Longevity on nitrous

[isaac]

The "cheap and easy mods for more power" thread made me wonder about this since I'm sure quite a few of you have considered it:

How well do these GS engines handle nitrous? I'm not talking race levels here, I'm talking 25-40hp worth of nitrous with a gravity feed wet setup.

Anybody here try a (relatively) conservative dose of nitrous and had their engine last a decent amount of time?

I know these engines are supposedly overbuilt, but how strong are they?
I've got a Volvo wagon that I've more than doubled the horsepower on and its engine is quite overbuilt for car standards, but I don't know about bike standards.

Do these things break rods, blow head gaskets, warp heads or melt pistons when you add 30% more power?

I know a few guys on here are running very serious nitrous setups on bikes they race, but that's not the level I'm talking about.

 

[lecroy]

I started spraying my GS around 85 or so when I started draging it. It was still a street bike at the time. I used a mild combination and the bike was all stock. I couldn't tell you how much more power it put out. Maybe I gained a few tenths. It was before these marketing guys started selling these 40HP shots.

I never had any problems with it except forgetting to purge it. I blew the carbs out of the boots once and another time blew the jets out of the boots.

I had to buy some parts a while back and the guy started telling me that the parts were good for a few hundred HP. So I asked him if that meant that if I mounted it on my lawn mower that I would get a few hundred HP gain. Things got silent and I asked for the flow rates....

Don't get too greedy and you should be fine.

 

[skip]

i ran nitrous on my 1150 for 16 years! when it was stock it ran 10.85 with just a header and carb kit. with the nitrous and the same set up it dropped to high 10.3's. after two years of nitrous on the stock set up I went with a 1229 big bore kit and rebuilt the motr and bullit proofed it. I installed heavy duty rods , had the crank welded and balanced. installed a heavy duty clutch basket , did some head porting installed high voulume oil pump gears ,and all the dyna electirical stuff i could find . the bike then ran high 9,s with the spray and 10.3's with out it. I had this set up for over ten years before the motor needed a rebuild . I did not use the nitrous alot over the years and almost only at the track. I rebuilt the motor ( star racing did it this time) and sold the bike. The person who bought it tried the nitrous and blew the head gasket first time out, Now the only thing we could come up with is after I beefed the motor I ran a copper head and base gasket. when the motor was rebuilt the last time it had a composit gaskit in it. also the nitrous was actually almost empty when he tried it so he only really got compressed air into the motor not nitrous. he also said that the fuel pump for the nitrous may have bveen missfiring. nitrous is fun but it will knock some mile of these old bikes. overall I had good luck with it , but not every one does.

 

[Guest]

the only problem with "juice" is it is only a momentary power gain. Do some mods for "around the tac" excitement.

I hope I don't upset anyone here but.....GAS is like steroids...without it your nothing special (if thats all you got). the power isn't the bike. It is different if you are drag racing and need the tenths because you have done a lot of other stuff..that is were it is good.

If this is for the street???? I think you are heading for trouble more ways then one. If it's for drag racing....go for it. just my personal opinion.

OK...let me have it"

 

[RacingJake]

I do run with 275 shot in my 65 Falcon and it works great for a heck of a rush. Even broke the seat mounts once and was looking up at the roof during a launch saying whats going on here.

Just remember forged pistons can make a bad tuner look good and a bad tuner with cast pistons is walking home.

Good things to have, retard box, fuel pressure cut out switch, high octan fuel.

Biggest threat is detonation and running lean with nitrous. One can blow the crank out the bottom and the other melds pistons and plugs. Once you understand how nitrous works and install a few safety items your engine can live for many years without trouble. But remember nitrous can double your torque at the push of a button and will reduce the life of any engine with abuse, to big of a shot, lack of fuel or to much timing.

I'm not trying to scare anybody but you can get hooked on the juice. I started out at 50hp, then 75, 150, 200 then 275. At one time I thought 50 hp was alot, but once I got to the higher levels I can't go back because it feels like a dog if you know what I mean.

All i can say is go with a good kit, read up about nitrous and stay with a small shot and you should be fine.

