RideFast July 2020 2

Euro5 has caused all sorts of
kak. To most people it is merely
“that thing that makes engines
make less pollution” and if that
is you, then you probably have
more friends than the person who
knows the full deal.
To motorcycle engineers, it is
the stuff of nightmares. Picture
the BMW engineers assigned
to develop a new S1000RR,
a bike that needs to surpass
its predecessor and bury its
Japanese and Italian peers
that keep building annoyingly
great bikes. Not a problem – use
updated technologies to create
a better chassis, get the IT
department to throw together
some better electronics, threaten
the styling department with death
if they draw up more of those
bloody wonky-eyed headlights
and then make sure the motor
produces more power.
As Shakespeare put it so
eloquently: “ay, there’s the rub.”
With every increase in the Euro
numerical designation comes a
compounding series stringent
policies that wrap their hands
around motor designers’ throats
and squeeze, now to the point of
eye-bulging asphyxia.
In the past, European legislation
dictated that an inspector shoves
a meter into the exhaust pipe, and
if the number was low enough,
the vehicle was given the thumbs
up. Naturally, the ever creative
engineers found routes around this
by creating different fuel maps for
different scenarios – the map for
where the inspector was looking
would be leaned out for better
emissions, and the map for when
you are flat out in sixth gear would
be tuned for the most power. The
emissions thing was easy.
Sadly, the Euro people
cottoned-on to this scheme,
The difference between the standard exhaust and the Akrapovic.
and created more elaborate
restrictions making the window for
rule-bending ever smaller until we
got to where we are now – Euro5,
the complete tyranny.
The largest challenge for
engineers is the new compulsory
lean AFR setting for all motors.
Don’t panic, we shall explain –
AFR is the Air-Fuel Ratio that
depicts the mixture of fuel and
air that goes into the motor,
with different mixtures creating
different performance outcomes.
The perfect ratio for the best
performance is somewhere
around 13 parts of air to one part
of fuel – more commonly known
as the 13:1 AFR. So to create the
best performance in a 1000cc
motor, 928.5cc of that would be
air while 71.5cc would be fuel.
With Euro5, manufacturers are
forced to run their motors at the
horribly restrictive AFR of 14.7:1.
The upside for the Euro people
is a stark decrease in emissions;
the downside for the ever-greying
engineers is the motor running
massively lean and the inherent
toll on performance therein.
Still, say the hatred-filled
bosses of the engineers, the
new bike has to be faster. Curse
Left: The standard air filter - Right: The Sprint Filter with three times the breathability and no loss in filtration.
them! To put it another way, it’s
like putting a pro cyclist on a
starvation diet and still expect
him to win the Tour de France.
And yet, no doubt through
months of sleepless nights and
possibly some light homicide, the
engineers managed it, and the
2020 S1000RR is a masterpiece of
modern performance. And it does
this despite having a choker chain
around its neck – imagine what it
could do when allowed to breathe?
That’s what the tuning
department at Fire It Up set to
find out when they took delivery
of a new BMW S1000RR. Fire It
Up are the importers of Sprint
performance filters and Rapid Bike
tuning systems, plus are the owners
of the most advanced motorcycle
dynamometer in the country.
But first, in a fine South African
tradition, let’s gooi a pipe, boet!
They chose a top of the range
titanium Akrapovic exhaust –
journalistic duties dictate that
the model name be mentioned
instead of “top of the range
titanium exhaust” so we shall
refer to it as the S-B10R4-APLT, a
name that rolls off the tongue like
a concrete block.
The Fire It Up dyno is one of the
most advanced in the country and
is soon to be re-housed in the new
Bryanston premises
The S-B10R4-APLT is almost
half the weight of the standard
exhaust that looks like an infected
haemorrhoid in comparison. It
turns the exhaust note from
crocheting kitten to a rabid tiger
and, of course, increases power.
The standard air-filter was
chucked in the skip and replaced
with a Sprint Filter – the P08F1-
85 model because journalistic
consistency is key! It’s designed
using a synthetic polyester
material proven to increase
airflow by three times without
sacrificing filtration. It slots straight
in where the previous filter sat,
is cleaned using compressed air
without being damaged and has
the life-expectancy of a mediumsized
galaxy.
Then we have the ECU mapping
where the tuning becomes
more complicated. To meet
Euro5 restrictions and policing
measures, manufacturers have
had to create ever more complex
systems. So complex that the
piggy-back tuning devices that
have been popular for the past
two decades are not available
and might never find a plug-in
solution for these systems.
The only answer is ECU
mapping, where the software
within the ECU is essentially
hacked and the maps therein are
adjusted. We say “maps” because
the days of simply replacing a
jet in a carburettor are ancient
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