Wide-band Lambda AFR reverse SuperTrapp tuning and FAQ confirmation

[kz550]

I half heartedly joke about how there almost appears to be this dependency where riders after a season or two riding along with the SuperTrapp ZX-9R sE1 or my 2002 sF1, also with a SuperTrapp muffler, shortly thereafter sell their bike for something better. Yeah, ha-ha, try as they will, try as they might, by the end of the ride the sE1 is leading them home. They're often tired, beat, and seemingly a little grumpy sometimes, scratching their heads about the ZX9 they cannot figure out. Or maybe that's simply down to them not feeling it on those days. Whatever, right?

In the past week, I had some work to do which afforded me the opportunity I'd wanted to take the sE1 out to build confidence again that the electrical woes are behind her. The work happened to be at my buddy's house, one who rides with me somewhat regularly, so I took the bike to and from (without incident).

I wrapped up my work and we took a break with his family (social distancing-like, with masks) watching motor racing replay highlights and I mentioned this bizarre thing that happened to me on the Internet that day. The site link took me to this infected Web site with a hook title about the 2021 H2. Blah, blah, blah... I finish my story and he says, you know your buddy with the H2 sold it, right? I reply no, but I was thinking he was pulling my chain, typical for him. All except for the fact that I've never explained to him my hypothesis from above. But he continued on matter-of-factish straight faced yawning. Yeah, he says, about two weeks ago. I spoke to him this week and he said he sold it. The H2 is gone.

No way, I reply, thinking here we go again! He sold it?!

I'm not exaggerating, that guy loved, talked up, and babied that H2! Every time we saw him, that bike was his pride and joy, focus of his world of attention. It's the only one in these parts, king of the hill. No question about it. Always clean, just a gorgeous mean looking beast of a bike. And for the brief mile or two he would ride with us, it was always on straight roads where he'd gun it or power wheelie at speed to show the obscene acceleration it had, before pealing off and doing his own thing while we headed towards the mountains.

He picked the bike up new in 2015, so he was the only owner. The guy who would show off the bike's untouchable power characteristics, even gave me a good reminder of it in case I'd forgotten when he rudely buzzed me that day months back. And now suddenly it's no longer the apple of his eye? That's one freaky coincidence!

I can't know what made him sell his supercharged H2, but it's not my intention to spoil other riders love of riding or attachment to their bikes. If anything, it’s just the opposite. I wish they could take as much enjoyment from riding as I do from the experiences I relish aboard my SuperTrapp ZX-9Rs.

[kz550]

There she is, my SuperTrapp sE1, the old girl with all of her miles and wear-n-tear! Got really lucky threading storm cells today. A bit chilly at times, especially on the ride home, but hand warmers helped out with that. Although this looks sunny and mild, it was just the sun peaking through momentarily before turning cloudy again. It sure felt good on my suit while it lasted.

Got rained on briefly before and after this, but was able to alter my course enough that the bike didn't get too messy from the mucky road spray. Oh man. SuperTrapp muffler systems and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R. What a combination!



I made a couple more changes based on the UEGO readings I'd been measuring, to lean out the mid-range fuel circuit a tiny bit and move the fuel that would have been wasted there to the pilot circuit. Today's ride confirmed that there's no appreciable drop in mid-range power and low RPM operation is that much better. It's ideal, in fact. Wow! I am really pleased.

Didn't change the SuperTrapp at all. I like it just where it is for unrestricted throttle movement. Which was why I adjusted the fueling. The mid-range was going completely too rich in some WOT RPM scenarios. The leaning now makes WOT available at any RPM without power loss due to over fueling.

It's also confirmation on what I've said to others about their ZX-9R dyno sheets. This is a RAM air motorcycle. You cannot measure how it will perform in the real world by feeding it static air pressure strapped into a dynamometer and adjusting its fueling based on what the dyno computer kicks out. Those numbers are crap and the UEGO proves it!

[kz550]

Many, if not most, SuperTrapp owners might benefit from this little explanation of when to and when not to use Ethanol-free fuel (E0) or E10 ethanol enhanced pump gasoline. If you have carburetors and a SuperTrapp, this should interest you. Yeah, there is a difference that's more than what most of us are being told online.

