EFI for Bonneville

[toughnut]

Please forgive me if I don't follow protocol as I am more concerned with horsepower than forum etiquette. I do wash my hands before eating though.
Hey.. We're building a 500cc bike to set a new record at Bonneville in September.
The main guy, Brian Crawford; a big racer, wants to use mechanical FI, mostly because of the cost and scaryness of EFI.

I say EFI is not so expensive, done on a budget, and has the potential for more power.
Please, someone, agree with me and help me go down the correct path.

The bike will have a hand built frame and the intake/heads will be fabricated in the same owner builder shop. The base engine is a Suzuki 500GS. I'm thinking that an open loop setup will work fine for a Bonneville type racer. Maybe a dial to set mixture.

I have no Idea how to accomplish those goals on a budget. So anyone that wants to participate in this venture, jump in.

Any suggestions on hardware, software, PCM, pump, or other info will be appreciated tremendously. Remember, we have lots of other things to build and swallow up our small supply of money.
Thanks in advance, Charlie Rensing

[patrickbrown]

I know a guy like Brian. He won't even run electronic ignition because they aren't reliable. Insists that points are better .

Anyway, you probably end up with the Microsquirt because space and weight will be a factor. You'll want a wide band O2 sensor. The LC1 is what I use and it works well. You'll want to have it for tuning AFR. You'll need some sensors (air temp, coolant temp). I'm not sure about the rest. I'm sure you get responces from smarter people than me.

Good luck. I'm planning a road trip to Speed Week this year. Maybe I'll see you run.

[FoundSoul]

What event are you taking the bike to? I go to Speed Week every year in August (though I may miss this year, new baby coming just before the event), and World Finals is in October, but it doesn't look like the SCTA has anything planned in September?

One way or another we'll be glad to help out spec'ing out a system for you guys and getting you pointed in the right direction. As I said we've been going out to Bonneville crewing for MS'd cars since 2006. Working mostly with Gary Hart in his '53 Studebaker (pics on our site), and with Mike Collison in his 1950 Buick. Mike just recently switched to EFI, Gary's been running it for years and has a couple records out there on our stuff. Actually the same class record he stepped up twice. AA/BGALT, which he currently has at 240.984 IIRC. That car's for sale now (little sidenote) as his wife wants him to slow down a bit.

What you run will depend on several factors, as Patrick point out the MicroSquirt is nicely packaged for bike use, and likely would be a great fit. It's compact and weather resistant. I'm guessing space is at a premium, though likely weight doesn't matter much. I haven't worked much with bikes out there, but if the strategy is anything like cars weight isn't a bad thing on the salt, provided it's distributed properly. (and we're talking a few ounces here).

Feel free to shoot us an email at websales@DIYAutoTune.com and we'll help you get a system spec'd out. Depending on when you're going out to run it maybe we'll be out there. Normally we make SpeedWeek, this year, if I make it, it will likely be World Finals. Never been out for that, but with the baby coming that's likely to be the only meet I 'might' be able to make this year.