oldhat

Hi fellow FI nerds. I've been lurking on this board for years during my Subaru Impreza GC8 days and finally registered because I sold my car and have a new winter project. I recently bought a 1982 Kawasaki KZ440 LTD. The bike LOOKS like hell but mechanically it's in SUPERB condition. 18k miles, very well maintained. The oil smelled delicious when I drained it and came out nice and clear. It's an unusual bike because it's a fairly boring looking UJB tourer/commuter/cruiser but it has a belt drive and a 6spd tranny. The 440 has good bottom end strength and the crank and cam are forged. The tune from the Kwack factory was mild and conservative (38HP at 6800RPM, 11,000 redline) so there is a lot of room for hopping-up, weight reduction, suspension tuning, etc. I want to be able to use all 11,000 of those RPM, hence, the turbo.

Anyway, about the turbo setup. I bought a used K03 off a VW Passat that I'm going to rebuild. It's undersized on a VW but it should work nicely on my bike. These turbos had a weird computer controlled wastegate from VW. From what I've read the K03 peaks at about 10-12psi. I don't plan on running that much boost (initially). I want to switch it over to an external wastegate since the internal WG a) sucks and b) has a broken actuator.

My initial plans are to leave block alone since it's in good condition and the CR is already 9.2:1 from the factory. I don't want to overbore and have the bike blow up after a few thousand miles. I'll regrind the cam and replace the stock steel crank and rear drive pulleys will closer ratio aluminum pulleys to free up some extra power and reduce unsprung weight.

The bike came with a 2bbl 36mm Keihin CV carb that I'm swapping out for a single 38mm Mikuni round slide. I'm going to do a draw through setup. Since I'm in California and we have terrible quality gas, I'm going to use alcohol/water injection for cooling (since you can't intercool draw throughs).

Because the bike is aircooled and the sump is weaksauce, the big callenge is oiling the turbo. A friend on another board suggested a Mocal external oil pump/cooler. Do you think this would work on my application?

Is there anything else I'm overlooking? Suggestions, advice, flames? I know it's dumb to turbo a cheap, small CC bike like mine but I'm totally addicted to the sound of a turbo spooling up and the feeling in my stomach when boost hits.

notfastcrx

i dont like reading so welcome aboard

oldhat

I always write way more than I should but LOL, thanks!

NIGn0g

You should post pictures of it!

oldhat

It's not much to look at because the bike is disassembled and the turbo hasn't arrived yet. The block is pretty through.

I think Lotus has the right tuning philosophy -- weight reduction above all else. The bike is going to be stripped and very lean when it's done, kind of a cross between a cafe and a street tracker. I want to use a battery eliminator (capacitor) but I have to make sure it will work with my homebrew AWI kit. I'm thinking it might work well since the voltage varies with throttle on a capacitor system and the AWI would spray in step with the throttle.

But I will post pics as the project moves along. Stayed tuned, this thing should be pretty ------- bitchin when the turbo Pedo Bear is done molesting it.

BigBird

I think you are pretty kickass especially if you are an old dried up piece of ---- as your name suggests. My concerns are that the turbo is large for a 440cc twin and that drawthrough sucks. Is there a reason you can't go blow through?

oldhat

I am kickass because I'm 99 years old and I was banging your granmama last century. Say hello to your real grandpa, son!

I'm going with a draw through since I don't have the coin to reinforce the carb and draw through is simpler, easier to tune and more reliable. I thought about blow through but to make it work properly I'd want to flip the jugs (heads + cylinders) so the exhaust vented to the rear and the carb was in front. I don't know if you can visualize it but it doesn't make sense (to me) to blow through without flipping the jugs. The plumbing will be short so hopefully it won't be laggy. But nothing is set in stone yet. I still have to mock everything up.

Not sure if I agree that the turbo is too big, a buddy of mine threw a BIG TD05 off a Subaru EJ20G on a 150cc scooter and it did spool. Not all the way but it did build a few pounds. I'll probably boost to 5psi for starters. The K03 is TINY. Looking at the K03 map, if my math is right, it should spool when properly tuned and WG'ed. The motor is 180 degree wasted spark (FWIW) and I'm making a super short header so I think it will work. I think. If not I'll try a smaller turbo. They're cheap.

HomeMadeTurboz

I think your a *** for suggesting a smaller turbo. :1

BigBird

You know how I know you're gay?

























You're married and balding

camsshaft

I just got a ko3 kkk turbo today to use on my 80 cb750. I'm most likely doing a draw through set up as well. Turbo system will be last though. I've been busy hacking and fixing the frame for a few weeks. It should be tough when it's done. Post some pics of yours , I'll do the same next week or so. Good luck. BTW you might want to look into a gt12. They're expensive but more sized correctly for your app.