Is it ok to run too rich?

[steeevvvooo]

I’ve had the fuelling set up with a de-cat pipe and baffle-less Leo Vince, but and starting to find it a bit raspy. It’s great at normal riding revs and around town, but on longer (higher rev) runs, it sounds a little harsh :on:. So, 2 questions…

1) If I were to put the baffles in, would this cause it to run to richer (and is that a major problem)? :scratch:

2) If I put the baffles back in and chopped the airbox, would that cause it to run lean (I know this can be a potentially expensive repair bill!)? :scratch:

I’m tempted to chop the airbox and buy earplugs :D, but don’t want to shell out loads of cash for a DP ECU :thumbsdown:

[adam15]

First off the change in removing the baffles, so running with or without them creates a different back pressure for the exhaust gases to escape, hence race cans are baffle free. Therefore technically a slightly different setup on the ECU could be required to run either with or without.
Chopping the airbox will increase the amount of air that is forced into the engine under compression and therefore the amount of fuel injected needs to be adjusted in order to create the correct mixture.
So unfortunantly to get the bike to run really well with the chopped airbox and no baffles you would either need the ECU remapped or the DP one. It is possible that a power commander may help but no experience of these myself so can't comment.

[PDL]

You will lose horsepower by running it rich, power is made from heat. The closer you get to the perfect tune the hotter the engine will be, if it gets too lean it will also get too hot and that can cause major internal failure.

Get the bike on the dyno once you have done the mods and get the ecu mapped.

[slob]

Rich is unlikely to damage your motor but you may find you need to change/clean the plugs regularly as they will probably soot up.

[BluprintZ]

First thing, check the state of your spark plugs, this will tell you what state the mixture is in.
Sooty, means it's running way too rich, white or grey and i wouldn't be running it again until you get it on a Dyno mate.
I fitted the Ex-Box the week before the weekender without getting it set up, although i did check the plugs on the way down a couple of times and the bike was running a bit weak, so i didn't go over 60mph all weekend and on the way home.
When i took it to the Dyno a few days after i got home, they couldn't get it to go above 80mph, due to the mixture being all over the place, bearing in mind that i had also fitted K&N pod filters, which were replaced with the standard airbox and i hi-flow filter.
Had i ridden the bike above 60mph, i would probably have seized the engine, so get it to the Dyno as soon as possible.

G : )

[steeevvvooo]

Thanks for the responses. To clarify, It’s running ok at the moment (no baffles, de-cat pipe and standard airbox), I’m just not sure how putting baffles back in and/or chopping the airbox would affect it. :scratch:

I’ve not checked the plugs, but had the de-cat pipe put on and the fuelling tweaked at Rosso Corse a couple of weeks back so I’m pretty sure it’s ok. Managed above “60” fine (on a private road of course :look:) with no problems. :thumsup:

I’ve priced up a power commander and full dyno set up, but it’s coming in around £450 all in, so that’s not an option at the moment. Saying that, not sure if I’d get it set up with or without baffles at the moment. :eyepopping:

[PDL]

You can get a run on the dyno only plus fuelling set for about £40. If you are running the stock ECU then they may not be able to adjust the low down RPM fuelling.

[Nickj]

Like they said..
Lean is bad, if you ever melted a piston crown or thermal siezed a piston on a 2T you'd understand. The fuel air mix coming in doesn't just burn it also cools the piston a bit. Lean burns a bit more explosively and hotter. A little lean you can live with a little bit more and you're asking for problems.
Rich is not as bad, it's just like running with a bit of choke on. The burn is cooler which equals less efficient, less power, more carbon. Long term it'll gum things up.