A lot of people would like to know how can I gain horsepower from my bike without doing drastic engine work? It's quit simple, actually it's more simple than you think. What I'm about to tell you is so easy that even you can do all the work and not even pay anyone to do it unless you have no mechanical skills what so ever. What some people don't realize is when you put a different exhaust on your bike you're not only gaining horsepower just from your change of air to fuel ratio but you're changing your power to weight ratio as well. We will come back to that in a bit. For the horse power section of this articles most people almost always start with a slip on exhaust of some sort.
To gain the most horsepower it all varies on the exhaust and what kind of bike it is. Different pipes give different bikes more power. As far as pipes are concerned it depends if you're racing our just regular street riding and want sound or just a little more boost. When it comes to racing I would recommend a full exhaust system of some sort and preferably titanium. Titanium is the lightest of all exhaust systems is why I referred that particular one. Some Top of the line exhaust systems are Akropovic, Termignoni, Yoshimura, Arata, etc. Once you get whatever exhaust you've researched and makes you happy now would be a good time to purchase a power commander. A power commander is a fuel injection module, which is specifically designed to even out your air to fuel ratio which plays a huge factor in how lean or rich your bike will run. All power commanders come with a bunch of makes that you can pick from depending on the year, make, and model of your bike and the type of exhaust that you have that way you can get the most power and use from your map so your bike will run correctly.
To further your power gainings from these two items which just from these additions you should gain between 4-9hp. The next step you can easily take is getting your bike professionally mapped. Meaning taking your bike to a authorized power commander dyno in or around your local area and get it custom mapped. Peoples sometimes gain between 8-15hp depending on how good the dyno guys are. Those two little additions will help make a difference and and also help your bike run smoother. To the power to weight ratio. There are simple ways to take care of this. We just finished discussing one of them and that wast the after market exhaust which are all pounds lighter than the stock with is a power to weight ratio change. The average stock exhaust is about 14-18.5plbs. Most after market exhaust are around 8-9.5lbs. Doesn't sound like much but every little bit helps. The biggest weight savings come from the wheels. Yes people the wheels. When you change your wheels with aftermarket wheels you save total about 15 pounds or so if not more. I say if not more because you have to factor in the rotational mass in the equation.
It doesn't take as much force to stop or to get going. The power to weight ratio is very very important. I hope you guys and ladies learned a few things from this article and always remember to ride safe and have fun.
