It’s not bad at idle, or generally running around, it’s where you’re hanging onto the throttle but not opening it; like at fixed cruising speed with a negative throttle. 70mph is the danger zone here, on a trailing throttle, and let’s face it that’s the sort of speed (and use) that we do a lot, and this is where the engine runs dangerously short of fuel. The lambda sensor is trying to lean the mixture out all the time, and the lack of back pressure or catalyzer just makes it worse. Accelerating to this point is no problem, but once you get there, and stay there, it’s bad; sit on the motorway at 70-80mph on a steady throttle and you’re not doing the engine any favours at all.

The only solution at the moment is a Power Commander PC V and 02 Eliminator kit. We bolted both on, and focused the Dyno work around the mid-high rpm ranges and richened up the fuelling. After the work we didn’t have any major horsepower gains, but we really weren’t looking for any; instead the throttle response is much plusher and ‘fatter’ at high rpm/small throttle openings. The extra fuel really helps take the harshness out of the engine’s feel, and also ensures the life of the valve train and pistons…

Lose the standard can without sorting the fuelling and the engine in this CB1000R is headed for disaster...

Our job for him was to do a Dyno ‘shake-down’ run post engine-rebuild and give it a thorough check over. We ended up removing the PAIR emissions valve and adjusted the pilot jets, and basically gave it a gentle pre-season fettle. We also tweaked the chassis a touch, just small things we’ve learned over long experience with these bikes that really make a difference.

Have fun, mate!

Fully fettled and ready for a Summer's fun – Andrew's cool little Hornet...

When we sold both to him originally we explained that it would only switch, through the Power Commander, on the bottom injectors. To get it to cut the top injectors (for a much faster change) would need a HUB and ignition module for the PC III, making it an expensive job.

He’d lived with it a while, but really wanted a faster gear change, so we upgraded his Cordona set-up to PQ8 with full loom and ECU. This is the great thing about the Cordona system; it’s very transferable and upgradeable bike to bike.

He’s now got super-slick and sweet gearshifts.

A full Cordona loom and ECU cuts the top injectors of this PC III equipped GSX-R600, much faster shifts are the result.

We started by blanking off the secondary air ­and adjusted the airbox itself as they’re quite restrictive. We then fitted FJR inlet rubbers as they have a bigger diameter than the stock XJR items, then added a K&N filter and corrected the fuelling on the needle and pilot jets.

And Bob’s your uncle! Power rose from just shy of 100bhp to 110bhp, with much nicer throttle response all-round.

Getting this engine through emissions testing didn't help it in the long run...

We remapped the MAP (Manifold Air Pressure) map and the main fuelling table and also switched off the SAI (Secondary Air Injection) and the lambda sensors. It made good power after the work; 7bhp up on stock with 116bhp at the back wheel but, more importantly,left our workshop with an ECU brain devoid of EU interference that worked much, much better all round.

Good job!

Stealthy Triumph Tiger now has an ECU to match its open can and K&N filter...

Anyway, in the off-season he’s taken our advice and fitted an Arrow system which has transformed it – after mapping to suit the engine’s now punting out just shy of 193bhp in open exhaust form. The pipe comes with a baffle, so we did him an alternate map to use with it in place, so when he’s testing on a circuit with tough noise regs he’s ok. Admittedly, peak power is down to 180bhp, but there you are. These Kwaks really need to breathe at the top end; up until 9-10,000rpm there’s very little difference.

Good luck for 2012 Simon!

Dual maps for the Power Commander work for baffle in or out of the Arrow can.

We sucked the stock map out of the ECU and took a good look. It was carrying way too much ignition in the low throttle and rpm range; with  on/off throttle use the power came in way too hard. It was a vicious thing! First job was to take some ignition out and then sort the fuelling to match – it was running very lean (even with the stock can fitted). We looked at the throttle bodies, as it appeared that in an attempt to balance them the air bypass screws had been well and truly ‘adjusted’, causing all sorts of issues with running on and so on.

There’s more work to be done to this bike. We’ve taken a lot of the harshness out of it and calmed it down, but more needs to be done for us to be 100% happy.

This bike came in with myriad issues – we've sorted the main ones, more needs to be done.

The digital throttle is gone, and the carb-style analog feel is in its place...

He wasn’t looking for any more performance out of the engine (which, to be fair is common for most of the 990 Adventures we remap, as most owners are happy with the overall performance) but just wanted it sorted out as he wasn’t happy with it at all. He’s got other bikes, and his last words to us as he left were “If you can’t fix it I’m off down the BMW shop to get a GS…!”

We rode it, then downloaded the stock map. Fuelling adjustments were followed with work on the secondary butterfly valves, as when and how much these open is critical to how the engine feels. The ignition was next, and is an area we spend quite a lot of time because fine-tuning here nets big results for throttle control.

The bike is now rideable at slow speeds, high gear small throttle opening and has the Holy Grail (that the old carb’d 950 had) of an ‘analog’ rather than ‘digital’ feeling throttle. You can barrel up to a corner and it won’t scare you – and it did before.

That’s one less GS sale, anyway…

First of all we had to run the bike in, which we did on the Dyno; it’s a quick, safe and very effective way of managing a new engine’s break-in period and getting the best performance out of it in the long run. We then set about sorting the Bazzaz itself – after fitting it we added a performance aftermarket air filter and mapped the unit on the Dyno to match the engine, using the offset allowance (percentage difference between the two cylinders) to fine-tune between front and rear pots.

The quickshifter that came with it was a straightforward fit, and using our experience we mapped the Bazzaz ECU. They come through set on ’5′ all the way through, which gives problems over 75% throttle and is more suitable for a wet road environment, not the straight of a racetrack. It also needs ‘fading’ away toward the top end (when on the fat part of the tyre well on the way out of a corner) as the traction control’s real worth is in the mid-range, peak torque area when first tapping on, and feeding in, the gas.

Bazzaz fit and set-up is straightforward, but to get the most out of the system as a whole the real work lies in the fine-tuning...

A rare groove indeed – Jason Kersley's 1934 Indian. Yowzahs!

Jason Kersley is owner of the beast, and in his possession are a whole raft of bikes that we see from time to time – but the Indian has turned into a long-time, long-term project for him. It was bought from the States (where it was hanging on the wall of a bar in the mid-west…), painted candy red and a thorough non-runner, as you’d expect. Part of the process of getting it running was fitment of a magneto to the side-valve pushrod engine, so Jason dragged the bike in for us to have a go at it.

Bikes of this era are well out of our normal remit (!) but we did the work and the bike started quite easily. Once we’d struck it up and got it running sweetly Mark couldn’t resist taking it for a spin up the lane – no helmet, it’s that sort of bike – and came back grinning from ear to ear; “It’s that rubbish it’s great… left foot clutch, left hand gear change, three speed box, once you’ve got through the wobbling all over the place as you change gear stage it’s a scream!”

While the BSD Ducati 1098 project bike’s future is secure, we can sense something side-valve and vintage maybe winging its way to Eye sometime in the future…