Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

[siddharthsure]

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

[MENTION=26077]abhimanyu31[/MENTION] Wow!! Its so small i cant understand one thing. It cant charge on bike's alternator?? You have to plug in every time to a power socket like a ebike?

[abhimanyu31]

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

[MENTION=26077]abhimanyu31[/MENTION] Wow!! Its so small i cant understand one thing. It cant charge on bike's alternator?? You have to plug in every time to a power socket like a ebike?

There is some misunderstanding over here. The battery works like a regular battery. The bike charges it when the engine is running. The query was whether the battery needs to be removed for charging if it ever runs down. The Evo charger comes with a socket which enables charging on the bike if ever needed.


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[abhimanyu31]

AreaP/ Fuel Moto - 10,000 kms

AreaP/ Fuel Moto - 10,000 kms

Perfect fuelling is the key to make power. Its been 10,000 kms since we installed the full exhaust system and AreaP/Fuel Moto fuel controller. We opened the exhaust system for some work and took the opportunity to take look at the condition of headers. What we found left us with a sense of disbelief; there is virtually no carbon build up in the headers and the spark plug has nice light tan colour. Thats spot on fuelling for you considering that the fuel map has not been fine tuned by doing dyno runs on the bike. The fuel map has been created based on my inputs and preloaded at AreaP and shipped half way across the world. Hats off to Kerry and AreaP for the tremendous job that they have done.

[abhimanyu31]

Insulated Airbox

Insulated Airbox

As described in one of the earlier post we have used DEI under tank insulation to reduce the heat soaking by the fuel tank and the fuel in the tank. This is to prevent vapour locks and snapping of power due to heated fuel. This particular addition also got us thinking if we could do anything additional to make the life of the engine less stressful.

The life of a sports bike engine is an extremely stressful one. While they have very potent power delivery, they also have to deal with cramped spaces and heat generation. In a way a sports bike engine life is much harder than a car engine, which has the luxury of extra space under the hood.

It quickly became apparent that while we could not do much about the heat generation due to the nature on the application and engine, there was one place where we could make a difference; the airbox.

The airbox on the N300 sits directly behind the throttle body and the cylinder bank. This it receives almost no air flow from the front of the bike to help it cool down any build up of heat soaking due to prolong slow speed or idling.

Cold air intake and airbox insulation has divided opinion in the tuning community. While there are people who will swear that it increases power substantially, there are also tuners who say it does not make any difference whatsoever.

When one considers the fact that this particular addition does not add any weight to the bike nor does it hamper performance in anyway there was no reason for us not to try this addition.

Therefore we decided to insulate the airbox with DEI insulation sheet and try to create a cold air intake. We took the opportunity offered by installation of Ballastic EVO battery to remove the airbox and warp it up with DEI insulation.

Removing the air box is one big onerous task, as it requires removal of almost the whole body work. Nevertheless, Vikram of Motozone did the same with a lot of fortitude and did not hurry the work. The airbox is one complicated shape with lots of nooks and crannies. It requires a lot of patience to apply the insulation sheet properly ensuring there is adequate coverage and insulation over every corner of the airbox.


Almost the complete bodywork needs to be removed






The shape of the airbox.




Applying the DEI insulation sheet requires a lot of fortitude.








The insulated airbox.


Insulated Airbox installed.


Honda MotoGp RC213V Gold Insulated Airbox.

Initial Impression

How we wish we had access to a Dyno to check out the changes made at each stage for a much clear picture. Anyway, our initial impression has been a very positive one. My daily runs are fairly constant with speed, distance and time being fairly stable. Therefore, if there is any change even from one day to another it is quite noticeable. What was noticed was that the when running the bike temperature stays between 86 degrees Celsius to 88 degrees Celsius, thats a 2 to 4 degrees less than what it was. Therefore, there is a very positive difference from this change. Not bad for just a sheet of aluminum/ fiberglass weave insulation. Not bad at all

[abhimanyu31]

Charging of Ballastic Evo 2 Battery

Charging of Ballastic Evo 2 Battery

Couple of posts back when I had posted about the installation of the Ballistic Evo battery there were a few queries about the charging of the battery. As we were doing some work on the bike, we thought it to be good opportunity to charge and optimise the battery and took the opportunity to take couple of photos of the charging in progress.

The charger is very rugged and is certified as IP56 complainant that is dust protected and rain proof. The charger is completely automatic which upon first starting checks the health of the battery before starting to charge. Once it has the charging has reached an optimum level it then switches over to the individual cell-balancing mode wherein it ensures that each cell hold optimum charge. After the cell balancing is completed it switches over to maintenance mode. The maintenance mode is actually beneficial if your bike is going to be in storage for long periods. You simply need to plug in the charger and it will do the required maintenance to ensure that the battery is in prime condition and does not go bad due to long-term storage.

