So I bought the ’97 MC28 SE bog stock and mint from Maryland that was on fleabay, I know… it’s probably a ’96 and definitely not putting out 70+hp like the add said, but I like the bike and wanted one for years…. Anyway, it hasn’t arrived yet, I bought it unseen but I am sure that after racing motocross and Enduro for the past 20 years, I’m going to want to get in there and turn it into a fast road bike, rather than a garage queen.

I spent the last few days reading all the tuning stuff and searching posts, but as you guys have forgotten more about NSR’s than I will ever know, with $1500+/- budgeted for go faster bits, what’s the best route to NSR Nirvana… and 55+hp?

a. New full SS exhaust is a given but which one? Bossom, Tyga….I don’t mind spacing the bodywork but don’t want to chop it up…

b. Cutting and splicing looks straight forward enough, do you guys have a “this is the best setup solution” for using a specific exhaust system with a particular jetting setup once the wire is cut? If not, what 3 or 4 jets should I buy as a starting point for sea level in NY, weathers like England on a nice day. (jetting’s always been a mystery to me.)

c. What’s the airbox story once I have the wire spliced? New one? Modify existing…if so how? I see Andy “makes” Carbon ones? Yes please if you have one, let me know.

Any other useful suggestions for getting it up to 50/60hp would be most welcome!

Lastly, once I do the splice what electrics do I actually lose?

Cheers,

James

I'm just a few days ahead of you!

I just got my '94 MC28 delivered Monday here in Japan but have been reading up on this exact issue intensly for a few weeks.

So far, I think the general consensus is what you've mentioned...not sure if there is a particular order though:

- Exhaust
- HRC (or similar) Carb Kit (Me thinks the adjustable needles and X-Y pieces are important)
- Wire splice
- Air box mod
- HRC 030 card (or Moriwaki-man can rewrite your standard)

All this and then the joy of tuning!

I'm only in the early stages of tearing down the bike to see if there are any needed immediate fixes but so far I have a leaking oil pump filling my tranny oil. I've got a Jha exhaust on the bike and the PO installed at least the X-Y pieces...so maybe there's some carb work done as well.

Dana

James,

Did the bike come from Steve at SpeedWorks? if so, he does very nice work based on the discussions and pics I gotten from him. I saw that ad last week and it's a clean looking bike from the pics that were posted. Hopefully its as clean as it looks.

The list above is pretty much going to give you the best bang for your buck with the HRC 030 card being the last item to worry about from that list.

Before you dig into it, I would ride it. You will be surprised what in stock form the bike feels like on the street.

The bike came from Clinton Cycles in MD, i can't imagine that there are two of these for sale in MD at the same time, so my guess is it's on consignment? if so, as the bike has to come all the way to NY maybe it's best to have Steve fiddle with it before it gets shipped up here. You are right of course i should ride it first but after years of CR 250's which put out about 45hp on dirt with dirt gearing I was thinking pipes and stuff would be mandatory? you don't think so? hey, i am new to all this 2 stroke twin stuff...

James

do you have a contact for speedworks? there are a lot of them on the internet?

cheers,

James

Speedwerks is in Dover, DE... so probably not the same place.

Their website is currently down (www.speedwerks.com) so dont have is contact info. but he does good work and it looks like something he would do.

cgallant wrote:
The list above is pretty much going to give you the best bang for your buck with the HRC 030 card being the last item to worry about from that list.

Of course it all depends on what you want to do with it, but I would have to disagree with the above statement. An MC28 will never make decent power without an HRC card, and Moriwaki-man can get your card (or a new one) coded to HRC spec for you in the Supporting Vendors area for US$200~250.

I'd rather source some cheap used expansion chambers and get a re-programmed card than fit shiney new chambers and realise virtually none of their potential.

If you can live with the noise, and get away with it on the street where you live, then get rid of the airbox. It's not great on the other NSR's, but it's real junk on the MC28! You will be lucky to crack 60hp with even a modified airbox on a '28.

We've seen an MC28 with the airbox lid removed and the filter wired in place just scrape past 60hp. Open carbs make a significant difference, but for the street I would recommend some foam pod filters... again, it depends on whether you can get away with the noise in your particular location.

You can try an MC21 flywheel, or an offset woodruff key, but you'll probably pay $100 (i.e. half that of an HRC re-program!) for a used flywheel, and you still won't get the top-end. It generally just means you find some RPM, but the motor still won't have any guts!

Face the facts... if you've bought an MC28 and you want it to go, you have to spend the money and buy the parts! Otherwise, treat it, ride it, and enjoy it for the ornament it is!

