- I have installed and used nitrous on 2 strokes. The
basic components are as follows:
-
- nitrous bottle
- 12v battery or rectified power supply
- electric or mechanical fuel pump
- nitrous solenoid
- fuel solenoid
- activation button
- trigger button
- high pressure plastic lines for fuel &
nitrous
- fogger nozzle (mixes nitrous & fuel)
- jets for nozzle - fuel & nitrous
- braided steel gas line from nitrous bottle to the
nitrous solenoid
-
- To put it simply, the bottle supplies nitrous to the
nitrous solenoid which keeps its pressure at bay. The
fuel pump supplies additional fuel to the fuel solenoid
to match the additional oxygen which is available. The
trigger button switches on both solenoids at the same
time to release its pressure to the fogger. The fogger
gets the nitrous and the fuel at the same time and mixes
it together where it is then sucked into the engine.
-
- The big blue bottle is hard to hide - there are
smaller ones available but the 2 lb. one is pretty
standard especially if you want to have any real length
of time on the button. The size of the jets and the
displacement of the engine determine the amount of time
your nitrous tank will last. It's a good idea to get a
large refill tank and refill kit (station) so that the
bottle can be filled when needed.
-
- On bikes that already have a battery, installation is
quite a bit easier since there will be no need to find
room to mount one. Using a rectifier to supply the power
to the solenoids is not a very good way to run them and
performance will be compromised - but it can be
done.
-
- Power is also needed to run the electric fuel pump
which is far superior to the mechanical type available.
It will supply a steady flow of fuel to the jet
preventing a lean condition which is not desirable. If a
mechanical type is used, a hole will have to be drilled
in the intake area of the barrel between the reed cage
and the piston or anywhere else that will work to supply
the necessary pulse. In either case it is recommended
that an additional fuel filter be installed before the
fuel enters the fuel solenoid.
-
- I have done the installation a few different ways. On
one of them I installed the fogger (it comes with its own
tap) in the side of the
- carburetor - on the reed cage side. Installing it on
the large end (air cleaner side) can freeze the slide in
the open position and prevent you from being able to shut
down the throttle when the ultra cold nitrous is
released. The fogger can also be installed in a transfer
port by drilling and tapping the hole from the outside of
the barrel. The nozzle should aim down into the cases
toward the crankshaft not up the port toward the port
window. Some engines will allow for installation of the
nozzles in the carburetor mounting boot.
-
- The trigger button can be mounted so that it is
pressed each time the boost is desired or fixed so that
it triggers each time full throttle
- operation is reached. The activation button turns on
and off the whole system. It is necessary to have one so
that the nitrous is not
- unintentionally released.
-
- Usually the hardest part of these installations is
finding the room for all the components and room enough
between things that the plastic tubing (copper not
recommended due to the vibration factor) won't abrade
against things or touch a hot exhaust pipe. Keeping the
plastic tubing as short as possible (the tubing that runs
from the solenoids to the fogger) will prevent a "come
on" lag when the button is pressed and prevent an "come
off" lag when the button is released. The come off lag
can be of more concern since the engine will continue to
accelerate until the nitrous is out of the line. The
distance between the bottle and the nitrous solenoid is
not important though long braided steel lines are more
expensive.
-
- Power increases depend upon the size of the jets used
(which are used in combination with each other) and are
tremendous - to say the least - even with the smallest
most conservative jet sizes. Typical increases might be
in the neighborhood of 7 to 12 HP on a 250 cc single to
11 to 18 HP on a 350 cc twin. Again the increase can be
much higher if more nitrous and fuel are passed. It may
be interesting that along with the power increase comes
an exhaust gas temperature reduction of a few hundred
degrees while the button is pressed. Paying careful
attention to jetting and the EGT gauge will result in
additional power.
-
- On my own 270 cc single I settled on jets which would
make 11 additional HP at the peak. This would allow for
about ten 800 ft hill races or about twenty 300 ft. flat
drag runs using the 2 lb. bottle. Full throttle operation
is where it does its best work. When pressing the nitrous
button my TRX250R will launch in 4th gear - using 14/37
gears. This bike (quad) transmits its power through two
12 inch wide paddle tires which stick to the ground like
dirt sticks to a kids neck - an incredible out of the
hole boost and a thrill a second. Red line in top gear
comes too quickly and many times I have had to brake real
hard at the top of steep hills to prevent over-run and
becoming air born (read "brakie" while going up hill -
steep hills). Preventing serious over rev is a real
attention grabber because the laughing gas will let the
engine rev to the moon if given the opportunity.
-
- With the sudden increase in power the nitrous
provides it is not advisable to use the button when full
attention can not be given to the experience. Its power
hits like that new exhaust system you've always dreamed
about but never materializes - actually about 3 times
that hard. Additionally it is not a good idea to try to
use the button while negotiating any type of technical
maneuver - going through trees while off road riding or
being leaned over too far in a corner on a road going
motorcycle.
-
- Find a place that sells medical grade nitrous for the
greatest power increase - who needs sulfur dioxide
anyway. Then if you over rev and something breaks you can
always breathe the stuff to temporarily relieve you of
the pain your wallet will notice. If it sounds like a lot
of parts, expense and a lot of weight - well, it is. On
the other hand the power available over compensates for
this additional luggage and puts a grin on even the most
stoic of faces.
-
- Rick
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