So something strange happen

[phanomenal07]

So I rode my fz for the first time since installing the hord power airbox and refreshing the ecu for it. I got on the highway "in mexico" and wanted to see if there was any top speed increase. Up to this point the fz pretty much felt the same as always. I'm in 5th gear WOT and the bike maxed out at 92 mph I shifted up and when I got back on the throttle it was down to about 87 mph I stayed WOT over the course of about a mile and during that time the speed slowly dropped down to about 67. I felt like it was going to go down lower but by this time I had already started downshifting and slowing down to get out at the exit. I turned around and limped  home at first and on the way home the bike kinda felt normal so before I got off the exit I gave it on last burst of WOT and got up to about 102 is 5th gear before having to slow down and take slower twistie roads back home. 

I'm not sure exactly what happen but I dont think it could be improper install as I triple and quadruple check my work l. All connectors plugs bolts and everything. Most of you know I always mention I lack of mechanical skills so idk maybe but I doubt it.

 

Question 1

I installed new spark plugs at the same time.

Some of you know that the left plug is a bitch to get to because of wires and everything. Could a loose plug cause this? I know I torqued down the plug pretty good so I don't think it's that but I'm just trying to eliminate potential reason. 

 

Any insight would help

Edited February 17, 2020 by phanomenal07
Title autocorrect

[mossrider]

Somethings not quite right. 

Strong head wind?

Long grade?

Did you reconnect the ambient air gauge at the right front of the tank (if you disconnected it), I always forget that one?

With these mods it should bury the tach in 5th gear and pull a little better in 6th to around 125mph with stock gearing. The midrange should be killer. They still fall flat at the top w/o intake, head, cam work tho. 

[sorkyah]

did you check your grip? 
ive found the summer heat here kills my adhesive, grips turn no matter what, even safety wire isnt working for em. Im just thinking the grip may have shifted instead of the tube opening the throttle more?

iirc the summer last year in PA was a bit harsh

[phanomenal07]

40 minutes ago, mossrider said:

Somethings not quite right. 

Strong head wind?

Long grade?

Did you reconnect the ambient air gauge at the right front of the tank (if you disconnected it), I always forget that one?

With these mods it should bury the tach in 5th gear and pull a little better in 6th to around 125mph with stock gearing. The midrange should be killer. They still fall flat at the top w/o intake, head, cam work tho. 

It was flat as flat could be I definitely remember reconnecting that front sensor. I'll take the bike apart later and see if I could find anything.

 

19 minutes ago, sorkyah said:

did you check your grip? 
ive found the summer heat here kills my adhesive, grips turn no matter what, even safety wire isnt working for em. Im just thinking the grip may have shifted instead of the tube opening the throttle more?

iirc the summer last year in PA was a bit harsh

Checked it. The grip is fine

[sorkyah]

that leaves the plugs, fuel, or air,  im leaning towards fuel myself, however plug check would be first

not being insulting just spitballing:
were they gapped correctly? were they reseated to crush the washer? anti-seize applied (binding thread during install) 
Break/nic in a wire somewhere? 
definitely curious to see what the culprit is. 
 

[geophb]

I would start with what was recently changed.  From what I see you installed airbox, new plugs, and new tune

If everything was installed/reassembled correctly. Im leaning pretty hard towards spark. Losing spark on one cylinder? bad spark plug? failing coil (doubtful)?

Temps okay? Does it sound different when its losing power?

Is it repeatable?  I see you goosed it to 102 before getting home but that still seems low unless you ran out of road.

Just thowin stuff out here

[phanomenal07]

Hey temps was all normal. It didnt sound any different. It just seemed to stop revving higher when I got to the initial 92. the 102 was because I ran out of road. It wouldve went higher but probably not as quickly as I'm used to. I was gonna check for repeatability next time I go out. I'll let you know

[norcal616]

Is gearing still stock? It should pull alot quicker to about 120mph then that's pretty much it vs a tune and exhaust...

Also if you got winter/summer blends of gas, I dont even put that winter blend of gas into my motorcycles or fast cars/trucks... stuff is just plain junk gas...

I can only attest to a PCV tune from Hordpower, I dunno how an ECU tune from another vendor works/feels if you went that route...

[phanomenal07]

2 minutes ago, norcal616 said:

Is gearing still stock? It should pull alot quicker to about 120mph then that's pretty much it vs a tune and exhaust...

Also if you got winter/summer blends of gas, I dont even put that winter blend of gas into my motorcycles or fast cars/trucks... stuff is just plain junk gas...

