How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride....

I know this has come up before but since it's been a while, I figured I'd ask again to see who is still fairly active? Any other turbo owners here these days? If so, where are you from? There is another forum but hardlt anyone posts over there any more and I don't even know if they still hold the rally up in PA.

I just got back from my second ride on my bike and I'm beginning to get a better feel for it. It runs great and there's no doubt that that thing flies once the boost gets over 10 pounds. At 15 pounds in 3rd gear, things are happening rather quickly and the 85 speedometer fast becomes non-indicative of real speeds. I had tried slowly bringing up the rpms in 2nd then wicking the throttle but as soon as the boost climbs, it’s flying up to redline. I’m not used to the speed in which the rpms climb in lower gears while on serious boost and don’t want to miss a shift. It also happens so fast that keeping an eye on the boost gage and the tach is nearly impossible. I have no desire to rekit my engine so we don’t do that in 2nd anymore.

I’m at 6’, really too tall for it though. It feels like my legs are crunched up in a near racers crouch. Sure is a smooth ride though although I wish it were bit quieter. I’ve never been one for loud bikes and it is pretty loud. I don’t remember hearing the whine of the turbo so much from my first ride but I was also trying to pay attention to 50 different things. It makes a nice high pitched whine, similar to the supercharger on my car. I like the sound of the turbo but not the loud exhaust growl, quite a conundrum <lol>.

I spent some time on the island straight-away trying to set my controller to 17 or 18 pounds but my problem is once I wind it up to see where it's kicking in, I'm out of space. So, I have to turn around and do it again and I really don't want to run up and down the same stretch of road blasting it and making the folks that live there angry. It's only a few farms but I know a couple of them will call the local leos and since my tag is "borrowed" from my Vstrom, I sure don't need the attention. Don't bother giving me a hard time over it, it's insured but not registered. I insure all my bikes before riding them just in case I was to hurt someone else. I wouldn’t get near the value for them since I just call my Geico agent and have her add them. Only my H2’s have proper Vintage insurance.

Looking forward to meeting some other turbo owners...

jeff

 

I'm in Bethesda, although I'm only a turbo "owner" and not yet a rider.

I'm finishing up on a V-Star 650 that I probably won't hold on to, and then I'll probably do some electrical upgrades and general maintenance on my 750 Seca before I finally get around to the Turbo.

It's only got 6k miles, but a lot of it is in boxes, disassembled then forgotten. We'll see how long it stays that way, but I know there's no way I could get it together as fast as you did. I've spent more in storage and transporting the project from MA than I did for the bike

 

you dont like loud bikes, and how many 2 strokes do you have?

lol, i embrace the noise of engines at this age

 

LOL...yeah but 2 stokes don't sound loud to me, except if I;'m running dstingers...LOL...I can;t type cause I went out again on the turbo and my fingers are frozen. That thing is fun but at 50 and no power outlet for my lectric gloves, my hands freeze. I have a ciculation prob in my hands...thats why they get cold so quick.


yiou have some nice ride manbot. I only did it quick becquse I had taken vacation just for that reason. God my fingers are numb!!
jeff

 

glad the ride went well. I hear you with the hands with the problems i have the hands and feet can't take the cold anymore. Have you checked any of the plugs yet just curious all that extra boost what its going to do to the stock jetting

 

Do I really want to know? Nope...sure don't.

I pulled them after the first ride and they actually looked perfect....not enough miles yet to show anything as they still looked pretty new. I out in 35 miles today wso maybe I'll pull them tomorrow or this evening after I make dinner and take a look. My plan was if it ran well, to ride it a bit, then do some proper checks...you know, run it steady at 7500 then turn it off and pull them to look. Everything I've read indicates that turbos tend to run lean at high rpm so I'll start at 7000-7500 and work my way up to look.

jeff

 

Re: How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride.

Don't have an XJ turbo but I do have the Kawasaki turbo . Had to pass up an XJ turbo a couple years back, wish now I had just taken the plunge and got it. My goal is to have all four (Honda, kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha factory turbos) of the little beasties in my stable yes even the elusive Suzuki XN85. The XN, from what owners say about it, is the best in the curves, uh, I mean YAMAHA rules!!

