BikeTuna's winter turbo build

Here we go... This thread and build has been in the pipeline for months, buying parts and researching, but as so many of these threads on forums get started and then nothing ever comes of them, I didn't want to be one of those people so held off until it was a definite goer... and now it is.

Here's the bike moving into my office at work. The ride in was cold and miserable, apart from the back spinning up on me while joining a dual carriageway it was pretty average.

20151107_095718_resized by Biketuna posted Nov 12, 2015 at 4:12 PM

This is a standard manifold from a street triple that I bought on ebay for £20. I welded the bar across the top to retain the positions, then cut the sides off and used the offcuts to make the rest into the 3 into 1 pipe. I've left a good 4 inches on the end so that when it goes back on the bike I can offer up the turbo and then cut it to length.

20151024_125328_resized by Biketuna posted Nov 12, 2015 at 4:12 PM

The pieces from the old pipe ready for welding

20151031_110057_resized by Biketuna posted Nov 12, 2015 at 4:12 PM

The manifold welded up

20151102_105439_resized by Biketuna posted Nov 12, 2015 at 4:12 PM

The flange for the manifold was made out of a 6mm piece of steel I got on ebay for a fiver and cut to shape.

Here's the bike in its current stats of dissassembly. The panels are off, the exhaust is off, the coolant is dropped and the rad is off for access, and the manifold is ready to go on.

20151112_145359_resized by Biketuna posted Nov 12, 2015 at 4:13 PM

Next is to fit the manifold, refit the rad to check for clearances, then offer up the turbo, cut the manifold and then weld the flange on.

The turbo isn't the only mod on the list for this build, I've also bought a ton of stuff that I'll fit during the rebuild, and once its running it's coming apart again for paint. The finished project will hopefully be a showpiece for Biketuna.co.uk, a mag feature bike, and an awesome toy!

 

a what....?

a freekin' TURBO

 

Interesting little project BikeTuna, and you've made a good job of that manifold alteration IMO.

 

Cant see pics on iphone mate

 

I got a little further before I finished work..

The Manifold is bolted on, and with a little persuasion fitted really nicely! I've also refit the rad but this is a better pic.

The turbo is a Garrett GT15 off a 2001 Vectra diesel. I wanted the GT15 for quick spooling, and the vectra had the best mount points. It was £35 plus post.

Amazingly, taking a chance on keeping the exhaust centre pipe stock and welding the sides to the balance pipes worked out really well, initial looks show the turbo not clearing the fairing, but mounting it backwards means it fits, but I cannot use the vectra exhaust pipe bracket and will have to make one, and the 675 sump is cut on the wrong side so it will be tough to make the exhaust but that's OK, it fits and that's the main thing.

 

A pic of the radiator clearance, showing where thr turbo is hopefully going to fit!



When I get a sec, I'll upload the pics to the BikeTuna site and then link to them, hopefully that will show on the iPhone or app.

 

That is going to be mental!
Look forward to seeing this!

 

This is gonna be fun

 

Like. Looking forward to seeing this running!!

 

What sort of performance gains are you hoping for with the turbo mate? Has it ever been done on a 675 before?

 

There's a couple around, and they are all more power than I'm aiming for.

All in the states, a homebuild like mine but with a bigger (slower spooling) turbo under the tail doing 180bhp, icon have done one at 204bhp with a bigger turbo too, but surprisingly standard internals, and then there's a street triple with forged internals at 225!

I'm aiming for 185bhp so I can officially get a 1:1 power to weight ratio, although I'm doing a lot of weight loss on the bike to give me a window. My very small turbo will hopefully spool quick but puts out less overall poke, but I'm building it to take a higher boost pressure than other builds I've seen so hopefully I'll get to use most of what it has.

I just hope it doesn't lag too much, though looking into nitrous based anti-lag systems I'm not too worried!

 

I like this. I think I'll be 12 months behind you. I built a nicely tuned Tuono which I still have, so forced induction is next on my list. I have always looked at the Rotrex C15-60 as the nicest way, but the extra work driving the thing from the crankshaft and the cost of inital purchase (£1500 ish) is quite a chunk of demotivation. If the Vectra turbo works out for you then I might go the same route. There is a lot of cachet to installing a £35 diesel turbo on a motorcycle. Especially when somebody asks you about the turbo you have the pleasure of telling them the turbo cost. Good work!

 

On my research I found the C15-60 and its a great bit of kit, looking at Rotrex's paperwork its the perfect piece for the job, but I couldn't find one anywhere for less than £1200. You probably already know a guy in the states has one running on a 675 and with race fuel he's got 210bhp out of it!

My build isn't going to cost that in total. my aim is to get it done for less than £500, which is tight to say the least. It's pushing me to fabricate more myself rather than pay people to do things and let the costs get out of control. Outside of this I'm allowing for the sale of my Arrow can to pay for the PC5, so with about £200-£250 for the mapping, so the physical parts are to be done for less than £300 to hit it. I'm currently on track... see how long that lasts...

 

185 bhp lol

thats going to leave a few fellow bikers scratching their heads

 

Do you need the PC5? COuld it be done with Tune ECU and a good Dyno tech?

 

Got a little done today, the turbo was offered up to the bike yesterday and the Manifold was marked and cut. The flange was welded on in place and it fits! A stroke of luck more than anything tho I need to double check fairing clearances to be sure this is the final resting place.

Looking more into management, a pc5 won't work with the rest of my older bike so will have to go pc3 and not have the boost pressure sensor - will have to have an old fashioned gauge and let the dyno men do their thing. At least I can get one cheaper...

Trying to find the pressure feed to the wastegate... where do I mount it?

 

I cant imagine the PC5 not working on 06-08 bikes. Did the injector connectors change?

 

Not much of an update today, but an important one for the build. On researching my plans the turbo oil feed and return have been the most daunting, partly because it's not something other talk about much or show, and partly because most solutions involve drilling holes in the block!

I've found a solution, like this:



I've fitted the turbo with a threaded oil return, attached a line, then tapped into the side casing underneath the clutch by the actuator. I nearly put it on the top next to the filler cap as a lot of builds use the filler hole, but am worried it would overload the clutch.

I also bought the junctions required for the oil feed:



The large black one is my oil pressure sensor. If it's reading pol pressure then surely it's at a point where pressure is good, so I've put a T-junction on it with a banjo outlet. Conveniently, the turbo oil in is a banjo too, so I'm using a spare braided brake line to join the turbo to the pressure sensor. I'm really pleased about this, most people use an oil gallery cap, but this seemed so much easier!

With regard to the PC3 VS PC5, the PC5 won't fit my bike, but I've since found that the PC3 can support a secondary harness that can then support a boost pressure sensor, and also tie in with a nitrous anti-lag. All systems go!

 

BTW, this build as you can probably tell is very homebrew, and to a certain extent I'm making it up as I go along! I know full well there's a lot of very clever people on these forums that know more than me, and if you see anything that isn't going to work or might cause damage, or anything I might have just missed, please tell me - I'm humble enough to accept and welcome it, and I'd rather make a mistake now than at 150 mph! !!