Sport-Touring.Net - Naked Goldwings

No room for two now.

And hooligan, didn't someone make a supercharger for those???

Edit: Yes, stole from post found with google

The following two articles are reprinted with permission from Petersen Publishing, and orginally appeared in the January 1983 and August 1984 issue of RIDER magazine. Thanks to Ken Chapin of Vancouver, BC, Canada for providing me with the articles and pictures from his personal archive. We apologize for the quality of the pictures here, but trying to scan an old black and white magazine photo and get good quality pics is hard to do.
RIDER
Product Test

The Flying Wing : Supercharger Makes the Gold Wing a Pavement Wrinkler

Getting a small accessory firm off the ground floor has never been easy. One of the first objectives facing any new business is to create product awareness with the public. That usually requires coming up with some kind of a promotional gimmick. Some use the traditional bikini-clad poster girl to open your eyes, while others plaster their products with big name endorsements. These ploys, however, seem a little tame compared to what the fellas at CC Products use to stir up some attention. They?ve got something that borders on the bizarre - an honest to goodness supercharged HONDA Gold Wing. This hunk of rolling thunder is the creation of Chris HODGSON of CC Products. You probably wonder what motivated him to take on such a project. Well, that answer pretty much lies in the kind of products this Los Gatos, California based firm produces. If you hadn?t guessed by now, they more or less cater to the high performance touring crowd. For being in business just over a year now, they already have a wide range of products: roller cam kits and machined triple clamps for BMW?s, strengthened swingarms for all the shaft-drive bikes - fork braces for all 400cc and up machines, and naturally they?ve got the Gold Wing well covered with a full line of suspension components and accessories. When it came time to test the suspension products for the Gold Wing, Chris realized that first he had to bring the Wing?s bad handling characteristics more readily to the surface before he could fix them. We all know how that?s accomplished on Japanese bikes - you just pour on some additional power.

But why supercharging? Why not something a little more conventional like turbocharging? Well, Chris admits he was going for the ultimate shock treatment and the pure sight of a blower certainly provides that. But in reality, he?s a firm believer that when it comes to force feeding motorcycle engines, especially a flat four configuration like the Gold Wing?s, supercharging is much more efficient and better suited to the task than turbocharging. Having a bachelor?s degree in aviation management and a minor in mechanical engineering, Chris is well qualified to verse the pros and cons of each application. He acknowledges the fact that turbochargers are excellent horsepower producers in certain instances - like on airplanes and big diesel rigs where throttle settings are kept relatively constant. But like many of you, he isn?t ready to accept the familiar turbo lag that nags the turbo installation on motorcycles.

Supercharging on the other hand isn?t afflicted this way. The compressor, being driven directly off the crankshaft, pumps essentially the same amount of charge for each revolution of the engine, regardless of speed, and because it is a positive displacement device all of this charge must pass through the engine. So with supercharging there is no waiting for the power to ?come on?. It is almost instantaneous the moment the throttle is cracked open.

As you might suspect, getting the application from paper to reality took some engineering prowess on Chris?s part. The most laboring task was hand fabricating the intake manifold in just the right configuration so that all the mixtures flowed properly. Then he had to remove the Gold Wing?s cooling fan and cut away portions of the cambelt covers to allow installation of the toothed blower belt and drive pulley to the front of the engine. To restore some air circulation through the radiator, Chris resorted to the electronics world for a little help, utilizing a tiny pair of fans whose original purpose was to cool the insides of computers.

Actually the Gold Wing is probably one of the most applicable candidates for supercharging simply because of its widely spaced frame tubes and hollow tank. It provides an excellent cavity for housing the 20 pound Magnuson MC60 blower and the accelerator pump equipped Holley/Weber two barrel carburetor. This particular Magnuson blower displaces 60 cubic inches of volume with every rotation. That makes it a little bit smaller than those used on the typical top fuel drag bike. Chris also has it a bit undergeared with the blower turning 95% of crankshaft speed. So in essence, this is rather a mild application supplying only around five to six pounds of boost pressure. Chris intentionally kept it on the mild side so that all of the Gold Wing'? internals could be left totally stock.

Now some of you may still have the wrong impression about a supercharged Gold Wing. All you can relate to is the drag racing jobs, sitting there rumbling at the starting line, spitting flames and nitro fumes. That?s certainly not the case here. I jockeyed this beast for a couple of days and can truthfully say it?s almost as docile as the stocker when it wants to be. In the mornings, a couple of squirts from the accelerator pump easily brings the engine to life and it will sit there and idle just as patiently as a thoroughbred commuter bike. Oh sure, there are a few constant reminders that you?re riding something a little different. For instance, there?s always that soft ?whine? from the blowers straight cut gears. And at low rpm, you can sense some vibration and hear the faint clatter caused by slack in the blower?s drive line. But otherwise, there?s hardly a hint of the thunder lurking within. One of the alleged downfalls of supercharging is that it takes power to make power. This bike pretty much disproves that assumption because believe it or not, under a gentle throttle hand it can still deliver 41 mpg.

But obviously what sets this bike in a class by itself, is the ungodly amount of power it produces. This thing is a genuine asphalt wrinkler. Chris claims he?s turned 11.8 second quarter-mile times aboard this behemoth. I have no reason to doubt this either, because I remember how easily it stretches my arms when I cut it loose on a lone straight away. You have no idea what it feels like to have 650 pounds of Gold Wing literally try and jump out from under you. More weight would surely dampen this, but on a more practical note, it should be great for the heavy, fully dressed Gold Wings, including those that pull trailers. The supercharger delivers the power immediately, evenly and smoothly and when weight gets up around the ton mark, it should greatly improve throttle response and make the Gold Wing more enjoyable.

As mentioned earlier, all this power was intended to bring out the Gold Wing?s poor handling characteristics. Well, if it ever did handle badly, then such items as the CC Products fork brace, the strengthened swingarm and The Fox Superbike Shox that were added to the test machine certainly straightened that act up. In spite of all the horsepower, this was one of the best handling Gold Wings I?ve ever ridden.

I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on this bike I chuckled with skepticism. But now, after riding it, I?m inclined to think that supercharging a streetbike isn?t all that crazy.

CC Products will offer the supercharger system for about $2250 plus installation, which they expect to be $200 to $300. That?s a healthy tab for improved performance, but just think - you won?t have to put up with those ?Lead Wing? jokes anymore.

(Company Address: CC Products, 14431 Winchester Boulevard, Los Gatos, California 95030).

Topic: Naked Goldwings - What FUN! (Read 12279 times)