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| Boulevard C109RT Blog |
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The purpose of this Blog is to share my observations,
findings, experiences and experiments on the C109RT......
Enjoy! -GMan
November 12, 2008 New Product Review: EZ-CRUZ Throttle Management System. I've had the honor to work with EZ-CRUZ by Kaoko in getting it designed for the C109RT. I have road tested it and it works great! It attaches to the end of your handle bar and is so stealthy it would have to be pointed out before you would know it was there. It works so easily just by twisting it with your little finger as you twist your throttle which applies just enough friction to hold your throttle where ever you want it. You can easily change throttle position while set and it disengages just as easily. I've had other throttle lock type systems and they are large bulky and change the appearance of your bars. This does not. Yes we are now carrying them on our site and have them for the C90, C50 and just finished proofing them for the LC1500. For more info and some pics check out the Creative Accessories section of this website. Our Intake modification system still in the R&D process more later.
November 10, 2008 Still working on the more open stealthy type intake mod as noted earlier and still waiting on my new pipes. In the meantime take a look at me and my C109RT on www.Youtube.com enter in 'C109RT Dragging' and my video should appear. A 25 second video of me and my machine proving that what some have said about the cornering ability of this bike and it's uneasiness of handling is all wrong. This bike is clean crisp and nimble, for me. The video was taken a week ago on a 25mph uphill right hand corner. I entered the corner at 60mph and exited just outside of camera range at a bit more than that. The sparks are being created by Titanium Draggers attached to the floorboards where the normal contact bolts use to be. I am in no way scraping a part of the bike itself (well at least not a part that isn't easily replaceable). The original intent of the Video was to promote the new larger 'Draggers', but it came out so well and response was so great we posted in on YouTube. I do not recommend this type of riding nor do I promote it. In other words....DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Look for an intake update very soon. In the meantime.....Enjoy!
October 28, 2008 Sorry for the slow updates, I have been waiting for the new exhaust system...and am still waiting. Arghhh! The C109Rt has not been sitting during this time totalling over 6,500 miles on the clock since late May and doing great. I want to recap an aspect of this bike that initially was of concern to me, but has proven to be a definite plus after being proven time and time again. It's linked brakes! I was not excited about the concept of linked brakes initially nor the appearance of 4 brake lines clouding the front end appearance, but after several 'panic' style stops (2-up and solo) I can report without a shadow of a doubt this bike will and has out braked almost every bike I have ran with....even to the point that I need to watch behind me in certain braking conditions. An example from today involves Jordan, my son, on his '02 LC me on the C109RT as we were mastering a local country road. The posted 30mph twisties, 40mph speed limit, and we just north of 55 or so, when a loaded dump truck pulled into the road on a blind corner. Not a good situation with any bike. I was in front by about 20', grabbed a handful of brake, and the C109RT dove to an almost immediate stop. Well 5mph is a stop from what we were coming down from. Jordan, 25yr old and a good rider, was not quite out of the corner as much as I when the truck appeared and utilizing the majority of the road to get his '02 Intruder LC 1500 stopped ended up at about a 45 degree angle to everything. It just didn't stop as true as the C109RT or as quick (he ended up somewhat close to the action when all said and done) This was my latest example as to why the linked brakes on my C109RT that warrants an A+++ in my book for innovations that should be on all bikes.
October 8, 2008 New Pipes should be on their way, not confirmed yet, bu should be. They are a 2 into 1 which should do well for performance and freeing up valuable bag space. More when I get them here, installed and tested. If they free up enough space I am looking at tall, medium width (in hopes to cut down overall bike width)hard black bags. There is some concern about free rear suspension space and the clearance of tighter fitting bags. We'll see. Intake mods are still in the works as that's where I see the Lions Share of gain coming from to get me to the 125/125 at the rear tire that has been my goal. I would settle for 120/120, but only after exhausting all reasonable possibilities. Since I have been getting asked about MPG's all the time, I can tell you that my last ride was 2-up, 65-75mph, minimal added baggage = 44mpg, and as posted before it' s not difficult to get up to 50mpg+..... just slow down, add the Bully Controller and ride on.