So in short, this is a fantastic product, which deserves two thumbs up.

[abhimanyu31]

DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

While we are awaiting the next set of parts which are under fabrication for the next set of serious changes, we decided to add a little bit of farkle to spice up the looks of the bike.

The first addition was DEI Exhaust Wraps. DEI claims that they are the world’s best exhaust wraps. The wraps are much thinner than the ones that were installed and were considerably more malleable and supple. This ensured that we were able to wrap the pipes more tightly than before. Also the wraps come with SS locking ties making the installation cleaner. We selected black wraps to enhance the look of the bike.





Our second farkle was something that I have wanted to do for a long time but have been pushing it down the priority list as something not that important. Once again thanks to Archit aka @architkumar_1986 for the fantastic deal he was able to get me for the DMP taillight.

The taillight on a stock Ninja 300 is a traditional red housing with a regular bulb in it. Nowadays even commuters like Bajaj Discover 150 has a LED taillight. Ninja San definitely deserved a more modern and up-to-date taillight. I took a look at number of aftermarket taillights and zeroed in on the DMP one, as I like the layout and the size of the LEDs. The smoked one was ordered as I thought the dark smoke coloured housing will contrast well with the white bike.






Acknowledgements: A huge thanks to Archit for helping me source the DMP taillight. And as usual, Vikram and Vijay of Motozone for their impeccable work.

[wallpapers123]

Re: DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

I took a look at number of aftermarket taillights and zeroed in on the DMP one, as I like the layout and the size of the LEDs. The smoked one was ordered as I thought the dark smoke coloured housing will contrast well with the white bike.
.

You Could have gone for the integrated Turn Signal Indicators, and remove the traditional indicators altogether..
Also one thing left on the bike is the Fender eliminator kit, although the looks of it are very much subjective.
And I have to say, Even though many have already said it before, going through this entire thread, Respect to you bro!!! I mean so many mods on a single bike.
And now I know what my next bike is gonna be..

[abhimanyu31]

Re: DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

You Could have gone for the integrated Turn Signal Indicators, and remove the traditional indicators altogether..
Also one thing left on the bike is the Fender eliminator kit, although the looks of it are very much subjective.
And I have to say, Even though many have already said it before, going through this entire thread, Respect to you bro!!! I mean so many mods on a single bike.
And now I know what my next bike is gonna be..

The DMP light has integrated turn signal built into it and the same has been activated on the bike. I love the Rizoma indicators and would not like to give up on these exquisitely crafted Italian turn indicators so they stay on.

The fender eliminator kit (or tail tidy kit as many call it) may look good but in practice creates more headaches than the good looks it produces. During rains the whole bike gets covered with muck and slushy tar which becomes a nightmare to clean. If a pillion is sitting, then he/ she is going to be completely drenched in muck. Not worth the trouble.

[krish2778]

Re: DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

The DMP light has integrated turn signal built into it and the same has been activated on the bike. I love the Rizoma indicators and would not like to give up on these exquisitely crafted Italian turn indicators so they stay on.

The fender eliminator kit (or tail tidy kit as many call it) may look good but in practice creates more headaches than the good looks it produces. During rains the whole bike gets covered with muck and slushy tar which becomes a nightmare to clean. If a pillion is sitting, then he/ she is going to be completely drenched in muck. Not worth the trouble.

The PVC strip on the sides (round white colored) does look odd, if that was in black, it would have been more suited to look at(personal opinion).

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

[abhimanyu31]

Re: DMP LED Tail Light & DEI Black Exhaust Wraps

The PVC strip on the sides (round white colored) does look odd, if that was in black, it would have been more suited to look at(personal opinion).

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

You are right about the mounting collars (they made of Nylon 6 by the way). Have been thinking of doing them in black.

[akhilash95]

Re: Ballastic Lithium Iron Battery

Ballastic Lithium Iron Battery

There is typo error, isn't it Lithium ION battery or are we talking about lithium-iron-phosphate batteries here.

[abhimanyu31]

Re: Ballastic Lithium Iron Battery

There is typo error, isn't it Lithium ION battery or are we talking about lithium-iron-phosphate batteries here.

It is a Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LiFEPO4) type battery.

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[abhimanyu31]

WP Suspension USDs & Magura 4 Piston Monoblock Brake Caliper,

WP Suspension USDs, Magura 4 Piston Monoblock Brake Caliper, Custom-made Triple Clamp assembly & Clipons.