 

JeffK - ever think of putting the middle-gear set from a 900 into your Turbo to get taller overall gearing ??
You think the stock muffler is loud ? Could the baffles be rusted away ??

 

Re: How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride.

Yup, I'm assuming that you mean the GPZ750 E(?). If so that Kaw was by far the fastest and most powerful factory turbo ever built other then the Z1RTC 1000 built a few years earlier. The XN was by far the best carver but really uncomfortable for the 20 mile ride to get to the favorite road from what a friend of mine who owned one said. He said the seat would burn his a** within 10 miles. I never got a chance to ride his because he lived up in NY and we spoke on the phone a few times a year. When he brought his family back here, he sold the bike, the house and one of the cars....bet he regrets selling the bike.

So you had the best carver in the XN, the fastest in the Kaw E and Honda of course being by far the most complicated in the CX500 &650 varieties and the Yamaha which when properly setup would trounce the Hondas, had the plushest ride and was really the only set up as a "sport tourer".

If you plan on getting them all, you should def pick up a Yammy now as you can get them in good condition but needing work for well under a grand then you can restore/renew it at your leisure.

TTR- Yes, I had checked both mufflers after finding the rot in the right side and no, nothing is rusted away, it’s just a louder machine then my Vstrom. They are the only 4 strokes that I’m riding right now. I also noticed yesterday during my extended rides that it is geared to low, especially in the higher gears. I was constantly looking for another gear out on the highways. I’m used to my Vstrom which clicks over at a much lower rpm and being a twin, doesn’t have nearly the same level of busyness. I wish it had a nice, tall fifth to ride the highway with instead of being so close to 4th. I didn’t know that the gear sets switched out. This is where chain drive would have afforded a simple solution. I have heard the a lot of guys switch out the cylinders from the 900 and some other parts to give them a turbo 900 which is probably one nasty beast when complete. I’ll have to keep that in mind about the tranny.

jeff

 

Re: How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride.

From orkney, scotland,

Owner of two turbo's, one at 75%, the other in many many pieces at the

minute, being restored from ground up, locked away for 17yrs

vin numbers 288 & 297

haven't ridden either but reminded how heavy they were when pushing them

on the back of the truck, especially with no brakes and fork seals gone :lol:

 

I feel your pain Knight, they sure are pigs until the get moving.

jeff

 

Jeff I am kind of amazed that you said that your hands were cold... Maybe I wasn't riding in cold enough weather... LOL I had the tourmaster cold whatever gloves and was somewhat comfy to 30 degrees... Yes the hands got cold but never that cold... Well My Gf would say that they got that cold. God I like waking her up in the middle of the night . Nothing say's "Hi honey I am home!!" like a cold pair of hands on the unmentionables

As for wishing for a 6th gear... I often found myself looking for it too.. Would help out with the highway buzz around 70 mph. Now if only I could build a transmission from the xj550, beef the hell out of it and transplant it into the turbo.

Sean

 

Re: How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride.

Sean,


?? Ohhhh, I must have not been clear. My hands were freezing because I DO NOT have a power outlet on my bike to plug in my electric gloves. So I went riding with a worn out pair of regular winter type gloves, but they aren't riding gloves.

I also have the tourmaster electric and they work great down to like you say, around 30 on most bikes and into the teens on my Vstrom with it's shrouds/protectors in front of each grip.

I'm guessing that you're leaving your helmet ON until AFTER you slide that cold, gloved hand under the covers onto your baby???? For when she wacks you?<LOL>

My GF doesn't even think about hoping on the back until the temps break into the 80's.....she isn't much for cold weather riding. She usually checks out in September or October and from then until May, it's just me.

It's usually not so bad for me cause I ride year round but this year, I got too involved with a couple of projects and didn't hardly ride at all ove rthe winter. I honestly don't think that I rode 20 miles after the first of December.

jeff

 

Randy, from South Texas here. Picked up an 82 a few months ago. Bike has 36xx miles on it and was left at a mechanics shop after the mechanic said it wasn't worth fixing. Picked it up for $500 with a clear title knowing nothing other than it had a turbo from the factory. Bike hasn't run in a little less than a year, the fiberglass body was cracked in multiple places, and the exhaust collector had a heavy coat of oil on it.