[kz550]

Looking forward to taking the bike out again soon to see what λ (Lambda) values she'll show. Not actually expecting any surprises, but confirmation.

According to the YT dyno tuners, I should be seeing a 0.75 - 0.77 λ for maximum power or 11.0 - 11.25:1 on the previous pump gasoline AFR scale. I'm thinking that's not going to be the case for this bike. It definitely appears to pull strongest at nothing less than 12.2:1 on E10 pump gas, and 12.6:1 when the tank was mostly ethanol-free.

AEM's table translates 12.2:1 AFR to ~0.84 λ. Today I was seeing 11s for lows at the higher elevations rolling 6th gear past slower traffic going uphill. But knowing what I was doing, I'd roll out a touch to get the AFR back up into the low 12s where power was better.

Steady cruise was bouncing around 13:3 - 13.5 on the highway @ 75 MPH. Still a little on the rich side due to the residual E0 mix. But I added 3g of E10 before returning home, so when I ride next, by the time I get rolling on the highway I'm hoping to see 0.92 - 094 λ at cruise or what would be 13.5 - 13.8:1 E10 AFR.

But the beauty of λ is that it doesn't anticipate whether I'm running E85, E10, or E0. To it the λ output will be the same due to the voltage coming from the O2 sensor. So if I want or need to stretch tank range to 100% maximum, I just have to hold 1.0 λ in 6th gear. And if I'm passing or accelerating, I'm hoping to confirm that 0.84 λ is the sweet spot.

[kz550]

But the shocker for me still is how much more power my SuperTrapp bikes have when ridden on the street than the bike I purchased with the Muzzy CF can. It's so cliche to say there's no comparison, but how else do you put it? With the SuperTrapp, I'm able to ask for any throttle setting and get power. Not so with the Muzzy bike. I don't think that's too much to ask when opening the throttle. The bike should accelerate, but the Muzzy bike must be 10 HP down. What am I saying! It's probably more than that, at least in the mid-range.

The SuperTrapp makes my 900s feel like Ducatis in mid-range punch, whereas the Muzzy makes my other 900 feel like an overweight 600.

I'll keep working on it, but you know how it is when you have a choice to make before a ride. You choose the bike that's the most fun to ride, the one that can handily lead other bikes, not one that's going to be an embarrassing basket case unless you wind it up like a 600. And that Muzzy exhaust note is for the birds too, that slappy senior citizen on energy drink sound. It's all name recognition, with no actual HP engineering behind it.




Time to buy my third SuperTrapp, I suppose.

[kz550]

We had ridden one of our staple mountain summits today, then headed into a small town for lunch. While there, motorcycles passed by here and there. Some stopped, then left. But this one guy showed up on an Aprilia RS-V4. Not sure what year, but it looked newish and had ABS, so probably like this 2020 model.


We made pleasant chit-chat with him and invited him over to our table in the shade where we were lunching. He was headed towards the summit we had just ridden and we were headed home, but plans changed. He seemed like a really nice fellow. A little gray haired and by the looks of his tires, he had really wide chicken stripes. So why not give him a show and humble him. He was a former GSX-1000RR owner who loved the Aprilia after he bought it and sold the Zuk, because the Aprilia was all he really needed to get his thrills. 200 HP, fast as f*#@, faster than the Zuk, handles like a dream, ABS and TC. This is the bike to own, he said. Even took it to one trackday at Laguna Seca.

Nothing too impressive thus far, but nice conversation. Looking at the guy you’d assume he was your accountant, not a weekend sportbike warrior. He was in full leathers and did have a little damage to his pucks, but the tires!

I was on the sF1 today after an aborted departure on the sE1. There was a minor coolant leak, of all things. So I parked the E and mounted my other 9R. I wanted something with power and the Muzzy E1 wouldn't cut the mustard.

Timing had it that I was the first to get on the road, so I lead going back to the base of the summit, my buddy behind me, the Aprilia rider behind him and our third rider who loves joining our rides, but not in a spirited fashion, playing sweeper.

