ZX-14 (06-11) No Flies for STREET- FINAL ANSWER!

It's amazing to me the perspective a little extra time gives a person.

I HATE to give anyone inaccurate advice, but I believe I may have jumped the gun a bit in regards to some areas involving removing the secondary throttle plates (or "flies" as they have become known to the Internet crowd) for STREET use in the initial Low End Performance Gains article. 

I'm not making excuses, but please allow me to explain: 

Most of my seat time on any bike these days is on the Dyno and drag strip as 'pleasure riding' usually does not get penciled into my busy schedule. The day I completed the no secondary throttle plates Dyno sessions, I decided to take my 14 out for a brief ride to get a seat-of-the-pants feel for this new configuration. Quite simply, I rolled the bike off of the Dyno, put on my helmet and jacket, and headed for the closest road which would allow me to twist the gas a bit. I had just witnessed the bike do things on the Dyno i.e. stall, buck, jump, etc. which surely biased my judgment, AND as luck would have it my chosen test road also had expansion joints! 

Armed with straight MR9 and no air cleaner, while personally sporting an exhausted attitude about what I just felt and witnessed on the Dyno from my new favorite ride, I headed out. Every time I crossed an expansion joint, my head snapped back and my smooth powerful ZX-14 lunged forward making it feel like a jerky mess. In short, I liked the added power, but I thought the drivability sucked. 

Since the initial story, I have ridden about 200 miles on the street without the secondary plates (FYI: that is a bunch of street miles for me!). I typically leave my 'no secondary's' track map in the Power Commander. This is the exact map Sonny used to run 9.15 (with no air cleaner and MR9 fuel during testing.) I like to keep the bike race-ready just in case I get a chance to break away and head to the drag strip; so, for the most part, I leave the race map in and the flies out. (FYI: I install my air cleaner, pump gas, and the appropriate matching map before heading out for longer street rides. I DO NOT recommend that anyone ever ride on the street without their air cleaner installed.  Serious engine damage can result in a hurry! Of course with the air cleaner and pump gas, the bike is down about 10 HP average, but it is still a COMPLETE JOY to ride and FAST AS HELL!) When riding the bike without the secondary plates, the throttle response and drivability is PERFECT on any normal road. The only ill affect I have noticed is an occasional deceleration pop from the exhaust while backing off of the gas during shifts. I have my emission system blocked so I'm sure the pop is the result of a lean or rich condition which may or may not be curable after disabling a factory control mechanism?! For now, I will have to live with it. My data logger will be on the bike soon, so I will know more about the A/F ratio while the bike's moving which should help me find a direction toward any potential cure. In my opinion, deceleration pop is merely a nuisance, and I have never witnessed any damaging affects to any bike I have ever owned as a result of it. 

The throttle response is MUCH smoother (and more tame) with pump gas than when using MR9 with the air cleaner removed. However, once I re-trained myself to modulate the throttle gently enough to control the extra low-end power, my 'flyless' 14 is every bit as smooth as any Busa that I have ever mapped. 

The ZX-14 engine makes so much torque that the lower rev/wide open throttle position stalls that plagued me on the Dyno DID NOT OCCUR on the street. You would have to be a horrible rider to even get in a position to bog the bike to the point of shut off on the street as the low end grunt of the 14 just won't allow a competent rider to screw up so badly. 

Further reports from some of our street riders (using our street maps) have confirmed my own findings that the fuel mileage did not suffer as a result of removing the secondary's; in fact, some actually reported an INCREASE in miles per gallon! This does correspond somewhat to my Dyno results because, yet again, the 14 is so powerful that low RPM rides at moderate throttle openings do not occur much during normal use. This allows the bike to function at an area of the factory mapping which does not require a significant amount of additional fuel with the flies out compared to having the flies installed.  

I still believe that this modification is not for all riders, and that a considerable mechanical aptitude must be present to perform this alteration correctly. I also believe that the 'no secondary' configuration is a bit rowdy for most riders (who do not possess above-average riding skills at the drag strip) with a stock wheelbase ZX-14. Of course, this modification is perfect for 14�s with lengthened swingarms and street squids with a passion for wheelies! I personally have struggled with the abrupt power delivery, but a (still not healed) wrist fracture has delayed my riding practice throughout the summer. 

I stand firm with the rest of the results from the first 'no flies' article. 

That being said, I now 'officially' stand corrected on my 'no flies' stance for street use and must (of course) admit to being a VERY happy member of the 'need to compensate' club! 

Good Luck and GO FAST! 

Brock 

P. S. There have been questions posed of late on the effects of adding the TRE and removing the flies in conjunction with the stock exhaust system. I am a racer who makes his living in the after-market performance business. No racer who cares about their personal reputation at all would show up at a closed course timed event with a bike which is not set up to go as fast as possible. That's why we call it a RACE track. My job and passion is to go fast and pass my knowledge on to my customers and friends for further use against "non" or "soon to be, as a result of" customers/friends. I will not be testing these modifications on a factory strangled machine anytime soon, as I keep myself EXTREMELY busy designing and testing new products to make the fastest sport bikes even faster. I'm sure someone else has the time and would be glad to post their results in the forum?!?

No flies-proper map-proper gearing to handle the extra power.

Brock

Brock,

I spoke with Clark this morning.  Your emails and maps are getting through to me, but my access to the private section is still blocked.  I'm going to send you a private email.

Hammertime

Bin01123,

We have found that the 1000cc motorcycles do not really benifit from the flies removed.  They are stuck open pretty much the entire time.

I HAVE ASMEG EXHST -ZX14R 2008 EXHAUST, ALSO A BMC AIR RACE FILTER & A POWER CIMMANDER 5 , I NEED THE BROCKS MAPS TO PROGRAM MY POWER COMMANDER