![Trask Turbo Touring](images/DailyArticles/December2009/TraskTurbo/Trask-Turbo-BaggerT.jpg)
Turbo Touring
By Buck Manning, Photos courtesy of Trask Turbo
Although it may happen, I’ve never heard an owner of a stock Harley dresser complain that the bike had too much power. If anything, that’s probably the most common upgrade an owner does first. Usually a Stage 1 kit (high-flow air cleaner, pipes, and fuel-metering recalibration) is immediately thrown on and the small power increase (and extra noise) suffices for most riders. For those seeking more, the next move usually is increased engine capacity, head work, more compression, and more radical cams (but not necessarily in that order). And so on until you’ve spent a small fortune on a modified engine with a selection of parts and services that might not be the most optimal selection out on the road. In fact, it just might end up being a pain in the ass and not the godsend you were hoping for.
Maybe it’s time to take a whole ‘nother look at this conventional path to power and think outside the box for a bit like Nick Trask, owner of Trask Performance and Trask Turbo Systems in Phoenix, Arizona, has done. If you didn’t catch on to the keyword “Turbo” in the last sentence as being outside the box when referenced to motorcycles, you’re probably ready to head over to the page on “chrome closeouts” anyway. For the rest of you, Nick’s company provides a bolt-on approach to high performance that doesn’t require engine disassembly and even circumvents a lot of the nasty problems associated with the aftermath of actually getting a performance level that will make your dresser dance like it never has and still be tour-worthy, reliable ride. “You eliminate a lot of the problems that you get with a high-compression, big-inch motor,” said Nick. “They eat up starters, ring gears, and batteries to mention a few.”
Cutting to the chase, Nick said, “Bolting the turbo setup on a bone-stock fuel-injected Twin Cam 96” engine, you’re looking at about 115hp and 120-125 lb-ft of torque [measured at the rear wheel].” Yeah, that’s a massive increase from a stocker’s 62-68hp and 80-84lb-ft recorded in published figures, but the best part is where the turbo’s power peaks. “You’re going to get peak torque at 3,200 RPM, right where you want it,” said Nick. “Most guys ride between 3,000 to 4,000 RPM.” Being able to just throttle up that kind of power at your cruising RPM instantly makes for reassuring passing power without having to zing the old pushrod V-twin to redline like many conventional high-performance builds require while including a downshift or two to access that power. “Turbos are exhaust driven so you’re not using any power to drive it like a supercharger so you don’t have any power losses from it. A centrifugal supercharger makes more boost the more you spin the motor so you gotta wing it up to 6,000-6,500 RPM to get any real power out of it, “ said Nick. “With a turbo, we can size a turbo to come on and spool quickly and the wastegate opens it up so you want to build boost as quick as possible. In our case, we’re making a full eight pounds of boost by 3,000 RPM and the wastegate comes in and keeps it at eight pounds all the way to redline instead of having to wind the motor up to 6,000 to get power out of it. You’re going to get max torque at 3,000 RPM, right where you need it.”
As far as the “dreaded turbo lag” you’ve experienced or heard about in turbo applications on cars and bikes back in the ‘80s when turbos were first popular, Nick shrugs that off, “That’s a problem from the older systems that didn’t have a lot of choices of sizes of turbos. Back when they were putting turbos on Kawis and stuff like that, they would just put on automotive turbos, which were too big, and adapt them to bikes. They would come on like a two-stroke. They were bushing-style turbos so they spooled a little later. We use primarily ball-bearing turbos that spool about 500 RPM quicker and we’ve also got a lot more sizes now to choose from to where we can size the turbo to the motor correctly.”
Answering another often-asked question about how a turbo affects potential engine longevity compared to other build-ups, Nick said, “ That’s one of the benefits with turbo-charging, you use the power when you need it. When you’re not hard on the throttle, you’re not putting any more load on the motor. When you’re cruising down the road at 80-90mph, you’re basically running on the stock engine. You get a little bit more engine heat and we recommend putting an oil cooler on all air-cooled motors. It does heat up the oil a little bit, but when you run down the road it’s not an issue. Upgrading the oil pump would be a good idea, but we haven’t had any issues with the Twin Cam starving the turbo for oil or starving the engine for oil.” As an aside, the late Jim Feuling absolutely convinced me of the benefits of installing a high-flow oil pump on not just a hi-po build, but a stocker as well. It’s one area that needs addressing on any Harley in my opinion.
The Trask Turbo kit comes with everything you’ll need to install and according to Nick, “Installation is very straightforward. We were putting them on at Sturgis in 4.5 hours. We’ve got a DVD for the V-Rod installation, that’s our most popular kit. Everything else comes with complete instructions and if someone has a problem they can contact us and we’ll help them through it.” Nick does suggest using either a Dynojet Power Commander III, a Screamin’ Eagle Super Tuner, or a Zipper’s Thunder Max self-tuner with the turbo setup. “We have base maps for all of the tuning systems. A lot of guys will install one of the base maps for whatever system they have and that’ll get ‘em about 90% in the ballpark and they can make adjustments from there. We recommend Zippers more than the others ‘cause it’s a closed loop and it’s constantly adjusting.” Like any performance upgrade, a bit of dyno tuning can do wonders.
So what does a turbocharged Harley sound like? “The turbo muffles it down, but it’s got a distinctive whine or whistle to ‘em. We’ve been coupling up our turbo system with a lot of the aftermarket mufflers so they still keep the Harley sound, but they’ve still got the distinctive turbo whistle. Bagger owners love it,” said Nick. “Maybe one guy out of a couple hundred might say it’s different, he might not like it, but for the majority of guys, they love it!”
The bottom line on adding a Trask Turbo kit to your Harley comes down to whether you would appreciate basically doubling your power with a kit that’s considered a bolt-on with minimal downtime involved to get it there. “Even though it’s pricey, it’s cost effective,” said Nick. In case you’re wondering what Nick means, let me explain a bit. Yeah, a turbo kit is not exactly cheap, but considering what it costs to conventionally reach the same power output, it’s way more than in the ballpark cost wise. Price a (real) 115hp build-up and you might be shocked and that doesn’t include the downtime involved building it Also, a neat perk of using a turbo setup is that you can remove the entire unit, return your bike back to stock specs at trade-in time, and install the unit on your new bike. Try that with your big-inch build. On your new stock bike engine, to quote Dunkin’ Donuts’ front man Fred the Baker, “It’s time to make the donuts” all over again from scratch if you’ve got to build it up with new parts again. Not so with a Trask Turbo, just bolt on your old (and paid for) turbo and hit the road. You’ll be the one whistling a happy tune the second time around.
The Trask Turbo system for dressers is supplied as a complete package (in black or chrome finish) including a patent-pending, precision billet plenum and snap-in venturi that creates 100% unobstructed air flow, a Garrett-modified GT turbo, ceramic and chrome coated pipes, high-flow injectors, and a performance Barnett clutch spring. Two versions are available, a non-intercooled version and an inter-cooled turbo for those who feel too much is never enough. The easy to follow instructional CD comes with all race tuner maps needed (SE Race Tuner not supplied).
Interest in forced-induction as a simple, cost-effective power enhancer is growing. “We get constant interest every day, emails like crazy every day. We’re constantly trying to educate people about turbo charging as a viable alternative and get it out there,” said Nick. For more information on Trask Turbo systems for Harley Sportsters, V-Rods, Dynas, Softails, or Touring models, visit www.turboyourharley.com or call 623-879-8488.