WP Suspension USDs
Internals of Duke 390 fork (Left) & WP fork (Right)

The fork had one more difference as compared to the Duke/RC fork. The distance between the caliper mounts was 78mm whereas the Duke/RC has 80mm. This complicated things slightly with the brake caliper. Vikram assured me that this would not be a problem, as we would be using a world-class caliper that he had already identified and sourced.

Magura 4 Piston Monobloc Radial Brake Caliper

In the world of bicycles, Magura is as famous as Brembo is the world of cars and bikes. A lesser-known fact is that Magura also makes brake calipers for bikes. Magura calipers are used as OEM equipment by Triumph, KTM, Hasqvarna, Aprilia, BMW and Ducati.
Magura apparently leverages off its expertise in making lightweight state of the art brake calipers for cycles to make bike calipers that are ultra light while delivering superb stopping power.

This particular fact is apparent from the weight difference between the Magura caliper and the standard Nissin caliper. Even though the Magura caliper has 4 pistons it weighs 350 gms less than the stock Nissin caliper. The Magura caliper is a direct fit on the WP fork.










WP Up Side Down (USD) Fork with Magura 4 piston Radial Caliper

Custom made Triple Clamp Assembly & Clip-ons

Now that we had got WP forks and Magura Caliper in hand it was time to work out the details on how fit them. It was apparent due to the diameter of the outer tubes of the USDs, the current upper triple clamp, lower triple clamp tree and the clip-ons were not going to work. A completely new set of these parts needed to be designed and made in order to install the forks.

The design criteria for the Triple Clamp Assembly and Clips-ons was:
1. Should not weigh more than current assembly.
2. Should be strong enough to support the WP forks.
3. Should be strong enough to handle the braking forces that the Magura 4 piston caliper would generate.
4. Should not change the steering geometery.
5. Should not change the weight bias of the bike.
6. Should allow for fully functional ignition and steering lock.

Once again Vikram has worked wonders. The triple clamps and clip-ons have been designed on Solid Edge ST7 software and were machined from billet 6061 T6 tampered aluminum. To ensure that the components would meet precise weight we had targeted, they were machined on a highly sophisticated and accurate 3-axis VMC machine. Due to the design criteria the lower triple clamp had to be of reinforced design. This would invariably increase the weight of the component. However, our adherence to the weight rule meant that we needed to look for ways to keep the weight down.


Modelling of Upper Triple Clamp


Modelling of Lower Triple Clamp

Vikram once again came up with an out of the box solution. It was decided that the lower triple clamp tree shaft would be made out Titanium 6AL-4V. Vikram was confident that he could make one that would weigh less than the stock shaft, thereby enabling us to keep the weight of the complete assembly down.

The shaft took 8 hours to machine, but was well worth the effort. It weighed 375 gms less than the stock shaft and was machined to very exact tolerances to ensure that the tapper roller bearings fit to exacting tolerances. This will allow for a very precise and stable steering assembly.


Steering Shaft made from Titanium 6AL-4V

Vikram also took this opportunity to craft the handle bars out 6AL-4V Titanium taking advantage of the Titanium’s exceptional strength to make the handle bars out of thinner gauge material to ensure there was further weight reduction.

Ultimately we were successful in saving 450 gms from the whole triple clamp and clip-on handle bar assembly. We were successful in ticking all the boxes in our design criteria by making the entire assembly stronger and lighter than the stock assembly.


Upper Triple Clamp




Clip-Ons


Lower Triple Clamp

Custom Made HEL lines

While the stock forks mount the braking system on the right side, the WP forks mounts the braking system on the left side of the bike. This meant that the current brake line which of the stock length would not work. Therefore, new brakes lines of custom length were ordered from HEL.


Custom made HEL SS Brake Lines

Assembly

Due to the meticulous design, planning and execution of the of the custom design parts, the final assembly went off without a hitch. There were no unseen problems nor did it require any revision of parts. With the assembly going through without a hitch it felt like this was a stock assembly. There were no clearance issues and no problems with the lengths of various cables and wiring loom assemblies. On the whole it was a very solid execution of build.


Bearing Assembly


Size Comparison; Stock Vs. Custom made


First Impressions

After the initial assembly was completed, the bike was taken out for a spin to test the suspension. The front end of the bike now felt very light. Due to the exacting tolerances we had maintained the front steering felt light, smooth and ultra sensitive to even the slightest inputs. This would require resetting one’s inputs to the steering with riding. The other thing that became quickly apparent was that these forks were made for much bigger bike. This particular fact was creating problems for us. The rebound was just to fast and the compression was just too stiff. Therefore, it was time for us to get down to doing some suspension tuning to make the forks more suitable for the bike.

