome pep, I don't feel a hole heck of a difference then when i had the pipes and tuner.

When I first added the tuner an pipes, I could have sworn up and down that the bike was so much faster but now that i have reverted I am thinking it was a lot more in my mind then the seat of my pants.

Now requiring the tuner because you added pipes and intake is another subject that I have no clue about, just talking about feel not statistics.

 

[nogard]

I would LOVE to know the answer to this. i always answer people, just by how others have been reporting. i want to do the air intake on my bike, but can't afford the tuner yet.

 

[BillyD66]

I cannot say of course since I'm not a Yamaha engineer but if I had to post a theory it would be the acronym EPA. Slightly on the lean side is better for the EPA/environment. Plus you have the few people who have posted dyno runs with actual real world numbers.
Granted I think the real problems start when you mod/replace the air filter since if the factory FI programming has an upper bound on fuel added and you make the air less restrictive you'll lean out things pretty quick. Assuming that is true(upper factory fuel limit) you could/would cross over to really lean and cause engine issues sooner or later. Replacing the exhaust is much less of of impact because even with open pipes you'll still be limited by how much air can get into the motor. Open pipes are LOUD but cannot really have an impact on air/fuel mixtures since the stock pipes are plenty breathable just not "manly" sounding. Insert your best Tim Allen sound here

Back to the EPA, lord help us if we ever need to get tested like cars do in Illinois since anyone who has done a stage 1 mod has surely violated the EPA regs and many of us have thrown away the parts to pass as stock. Sadly I do worry about this because motorcycles are getting more and more popular and, therefore, are not flying under the radar as much as they have before. Personally, I'm saving my stock parts for the possible rainy day!!

P.S. Cars of course check for this and throw a code but cars are more EPA regulated etc. That handy OBD port isn't there just for mechanics...

 

[BillyD66]

Joe, That is a great question and the answers that we receive on this subject seem pretty baseless. Whithin 3 months of purchasing my stryker I added pipes, intake and a tuner. I did notice that the bike seemed to be peppier, I also noticed that my gas consumption went up.

The following summer I sold my tuner and pipes and went back to stock setup with only the resistor mod. I have to tell you that the bike still has awesome pep, I don't feel a hole heck of a difference then when i had the pipes and tuner.

When I first added the tuner an pipes, I could have sworn up and down that the bike was so much faster but now that i have reverted I am thinking it was a lot more in my mind then the seat of my pants.

Now requiring the tuner because you added pipes and intake is another subject that I have no clue about, just talking about feel not statistics.

Sure is a great way to make money off people though if we are all convinced that stage 1 mod has to be done I think Toby said it before: To really do it right the bike needs to be dyno'd since each motor is slightly different. Seats of the pants is great but how much of that is real and how much is just you cracking your wrist a little harder since it sounds better etc... Both would lead to slightly more fuel consumed. Good or bad, machines don't lie.
As for the O2 resistor mod (and again no engineer) but you are fudging one of the inputs (might be able to do the same thing with another sensor but that's a lot more cash) and maybe that fudge allows the factory FI to adjust more than they planned on.
I'm in for trying that mod.

There has to be a true gear head out there that can explain all of this better.
However, all that said, anytime you mess with the factory settings you are liable for what happens down the road.

 

[kraaazymike]

All I can say is that after intake, exhaust and adjusting the Bully to only get minimal popping on decel, my plugs were ashen white last week suggesting I'm running too lean. Check your plugs, people!

 

[Chop Chop]

My last yammy was a carbed v-star and it was way to lean stock, I still have stock air and pipes and it's never felt lean. Great question

 

[ROADKILL]

The stock ECU is programed for the stock set up - just changing the air filter in the stock air box shouldn't have any effect - if you install a BAK now you have changed the amount of air flow and the ECU is not designed to make changes to the fuel mixture based on increased air intake.

 

[SmokenJoe]

The stock ECU is programed for the stock set up - just changing the air filter in the stock air box shouldn't have any effect - if you install a BAK now you have changed the amount of air flow and the ECU is not designed to make changes to the fuel mixture based on increased air intake.

Not to be a Smart Azz.........but how do you know that for certain?

My last yammy was a carbed v-star and it was way to lean stock, I still have stock air and pipes and it's never felt lean. Great question

I have been told that also about air cooled bikes.

The VTX has been proven to be rich on the upper end and mid. Got this from a guy over on VTXOA..................
The info came from dozens of dyno runs by the greatest VTXOA members years ago like Bareass, ManWhoRides, BIGLRY, JohnnyCheese and so on. They all found the VTX ran a little rich at the mid and upper RPM ranges. These are also several members that put their VTX on a load dyno with an air/fuel sniffer to tune their Cobra Fi2000 and that is how we got the best settings that range from 2-0-0 to 3.5-0-0. You only had to add fuel to stop the popping and no more was needed in the mid and upper ranges.

