For anyone looking to add a very noticeable boost of power to their bike keep on reading. I have seen a few posts about nitrous but none give the details about what is required to do it the right way including cost.

I have turned my 2003 CBR 954 into a dragbike that I race with every weekend. Its not the fastest bike when compared to the newer bikes but it's close plus its very consistent which it what matters for bracket racing.

I had my bike dyno tuned a few months ago and it made 146.5 HP and 71 ft/lbs torque. Since then I have stretched it over 9" which lowered the dyno numbers to 138 / 68. My nitrous gains will be off the stretched numbers so they are actually a little higher.

Now for the install.

1. I purchased a Nitrous Express EFI Power Booster kit with a 2.5lb bottle for $399. This kit contains most of the required parts to add nitrous to your bike. I also purchased a Nitrous pressure gauge from ebay to monitor bottle pressure for $30.

EFI POWER BOOSTER SYSTEM W 2.5LB BOTTLE

NOTE: My install is not a fogging setup like this kit is designed for. If you just fog the airbox with nitrous you are taking a huge gamble. This way tries to trick the air temp sensor into sensing the colder air and getting the ecu to add more fuel then hoping each cylinder gets an equal amount of nitrous which is very unlikely to happen. This can lead to burnt pistons or valves and be very expensive to fix.

2. Next I purchased a showerhead and spraybar setup from performancefirstcycles for $185. This guy can be found on facebook and he makes very good quality parts. This setup will ensure that each cylinder gets the same amount of nitrous.

3. You will also need to have a PC3 USB ($200-300) and a multi-function hub with map switch and output harness($150+).

As you can start to realize if you don't already have some of these items on your bike this is going to be expensive.

4. I installed my spraybar then paid my tuner to complete the nitrous setup and to tune the bike for the nitrous. I will explain how the system works below.

The spraybar is mounted to the airbox lid so that a nozzle is pointing directly into each cylinder. The spraybar does not restrict airflow or affect performance inside the airbox. The showerhead is mounted between the velocity stacks and connected to the spraybar with poly lines. The hole for the showerhead in the airbox fits perfectly in the gap between the throttle bodies and using the 90 degree fitting that comes with it you are able to route the line under the fuel rail to the solenoid located in the space under the gas tank. My nitrous bottle is mounted in front of the rear tire to a bracket that was welded onto the swingarm.

5. The wiring is done as follows: Using relays the map switch harness is connected to one relay and the nitrous solenoid is connected to a second relay. One of the outputs(ground signal) from the multi-function hub is connected to the second relay along with the nitrous solenoid. The horn was removed from my bike so the horn button is my nitrous activation. The output settings in the hub are programmed to activate above 90% throttle and under 11800rpm to prevent spraying nitrous into the rev limiter. My shift point is 11500 so this leaves some room for error to prevent engine damage. The second map feature is used as a nitrous only map and custom tuned for the nitrous at a safe 12.0AFR while spraying.

This is how it works with the horn button being the activation. Remember the hub will only activate the output to the solenoid above 90% throttle and you want to be above 7k rpm before using nitrous.

When I am above 90% throttle and press the horn button it will activate the first relay that changes the map in the PC3 to the nitrous map then sends power to the second relay so when the hub sends the output signal to the second relay providing the ground it activates the solenoid to start spraying the nitrous. This happens much faster than you would think. As long as I hold the horn button the bike will stay on the nitrous map and spray nitrous. As soon as the horn button is released it reverts back to the motor only map.

With an approximate 34 jet (I only had up to 30 so we had to drill out a smaller one) and conservative tune at 12AFR my bike's dyno numbers while spraying were around 170-172hp and 88-90 ft/lbs torque. This is off my strecthed dyno numbers so at stock wheelbase these numbers would be 178-180 and 91-93 which is great for a stock 954 engine. At around 9500rpm the gains were higher at ~+37hp and 22 torque.

I am very happy with this setup. I tested it for the first time last night at the dragstrip. The power increase while spraying is huge. Once I get used to it I will post a video of a run using it so you can hear the difference in the engine sound while spraying. Total cost for nitrous for me was about $800 since I already had a PC3 and hub on my bike.

 

More pictures.

 

lol, i like that idea. a few questions though.

1) can i run that with stock wheel base or do i have to get it extended?

2) how much will it effect the longevity of the engine i wonder? i wouldnt want to get it done have to rebuild every six months.

3) you said 800 but, how much was the total cost? parts, labor and the dyno tune?

all i would want it for is for an occasional grudge match on the strip with a couple a-holes (that always rag on my 954) with their newer 170+ hp bikes. lol

 

1. You could use it at stock wheelbase but it will be hard to keep the front wheel down. I don't spray in first gear and have no problem with it trying to lift the front wheel in second with my bike stretched. When I was stock wheelbase I could not keep the front wheel down in both first and second without nitrous.

2. A 40 shot properly tuned should not affect the life of the engine. Any larger say 50 or 60 would be ok for a while but may cause problems. Mine would be about 40-45 shot because it increased power by 37HP to the wheel around 9500rpm.

3. Nitrous cost for me was about $800: Nitrous kit $400, Spraybar/showerhead $185, Install & nitrous map $200. Dynotune sells some cheaper efi kits that could be attached to the spraybar setup I have to lower the cost or you could by used parts to assemble a kit. Small bottles will not last very long. My 2.5lb bottle was nearly empty after a day of dyno tuning and 3-4 uses at the track. I only plan on using it if needed for bracket racing.

Cost will double to around $1500-1600 if you have to buy a PC3 USB, multi-function hub and have bike dyno tuned.

My recommendation would be to spend the money and do it right or don't do it at all. Trying to cut corners and go cheap could be very expensive when something goes wrong and blows the motor.

 

Video of my fastest 1/4 mile run this year.

9.69@143.66MPH

Honda CBR954 Nitrous run during Street Fights at Bristol Dragway - YouTube