Euro 4 Compliant Bikes in South Africa

Euro 4 Compliant Bikes in South Africa

The basis of this article is my experience with these bikes, and is strictly my opinion only.

Over the past year or so, I have had the opportunity to work on, and tune, various Euro 4 compliant bikes; from model year 2016 and later.

Briefly, Euro 4 is a regulation/legislation that amongst other things, limits the emission of polluting exhaust gasses and noise. Euro 4 also requires ABS braking systems, correct indicator spacing, and that horrible number plate bracket. Other items like exhaust valves, air box flappers, secondary throttle valves, catalytic converters and EVAP systems are also requirements.

With Euro 4 already being enforced, and Euro 5 looming (rumoured to come in 2020), we have seen the death of many bikes. Yamaha’s XJR1300s, the V Max and the really sweet MT-09 have been dropped. Honda’s CBR600RR and ST 1300 have also gone. Kawasaki is dropping quite a few; some of them are GTR1400, ZX636 and Z800 etc. BMW has dropped the entire K range and the G650. I could go on about this, but you can get lots of info on the www.

I want to talk about Euro 4 compliant bikes in South Africa as this is the homologated spec for our country. Euro 4 aims to have cleaner burning internal combustion engines (amongst other safety requirements) in order to protect our planet.

It’s amazing to see what manufacturers have done to make bikes better, lighter, faster, and still able to comply with stricter regulation. Over the last year and half, I have had the opportunity of working on, and tuning, some of these compliant bikes and have learnt bucket loads. But the experience has also raised a few concerns.

You may ask what I’m concerned about. Well, first there are the costs. The actual cost of motorcycles will increase with all the added items needed to comply. Hi-tech catalytic converters, ABS systems, clever ECU’s (Engine Control Unit) to control these, new generation O2 sensors, EVAP systems etc etc. Then there are the costs needed to train mechanics to understand these systems; specialized diagnostic equipment needs to be purchased in order to diagnose and maintain these systems and erase DTC’s (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) and perform certain resets which are needed in maintenance.

What concerns me the mostly is the quality of fuel that these bikes have to run on in South Africa.  Compared to the rest of the world, South Africa is 15 years behind in terms of fuel quality and standards. These bikes have being designed to run on the finest Euro 4 specified propellant, and not the 15 year old technology pan spray that we get from our fuel pumps.

I have found a whole host of problems our fuel is creating in these new technology engines, exhaust systems and fuel systems. Let’s start with the fuel systems. The coating inside the fuel tanks is not good enough for the harsh and abrasive fuels that we have, and I have found very light surface rust in 2 year old, steel tanked bikes. This creates a problem with fuel filters blocking up and fuel pumps deteriorating prematurely, which if undiagnosed will result in engine failure.

Secondly, the exhaust systems. All exhausts are fitted with catalytic converters and I have seen a progression in this technology as newer models hit our shores. In 2004 removing a catalytic converter on a Fireblade would get you as much as 6 horsepower, versus no horsepower gains on a 2010 Fireblade.  Cats have become more compact and more efficient when using a good quality fuel. Use a bad fuel, and the cat will become blocked over a surprisingly short period of time. The danger of this happening is that the hot spent gases are trapped inside the combustion chamber causing damage over a period of time.

Since the introduction of Euro 3 back in 2005, I have seen valve material and valve coatings being introduced to handle higher combustion chamber temperatures, and to improve valve wear and performance. Having a blocked or partially restricted cat adds to wear on parts like valves, pistons etc. due to heat build up. Staying with exhaust systems, O2 sensors have renewed significance for Euro 4 as measurement of the oxygen content of exhaust gasses is integral to  efficient fuelling. O2 sensors are pretty simple in their operation, depending on the oxygen concentration they generate a voltage within a range of 200mV to 800mV, 200mV being lean and 800mV being rich.  450mV is the “optimum” signal which is when the air/fuel ratio is STOICHIOMETRIC (14.7 parts of air to one part of fuel). Stoichiometric is that ratio of air to fuel that produces a chemically complete combustion event.