I can only attest to a PCV tune from Hordpower, I dunno how an ECU tune from another vendor works/feels if you went that route...

Yes it is stock gearing. And yes it used to pull pass 120 very easily.  Used to top out at about 130. It is flashed by 2wdw 

[phanomenal07]

So I didnt fix anything but I decided to try to ride it. I looked around and all the connectors are connected I didnt get a chance to check the plugs but I'll do that tomorrow. I can't tell if there is a lost of power or anything and there were a little bit of traffic. The bike seem to rev just fine. I was able to rev out 4th gear and shifted up to 5th 4th got me up to 105 and I couldn't rev out 5 do to traffic but it got up to about 117 around 9000 or 9500 rpm. That seems normal to me but I'm not sure. Even if the problem went away I'm still not exactly comfortable with what happen earlier.

These numbers seems right to you guys?

[mossrider]

Just now, phanomenal07 said:

So I didnt fix anything but I decided to try to ride it. I looked around and all the connectors are connected I didnt get a chance to check the plugs but I'll do that tomorrow. I can't tell if there is a lost of power or anything and there were a little bit of traffic. The bike seem to rev just fine. I was able to rev out 4th gear and shifted up to 5th 4th got me up to 105 and I couldn't rev out 5 do to traffic but it got up to about 117 around 9000 or 9500 rpm. That seems normal to me but I'm not sure. Even if the problem went away I'm still not exactly comfortable with what happen earlier.

These numbers seems right to you guys?

Sure looks like an anomalous run. Maybe you were just restin your size 13 on the brake pedal before, lol?

[shinyribs]

I doubt it's a spark plug issue. 

 

If the plug was loose enough to cause a loss of power you'd hear it. It would be hissing and spitting like an exhaust leak, but 10x stronger. Nobody ever overlooks the sound a leaking spark plug makes. 

Incorrect gap wouldn't cause a dramatic loss of power anyway. At most, a too small of a plug gap would hurt slightly hurt fuel mileage, but that's it. Larger plug gap only exist for a more complete burn for emissions reasons, not for power. Super powerful engines have to tighten up plug gaps to keep high compression situations from snuffing out the flame.

And if one plug wasn't firing, causing the bike to run on one cylinder, you'd DEFINITELY know it already. It'd be vibrating and idling very rough. Accelerating would be extremely weak and the bike would be all herky jerky. 

 

I've owned several bikes with open element air filters like you have now. They don't like strong cross-breezes at all. I've had semi's pass me at speed and the resulting draft would just suck all the power out of the bike. The engine can't draw air in if there's a vacuum at the intake area. I would often have to tuck my legs tight to shield the breathers when a strong crosswind would blow. I've had more than one occasion where I struggled to keep up with traffic on windy days. 

 

Not trying to be wordy, just some frame of reference. I would be very surprised if there's an issue with your plugs, or anything else mechanical for that matter. 

 

I might would suspect a corrupted ECU flash? Who knows. Good luck, bro. And keep us in the loop on what you find.

[cornerslider]

3 hours ago, shinyribs said:

I doubt it's a spark plug issue. 

 

If the plug was loose enough to cause a loss of power you'd hear it. It would be hissing and spitting like an exhaust leak, but 10x stronger. Nobody ever overlooks the sound a leaking spark plug makes. 

Incorrect gap wouldn't cause a dramatic loss of power anyway. At most, a too small of a plug gap would hurt slightly hurt fuel mileage, but that's it. Larger plug gap only exist for a more complete burn for emissions reasons, not for power. Super powerful engines have to tighten up plug gaps to keep high compression situations from snuffing out the flame.

And if one plug wasn't firing, causing the bike to run on one cylinder, you'd DEFINITELY know it already. It'd be vibrating and idling very rough. Accelerating would be extremely weak and the bike would be all herky jerky. 

 

I've owned several bikes with open element air filters like you have now. They don't like strong cross-breezes at all. I've had semi's pass me at speed and the resulting draft would just suck all the power out of the bike. The engine can't draw air in if there's a vacuum at the intake area. I would often have to tuck my legs tight to shield the breathers when a strong crosswind would blow. I've had more than one occasion where I struggled to keep up with traffic on windy days. 

 

Not trying to be wordy, just some frame of reference. I would be very surprised if there's an issue with your plugs, or anything else mechanical for that matter. 

 

I might would suspect a corrupted ECU flash? Who knows. Good luck, bro. And keep us in the loop on what you find.