I stripped the bike down, cleaned the carbs, inspected and cleaned the turbo, and fired it up last week. I think the intake o-rings are shot and it smokes like a freight train once warmed up. Haven't touched it since then.

 

sounds like the turbo seals are gone from what i hear you cant let them sit for long

 

Randy,

You're going to have to let it get REALLY warmed up...by riding it if you can. Also, don't connect any kind of hose to the muffler or it will never stop smoking. If you don't have anything connected and it's still smoking heavy after being warmed up for 1/2 hour or so, you're gonna have to remove the collector box as it's probably full of oil. Remove and clean it really well on the inside as well as the outside, then check the turbo return oil seal by seeing it a continues to drip when disconnected. The supply side check will also need to be renewed and with that many miles, the turbo will very likely need rebuilding.

It sounds like you and wrenches get along so you'll be able to do it yourself as long as you have the correct tooks and are sure to index the turbine to the compressor wheels before you do any work to it.


The way to check the turbo is to remove the left hand exhust from the turbo unit, then place your index finger of the nut securing the turbine and try to wiggle, up/down...front/back....it you can feel movement, ANY , it's too much! Also, check to see if the turbine wheel is wet with oil...that is another bad sing that the seals(more like piston rings) on the turbo shaft are shot.

Definitely a fun bike once you get it together though. I was going to sell mine right up until I rode it....now I'm going to keep it for a while.....


jeff

 

Randy, take the bike out and ride it for an hour. Twist the throttle to the fun setting several times. Most likely has oil that has pooled up in the turbo and will need to be vented to atmosphere Will smoke like heck for a few miles but it will clear up. This is a bike that MUST be ridden often or this will happen. Just make sure that the bike is road worthy before you head out and if you have any fluid leaks, get them taken care of before you release the clutch handle.
From what you stated that the bike has less than four thousand miles on it??? and you paid 500 bucks... You lucky guy!!

Sean

 

" the bike has less than four thousand miles on it"

oops, I went back and re-read and you're right, he had written 36xx.....I looked yesterday and in my mind saw 36K. Heck Randy, that engine is brand new if thats all it has on the clock!!

jeff

 

I'd love to take it out for an hour or so, but the tires have dry rot and the fork seals are blown. I'm picky about the condition of my bikes before I put them on the road for even a test ride. I violated my number one rule and trusted the PO, since he was a bike mechanic, when he stated the carbs had freshly been rebuilt. I pulled the bowls and they were spotless, put the carbs on the bike and when it fires up it jumps to 4k rpm and the throttle has no effect on rpms what so ever. I pulled the carbs back off, separated them and stuck them in the dip. Polished the slide bores to a mirror shine today and the slides operate oh-so-smooth now.

Yes the bike has under 4,000 original miles on the clock, and sat for most of it's life.

I pulled the oil feed and return lines and neither of them poured out much more than a few drops of oil. The turbine blades do have a fine coating of oil on them and there is a very small, almost unnoticeable amount of play up and down in the shaft. I'm leaning more towards the turbine seals being bad at this point.

Before I started the bike for the first time I made sure to change the oil and filter. After about 20mins of running the oil turned pretty dark. I'm sure some of this could be from any crud in the engine being broken loose. The oil does have a slight smell of exhaust, possibly being contaminated by exhaust from the turbo and bad seals. I'll send the turbo off to my trusted turbo shop for an overhaul just to be sure though.

 

Glad that you're getting into your bike. Yeah, it's hard not to place at least a little faith in what people tell us but like you, more often then not, I get burned for doing it.

Be sure to set the valves before trying to set the carbs or you'll be putting the horse before the cart.

If you have a reasonable amount of experience, the turbo rebuild isn't beyond the typical skill set for someone who is used to working in CLEAN enviornments and is a stickler for details. I'd recommend G-Pop shop. Jerry over there was a huge help to me.

jeff