Quite often I have seen O2 sensor failure which causes a lot of problems and it’s worthwhile noting that O2 sensors should be maintenance free. According to the manufacturers, they should last for at least 200 000 kms. But that is when they are used with good quality fuel. When the sensor deteriorates, the bike becomes heavier on fuel and, if undiagnosed, becomes worse over time. A failing O2 sensor will send a lower output voltage to the ECU and the ECU will see this lower voltage as a leaner mixture. In an attempt to correct this, it will then increase fuel from the injectors, making the mixture richer. As the sensor continues to deteriorate, more and more fuel is supplied by the ECU. Eventually both O2 sensor and spark plugs are fouled, and then the most common thing done is to replace the plugs. More often than not, the sensor is ignored. Now it becomes really bad. Because there is such a lot of unburnt fuel, there is standoff back into the air box; this excess fuel then ends up turning to a pasty, varnish like substance in the throttle bodies and vacuum lines. This pasty residue ends up in the vacuum line to the MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor, and in the sensor itself. Now the ECU reads the camshaft position via the MAP sensor incorrectly (in very small amounts, just a few degrees) and then fuel is injected at a slightly different timing than it should be. As you can imagine the problem just gets worse.

So why does the O2 sensor fail? There a few things that will cause damage to a sensor; coolant, silicone, benzene and sulphur to name a few. Here is where we come back to our fuel, because South African refineries are still at Euro 2 specification (15years behind). The refining process is not able to completely rid our fuel of sulphur, benzene and other undesirables. Sulphur is to an O2 sensor as Kryptonite is to Superman and should be outlawed in our fuel, but that is sadly not up to us but to government regulation.

 I can well imagine how engineers have had to come up with new ideas to make bikes more powerful, faster, lighter, more reliable, and still conform to Euro 4. In 2013 BMW released their liquid cooled GS, no longer was oil going to adequately keep this leaner fuelled engine cool. It had to be done, and for 2019 we will see it go from a 1200 to a 1250. In 2015 Ducati released their DVT (Ducati Variable Timing) engine in the Multistrada, also in anticipation of stricter emission laws. This year its engine capacity is going from 1200 to 1260. Suzuki launched their GSXR1000 this year, with centrifugal variable valve timing. Compression on this model has gone up to 13.2:1, over last year’s 12.9:1. I can’t help but think this has all got to do with emission laws. Bigger engine capacity with lower compression in some, and higher compression in others. I’m still confused about that. I think in the future we may see the death of the litre bike, it will probably be replaced by smaller capacity, super charged and turbo charged models.

All this technology is great and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling until I see what damage is being done to these fine machines when they ingest our dirty, poor quality fuel. Closed loop parameters are no longer in a small, light load area.  For example, on a 2010 Fireblade the closed loop area is between 0% and 20% throttle position, and between 0 and 5500 RPM. Within this “closed loop area” AFRs are kept close to the stoichiometric 14.7. On a 2016 ZX10R the closed loop area is now much larger, stretching into high load areas. This new closed loop area is now between 0% and 100% throttle position, and between 0 and 8250 RPM. Think about how the engine is reacting to this leaner scenario, also consider that this is all designed around premium quality fuel, now think about the same scenario on South Africa’s finest and you will soon realise that you need to do something to make this situation safer.

What to do? Quite honestly in South Africa not much. You could fit a tuning module to enrich the AFR to the correct levels that work with our fuel, or you could flash tune via the ECU. Both options are pretty expensive and add to the cost of an already pricey bike. Also, various distributors frown on the aforementioned and warn that you will lose your warranty. In my opinion, every vehicle using our fuel should be adapted for the low quality fuel, whether it be bike, boat, car, bus or tractor.

Hopefully what you have read has been helpful, and gives you a better idea of what goes into your prized possession.

Julian Neethling

  

2014 CBR1000RR Aftermarket Exhaust and Dyno Tuning

I'm the owner of a 2014 CBR1000RR (non SP) and I've recorded my experiences here with installing an aftermarket slip on exhaust and subsequent dyno tuning. Many thanks to Julian for giving me access to his treasure trove of dyno chart data.