September 19, 2008 The Bully Controller has been making its in-roads with the C109R riders. Completely eliminating that annoying steady cruise surging many have noticed, plus allowing for high mileage cruising regularly topping the 50mpg mark! Although the Bully mounts perfectly between the handlebar risers it doesn't fit many of the 'smaller' cruisers in that same location. To solve this problem I have designed a 'The Bull Holder'. It's a fraction larger than the Bully and will be powder coated aluminum and mounts to any 1" bar. This will fit all the Bully's positioning it in your line of sight while riding which does the most good as most Bully owners know. We now carry a Timing Retard Eliminator(TRE) that works well with the C109R and M109R to give you back the power the factory had deprogrammed from these bikes while in the first three gears. This TRE just plugs in and ride away, really! I have also made mock-ups for an on engine guard/hiway bar for the C109R and I should be testing the first pair before the end of the month. These will fit the style of the C109R and allow for foot pegs, and running lights. The first sets will probably be Black powder coated for speed and pricing, eventually being available in chrome. More info to follow shortly.
September 4, 2008 As you may have noted by now the C109RT progress goes in waves. Lately the bike has sat while I tie up loose ends on development of another Bully FI Controller this one for the Kawasaki Mean Streak 1600. The C109RT has been disruptive for me when I test ride 'other' bikes for tuning purposes. The Mean Streak is a good example......As strong and powerful as the 1600 'Meanie' is, it pales in comparison to the C109RT. Programming of a new Bully Controller requires me to test ride the project bike to make many internal adjustments to the Bully maximizing performance and culminating with dyno runs for the final proofing. Successful calibration of my "seat-of-the-pants" tuning requires me to stay off the C109RT during this period. It's the only way I can get a true feel of the project bike as the C109RT's throttle/power response is far greater than any cruiser I have ridden to date (except for the M109R of course). Remember, we are not talking sport bikes here.
August 25, 2008 Wet weather and the C109RT: The 240 rear tire and massive torque is the only two factors causing me to mention caution when wet weather riding the C109R. I've ridden many years in the rain, even snow (Seattle!) and have a bit of experience doing so. The C109R handles the wet well. Stock tires do their job, although the higher you climb up the side walls the less traction you have to work with. Be very gentle on the throttle as the torque will kick that rear tire loose faster than one can blink. The weight helps keep it stable as does a steady hand. I'm not convinced my windscreen is tilted forward enough as I get a tad bit of buffeting around the top of my helmet, so an adjustment will happen there, and the lowers may need a bit of redirection as I had rain coming up under my face shield on a 3/4 helmet. How it got past the windscreen, and lowers is beyond me, but it was coming down in buckets and I was riding at steady 55-65mph, 2 up, large rear bag. My old Intruder 1500LC with Dunlop tires was the stickiest bike I have every ridden in the rain so my reservation about this C109RT is because the comparison is almost unfair.......I could scrape my boards in the rain on the LC the way I had it set up....... not so the C109RT......not yet anyway!
August 18, 2008 My oh My! WARNING: DO NOT ride one on one with an accomplished crotch rocket rider in the twisties unless you have enough composure to maintain your line and speed no matter what!!!!! I knew this but with temptation and power as available as they were I refrained from grabbing more throttle than I knew the C109RT could handle. I done good.... common sense and self control prevailed!!!!! I will live to ride another day. The C109RT has no floor board tickler on the right side, but there is a fragment left on the left side, barely! Let me just tell you this bike will pull corners very very nicely for a cruiser (it's not a crotch rocket). The frame is strong with almost no flex, even at triple digit corners. Tires hang on very nicely barring tar strips and painted crosswalks and power exiting corners helped the C flow into the next corner setup with confidence. If I changed anything it would be to raise the floor boards, but after looking at the rear tire and seeing no visible 'chicken strips' I may rethink the floor board changes.
August 7, 2008 Just a short note today.... ordered the K&N filter for the M109R to see how well she fits on my C109RT. In the mean time I performed some volume calculations, intake hole diameters and added some guesswork and it doesn't look like the addition of just a K&N will add much more than the ease of a cleanable air filter to the mix for either the M or C models. I came across this same diagnosis on the C50, but don't be dismayed. I will dyno the C with the K&N and will either be proved wrong or right. Either way I am designing a setup that will breathe much better and get me closer to that all important goal of 120/120 at the rear tire. That's a 20% increase which doesn't sound impossible it just may require a bit of work and some creative tinkering.
