Have any of you looked into adding a turbo?

M

MadnessWithout

Member
Exactly as the title says. Have any of you added a turbo or even considered it? I know you'd have to beef up the internals with stronger parts to withstand it. But I'm curious if anyone has tried it on this bike.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
J

John390

New Member
I'd say, if you run 3-5 psi, it woulnd't be an issue. With low boost setups on cars, intercoolers don't do much. Some put them there anyway, to look cool, but you add lots of complexity, take away some reliability(many more failure points) make it way harder to service(tons of shit in the way) and make fabbing up the kit much harder and cost more.

I'd day a 330cc injector, full exhaust and proper piping with a good intake system would make a great setup with only about 4-5 psi boost.

Torque goes up quite a bit with turbos. One could run taller gearing and still gain accelleration
 
S

SnotRkt

New Member
Why though? Get a turbo Busa if thats what you are into. These are learning bikes and go fast in the turns bikes.
 
Tom

Tom

New Member
Because we want super light motorcycles that have power as well.

Having a light bike that can get close to 600 supersport performance, while still paying affordable premiums is a win win.

We've already gotten the bikes down to 300 lbs with a few mods, now we just need to find a way to get to the magic 60 to 65 whp mark.
 
J

John390

New Member
what he said. Hyabusa/ZX14 etc are totally different bikes to ride. No WAY are they even CLOSE to as nimble and light on thier feet as ours are.
 
S

SnotRkt

New Member
Keep smoking guys! These engines are not designed for that kind of power... You need to just accept what these bikes are great at and that's making people better riders with less...
 
Tom

Tom

New Member
You're missing the point, a 300lb bike with lots of power and low insurance premiums is what is so alluring. I'm not aware of anyone finding the power limits of this platform, so I don't know how you can say these bikes weren't meant for more power.

So far all that I'm aware of is the head gasket issue, which has been addressed with a revised cylinder head (same part number though) and a revised cooling system. The '19 bikes appear to have quite a few differences on KTM's spare parts finder site.

Aside from that, I haven't heard of people blowing motors or destroying transmissions due to power. I've been told the crank shaft can be a potential weak point by one of the reputed engine builders on here, but that is at sustained high RPMs on the track, which is a completely different load than extra force on the down stroke.
 
S

SnotRkt

New Member
Its all good, to each their own. I bought this bike to learn to go fast around a track on a low-power bike. I'm using it to learn to use all the potential a bike has without being over-powered. When I'm ready I will sell it and go up to a 600. If I want to go faster now I hop on my Street Triple and go about as fast in 2nd that the 390 will do in 6th. My opinion is that these are bikes to learn with and have a blast doing it.
 
M

MadnessWithout

Member
That's fair. This is my first bike and I have all sorts of sentimental value attached to it and I want to mod it a lot. I'll move up eventually but this bike will be a staple in my garage. I'll use it to push my skills and learn to ride as well as learn to work on it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
Tom

Tom

New Member
SnotRkt said:
Its all good, to each their own. I bought this bike to learn to go fast around a track on a low-power bike. I'm using it to learn to use all the potential a bike has without being over-powered. When I'm ready I will sell it and go up to a 600. If I want to go faster now I hop on my Street Triple and go about as fast in 2nd that the 390 will do in 6th. My opinion is that these are bikes to learn with and have a blast doing it.
Click to expand...
Under this logic, then what's the point of the RC390's existence? What was your decision to purchase this bike over the other small displacement bikes in this category? I get it that triumph owners love to talk about how they own a triumph, but why not start on a honda grom? You could accelerate your learning curve to legendary rider status, then hop on a ninja H2 when you're ready to blast triple digit speeds.

A reliable turbo setup on any bike is awesome. The fact that RC390's have such an aftermarket support evidences how great these bikes are, and I think it's sad there are no turbo kits for these bikes yet. I love riding this bike, other people that own this bike love riding it as well (the massive aftermarket support evidences this). No, it's not a bro-umph, and it may not slay a Ferrari around a track, but to stifle the notion of making this bike into a more capable super sport is blasphemy.

The Suzuki SV650 is also a great bike to learn with, I dare you to go on their forums and spout that they should disregard the Isle of Man time attack, and to use a triumph instead....

