Ivan's Jet Ket with 2 Brothers and Fuel Mileage

[kokomosam]

why do we buy big horsepower bikes and add pipes carb kits etc.... ?
i know why i got mine it sure ain't for the gas mileage! it's for smileage!!!!!!! tire smok'en wheelstand'en fun 

LOL

I have to admit the power and the slightly hooligan nature of the bike does have some appeal and the raw acceleration is great fun.  However, I guess I am getting old.  Now I am touring with guys on Honda ST, Goldwings, some Sprint ST's and the like.  All don't seem to hit reserve until after 200 miles.   I love the bandit and am not ready to get an old man's bike (Honda ST or Goldwing), so I am just trying to get the most out of the bike as possible.

But wheelies are cool..   

[kokomosam]

With the kit in I get some deceleratoin popping from the exhaust and some hesitation/missing sometimes when coming off throttle to on throttle. 

Sounds you may have some air/fuel problems that aren't related to the jet kit.  It may be gummed up carbs, bad plugs, dirty air filter, etc.

hmmm.....  I guess I will have to look in to that.  I may take it to the shop and have someone look at it.

[PaulVS]

And if pursuing the least number of fuel stops with the likes of pure-touring bikes is your goal.... the Bandit ain't ever gonna be the proper cup 'o tea.   

[kokomosam]

And if pursuing the least number of fuel stops with the likes of pure-touring bikes is your goal.... the Bandit ain't ever gonna be the proper cup 'o tea.   

Yep.  I think that is a given. I just love the looks of a naked bike too much to move to a touring bike yet and I don't expect to make the Bandit have that kind of range.  I am just trying to increase the range to the best possible for the Bandit to decrease the delta between me and my riding mates as much as possible.

Of course it is all relative, I ride with some sport bikes and I have the better range.

I will take it into the shop and see if there is something wrong with the air fuel mix and then try some of the suggestions that pmackie made and keep the thread updated on my progress.

[redbandit12]

OLD hell im 51 and i want it faster!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rocketjock]

My stage 1 and 2Bros dropped my milage signifigantly. Never figured out the mpg. but in kms. I used to get about 320 to a tank and now I get about 220. Plus I upped the pilot size to get smoother running at lower revvs. Not that the bike was not fast stock but I do have noticable more torque now. The other downside is I have buzzing loud noise in my helmet now that the best earplugs can't kill. I'm keeping it for one more season then I'll probably go back to stock. To do that I'll have to pull the carbs, replace the old jets, reset the screws to factory (3 1/2 turns), put the PAIRS system back on and of course the stock can. Not a huge job but worth it for sound comfort and fuel milage.

I guess my concern here is doesn't the Ivan's kit involve some drilling?  Is it reversible?


Sam

Oh ya, forgot to mention the 20 5/8 holes drilled in the airbox. Just tape them up. The other drilling was drilling out the plugs over the mixture screws to make adjustments. No need to do anything there.

[Rocketjock]

Rocketjock... that's a huge drop in mileage.  I talked to Ivan and he said a 2-3 mpg drop (3-5 kpg) was the norm after installing his kit. 


If the bike is tuned right, you should only be losing about 25kpg at most. 

Hey Paul. I guess I opted for the smoother performance over the optimum acceleration last year. I enrichened mine to the least amount of decel pop and the smoothest low rev ride. This had me setting the needle clips at one below center setting. It also seemed to have the bike behaving pretty well the same as stock in the power dept. with a slightly audible WAAA sound when I cracked the throttle. Like it was running too rich. Thus the big gas mileage drop. The plugs didn't, however show rich burning so it was just heading into the rich zone. This year I'm gonna leave the needles in the center position and damn the low rev miss. I did try the clips set at second from top and got real poor performance right up to 4500 rpm.

[China Greg]

I've used Ivan needles on two 1st Gen B12's now. (same ones! I swapped the carb guts over to my newer '98 B12). Air box 20 holes and all. Yosh RS3 end can. Stock paper filter.. I've had bad results with K&N's over the years.

