Q: Hi Noddy and congrats to Greg and yourself on winning the SA super bike title once again on a BMW S1000RR, which I also have.

I’ve seen your bike race and it looks so fast and therefore I was wondering if you could tell me what you’ve done to Greg’s bike or is it a typical ‘race secret?’ If you don’t want to pass on the information I can understand why but I, and others, would be very keen to know?

Ian Collins   Jo’burg SA

A: There really is nothing special about Greg’s bike. The engine is sealed out of the crate to prevent tampering, so nothing is done to the insides of the motor.

The bike does have a full Akrapovic exhaust system from the BMW race parts division and a Power Commander to set the fueling to suit. We also fitted a genuine HP BMW ECU from Germany that allows us to fiddle with traction control and ignition curves, etc, which is around R8,000. We also change the gearing to suit the track and fit full race tyres and that’s about it.

The stock bike made 170hp at the wheel on my Dynojet dyno and after these mods we got it to 188hp. Torque also went up from 104Nm to 113Nm. Now you know all our secrets.

Q: I happen to have an old 1980 Honda Goldwing, which I’ve owned since new. It’s now got 93,000km on the clock and the engine in fine. But over the past few weeks or so I’ve noticed a heavy whirring sound coming from the differential that drives the back wheel.

I don’t have a workshop manual so I thought I’d ask if it would be possible to repair it myself, seeing as you seem to know everything? 

Or is it a complicated job that needs to tackled by an expert in this area?

Korbus aged 59

A: The rear differential on your bike is a very complicated affair to say the least. It could be a multitude of things that are wrong inside, like the U.V. joints for example. I’d first drain the oil out, while warm, and see if there are any metallic pieces around that shouldn’t be there. Then make a plan from there.

But you will need special tools to take it apart and especially to reinstall. If everything isn’t correctly aligned it will simply destroy itself over time. Inside there are shims and things to make everything line up correctly, which needs a manual for installation information. So from what you’ve said I’d take it to an expert in this field to be safe and sure.

Q: Hi, I have a 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10 with approximately 8,000km on the clock. Everything was fine until I noticed oil dripping out from under the engine, after a long ride. It seems to be coming out of the breather pipe.

I would like to know if this breather pipe should have a plug in the end of it, or should it be open? If I’m not mistaken I think there was once a plug on the end of the pipe.

Michael Biggs

A: I doubt if the breather pipe you’ve mentioned will have a blank/plug in the end of it, maybe one of those ‘duck bill’ things, which allows for some form of pressure relief. Why not pop into a local dealer and check out a new ZX-10 to see if that has one or something fitted from new?

But if your question is to why there’s oil coming from the breather pipe in the first place, we might have a problem, as there shouldn’t be any to be concerned over?

It could mean that the engine is overfilled and crankcase pressure could push some oil into the air box, as that’s where this breather comes from. Just check the oil level when warm to make sure the bike isn’t too full. Or you could check out inside the air box, which isn’t an easy job to get to if you haven’t done it before.

Worst-case scenario is that there could be cylinder leakage due to piston ring damage, causing high internal crankcase pressure, so a compression leak-down test might be in order. But with only 8,000km on the clock I doubt it very much. Hope all this answers your question?

Hello Noddy,

Q: I have the pleasure of owning a Kawasaki Versys, which I would love to extract more sound out of.

I don’t really want to fit an after market silencer as I much prefer the look of the standard silencer that suits the lines of the Versys. So, I would like to know your opinion on cutting open the standard silencer, along the welded seam, then removing the cat converter and eventually weld it back together again. Would this do the job and if so would it release more power in the process and would the bike need to be re-tuned to compensate for the increased flow?

Thanks and regards Gerald Leibstein

A: It seems to be a myth out there that removing the cat will improve exhaust flow rates, which as a rule, it certainly doesn’t. I know this because we’ve removed the cat on various bikes and then run them on the dyno, with no horsepower gains shown at all. But yours could be different, as we haven’t done one, but I doubt it.

However, if you do want to keep the stock silencer you can easily do what you’ve suggested. The removal of the cat will increase the noise levels but please make sure that a specialist welder does the job for you otherwise the silencer could split open on you, if not correctly re-built. Just one more thing though, check to see if this will negate the warranty of the bike, if it still has one running that is? And you’ll be pleased to know that you shouldn’t have to re-map the fueling because the ECU should compensate for this small modification.