No surprises getting to the base. I waste no time taking off at a spirited pace, even up to extra legal speeds. I’m in my rhythm cooking along. That should do just nicely, I thought. It always has in the past. No way that guy is anywhere near me. True, but neither is my riding buddy. A few more corners and my riding buddy is up with me. No. Wait. That’s the other fellow. He’s passed my buddy and on my tail at my pace. Uh-oh. Thoughts change from sacking some innocent dude out for a ride, to we’ve been sandbagged.

This guy rides at race pace. I wave him through on an uphill straight and he literally takes off from me into triple digits. We’re on a short uphill straight that then jibs to the left and right up this canyon. So I give chase. I’m in 6th gear not doing triple digits so he’s still pulling on me, but after the corners he slows down a bit, like down to about 75 MPH so me and my buddy can catch up to him again before he reaches some tight stuff ahead. He’s playing cat-n-mouse with us.

Okay, so I’m willing to turn it up a notch too. Let's see how he does in round two. The tight stuff is up the mountain another couple miles. Let’s see what happens when he gets there. We get to the good stuff all stacked up nicely then he takes off again up to about 90 MPH heading into a 25 MPH corner. Holy crap! That’s not my pace, but I smoke it in too. He’s knee on the ground, smooth as silk through the right-left-right-left complex and I’m in 5th gear losing distance on him. Ahead, there’s a car that slows him briefly on a short straight. He blows past the car and dangles his right leg like Valentino Rossi into the corner before dropping the puck down. Seeing more riders coming up behind, the car pulls into a pull-out and lets us by. I don’t leg dangle into corners, so I just drop the puck, but his pace is too much! He’s gapping me already by about 60 yards. On up the mountain, with me and my buddy in hot pursuit we go until finally he gets stuck behind another vehicle into a slow blind corner. He’s able to make a break for it just as we come up upon the slower vehicle, but he has the jump on us. I go past and so does my KTM-1290 buddy.

We bunch up again immediately after. There’s a couple miles of sweepers that aren’t challenging, so we’re all cooling our heals behind the crazy but skilled old guy on the Aprilia. He's doing leg and arm stretches as we meander along, like that's just what he does in between.

I think, let’s see how he handles the downhill stuff on the other side. We get within about 1/4 mile of the good twisties going down and he again takes it up to about 90 MPH heading into a 35 MPH blind RH corner. He slows and I close in on him, but he accelerates away again to speeds I’m just not comfortable with going into blind downhill corners. It had just rained the night before and there was sand and gravel already observed in some of the corners. I'm not looking to go to the hospital today and my best isn't enough today. This could get ugly with the right wrong circumstances. I keep my pace and my buddy disappears behind me.

On down through left and right turns he’s again pulling away, stretching out his lead. By the time we’re midway down, he’s already pulled about 150 yards on me. Then he appears to slow a bit for whatever reason and I’m able to maintain the gap until the road opens up to straights again.

This time he slows way down and holds his speed. Thinking he wants me to take up lead, I maintain my pace on down the straighter sections of the mountain. He chooses to follow me to the bottom this time. It's just the two of us now. I could see there was a slower vehicle up ahead that would complicate the tight canyon corners near the bottom, but stopping would only provide for a gap at the cost of stopping in hot conditions (and I'm working out, sweating a fair amount), so I press on. I give it my best shot, but he’s right with me the whole way leading up to catching the slower vehicle. I have an opportunity to pass, so I take it, gapping him in the process, because he was left without room to come with me.

When we reach the bottom he turns his bike off and comes over to look over my bike, but doesn’t say anything before remounting his bike. We regroup and I compliment him on his extreme pace. I’ve ridden with a number of riders over at least the past decade and I’ve never seen anyone ride with such smooth surgical skill at this level. I jokingly tell my riding buddy, you follow him and I’ll follow you this time.

We set out in the other direction back over the mountain after everyone checks their fuel status. All good, we head up. Our Aprilia rider wheelies as he straightens out onto the roadway. This time though again, he’s not quite as aggressive, saying later he felt like his bike was sliding, so we’re able to hold onto his pace in the lower canyon stuff and on up the hill. An RV balks our pace just as we get midway up the mountain starting the tight steep stuff going up. He pulls around the RV as it moves over without wheeling this time and both of us are past too. My buddy wasn't fast in this section earlier and he wasn't fast now. He's holding me up a tad, letting the Aprilia rider gap us a little going up into a slower section. Then like a light switch, my buddy turns up the pace to the point that I’m having difficulty keeping up with his 1290.