It took us 2 weeks to sort the dampening and compression out. We had to experiment with various spring rates and viscosity of oils to change the rate of dampening and compression. However, we were successful in sorting the suspension out and have now got the suspension settings down to the required level to get rid of the initial problem that we faced before embarking on this build.


Fork assembly while sorting out the settings


However, a full cartridge conversion is very much on the horizon. We will plan for it in the near future.

On the braking side, things could not have gone better. We had decided to use the stock Nissin master cylinder as it is of very good quality. We also decided to use a larger disc. Therefore, we installed a KTM Duke 390 disc. The braking is now par excellence. The brake is so sensitive that it takes just one finger to operate it. It is also so sensitive that moment the mandatory free play is over, the brake starts gripping the disk and the fork start its traditional dive forward. The combination of radial mounting with mono block 4 piston and larger disc has made this a super bike class braking system.

The front now feels super solid and provides superlative feedback as to what is happening down there. The enhanced braking forces are not disturbing the front end and the bike rock solid even under heavy braking.






Front Brake Assembly

This has been a big build with loads of details to be worked out. It took us whole lot of time and effort to do it. But the satisfaction that we have got from doing a job well done and the results has made it extremely worthwhile exercise.


Top Triple Clamp Assembly; Note the Titanium 6AL-4V Handle Bars


Yoshi Steering Stem Nut

[abhimanyu31]

MicroBlue Hybrid Ceramic Ball Bearings

MicroBlue Hybrid Ceramic Ball Bearings

Friction: Definition; Friction is the resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another.

In layman’s terms, friction is a force that resists one surface from sliding or rolling over another, such as when the crankshaft is rotating in a journal bearing or when a ball bearing is rolling in its raceway.

Friction is not a fundamental force like gravity or electromagnetism. Therefore, when men of science started to piece together the laws governing friction in the 1400s they ran into exceptions, as the interactions are so complex. For every general rule about friction, there are just as many exceptions.

Frictions can be generally characterized into two types; static friction and kinetic friction. For our current post we are going to be dealing kinetic friction.

Bike makers today specify power outputs of their bikes in the form of PS i.e. Pferdestarke (German Horse Power)*. While most of us look at these power figures listed in sales broacher as an important indicator for their future purchase of their new bike, they tend to forget that these listed figures do not reflect real world performance. These figures are just fodder for armchair debaters on which bike is superior and better (no offense meant).

Fact of life is that these power output figures are specified at the crankshaft before power losses created by the gearbox and the final drive train. Even the listed power figures may vary from bike to bike. Meaning if one make of bike measures its power as per DIN standard and another measures it as per SAE standards, their power outputs will differ as they have been measured with different baseline and methods as specified by the respective standards.

To heap more grief on you, it is not necessary that your bike’s engine is making the power output figures as listed in the sales broacher. Due to acceptable deviations on a production line, the output figure may deviate by as much as +/-10%. So yes, in a way it’s a lottery draw.

So how can we know what is the real output of power. This is where chassis dynometers come into play. Chassis dynometers measure power at the rear wheel after all looses are accounted from the gearbox and final drive train. This gives us a ‘real world’ horsepower figure.

As per the sales broacher stock Ninja 300 makes 29.0 Kw peak power i.e. 39.4 PS. However, as discussed above, this measurement is before accounting for losses by the gearbox and final drive train. So how much is this actual loss of power? AreaP and Fuel Moto have tested the Ninja 300 extensively. They have done over 400 Ninja 300s dyno runs and have a pretty good handle on what the bike can do. Below is a dyno chart of a completely stock Ninja 300 done by them. As you can see the maximum power output at the wheel is 34.9 HP i.e. 35.4 PS. This is the actual power that is available for application on the tarmac after all the losses are accounted for.


Fuel Moto/AreaP Stock Ninja 300 Dyno run.

The above power figures reflect a loss of 4.4 PS or 4.3 HP between power available at the crankshaft and the power available at the rear wheel. This reflects about 11% power loss due to the transmission and final drive train.

So what has all of this to do with our current post? While looking for performance gains, it does well to look for power that is already available within the engine in its current setup before trying to look for options to add power. 11% loss of power due to drive train losses is a significant number and is too big a number to ignore if you are genuinely looking for better performance.

So how do we go about reducing this number and making more power available to the rear wheel? We need to take a step-by-step approach to minimizing the power losses. The big word in the room is friction. It is friction that makes up for a significant part of these power losses.