August 6, 2008
Enough with the boring MPG reports, except for this one time to note I recorded consecutive 48, 49, 50mpg readings on a ride this past weekend leading a group of 14 bikers over a couple mountain passes in the 60-70mph ranges. Moving on..... I am tackling the new Air Filter Mod and should have some updates this month. For those of you that may not be aware mods can take awhile due to fitting issues and making all things work well with sensors and the like. My plan is for an easy to install and narrower profile cover to allow for a bit more leg width room and less width to the bike..we'll see! A Hiway Bar is also in the final drawing stages with mock-ups this month (I need variable leg room). Passenger peg extenders have been tested and although the mock-ups were very ugly they performed flawlessly and weere in the proper location. Now to make them on the 'appealing' side and getting them into production. Riding Season doesn't make any of this easy as I ride a lot and there is a definite time conflict going on here! LOL Rider Backrest is almost mocked up as well and will be a great improvement so I don't have to 'build-up' a backrest when solo riding out of several bags, bungies, and the like. Blog entries will become more regular as the 'Big Rides' are all almost behind me, most the rest are weekend jaunts. I am amazed at how many contact me regarding this Blog and are following the progress, or lack there-of. I like to typing and this seemed a good way to minimize some email questions as I get tons a day. Thanks for your interest, I'll try to be more frequent in the future.
July 30, 2008
It's been a long week, but we managed to squeak an Alaskan Cruise in as well. I rode a motorcycle while in Alaska and can now add that to my personal Ride Patch...Yehaw!
The C109RT did GREAT with the new adjustments to the Bully and leading more than 20 bikes around daily rides in Washington State. Mileage readings ranged from a low of 38mpg(averaging 80-85mph over a 3,500' pass up to 120mph on an adventurous roll on with a wing or two, oops!) to a high of 49.2mpg (over a 5,400' pass easy 45-65mph riding and no wild roll ons). I am excited about the mpg's, throttle response and over all performance. I feel I have a good basis to compare to once I start opening up the intake and exhaust for even great performance. My goal is to keep the mpg's in the 40 range and increase rear wheel numbers to the 120/120 range. There are no plans to go internal on this engine. I have been successful increasing the numbers on the C90 by 36% with proper intake, exhaust and Bully Controller mods and maintain a smooth operating ride all at the same time.
The passenger foot peg extenders and rough mocked up floor boards worked very nicely, no to make them a bit more sleek and attractive. The riders backrest never made it to the bike in time nor did my design for a rider highway bar foot rest adaptation. I'll have more on those in August. I have another 2 day ride this weekend training a new group of 15 or so in the fine art of group riding (no 129mph jaunts this weekend......at least not with the group!!!! LOL). Now that the Bully Controller is dialed in more attention will be paid to air filter/intake mods and if I can't negotiate for an exhaust system soon I may tackle manufacturing that as well (I've always wanted a custom 2 into 1 with a very deep, mild note that would increase power across the band and really growl when asked or just remove the baffle and be obnoxious...your choice)
July 11, 2008
Saturday the 12th starts a one week riding vacation on the C109RT. I'll be leading a group of more than 20 bikes through some of the best roads Washington State has to offer. Venturing off in a different direction each day. This will also be a great opportunity to check the new settings on the Bully FI Controller. It performed well in Canada last month, but I have made some additional tweaks as I found I had short changed the Pulse Width then readjusted one of the throttle pressure switches to give more leeway for future add on adjustments. With these changes and some city-hiway-traffic miles on this tankful she still managed to roll into the 90 mile mark before coming off full on the fuel gauge! The passenger peg extenders will be done tomorrow (version #3) and if they work like planned they'll be going into production in August. My riders backrest is almost complete as well. Off to testing and the like. Will recap in a couple weeks!
July 7, 2008
Tomorrow I'll be fabricating a test version of the revised passenger peg lowers. They are somewhat complex, but will allow passenger legs to stretch down and forward about 6". Also fabrication of a stealth version of Hiway Pegs are almost complete. This is a no crash bar version and are separate for each side of the front. They also will accommodate future running/driving lights. A riders backrest is also in the works and all these should be in use next week when I got for a week long ride/test/group ride through the Pacific Northwest . The New GBushing (shifter bushing) will also get it's first c109RT test as it has been receiving rave reviews form the C90/C50 & LC over the past couple weeks and is currently back ordered more than 3 weeks due to it's popularity.
