Let us try to answer some of the typically broad questions that people have in deciding to turbocharge their motorcycle engine. Hope it helps or call us: 0118 977 6755
Turbocharging a motorcycle is the process of using exhaust pressure to drive an impeller that in turn on the same shaft drives another impeller that pushes air into the engine & creates a forced pressurisation of the inlet air for which a reciprocal fuel ratio has to be achieved . The sizing & choice of those impellers & their reciprocal housings & other turbo features such as boost control determine many aspects of power potential & power delivery which can be tailored to a specific application.
Certain standard motorcycle engines can add 50-100% power increases. Certain modified motorcycle engines can increase their power with racing fuels by over 500%! Big CC Racing are world leaders in motorcycle turbocharged horsepower.
When you upgrade a bike with a turbo the entire fuel system will need redesigning to feed the increased air flow. Most engines will need to be strengthened not just to get to the correct compression ratio but to add strength in parts.
Some electronics may need to be added to give both fuelling ignition & power control. Some electronics may require a complete change of ECU according to racing applications . Most street systems do not need anything too complicated.
Turbocharging uses exhaust gas compared to Superchargers that suffer reciprocal losses driving the supercharger off the crankshaft so turbo’s have no real loss in energy by comparison.
Turbocharging is load or throttle reactive. Supercharging is crank speed reactive in boost. This means the rpm determines the boost not the throttle position thus in turn a supercharger generates much more heat. A turbo by comparison can be ridden successfully without creating any boost if desired by simply using low throttle openings.
Typically a turbo bike will create in positive pressure per psi of boost between 8 & 14hp where as a supercharger will struggle to create 5-8 hp per psi of boost without other enhancements.
Superchargers due to creating boost by rpm will need to be enriched much more with fuel reducing fuel economy .
Because a supercharger creates boost by rpm & not load it will be positive in boost not just on acceleration slow or fast but at a constant cruise or even on deceleration. The turbo only creates boost when you load the engine with more throttle. Less heat & more economy.
Turbocharging offers easier & variable boost control via its wastegate. You can choose the power to ride at according to road or race conditions etc.
The power potentials of your turbo package depends on many factors. Here are a few below
A simple example: A Stage 2 street turbo system non intercooled could run 12psi boost = 320hp max on pump fuel providing the engine compression ratio has been dropped sufficiently . On a fully built motor using high octane fuel it may run up to 450+hp but it would need a fully strengthened engine for this. If people choose to risk turbocharging a stock engine then the dynamic compression under boost is the restriction. A Hayabusa with stock compression at 11:1 cannot use more than 7psi boost safely on pump fuel.
So when asking what power your bike will make it depends upon the package that you can afford to go with in so far as engine compression & strength, turbo size & turbo system choice intercooled or not & the safety of the tuning work. Big CC Racing are happy to go in depth with you to help select your best turbo package to your budget.
There are 4 main cost factors to turbocharging a bike. They are as follows….