The fact is, you will also begin to think that selling this bike is out of the question. No matter what other bikes you spend your free time looking at, the longer you ride one of these, the more you will want to make it as capable as the bikes you day dream about. There's a certain charisma about the RC390 that makes people want to push the limits on what the bike is capable of. Once you buy one, you will either keep it until the wheels fall off, or always regret not still having it (like the one that got away). I have to fight my 600 rider friends off my bike, every time we go to the mountains. There's a reason why people are spending half or more of the sticker price of the bike in mods. If you truly feel the way you said, about using the bike to just learn on, then do your wallet a favor and list it for sale tomorrow. I can guarantee you will eventually start a similar thread as this in the future if you dont.

There are approximately 33 used RC390's for sale on cycle trader, nation wide, as of this post.
 
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S

SnotRkt

New Member
Tom said:
Under this logic, then what's the point of the RC390's existence? What was your decision to purchase this bike over the other small displacement bikes in this category? I get it that triumph owners love to talk about how they own a triumph, but why not start on a honda grom? You could accelerate your learning curve to legendary rider status, then hop on a ninja H2 when you're ready to blast triple digit speeds.

A reliable turbo setup on any bike is awesome. The fact that RC390's have such an aftermarket support evidences how great these bikes are, and I think it's sad there are no turbo kits for these bikes yet. I love riding this bike, other people that own this bike love riding it as well (the massive aftermarket support evidences this). No, it's not a bro-umph, and it may not slay a Ferrari around a track, but to stifle the notion of making this bike into a more capable super sport is blasphemy.

The Suzuki SV650 is also a great bike to learn with, I dare you to go on their forums and spout that they should disregard the Isle of Man time attack, and to use a triumph instead....

The fact is, you will also begin to think that selling this bike is out of the question. No matter what other bikes you spend your free time looking at, the longer you ride one of these, the more you will want to make it as capable as the bikes you day dream about. There's a certain charisma about the RC390 that makes people want to push the limits on what the bike is capable of. Once you buy one, you will either keep it until the wheels fall off, or always regret not still having it (like the one that got away). I have to fight my 600 rider friends off my bike, every time we go to the mountains. There's a reason why people are spending half or more of the sticker price of the bike in mods. If you truly feel the way you said, about using the bike to just learn on, then do your wallet a favor and list it for sale tomorrow. I can guarantee you will eventually start a similar thread as this in the future if you dont.

There are approximately 33 used RC390's for sale on cycle trader, nation wide, as of this post.
Click to expand...

Awesome! We now get to argue over the interwebs!

I already told you why I bought it, to make me a better rider with less...

Why you feel the need to bash Triumph is beyond me, you sound like a bike snob, good job.

I've owned an SV650, they are great, you don't know me or know all of the bikes I've owned and ridden, stop assuming things about people.

I'm not bashing the RC, I love mine and get a lot of compliments and I really enjoy riding it.

I've already spent a lot of money on my RC to make it a track weapon. If I decide to sell it I know I can, I know that you never get back what you put in and I'm OK with that.

Turbo your bike, I could not care less, I was just stating my OPINION that I don't think its a good idea for these bikes, but you are the all-knowing turbo guru so have at it and I look forward to seeing how it turns out for you. I hope it works great.
 
Tom

Tom

New Member
Well to answer the OP's question, yes it's very possible. However, no one has come to the market with a proven setup.

IHI makes a series of very small turbochargers under their "RH" lineup. Some of these are about the length of a US dollar bill "from Compressor housing inlet to exhaust housing outlet". Oddly enough, it seems like some vespa owner with a lot of extra cash to burn has already done the majority of the legwork on which turbo would be most suitable:
IHI RHB31 Turbo Charger - Vespa Labs

Though I have no plans of undertaking this myself, I think the best place to mount a turbo would be in place of where the factory "exhaust utter" is. This would allow you to the most options for routing an intercooler, and keep the extensive heat of the exhaust turbine away from the radiator. As for lowering compression, having a custom piston made wouldn't cost much at all. The most important part of such a project would be to replace the exhaust valve springs (which KTMperformance.com already has a kit for). I would count on our weak factory springs causing issues with float on the exhaust valves, due to the added back pressure.
 
ReidMcT

ReidMcT

Active Member
Premium Member
Elite Member
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A supercharger might work better on a single cylinder if your goal is power and not economy.
 
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