The post 2008 CBR1000RR comes with a really neatly faired in exhaust canister embodying Honda's "mass centralization" dictum that mandated a move away from undertail exhausts.

However, like all modern motorcycles, the OEM exhaust is forced to compromise performance with meeting emissions regulations. It has two valves in its construction. One is opened by an ECU controlled servo motor to meet low rpm noise regulations. When this valve opens there is a noticeable change in engine performance. The other spring loaded valve is opened when there is a sufficient pressure differential between two internal chambers. Only when exhaust gas pressure builds up to overcome spring tension does the resistance to gas flow drop. Both of these valves are welded into the canister and cannot be removed.

This exhaust is beautifully constructed in stainless steel. Its complicated three dimensional shape packs its mass tightly near the centre of mass of the motorcycle. And no doubt it's gas flow properties were carefully designed and tuned by the genius engineers at Honda. However, to meet EU regulations it ended up being massive (6kgs) and restrictive to gas flow, resulting in sub-optimal volumetric efficiency.

It has to be said that the stock ECU fueling with the stock OEM exhaust is pretty good and throttle responsiveness is generally excellent. Nevertheless, within its "closed loop" area it will be fuelled to meet emissions regulations and be very lean. 

This closed loop area is where fueling is changed in response to the signal from the oxygen sensing exhaust Lambda sensor, generally attempting to keep the air fuel ratios (AFRs) close to stoichiometric (AFR=14.7) to minimize emissions. Note that the intention of closed loop fuelling is reduced emissions, not enhancing performance. On the Fireblade the closed loop area is 0 to 20% throttle opening and 0 to 5500 rpm. Outside of these conditions (so called "open loop" area) is where your real performance lies and here the ECU does fuel more generously.

(Lambda sensors measure exhaust oxygen partial pressures from which AFRs are indirectly calculated.) 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 0 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

My main reason for removing the stock exhaust and replacing it with a slip on was to reduce resistance to gas flow, and hence improve volumetric efficiency. Weight loss was an added benefit. I did not replace it so that my bike would make more noise. To me noise is a drawback of a pipe that breathes better.

From 2014 onwards the catalytic converter is no longer in the silencer, it has now become a fixed part of the headers. The only way to remove it is to replace the entire exhaust system. Also from 2014, and because of the catalytic converter, the link pipe for a slip on has increased to 60mm, making older slip ons incompatible (the USA bikes are different).

When choosing a slip on for the Fireblade there are a few choices. The link pipe can either be a convoluted "S" shape or it can be short and direct. The silencer can can either be compact and low to preserve what Honda was trying to do with mass centralization, or it can be bigger and protrude further and higher. Silencers that were not specifically designed for the Blade are often like this.

And then there is a choice of materials. Stainless Steel, Carbon Fibre reinforced plastic, or Titanium.

Stainless Steel is heavy and ages disgracefully. Where it gets really hot it discolours, looking like controlled rust. It is also prone to stress cracking.

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic has the virtue of being light. However, plastic is adversely affected by heat and carbon fibres will burn if heated enough. You will not find this material being used on a MotoGP bike exhaust despite its appealing lightness. No OEM exhausts are made of this material either. It doesn't tolerate localised stress points so the can is usually suspended by an unsightly encircling band. CF tipped exhausts are a cosmetic touch only.

Titanium is the perfect exhaust material.

Lighter and stronger than steel, rustless, attractive colour changes on heating, single piece construction possible without external springs and clamps. Material of choice for the hot end of jet engines since they were invented.

And then there is the actual dynamic design of the silencer and link pipe. Some aftermarket slip on exhausts are little more than a standard silencer can mated with a suitable link pipe to attach it to the headers. Others have been made specifically for the Fireblade on a flow bench and improved performance is confirmed with dyno testing.

The slip on I chose was this 1.3kgs of titanium made specifically for the 2014 Fireblade by Akrapovič.

It is obviously extremely light (saves nearly 5kgs) and is a single piece construction. No external springs or encircling clamps. It respects Honda's mass centralization dictum.

