Get A Charge Out Of Her

So I have a problem...  I will soon be attending Bonneville Speed Week, I will be riding my motorcycle there, and camping the whole time.  My phone will not last.  I have found a solution online to install a cigarette lighter on your motorcycle, but "car chargers" are bulky when you are planning to live on your bike for a week or more and space is at a premium.  Almost everything charges with USB cable now days, so having USB plugs on your bike is a huge benefit.  But if you don't ride a touring bike, or you ride a vintage bike, you are out of luck.  Well, with a little ingenuity you can solve the problem yourself.  This is what I did.  I started with a high quality cigarette lighter to USB adaptor.  After splitting the case I removed the power connectors to the cigarette lighter and replaced them with wires.  I epoxy sealed all the electronics to protect them from vibration and weather (can't seal the USB ports though, next time I will probably insert the unit into a sealable case).  There are a couple holes in the helmet lock bracket that will allow you to zip tie the assembly in place behind it where it is hidden, out of the way, fairly well protected from weather, and easily accessed.  And since it is behind the helmet lock, if you need a quick charge you can leave your phone in your helmet to charge.  If you need one they are easy to build for yourself, or if you need, contact me and for a small charge I will build one for you.  I can build one specifically for a TU250X, or I can build one with extra long leads and components to custom fit to your own machine.  Enjoy those long trips, and get a charge out of your bike.

Asthma

You will find that due to EPA requirements that your bike be quieter than 80db @ 6500 RPM Suzuki has made the poor little TU sip it's air through a straw.  On the air box the air cleaner assembly has 3 silver screws holding it to the airbox, and 3 black screws holding the snorkel to the air cleaner assembly.  While the snorkel looks pretty generous for a 250, it sits in the upper rear corner of the sealed side cover and ends up being pretty restrictive.  Removing the 3 black screws takes the snorkel right off, and the computer does a fine job of compensating for the extra air flow (thank you fuel injection).  The picture below shows a drawing of the air cleaner assembly with the snorkel in red.  The first thing you will notice is a nice throaty growl (especially under load), and some gain in upper end HP.  What I noticed right off is that I would run the bike in 1st gear and shift when the power fell off, which was right around 27 MPH (approx. 9000 RPM) but the first time I ran her with the snorkel off I hit the rev limiter at 32 MPH (approx. 10,500 RPM).  I have also noticed that she can hold 70-80MPH easier than in the past, especially when 2-up.  Also I have been able to achive 95 MPH on moderate climbs while laying on the tank which was impossible before.  Another small note is that I noticed that where I used to pretty much accelerate at WOT all the time, I now use a more moderate throttle setting.  Now, just to be clear, I am not suggesting you break federal law and remove this device, this is strictly a "ahem" track day modification.  :-)  So open her up and get rid of that asthma, she'll thank you for it.

250cc World Speed Records

Just What Are Those Classifications?

For the upcoming Bonneville trip you may notice I included the roster of the 14 250cc bikes expected to run.  You will notice they are running in several different classes, what are they and what do they mean.  Well, the letter(s) before the hyphen indicate chassis construction and the letter(s) after the hyphen indicate the engine construction.  Below are tables with an abbreviated list of chassis and engine types that will allow you to decode exactly what each of these 250cc bikes actually is.

CHASSIS:

ENGINE:

So, in the case of the first bike on the list #215B, he is running P-PP.  From the chassis chart you can see that the "P" is a unmodified production chassis.  The "PP" tells you that it is also a unmodified production pushrod engine.  So pick your favorite to set a new world record and we'll see how they do.

Upcoming Bonneville SpeedWeek Coverage

Just to whet the appetite, I am planning a trek to Bonneville from Phoenix, Az. (about 700 miles one way) on my 250.  I have always wanted to go to Bonneville and am taking the opportunity this year to do it for the first time. Along with stories of the trip, look for some coverage on 1/4 liter class entrants.  So far there are 14 250cc class entrants, I will make an effort to get pictures of all of the bikes, and hopefully get the results of their runs.  I will also include some non-250cc stuff and cars as well.  So look for the upcoming articles from August 12th through the 21st.