I've been watching this thread all day.... I have no idea what to think? I thought about replying earlier, but couldn't really give an honest opinion. I do however agree with @shinyribs advise on this. I also have a vested interest in it. I have the exact same set-up on my bike, and recently had my ECU flashed by 2WDW.... I had previously been running a PCV with Hord's map. I recently ditched the PCV, as I realized I was too far into this bike to ever go back to stock, or sell it. I got my ECU flashed, and reinstalled. I live in Minnesota, so riding isn't even an option right now. I waited for a warm(er) day, and started my bike. It seemed to respond well , and the lower "fan-on" temps worked as expected. I'm curious to see If I have the same issue? Please keep us in the loop if you find anything conclusive....

[phanomenal07]

Wow I didnt know a crosswind would have that effect on a open air filter like that. And it doesn't effect the standard airbox? I dont remember there being any wind or a semi when it happened. Ill definitely keep you guys in the loop if I actually find anything. If i cant find a culprit and it happen again i would probably send the ecu to 2wdw to see if they see any issues. @cornerslider it was 50 degrees here in philly yesterday so it was the first chance I got to ride it since installing everything. Hoping for warmer days

[shinyribs]

The crosswind issue may be more noticeable on carbureted bikes vs fuelie's. All my carb'd bikes struggled with crosswinds and open filters, some worse than others. CV carbs HATE pods. Mechanical slides can tolerate them. Having a dependable smooth intake air situation is something OEM's spend a lot of time and research to get right. Some airbox even have baffles in them to create pressure waves, like expansion chambers on two strokes. But the Hordpower setup may, for whatever reason, be completely immune to this. 

For WOT dyno pulls, you can pull a good HP number with wide open filters. But things get more complicated when using a bike for the daily grind. 

[cornerslider]

10 hours ago, shinyribs said:

The crosswind issue may be more noticeable on carbureted bikes vs fuelie's. All my carb'd bikes struggled with crosswinds and open filters, some worse than others. CV carbs HATE pods. Mechanical slides can tolerate them. Having a dependable smooth intake air situation is something OEM's spend a lot of time and research to get right. Some airbox even have baffles in them to create pressure waves, like expansion chambers on two strokes. But the Hordpower setup may, for whatever reason, be completely immune to this. 

For WOT dyno pulls, you can pull a good HP number with wide open filters. But things get more complicated when using a bike for the daily grind. 

I've had the Hord intake for 2 years, and don't think I've ever experienced any issues with a cross wind? I'm not saying you're wrong, I've just never experienced it. The inside of the Hord intake doesn't have any vanes/baffles either. I know very little about intake systems. I do know that because I know so little, that it's a good idea to trade my money for knowledge/experience . The Hord intake was probably the best money I spent on my FZ-07. There were "nay-sayers" out there that said you could build it cheaper yourself. To that I say- "go ahead".... You're paying for the R&D that Hord put into that intake. $300 is really cheap for the gains you get. @phanomenal07, I do hope you get your bike sorted out-

[sorkyah]

5 hours ago, cornerslider said:

I've had the Hord intake for 2 years, and don't think I've ever experienced any issues with a cross wind? I'm not saying you're wrong, I've just never experienced it. The inside of the Hord intake doesn't have any vanes/baffles either. I know very little about intake systems. I do know that because I know so little, that it's a good idea to trade my money for knowledge/experience ">. The Hord intake was probably the best money I spent on my FZ-07. There were "nay-sayers" out there that said you could build it cheaper yourself. To that I say- "go ahead".... You're paying for the R&D that Hord put into that intake. $300 is really cheap for the gains you get. @phanomenal07, I do hope you get your bike sorted out-

Thought it had bellmouths for a Venturi 

[cornerslider]

5 hours ago, sorkyah said:

Thought it had bellmouths for a Venturi 

I don't think so, but maybe I'm wrong?

[sorkyah]

Thought they were hidden by the filter but I could be wrong too

I don't remember, and hords images are gone since xfer to the new host

 

[mossrider]

They were modified bell mouth/rubber intake boots, I can maybe post a pic if necessary later

[blackout]

Yes, the hord plate has bell mouths machined in.

[shinyribs]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:16 AM, cornerslider said:

I'm not saying you're wrong...

That's alright, because I never said I was "right".

[phanomenal07]

Update: so took it out again today to see if I can replicate the problem. I could not. The bike seems to pull hard and accelerate as normal. I Was able to get up to 125 mph in 5th gear and prolly could've gone further but had to slowdown for traffic. All seems normal. Should I still be concern or should I just brush it off. Any recommendations on what else I should check. 

Thanks for your input

[cornerslider]

I would re-check all the connections between the coil pak, and the plugs. If that looks good, I'd keep riding it-