I was warned that this exhaust would damage my bike's midrange because the link pipe was too short and that it should have an "S" bend link pipe.

Akrapovič have validated the design of this pipe on the dynamometer and publish the following graph:

Akrapovič is more likely to know and understand the performance of this pipe than the critics I was hearing, so I ignored the "need" to have a long, S shaped piece of plumbing under my bike reminiscent of what you find under the bathroom basin.

After fitting a less flow restrictive exhaust to your Fireblade you will hopefully have improved its volumetric efficiency. Fitting a less flow restrictive aftermarket air filter will add to this effect, so I also installed a BMC air filter.

However, unless the bike's fuelling is now altered to match this improved air flow through the engine, the air fuel ratios are going to be hopelessly lean and this will attenuate any likely performance improvement.

Unless you intend changing your bike's fuelling, you are not maximising the benefits that improved gas flow can bring. Personally, I wouldn't go to the expense of fitting an aftermarket exhaust without also improving the fuelling. If your goal was simply to make more noise then none of this is necessary.

After fitting my new Akrapovič slip on there was no doubt that the bike was a lot rougher. There was some performance improvement but it was slight. The very impressive stock fueling with the stock exhaust had gone. I missed the smoothness.

Honda's ECUs cannot be flash programmed so the fueling map in the ECU cannot be changed and is the one designed years ago in Japan, optimised for your stock exhaust and reaching the compromises required to meet stringent emissions regulations.

So the next step was the installation of a Power Commander (PC) fuelling module. This device merely plugs into your bike's wiring between the ECU and the primary fuel injectors. No wire cutting is necessary and no permanent changes are made to your bike's wiring loom. If you later wish to remove it, it simply unplugs and the ECU is again solely in charge of fueling.

The Power Commander reads the fuel injector signal from the ECU and modifies this according to its own map, before then controlling the duty cycle of the primary injectors. (Injectors are digital devices and are either on or off. The percentage of time that they are on is called the duty cycle.)

Unlike the ECU, the Power Commander is user programmable, simply requiring a laptop and a USB cable. Pre-existing fuel maps can be loaded onto it or custom maps can be created using the Dynojet software and dynomometer.

Pre-existing fuel maps, supposedly optimised for a particular aftermarket exhaust, can be downloaded or shared from other Fireblade owners. These maps cannot hope to be right for the unique charactetistics each bike has.

The best possible fuel map for any particular bike is one that has been custom created by a tuner skilled in the operation of a brake dynamometer. This is a tedious process that requires creating a new setting at every different throttle position (2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100%), for every rev range in 250rpm increments, in every gear. These values are either a plus or minus number, adding or removing fuel from what the ECU would have provided. A "zero map" is thus stock fuelling.

(The bike did over 100kms and used about 10l of fuel on the dyno)

Here is a sample fuel map, for a single gear:

(Generated on Excel from data downloaded from the Power Commander's custom map.)

So I took my bike to Julian who owns Superbike Solutions and the only person I know who has done his 10'000hrs on a brake dynomometer. His ability to optimise motorcycle fuelling and extract extra power is legendary.

However, before he can start he has do do two things (that I know of). The first is to inactivate the native lambda sensor, replacing it with a resistor that produces a flat reading. Otherwise the signal from the Lambda sensor will prevent the PC from taking over control of the AFRs. The second is to inactivate the whole Pulsed Secondary Air Injection system (PAIR). This system bleeds air from the air filter box into the exhaust ports in the cyclinder head, ECU controlled by a rapidly switching solenoid valve. The intention of this system is to introduce extra oxygen into the exhaust gases to ensure complete oxidation of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, and unburnt hydrocarbon; providing the extra oxygen for the catalytic converter to achieve these goals. Quite obviously, extra oxygen added to the exhaust gasses is going to screw with the tuner's measurements of AFRs. 

I had previously inactivated the air inlet duct flap valves.

As Julian points out, the only way you are going to get more power is to burn more fuel. Having created better gas flow through the engine with aftermarket air filter and exhaust, you have the opportunity to burn more fuel, but only if you decrease the AFRs to an optimum for power production.

