Chuckster's Dual-Plate Setup - Thoughts

[taranis]

I received Joe Norris' Dual-Plate Intake kit a couple of days ago, and today I finally had a chance to get it out onto the open highway for a test. I bought the bike with the Vance & Hines Dual Baggers already installed. Later I added the Dolbeck TFI P&P unit and today was the final piece.

The installation process went pretty smoothly, even for a klutz like me. An hour later, it was ready to go, sans K&N filter, which arrived just today. A quick visit to Gadget's site provided me with some baseline settings for the TFI to compensate for the additional air (2:30, 6:00, 1:00, 9:00), and after making the settings changes, I was off.

The very first thing I noticed was how much more smooth the throttle was. That alone put a "wow" on my lips as I was headed out of the neighborhood. Seriously, I haven't ridden a bike with such linear throttle response since the '92 Shadow I used to own. I love that!

Once I got out to the main road leading to the highway, I couldn't stop myself after I made the turn, and romped on it - hard throttle in 1st, dropped it into 2nd and twisted as far as it would go. The bike just growled in response and took off. The power wasn't snap-me-back-in-the-seat; it was more of a powerful pull that, before the intake, wasn't there. Before I knew it, I was doing 60 in second gear.

Big-Papa-Grin!

As I began to let off, I remembered that before the intake install, letting off while doing 60+ in a lower gear would result in a few backfires. After the install? Nothing.. just a smooth slowdown. Muuuch better! I was hoping the intake kit would fix that, and it did.

The real test was when I arrived at the pump. Even with the TFI, I've always had to put 93 octane in it to avoid pinging. I stood there for a second, wondering if I should risk a tank of mid-grade. I figured, "what the hell," and filled up on 89, then took it out on the highway.

For the rest of the ride home, about 5 miles, I tried everything I could to get it to ping. Even at 25 mph in 3rd gear, giving it full throttle, I couldn't do it.

Pulling back into the garage, the next thing I noticed was how cool the motor was compared to before the intake was installed. From the "tink, tink, tink"'s that were coming from it, it sounded like I only went around the block, not gave it a good thrashing for six miles.

Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with this setup. My Nomad runs better than ever. The sound coming from the pipes is deeper and full-throated, it runs 89 octane without pinging (YES!), and got a nice increase in power to boot.

Thank You - to the folks all over this board that make stuff like this possible. Trip, Joe Norris, and everyone else that contributes on this board.

Ya'll rock!