Supercharger for Honda V65Motorcyclist October 1984 At one time, there was a supercharger available for the V65 Magna. The company is no longer in business, and there are no superchargers to be found. However, it is great to think that at one time, you could get one for $2000 and just bolt it on!
The more you coax into an engine during each cycle, the more power it produces. The main thrust of conventional engine hop-ups is to get more mixture in-to the cylinders during each intake cycle. Fuel-air mixture finds its way into a normally aspirated engine because of a difference in air pressure between the outside and inside of the engine. Without sophisticated (and touchy) tuning tricks this difference cannot be greater than 14.7 psi. Millions of dollars (and hours) have been spent earning how to get the most mixture into an engine, using this pressure difference as a basis. Sometimes the results of such labor on normally aspirated engines can be startling. However, supercharging-force-feeding air into the engine with a compressor- is a more effective method of getting a lot of mixture into it.
A couple of years ago, we had the opportunity to try CC Products' supercharger kit for the
Honda GL1100. It was a fascinating experience. The blown engine's response was as quick as the carbureted version's. That
particular bike had the blower pressure adjusted to 6 psi, so the absolute pressure available to fill the cylinders was 20.7
psi instead of the normal 14.7. With that extra pressure, cylinder filling was much better than stock and the CL's power was
enormous.
Just as the Magna was entering the timing lights in top gear, the cams, pipes and blower were beginning to work together, and it was really beginning to sing. The top-gear roll-on speed was just 62 mph, up from 81.5 stock. When Jeff Yarr dropped the engine into fifth gear, however, the Magna wailed through the lights at 98 mph-an amazing 12 mph over stock. The beauty of the CC Products blower conversion is that there is no unusual stress on the engine when the throttle is used normally. There are no radical cams and springs to wear rapidly, no matter how you ride. Added engine stress occurs only when you have the throttle against the stop. CC's kit is also cheaper than an extensive hop-up effort (which it would probably beat). For about $2000 you can spend a day bolting the kit onto your otherwise stock V65 - no~ tear-down, no outside machine work and no permanent engine modifications. Just bolt it on and go! You have no throttle delay and no ball-of-snakes exhaust plumbing. Supercharged engines can work very well, and CC Products is proving it. So if you have a Gold Wing or V65 or some other contemporary "slug" and would like
to pump it up, contact: This is above history - But! - This below you can get!!!Top ^ |
The whole idea is to make motion out of fire. Somewhere along the energy-conversion path between
a hot foot and a rocket to Mars lie the engines that make motorcycles go. Two-stroke, four-stroke or Wankel, all current
bike engines share basic features designed with the intent to convert tire into motion. All engines are cyclical: they burn
chunks of fuel-air mixture one at a time instead of continuously as a jet or rocket engine. How much power an engine makes,
all else being equal, depends on the size of each mixture chunk and how many of them the engine can burn in a given time
period.
Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha have all built supercharged motorcycles, and they have all
been marketing failures. They used turbochargers which have an unacceptable delay between the moment the throttle is opened
and the moment the engine is actually pressurized. It takes time for the turbocharger to spin up and deliver air at a higher
rate than the engine would normally get without the turbo. While such a delay may be acceptable in a car, it usually is not
with a motorcycle. When power and rapid engine response are equally important, turbos take a back seat to mechanically
driven superchargers You won't find a turbocharged top-fuel dragster, and poor response is the reason. Mechanically driven
superchargers, like the Jerry Magnuson Roots-type used by CC Products, are linked directly to the engine crankshaft by
chain, belt or gear: they deliver air to the engine at a fixed ratio controlled by engine rpm and throttle opening. Many
believe a mechanically blown engine is always pressurized. However, like a turbocharged engine, a blown engine is
pressurized only when the throttle is opened far enough. Since a Hoots-type supercharger is already spinning at the correct
rpm when the throttle is opened, the only delay in power delivery is due to the time it takes to pressurize the blower and
intake ports.
With this principle firmly in mind, CC Products mounted one of Jerry Magnuson's motor-cycle
blowers on top of the awesome Honda V65 Magna. We were given the chance to inspect and ride the beast when we were in the
San Jose area, where CC Products makes its home. Its very tall top gear minimized the impact of the blower on the Magna's
performance in Motorcyclist's 200-yard, 50-mph roll-on test.