To satisfy stringent EU and other emissions regulations, the closed loop area of operation aims for an AFR close to stoichiometric (14.7). From the tuner's point of view this is far too lean for maximum power production. This occurs at AFRs in the 13.0 to 13.6 range. Exactly what AFR produces the most power at any given point on the fuel map is part of the dark art of dyno tuning.

My bike first went onto the dyno in February. Note that AFRs cannot be measured with the stock exhaust.

A good six months later it went back on the dyno with the Akrapovič exhaust fitted, but not yet dyno tuned. And then finally after dyno tuning. Blue is stock, Red is after fitting the Akrapovič and Green is after dyno tuning.

Note that this graph is generated in fifth gear at 100% throttle opening.

At first glance those increments appear small. But it would be entirely wrong to just look at the peak figure and decide that this exercise was largely futile. Also pay careful attention to the AFRs, depicted in the third line. Note how incredibly lean the Akrapovič made the AFRs especially between 4k and 8k rpm. This is exactly the intention of fitting the pipe. There is now the opportunity to add more fuel for more power. The Green AFR line is the result of Julian's tuned fuelling.

This particular graph is just one gear at 100% throttle opening. It doesn't tell you anything about how responsive the bike is to smaller throttle openings in lower gears, or how responsive the throttle is in general. Indeed, the difference when actually riding the bike is very obvious. After the dyno tuning it is far more responsive, smooth, and it accelerates a lot harder. The next graph attempts to illustrate this.

This is an acceleration graph. It is really important to note that the units on the horizontal axis here are seconds and not revs (it looks just like revs). This graph illustrates how many horsepower are available to you seconds after pinning the throttle. Note that after just two seconds the bike now has about 15Newton metres of torque extra. After five seconds you have 13Nm and 21 horsepower more than before the tuning. Not surprisingly, this is very readily felt when riding the bike, and noticed by my friend on his S1000RR.


The next graph is a comparison of my plain 2014 with my pal's 2014 SP. (See here.)

His SP has an Arrow titanium can and a stainless steel "S" link pipe.

The SP was on the dyno in March and mine in August but these two engines have an essentially identical torque and power generation. There is perhaps a slight advantage to my bike, so the predictions I was getting that my minimalist pipe was going to rob it of midrange are demonstrably false.

The next graph is a comparison of my bike and the undisputed 2015 Superbike horsepower king, the new S1000RR. This 2015 S1000RR was admittedly stock. 

Note the truly massive advantage my bike has at 4k and 8k rpm. Up until 11.5k rpm my bike is making significantly more power everywhere. After 11.5k rpm the S1000RR takes over, and enjoys a higher rpm redline as well, enabling him to hang onto the gear for longer than I can. You choose what you would like from your road bike. In fairness I have to point out that the S1000RR responds well to Julian's tuning as well. 

(The S1000RR has variable length, servo driven velocity stacks which are responsible for some of the glitches in the torque curve, especially the one near the top.)

The next graph is a comparison of my pal's SP (as above) and his 2013 ZX10R,  both fully tuned.

Here note that up to 11k rpm the Fireblade holds an advantage but after that the ZX10 makes greater peak power and would use this to advantage on a racetrack. Again, choose what you would prefer from a roadbike.

Thanks to Julian's meticulous tuning, my bike is more responsive, feels smoother, accelerates harder and feels much more like the precision instrument it should be. Highly recommended. There's a lot behind the new sticker on my lower fairing:

Keep it safe!

BMW R 1200 GS LC (Liquid Cooled) Tuning

In 2004 BMW released the R 1200 GS, after having had great success in the world market with its predecessor, the R 1150 GS.  Sales of BMW's dual sport range accelerated after Ewen McGregor and Charley Boorman  did “The Long Way Around” traveling across the US and Russia. They later followed this up with "The Long Way Down", where they traveled through Africa.

In 2013 BMW introduced the R 1200 GS LC, their first liquid cooled version of this odd motor configuration since its initial introduction in 1923.