I tried different variations, and have ended up with the fuel screws WAAY out.. at 4.25 turns! I can't remember what the needles were at.. I think leaner than what he recommended ...but when I tried to richen up the needles a shim, it wouldn't run well off idle into the mid. I believe the mains are stock size..?. have to check.

Actually, both bikes have run very well in my IMHO. VERY crisp off idle, will roll-on smoothly right up through the range. No bogs or obvious flat spots. Very light carbon in pipe end; although recent checks showed plugs a little bit WHITISH.. not bad. I've done many miles wih this config. Maybe the bikes are not as punchy on top end as could be, but seems f'ing strong to me, and is plenty-good. I also only get about 32 mpg on the highway. I accept this as being a High Performance trade-off.

I have to take the carbs off soon for a cleaning and adjustment, so I'll post my exact settings.

PS One thing I've noticed is that both bikes seem very sensitive to dirty air cleaners.. even if they don't LOOK really dirty.

I actually live near Ivan, have known him for years. I think his repair shop is closed for Winter; as soon as he opens again I'll stop over and bring up the subject.

[Rocketjock]

Hey China. Now you've got me curious again. I never did really go for setting the screws above 4 turns because nobody talked about going that far. Maybe this year I'll start out with the clips at second from top position and try the screws at 4.25. If you talk to Ivan, let me know.

[PaulVS]

I'm a little leary of going past 4 turns myself.  I think Ivan should have included size 20 pilot jets (vs. the stock 15's) with his kit... then you'd only be going out about 2 turns on the A/F screws.

Next time I take out my carbs, I think I'll try installing 20's.

[China Greg]

Okay, I just checked tonight. This is what I've been running on two (consecutive) 1st Gen B12's :

Mains: 117 (stock)
Pilots: 37.5 (stock)
Needles: second clip down from top.No spacer.
fuel screws: yes, FOUR and a quarter turns out.

I have the famous 20 holes drilled in back of the airbox, and have removed the rubber snorkel. On the exhaust side it's a stock header with a Yosh RS3 end can.

I've been running it this way for a long time... (two bikes, probably 20,000 miles). It seems crisp, but just lately I've been gettting some instability just off idle. I pulled one plug the other day and it looked a little whitish in the center.. nothing extreme,.. but I may be tinkering again soon.

But otherwise, the bike pulls cleanly right up from idle to redline without a flat spot. I imagine I'm not doing it BEST.. and with more F'ing around could improve it. I'm thinking about larger mains... but I seem to recall DOING all this four years ago, and settled on what I've got now.

Anyone wants to try this weird set-up, I'm really curious to see what they find. So far it's worked for me.

[Rocketjock]

Pilots 37.5? Wow. That's a long way from stock 15s. I upped mine to 20s but maybe I do need to up mine again to get smooth cruising thru town at 2 to 4 grand. Waddya think?  Of course mine's an 06 model and there could be a different setup for 1st gen B12s. As a matter of fact I've heard people talk about 1st gen mixture settings at 2 to 3 turns so, with the factory setting on the latest models being at 3.5 turns, I guess they are.

[PaulVS]

Pilots 37.5? Wow. That's a long way from stock 15s.

Of course mine's an 06 model and there could be a different setup for 1st gen B12s.

Yes, the 1st Gens are completely different from the 2nd Gens.

[snofrog]

fwiw I have a 00 b12 s . Ivans jet kit, yosh muffler , K&N airfilter, airbox mod

I can get mpg`s into the upper 20`s on the weekend rides . if I am in fuel consevation mode I can get near 50 .I average 39-42 lately

[China Greg]

Hey, Froggie..

Can you tell us what your carb settings are?
Mains
Pilots
needle positions
fuel screw turns out

...and does your bike run cleanly/evenly, etc. with these settings?

----------
PS.. with my settings I get about 32 mpg on the highway, running 75-90 mph.
----------
PPS... my own fuel screw settings were about 3 3/4 tuns out, not 4 1/4 as previously reported... but as my plugs had a SLIGHT taste of gray on th tips, I'm turning them all out to 4 and try that.