June 30, 2008
Potential product R&D continues with the first copy of the new passenger foot peg extenders needing more relocation for my wife of 5'-5" or anyone taller. These extenders are not a simple design. Suzuki complicated things by making these a bolt on unit and need to be made from 1/4" steel which will be powder coated and made with compound angles and more. I'll have version #2 fabricated very soon with maybe even a floorboard design to compliment the ride. The risers are in the final stages of design. The luggage rack is being designed on a slightly different scale than normal utilizing the wider rear fender. Still sketching up ideas for front foot rests as hiway bars are not an option for me right now. I'm working on an open intake system protected from weather and still allowing for max air flow. Pipes are on the table as well, just not sure if I'll be doing my own or by someone else. So much to do and ride at the same time........yehaw!!!!!!!
June 24, 2008
Rode 1,800 miles in just under 4 days and what a ride. Conditions ranging from 40+mph head winds to some of the best twisties Canada has to offer, even an hour or two of rain added to the mix and the C109RT handled it with ease. I recorded mpgs ranging from 32mpg riding at 85mph average loaded with bags to 52.2mpg solo in the twisties on an easy group ride. Average for the entire trip (strong headwinds for more than 300miles) netted a very respectable 38.7mpg. This ride allowed me to test the Bully FI Controller for the Bone Stock C109RT and YES I can eliminate the annoying surging from the factory lean condition and it allowed for fine tuning to the 50+mpg's I experienced more than once on this trip. I am eager to dive into some air filter and intake mods and if I can find an exhaust system I like put a Stage 3 setup and really get into the Bully tuning process. I almost forgot. I ran her on a Dyno before I departed and recorded 100/100 at the rear tire ( actually it was 98/98, but this dyno runs a bit low so it's almost fair to average it up to a more even number) LOL. More on the dyno and future plans later, lets' just say I have a target of 120/120 without internal motor mods.
June 2, 2008
Installed the JSD add on to eliminate the factory detuning of gears 1-3 and boy does it change the throttle response of the C109T!!! One must be gentle handed and have a firm grip to keep centered on the bike. I did notice a lean condition with the stock setup, which is to be expected on any Suzuki (and other new bikes for that matter). I plan on installing the Bully and adding a tad of fuel at different settings to see if I can smooth out the light surging I have been feeling at steady throttle. I will be dynoing it in it's stock format for a base line and then dynoing at each add-on I do. The JSD will have no affect on the dyno as I dyno in 4th gear which is not limited from the factory by Suzuki. This bike is the closest to a crotch rocket you can get and still be comfortably sitting back in your seat!
May 28, 2008
This past weekends ride netted almost 700 miles of 2-up riding, including extra baggage and several mountain passes. Overall MPGs averaged 40 with power to spare in every situation. It was difficult to remember to down shift at times to eliminate strain on the drive train, even 2up and loaded. There was one 35 mile solo jaunt that allowed for some higher than average speeds. Even at 125mph the power band was effortless (this was obviously on a closed course track, what else!). Even the VTX1800, GL1800, HD Ultra and GL1500 that witnessed this jaunt took note of the Cs power, even if from way back in the pack somewhere.
May 23, 2008
After a week of measuring, fitting and adjusting (R&D) for a better fit to my liking we installed 3 pull back risers designed for the C90. I was not pleased with the stability of the new risers nor the additional pull back which netted an inch gain due to the C109Rs stock risers style(we will work on something better). We extended the passenger pegs 6 forward after much fabrication, this is not a simple bolt on change and is encumbered by the stock exhaust system. Initial comments are the rear seat sits high, but the backrest is great once one gets familiar with its swivel pad feature.
May 16, 2008
After walking around the new C109RT many times and performing a thorough inspection we took her for our first test ride....smooth, strong and very powerful.
Shes only 2 longer than the C90 her smaller, older brother, and shares no parts except the floor boards. She arrived with 300 miles on the clock due to earlier magazine photo ops. Maybe well see the C in future editorial write-ups? Initial ride was surprising, not heavy, but nimble will little to no extra effort required to lay the 240 tire into the twisties. Power was solid and formidable at any rpm in any gear, even a 45mph roll on in 5th created no real hesitation. Bars are a bit of a reach, but the boards are a perfect fit any leg except maybe those short in stature.
May 14, 2008
After much anticipation our 2008 C109RT project bike sporting its Grey/Black skins arrived direct from Suzuki America. If looks are anything size does matter. WOW!!!! |
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