The only problem I have with nitrous is my 10 lb bottle goes dry in less than 5 mins when showing off around town and at 40 bucks a pop for a refill and a tank of fuel too doesn't leave much left over for a burger at BK

All this talk makes me want to hook up the bottle heater and go for a spin.

 

[RacingJake]

OK...let me have it"

I would Rob but my bottle is empty #-o

 

[lhanscom]

I'm the one who bought Skip's old bike, and had the head gasket blow. It was setup for a 60hp shot. All I can say is that if you decide to go for it, prepare yourself to have to pull the head off. Before I run nitrous again I'll have my block o-ringed, and a copper head gasket. I think the engine itself can handle t without a problem. You may also find this interesting:

http://www.ctel.net/~lhanscom/TurboInABottle1.pdf
http://www.ctel.net/~lhanscom/TurboInABottle2.pdf
http://www.ctel.net/~lhanscom/TurboInABottle3.pdf
http://www.ctel.net/~lhanscom/TurboInABottle4.pdf

 

[Nerobro]

Longevity on nitrous is tied to two things.

First, is how big of a power gain you're trying to get. Doubble the stress on an engine and it's twice as likely to blow up. A number I would not want to go beyond without changing the lifespan of the engine is 25% If you want to go higher than that, you need to start beefing up engine parts. Headgasket first.... Given it's a GS.. probally headgasket alone ;-)

The seccond factor is how good your fueling system is. Nearly all nitrous related failures are due to the engine going lean and then burning huge holes in pistons.

 

[Guest]

you also have to factor in the endless cost of spray with the static cost of cams, big bore, carbs or whatever.

If you are looking for inexpense and longevity traditional mods would be cheaper over the miles.

 

[Nerobro]

But you can't tell me there's not a certian amount of fun involved with a button that adds Xlbft of torque across the rev range ;-) "I" could justify nitrous. I don't need speed all the time. I don't need speed most of the time. I wonder how long a 20oz tank of nitrous oxide would last as a 20 shot...

 

[skip]

I had this same conversation with a friend of mine. He had agreat reply about nitrous and why he likes it. It has a built in safty valve,,......................the bottle goes empty! In all reality if I had built the bike conventionally to make the same power it makes with nitrous, I would have been beating the crap out of it all the time. Power is addicting. but with the nitrous the bottle would go dry quickly and it would be weeks or a month before I would get them filled. All of this time saving the abuse the bike would have been getting if it had been conventionally built. If the power is available to you 100 percent of the time you will use it 100 percent of the time. If it is only available to you 10 percent of the time ,then thats all you will use it........................skip

 

[RacingJake]

Your right it is fun for me in a car. But I have no will power or maybe it's called common sense :idea: and in a bike i'd be stepping it up alot and since my street bike doesn't have wheelie bars I'd be more conserned about snap wheelie's. But then again maybe I do have alittle :?:

 

[RacingJake]

So Skip have you'll taking that 1200 out to the strip.

We got a guy out here with one and has been running 6.40's. This bike is his wife's and it is faster than his Busa. Seems his wife want's to go racing too.

God if my wife ever took me out I'd could never live it down, i'd have to change classes.

 

[skip]

So Skip have you'll taking that 1200 out to the strip.

We got a guy out here with one and has been running 6.40's. This bike is his wife's and it is faster than his Busa. Seems his wife want's to go racing too.

God if my wife ever took me out I'd could never live it down, i'd have to change classes.

I took it to a 1/8 mile track in june of last year . it was my first time to a track in over five years and the first time on the zrx. It showed. I ran Ok with the first run going bad near the end (shifter trouble) I ran 7.11 I then got it together a little bit better and ran a 7.03 and finaly a 7.02. I totaly excpect to get back this year and dive into the sixes probably a 6.80. find out who the guy is at your track Im sure he is on my zrx website.

 

[skip]

Your right it is fun for me in a car. But I have no will power or maybe it's called common sense :idea: and in a bike i'd be stepping it up alot and since my street bike doesn't have wheelie bars I'd be more conserned about snap wheelie's. But then again maybe I do have alittle :?:

snap wheelies are a problem in 2nd gear but once your in third its smooth sailing.