In this article we will cover the fuel tuning of the R 1200 GS LC (Liquid Cooled). 

After tuning many of the previous models, I was quite keen to see what BMW had done in terms of Air Fuel Ratios (AFRs) as the predecessors were pretty lean throughout the rev range up to eighty percent throttle opening. My first impression of the LC was that it was a lot smoother, and that it had a lot more horsepower and torque. As you can see in the graph below, it also gained an extra 500 RPM.

Graph showing the older, air/oil cooled motor in Blue, and the newer liquid cooled motor in Red

I must mention that this LC is a huge improvement on the older bike. The new bike is equipped with ride by wire throttle which also enables different riding modes. In addition, the LC has a quick shifter which in my opinion is really not necessary on a bike like this, a quick shifter lends itself more to sporty machines which this bike is not. However the bike does make quite a nice, self satisfying burble while using the shifter.

After doing the first pull on the dyno, I was quite surprised to see that the AFRs were almost identical to the older models. I was expecting to see a richer mixture in the high load areas. Due to strict emissions regulations, manufacturers have to comply with the usual, agreed “stoichiometric” air fuel ratios (14.7) in all currently manufactured vehicles. Being water cooled, I was surprised to see this AFR carried into the high load areas.

We then fitted a Dynojet Power Commander V (PCV) in order to take control of the fuel injectors' duty cycles, and to correct the factory Air Fuel Ratios. I must add that although this bike is simple in design, it does make a Power Commander installation somewhat challenging if it is neatness you are looking for. All the injector and throttle position plugs are exposed, it could look unsightly if the installation is not done correctly and with neatness in mind.

Once the PCV was installed, we could now start mapping the bike. Because it is a Boxer motor, we always choose to map the cylinders individually. With fitting a Power Commander, the oxygen sensors are eliminated and this allows me access into the exhaust via the standard lambda fittings. This is important as it enables me to get an accurate AFR footprint straight from the bike.

We started mapping Cylinder 1 which is on the left, and targeted an AFR of 13.5 in the low load area, and enriched up to 13.1 - 13.0 AFR in the high load area.

BMW seem to carry a 14.7 AFR all the way up to 80% throttle position (TP). Even with the ECU now being in 'open loop' (oxygen sensors disconnected), the factory map was still lean. The richest I saw from the stock map was a 13.6 AFR.

You will notice from the above map (Cyl 1) 2% to 15% TP and up to 5250 RPM (Low load) requires less fuel, and from 20% to 80% TP up to the rev limiter (High load) requires a substantially larger amount of fuel to be added. Only at 100% TP will you notice that I was required to remove some fuel in order to get to the desired AFR.

On Cylinder 2 the story is somewhat different. At 0% TP I had to remove a considerable amount of fuel to correct the AFR at idle. On this cylinder, the entire fuel map was richer than the left. This can be seen by the negative values in the (Low load) as well as smaller corrections in the (High load).

As the AFR was being corrected, you could literally feel the bike getting smoother and smoother, and another thing I noted was that the water temperature dropped by +/- 5 degrees. 

The graphs below are before and after the mapping session, Blue = Before and Red = After. Unfortunately I have not attached every throttle position for the sake of time.

The first graph is a stepped run in increments of 250 RPM at 5% TP and to make things a bit clearer, following the graph is the raw data.

Graph at 5% throttle position, Blue being before, Red being after.

Raw date at TP of 5%

At the above TP we are targeting 13.5 AFR up to 5500 RPM.

The graph below is at 40% TP and unlike the run at 5% TP it is not a step test but rather a loaded roll on with 10% load and here we are targeting a 13.0 AFR.

Graph at 40% throttle position, Blue being before, Red being after.

Raw data at TP 40%

Finally the graph at 100% TP showing peak gains, Blue being before, and Red being after. 

In my opinion, every motorcycle engine that has to comply with emissions legislation needs some sort of fuel tuning module like a Power Commander (my choice), and this is particularly true for BMW's Boxer engines.

Thanks for reading,
Julian

Superbike Solutions