Asbo Bullet No 8 hits over 24 bhp on dyno [videos]

[Bullet Whisperer]

Far below what the race bikes knock out and estimated at 22 bhp beforehand, it must be remembered this engine is made with modified standard parts only, excepting big oil pumps and competition valve springs :
[I am in the orange earmuffs, for anyone who wants to know]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIc3xNqcf9c&feature=g-upl


And

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNuBdp4tm4k&feature=g-upl

[ace.cafe]

Looking good!
I have had several of my Bullet friends tell me that they are smitten with the look of that bike.
Sounds good too!

[Bullet Whisperer]

Looking good!
I have had several of my Bullet friends tell me that they are smitten with the look of that bike.
Sounds good too!

Thanks, Ace !
 It's a funny thing, but we're more into cafe racers and off road style machines here, but a few of us that have seen this bike as it has come together have noticed how it's grown on us. It's not a machine I would have chosen to build, but it made a refreshing change and the whole plot fits together very well, but I must give credit to Kevin [the owner] for having a vision when he saw an 'Asbo' motor with nobody's name on it sitting on my bench and ready to go into a project.
 B.W.

[ace.cafe]

It does look like a very fun machine!

I'm noticing that the Iron Barrel forum here is not as active as it used to be.
I think that we Iron Barrel people are getting fewer, and the new UCE people are getting more numerous.

[Bullet Whisperer]

It does look like a very fun machine!

I'm noticing that the Iron Barrel forum here is not as active as it used to be.
I think that we Iron Barrel people are getting fewer, and the new UCE people are getting more numerous.

You may have a point, Ace. I was told by a dealer [who has recently dropped his R.E. dealership] that the new ones are moving off the shop floor much slower than the 'Iron' types [in his experience]. He was selling only about five in a year, compared to over double that for the 'Iron' types, apparently. I have noticed a slowdown on a couple of forums and there certainly seems to be much less activity where the 'Iron' types are concearned.
 The UCE's biggest enemy over here is the price - a Kawasaki ER6 costs only a couple of hundred more and while I admit the two machines have a totally different appeal to one another, you get a lot more for your money with the ER6.
 I think there could be a market for refurbished 'Iron' machines, possibly bought in bulk from India, providing the logistics and economics were favourable. In another thread on this site, I saw talk of spares 'drying up', but there must be tons of the stuff in India, both new and second hand. I think this slowdown for the 'Iron' machines will only be temporary, the new models caused quite a stir initially and many were snapped up to start with, but I think the excitement is dying down a little now. I must point out that I have no negative feelings for the new machines and this is just my own point of view, based on what I have come to know.
 B.W.

[ace.cafe]

Well I hope that you're right about people wanting the older models.

From what I hear from India, the 350 models are by far the most numerous.
The 500 parts are even getting scarce in India.
The thing is that here in the States, almost all the Bullets are 500 models. The 350 didn't get imported here in many numbers.
Thankfully, a lot of the parts can be used on either model.

I think there could be a market for refurbished bikes that are brought from India,  but in the US we have import restrictions that make it difficult to do. They have to be old ones from the 60s and 70s.

I have some stuff in early development for the newer engines. I have no dislike for them either. I just wish it was easier to manipulate all that computer stuff so that I could make it do what I want it to do. For me, that just gets in the way.  I don't want a rev-limiter that I can't adjust, and a mixture and timing that I can't manipulate.  I don't mind doing it by computer, but there's nothing available to allow the changing of those things yet. The Power Commander doesn't seem to be working out.
It's a little frustrating.

Tom

[cafeman]

Regarding the UCE models, I noticed Hitchcocks is offering a carb conversion kit, as well as a drum brake conversion kit, for those that like things the old way. I passed on a 2010 at a great price because it does'nt have a kicker, don't care for the disc brakes, the efi, or that there's not much for modding yet. I'm sure in time it will change, I probably would have bought the newer model if those things were standard, but in the end I wanted the "original" original, and the ability to make it the way I want it,. I'm sure there are a  lot of people with the same thinking. Or maybe people are waiting for the twin and Cafe Racer?

[ace.cafe]

Regarding the UCE models, I noticed Hitchcocks is offering a carb conversion kit, as well as a drum brake conversion kit, for those that like things the old way. I passed on a 2010 at a great price because it does'nt have a kicker, don't care for the disc brakes, the efi, or that there's not much for modding yet. I'm sure in time it will change, I probably would have bought the newer model if those things were standard, but in the end I wanted the "original" original, and the ability to make it the way I want it,. I'm sure there are a  lot of people with the same thinking. Or maybe people are waiting for the twin and Cafe Racer?

A couple of things about this.
First, as far as I can tell, the ECU has the rev-limiter in it, and I am not entirely certain about what it cuts off at the rev-limit. If it only cuts off the fuel pump, that's fine. However, when reading Wokka's accounts of his dyno runs with the Power Commander, the thing went haywire at the rev-limiter rpm and made the dyno read 11k rpm, and it all went crazy, and couldn't go past it. This seems to indicate that the ECU may also be killing the ignition at the rev-limit rpm too.
This might make it more difficult to get past all this factory stuff.

I have no problem putting a carb in there if I have to, even though I'd prefer to work with the EFI if possible. That's not hard.
But, if the ECU still cuts the ignition off at around 5500rpm, then we're still stuck there until we figure a way around it.
Maybe there's a way. I'm thinking about something that might work.

I'm all fine with progress, but I really don't like unnecessary stumbling blocks.

 

[Bullet Whisperer]

Hi Ace,
 If you fit a carb, this would at least remove any fuel cutoff via the ecu from the equation, leaving only the ignition side to limit the revs [if that's what it does], but it may be worth checking the behaviour of the valve train as this sounds more than a little like my experiences with the AVL 500 a few years ago, where inlet valve bounce turned out to be the culprit.
 Regards,
 Paul.

[ace.cafe]

Hi Ace,
 If you fit a carb, this would at least remove any fuel cutoff via the ecu from the equation, leaving only the ignition side to limit the revs [if that's what it does], but it may be worth checking the behaviour of the valve train as this sounds more than a little like my experiences with the AVL 500 a few years ago, where inlet valve bounce turned out to be the culprit.
 Regards,
 Paul.

Hi Paul,
It might be that.
But if it's the ignition, perhaps we might fit an AVL crank-mounted ignition and use your AVL ignition box to get around this ECU entirely. Then fit a carby, and bingo!
From my understanding the UCE uses an AVL crank.