All said and done though, $1500 should see you with a pretty quick bike. If you're coy on Yahoo! Auctions you should be able to get everything you need for that budget to see over 60hp.
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Andy, thank you for taking the time to answer my remedial questions! From what I've read on the technical stuff on the forum the HRC card has its limitations for a road bike. As I understand it, the HRC card means that you lose 85% of the electrics? Getting mine re- programmed will have the same effect right?
Binning the air box is easy enough, I'm sure I can find some compatible air filters unless you have something you recomend or I can buy on the site? Expansion chambers, pretty straightforward. The key? Offset key haven't seen anything about that?
I'm not looking for a bike that's going to win the next 250 Pub GP,  I'm looking for something to have some fun on at the weekends. It also doesn't have to be the fastest MC 28 out there. Reasonably  reliable, not too much stress on the engine and 10 to15 hp on stock and I'll be happy! 
Sounds like any expansion chambers will do + air box work and the HRC O30 card plus splice should pretty much set me up? Is it worth reprogramming the 010 and 020 cards which came with a bike to 030? Do you have a preference for which expansion chambers?

J

Andy, thank you for taking the time to answer my remedial questions! From what I've read on the technical stuff on the forum the HRC card has its limitations for a road bike. As I understand it, the HRC card means that you lose 85% of the electrics? Getting mine re- programmed will have the same effect right?
Binning the air box is easy enough, I'm sure I can find some compatible air filters unless you have something you recomend or I can buy on the site? Expansion chambers, pretty straightforward. The key? Offset key haven't seen anything about that?
I'm not looking for a bike that's going to win the next 250 Pub GP,  I'm looking for something to have some fun on at the weekends. It also doesn't have to be the fastest MC 28 out there. Reasonably  reliable, not too much stress on the engine and 10 to15 hp on stock and I'll be happy! 
Sounds like any expansion chambers will do + air box work and the HRC O30 card plus splice should pretty much set me up? Is it worth reprogramming the 010 and 020 cards which came with a bike to 030? Do you have a preference for which expansion chambers?

J

Your bike came with 2 HRC cards? If it did, then you're all set! The 030 card was an "all purpose" card, that superceded the 010 and 020.

With a wire splice on the 28 to use the HRC cards, you retain about 85% (a guesstimate!) of the electrics. If you make sure you keep an eye on the 2T oil level all the time, the most inconvenient loss is the neutral indicator... hardly the end of the world I would say.

As long as you have the HRC card you should be looking closer to 20hp gain over stock than a 10~15hp gain.

Maybe I need to look into getting some pod filters to add to the Marketplace.

Edit: Typo.
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Last edited by Andy on Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

I see, it’s starting to become clear, the HRC card is just an 030 card. I misunderstood, I thought it was some special “HRC” racing card that I read about where you need the whole wiring loom and nothing works. Now I got it! (I think)

Bin the air box
Do the splice
New expansion chambers - they’re all pretty much the same by the sound of it.
An 030 card…

And I’m there! Should be able to do for the budget, the only thing to spend money on is programming the 030 card and the pipes , so money left for a steering damper and some rearsets….!

Last thing, will only MC28 pipes fit or will any of the NS/NSR stuff work?

James

Get MC28 specific pipes. It's gets too complicated else! TYGA, HARC Pro and Jha all make/made pipes that fit both models, but only TYGA are still in production.

If you buy used pipes, get ones specifically for the '28.

Are you sure the cards that came with your bike are HRC cards? Has the wiring already been adapted to use them? If a seller is unscrupulous enough to sell an MC28 quoting it as having 70~72hp, then I don't see them having any problem re-badging a stock card as an HRC one either!
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Andy.
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i don't know what the cards are, i just know there are two of them, i expect they are the stock 010 and 020 jobs. It's a bike shop. Not to be trusted. i had someone look at the bike and they say it is mint and bog standard with 4800km. When did the 030 cards come out, where they ever sold with the bike or just after market?

J

010 and 020 are HRC cards, just as 030 is, and have an HRC logo.

The standard cards (and of course re-programmed ones) just have the NSR logo on them.
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Hi James - I live in Ontario Canada and have the same NSR 250 as you do ( hope you still have it )
I would like to know how you made out with the 030 card ??
I have the 030 card , expansion chambers ,carb pods and wire splice completed and was wondering if you managed to get yours done and if you needed to do anything else to get it to run properly and to your satisfaction ?
did you need to do any carb modifications ??
hope you can help
Piet