I found this true in my own way. Added fuel to stop popping and lost gas mileage. Took the dang thing off and bike ran fine.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, just trying to get all the info before making a decision.

 

[nogard]

You would save us a lot of money, if this turns into being true. Thanks for looking into it Joe.

 

[BillyD66]

You would save us a lot of money, if this turns into being true. Thanks for looking into it Joe.

Ain't that the truth!!
However, we'd find other mods to spend it on :madgrin:

 

[Guest]

I will say that I get about the same gas mileage with the Cobra slip-on, powrflo and and powrpro that I got with the stock air, pipes and no tuner. Unless I'm doing a lot of throttle twisting, of course.

Plugs look good... just like the first pic here: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqread.asp

 

[SmokenJoe]

I talked with Rick (Yamaha dealer) of whom I trust. He knows a lot about Yami's, been selling and repairing them for many, many years.
" He said, If you change pipes, full exhaust, and air box, should add a tuner to eliminate any popping and back firing. BUT, if you don't add one, no big deal! He has never seen any bike come into the shop with problems from not adding a tuner. And he recommends the Power Commander! Has only seen problems with Cobra products and usually replaced with PC's.
I said my bike is running very well with the slip-on and was planning on adding a different air box. Run it that way and if it runs well, and not a lot of popping. Go for it.
Take this info for what it is worth. Make a concerted effort to get as much info before dropping your hard earned cash.
I am going to change out the air box with on of my projects and see what happens.

 

[milani]

I was planning on taking the phased approach too. I started with the drilled exhaust. It's better, but i like the swepts. Once I add them, then I will try to bore out the air box. See how it goes... If I don't like, move to a better BAK. If it needs it after that, then autotune...

 

[cambridge]

Well here's my story. Cobra slip on exhaust and fuelpak processor with the original air intake. Gas mileage went down and you could always smell a little gas when idling. LItlle black at the exhaust tip.

Install BAK and reprograme fuel pak and smell has gone. Will have to go through a few gas tanks before I see how the mileage has changed.

 

[nogard]

Keep updating this thread Joe. I'd like to do the 55 air intake, asap.. if this turns out ok for you.

 

[loggerman1214]

I was told by the dealer that you could run aftermarket pipes but if you added an air intake you should put a programmer on. I have been told its not the end of the world if you dont. But my personal opinion i just bought the cheaper cobra fi2000r and it completly eliminated the popping on decel and now i dont have to worry about blueing my pipes or taking the longevity out of my engine. that was worth 200 bucks to me. I have spent more than that on shiny things to bolt on lol.

 

[Cyaroschak]

My thoughts on this (I have no actual proof or data) but the stock intake and exhaust are more restrictive than their different counterparts from different companies. I put on a PC+AT and when I was digging through maps that i wanted to run the same conversation about the bike running lean in stock form came up. On the page a guy put a wide band in the exhaust in stock form and it was running mid to upper 13:1 and 14:1 as an average a/f ratio throughout the rpm band. When I uploaded a file that was already made for my modifications (intake and cobra swepts) on the spread sheet the a/f ratios were in the 12's:1. To me, i have some experience with engines and tuning and if an engine is set lean from factory with restrictive factory parts and changed with more free flowing parts and theres no fuel compensation it will only lean more. You need more fuel when more air in entering the combustion chamber and exiting the engine with much less labor. Now my bike runs flawlessly and I've had no issues and from my "butt" dyno it seems to run harder than stock.

 

[toby]

Joe after sifting through gobs of info and misinfo if you will, here is how I understand it. The factory sets up motors to get the best performance possible with a balance between throttle response, acceleration, horse power and fuel economy. It leans out at idle and cruise for fuel economy and riches up when you roll on the throttle. The desired lean mixture has very little to do with EPA regulations. The too lean settings out of factory to meat EPA regulation is simply a misinterpreted portion of the info past down through years of people that have had leaned out problems after modding or adjusting their bikes and blaming it on the factory. The myths also came from back in the days of carburetors which were more prone to bad fuel mixtures problems even before EPA put strict regulations in place.
Manufacturers ad parts to the exhaust system to comply with EPA regulations like catalytic converters, charcoal canisters etc. not adjust the fuel mixture to a dangerously lean mixture.
To answer the ? about adding a programer with certain mods? Only a diagnostic test cant tell you if it's running within specs.
Personally I would have it tested to see where the numbers fall every step you take before spending money on something you may not need, or if you have the money do it all at once and have it done professionally like SDsting did. Dyno mapped it unique to the specific parts and his motor.
In my case I have decided that it runs flawlessly the way it is and because of the conditions I ride in I will not mod the intake because I need it to filter air the best possible. when you open up the air box and put a high performance air cleaner on it allows more air in but filters less. Hope that helps.

 

[afcop97]

Most informative thread on here for a while. I have a Cobra Slip On and the factory intake with a K&N filter. I've had conflicting advice as to whether or not to get a tuner. I haven't had any issues yet, so plan to "feel it out" a little longer.