We’re all flying up the mountain in order of fastest first and slowest, last, me. I’m at 9/10ths pace in 5th gear. When we get to the slower LH RH corners, I'm able to claw back on my riding buddy, but the Aprilia rider has once again gapped both of us easily by about 100 yards. I counted at one point and he was 7 seconds ahead of me. That’s a lot for such a short distance traveled. This guy isn't your run of the mill sportbike rider.

More of the same as we continued to the other side. Once at the junction he stopped for a brief chit-chat before we said our good-bye’s. We had to wait for our third rider to come along. He again gets off his bike and walks over to have a look at my bike, looking at the front, looking at the back. I suppose he's never seen this model Kawasaki before. He asks me, is that a 600??? No, I reply, it’s a ZX-9R, 900. I wasn’t prepared for his question or I would have thrown in, it’s the carburetted California emissions model from 2002, but hopefully we’ll meet up with this rider again in the future, now that we recognize him and his bike. Then we can fill in the gaps if needed.



Again I compliment him on his smooth fast pace and he appeared humbled by my gushing praise. He said he rides this mountain 2 - 3 times a week, but today’s pace was probably the fastest he’s ever ridden it. His pace isn’t normally like this, he said. I’d hope not! Going off any of the corners on this mountain at the speeds he was doing could turn out badly.

We said our good-byes and off he went. Later, our threesome regrouped for some refreshments outside in some nice shade, the breeze cooling what our icy refreshments didn't. I told my KTM-1290 buddy he’s been sandbagging me. He replies, not really. I was riding faster than I cared to today. It wasn’t enjoyable for him, not how he prefers to ride. Our pace is typically spirited, more flowing and fun, but today it felt like we were racing, cards on the table.

If so, the Aprilia rider won going away. I could make excuses, but the SuperTrapp shod ZX-9R performed mightily today. It just wasn’t enough under my stewardship.

Tripped reserve at 210.7 miles on the way home from four gallons, dented by the unusual pace. One top off at the start of the day and nothing after for the sF1. Not so for my two riding companions. They had to refuel their KTMs twice more after their initial top off.

[kz550]

... Yeah, he says, about two weeks ago. I spoke to him this week and he said he sold it. The H2 is gone.

No way, I reply, thinking here we go again! He sold it?!...

The story my friend told me wasn't true. The H2 rider hasn't changed bikes. I ran across him on a ride in the mountains, so I don't know if my buddy was mistaken or pulling my leg, but neglecting to tell me the punchline.

I'm actually very pleased to know the H2 rider hadn't sold his beloved bike. It gives me hope seeing other motorcyclists riding the bike they love. It's a brotherhood.

[kz550]

Supertrapp motorcycle slip-on installation how-to. Replacing that awful Muzzy!

Preliminary AFRs indicate it's a whole new ballgame. In the 1 - 4K RPM range, everything is max rich now.

I have to complete the installation of the muffler, which entails having the brackets welded on. Then the muffler will be held firmly and I can begin power tuning on this third Supertrapp endowed sportbike as well.

[kz550]

I had some peculiar issue with the operation and reliability of the bike. It was hard to diagnose. She even stranded me outside of town one night some months back. Fuel pump issue, again. Most said electrical, maybe 22 y.o. wiring starting to go bad and I was one of them. But I love riding this bike too much, I wasn't going to give up that easily. I couldn't understand what was killing my fuel pumps. The first OEM lasted 110,000 miles before it gave up. It was hit or miss on rides, but I couldn't go a couple ride seasons without one expiring and after putting in a new model, the bike still didn't feel happy. So, I rightly thought there was some other electrical gremlin nagging her.