There are number of factors that affect the frictional conditions between two surfaces in relative motion. These are:

1. Surface finish: The roughness and contact points of each surface affect the amount of friction created.
2. Temperature: Ambient and operating temperatures can have significant affect on friction.
3. Operational load: Friction varies directly with load. As a general rule when load increases friction increases.
4. Relative Speed: Increase in speed generally leads to increase in friction.
5. Lubricants: The characteristics of lubricants including viscosity, additives, and formulation have a big role to play.

The challenge to reducing friction by as much as possible is the challenge to controlling the above-mentioned factors.

Generally, there are three broad ways to reduce friction:
1. Use of bearing surfaces that have very low friction coefficient. Surfaces that have reduced roughness and smoother contact points than currently used materials.
2. Where possible, replacing sliding friction with rolling elements.
3. Improving over all lubrication by either changing the viscosity, improved additives, etc.

Considering the above factors, we decided to start our effort to reduce friction by looking for better ball bearings.

* through the 1970s, 80s, and 90s it was specified as BHP (Break Horse Power).

Hybrid Ceramic Ball Bearings

Our search for better bearings took us into the world of hybrid ceramic ball bearings. There is a whole lot of myth surrounding ceramic bearings. They are brittle, not suited for road applications; they do not offer any advantages, etc.

The fact is that ceramic bearings have been used in some of the most challenging engineering applications ever created by mankind. Ceramic bearings have been used in mission critical places like fuel turbo pumps of Space Shuttle RS 25 main engines. The RS 25 is one of the most efficient liquid fuel cryogenic rocket engines ever made. It also one of the most reliable engines made. Ceramic bearings have performed consistently in this application without any problems.
Another places where hybrid ceramic bearings are used is Formula 1, Le Mans 24 endurance races, NASCARs and even Bonneville Land Speed racecars.

A hybrid ceramic bearing differs from a ceramic bearing in that they have conventional hardened steel races with silicon nitride balls in place of steel balls. There are bearings available where steel balls are coated with silicon nitride (cheaper option); however, these are generally considered to be a poor option in terms of performance and quality.

The use of silicon nitride balls allows for the following advantages:

1. Silicon nitride balls weigh 58% less than similar size steel balls.
2. They are ‘rounder’ and more accurate than steel balls. Steel balls typically have a variation range of 50 to 60 millionths of an inch. Silicon nitride balls have a variation of only 10 millionths of an inch.
3. Silicon nitride balls have a superior surface finish that is less porous than steel balls, thus having less rolling friction.
4. Ceramic balls also have a lower degree of thermal expansion compared to steel balls. This results in cooler running and improved lubricant life.
5. Contrary to common perception, ceramic balls are 100% harder than steel balls. This strength combined with their excellent finish makes them extremely durable. They have less than 10% wear of steel balls.
6. Hybrid ceramic ball bearings weigh about 60% less than steel ball bearings. They also have 70% less friction than steel bearings. Thus there is less energy required to spin the mass.

Microblue is U.S.A. based company that makes hybrid ceramic ball bearings specially for racing applications. They make some of the finest bearings available in commercial market. What is also unique about Microblue is a process that the company uses to coat the races of the ball bearings. Microblue’s patented special treatment for the races claims to reduce friction and increase the life of the bearing. Microblue also uses genuine Cerbec ceramic balls for its bearings. Cerbec balls are considered the finest in the industry.













Installation

During our last build of WP USDs we took the opportunity to install the Microblue ceramic bearings. The bearings come with 2 removable dust seals and oil seals. The bearings use regular grease. We have used Molykote BR2 Plus High Performance Grease to lubricate the bearings. Bearing installation is identical to installation of steel bearings.









First impressions

The very first impression that anyone who moves the bike will have is how remarkably freely the bike moves and how light it feels. If the bike could be balanced on 2 wheels, even a 5-year-old child would be able to push it to get it moving. The first ride also made it obvious that that there is something different about the rolling of the bike. We have already dropped one tooth at the rear sprocket to make the gearing more manageable. Once again the bike feels under geared. At 5,000 rpm in the 6^th gear you feel that there is still another gear or 2 to go. It’s only a look at the gear indicator on the dashboard that prevents you from trying to go another gear.

We are so impressed with the bearings that it has been decided that as and when we get an opportunity we will replace are the relevant gearbox bearings with hybrid ceramic ones.

A Word of Caution

[stefanm]

Re: MicroBlue Hybrid Ceramic Ball Bearings

Good stuff Pratik, that's a lot of time and dedication to this project, a true hobbyist.
Before anyone asks, yes it is cheaper to by a bigger bike and No he won't make his money back if he sells the bike, these things are done with passion as a hobbyist and yes it is a waste of money, but still the enjoyment is worth more....

Enjoy!