Never underestimate the requirements specified by the engineers!! Turns out after the last one blew out, that I was able to refurbish the original Mitsubishi fuel pump with new OEM contact points. The bike was instantly transformed! It's been about 750 miles since then and nothing but gravy, the bike has never run better! Of course, it's the package deal; everything has a hand in it: Supertrapp, AEM UEGO, Keihin carburetors, Mitsubishi fuel pumps, TourmaX points, and the general overall operation of this now again ultra reliable Kawasaki motorcycle. I just needed that one key OEM component working, cutting off at the proper fuel pressure and drawing the correct current.

So what happened beyond just that? Her 150,000 mile milestone was within 229 miles and I wanted to eclipse that mark as a gesture to putting the nasty odd behavior she was experiencing in her rear view mirrors from 'made for' fuel pumps. So with little fanfare other than a camera, I set out to get in one last long ride before the weather changed permanently.




It was a lovely fun ride, despite some cold wet sections of road and having to navigate snow lined highway, but it was worth it. Just loved hearing that potent Supertrapp crackle and roar and taking in all in on my favorite bike of all time, my ZX-9R sE1.


But in my distracted state, I kind of blew it on fuel stops. I was way beyond the bikes r/t service range and I should have picked up fuel on my way back, but I kept fooling myself, without proof of what my final range would end up being, that I could probably divert to a gas station before town. No worries. Keep going!

Mileage piled up to the point where she had been tripping reserve like clockwork over these past two riding seasons. Only she didn't. So I checked the fuel tap position: ON. No worries. Continue on, she'll let you know. She did trip reserve a bit high on the last ride as well. It was probably a fluke though. Soon the odometer had clicked off ranges I'd only seen a couple other times before reserve was tripped. Okay, I thought, maybe the tap straw for the ON position just happened to pop loose. No worries, there are still gas stations in between, just a lot more expensive due to their remote locations. On we went until all previous personal records were now dispatched. She really had me worried, but then finally she tripped. I could smell cockpit fumes, which is her way of letting me know it'll soon be time to flip to reserve.

Needless to say, I didn't have to divert along the way for fuel, I bet on her backing up her range capability on what was in reserve. And she did, with flying colors. Topped her off to verify distance, then Google mapped the route to back up the odometer and fuel receipt.

Mind you, this wasn't a range run, it was a fairly typical ride, including passing slower vehicles in passing zones going up hill, some long idling stops, canyons and mountain twisties, all the usual stuff we typically do, at close to the pace I typically ride at. I say close to, because the road conditions at this time of year weren't conducive to full pace in some areas (snow, sand, moisture in shaded corners, etc).

So now, I need to run the UEGO numbers again, collect the new data stream. It'll be the standard by which my other two Supertrapp bikes will have to measure up to.

[kz550]

Nothing too Earth shattering about the AFR numbers, from what I can tell. I've watched them repeatedly so it's ingrained in my memory. I think I was expecting something very different from the readings just based on seat-of-the-pants feel. No exciting headlines though. AFRs move predictably and consistently. For sure, the readings are not what I expected from the outset, nor from what I've seen dyno tuners use while tuning other bike engines.

If I had taken my bike to a dyno tuner at any point along my journey of bike ownership, I'm certain the results would not be anywhere near like the results via Supertrapp FAQ and then elevated by way of real-world UEGO readings.

The experience has taught me so much more than I imagined. Surprising as it might seem, to learn more, wasn't the original goal. It was to record what I thought was a perfect tune at the time, a tune unlike how she's now tuned. The UEGO told me things that only it could, that my 'perfect tune' of three years ago, could be better and that different fuels require different ideal jetting. Which meant that I couldn't leave well enough alone until I went down the path it lead me to discover for myself. RAM AIR motorcycles are difficult to tune via dyno, if not impossible. The dyno environment with an oxygen sensor probe stuck inside the tailpipe cannot reflect how the building air pressures effect AFRs. They can only tell the tuner how the bike performs from unrealistic negative airbox pressures. The O2 readings alone are so far off, that to use them to make jetting predictions, is a fools errand.

Don't read into this that my ZX-9R's current tune is a game changer for peak HP numbers. It's not. Sure, the bike is quite powerful, but ultimate top-end was never my goal. I feel the pinnacle of endurance street/canyon carving tune for my bike has been achieved and there's nothing more to learn from observing the oxygen readings coming off the bike's exhaust. I'd much rather just enjoy riding it on the street now.