AreoCharger turbo kit help and questions

[Ball0175]

First time Spyder owner, long time bike rider. I have recently gotten a 2008 Spyder SE5. It came with a Turbo kit on it, and dont get me wrong, that thing is fun and zips right up there fast. Definatly a fun toy to have around for a person like me. Here is the problem, I bought this machine for my wife. She is uncomfortable on a 2 wheel machine so she wanted to try and get on a 3 wheel machine. I got a REALLY good deal on the machine but it is alot for her to learn on.

What it does right now, really likes to drink the gas, backfires on the shift, i have gotten the tunner to settle a little bit and can maintain 60mph OK, but much higher than that on the freeway 70-80mph it likes to surge. I can see it build boost and then come back down. just doesnt like to hold the speed. It spits and spudders in the lower RPM around the 4k and below mark. The check engine light will come one randomly then when i go to check it out it clears off when i turn the machine off and back on. the transmission light will come one if down shift manualy. It has a paddle shifter to go up and goes down manually, if i let it come down by itself the light stays off.

My question is does anyone on her know what settings to use to turn this tuner down maybe? Any advise on setting it up, i have found a "manual" of sorts on the internet but it is very vague on the levels of change.

if i cant get it run a little better and smoother, i just might pull the tubo system and sell it. I consider myself a fairly good mechanic and can figure that out, but am a Big Twin guy and just have not monkeyed around with these machines much. Any general advise about both this machine and the turbo set up would be very much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

[old Timer]

Definitely pull the Turbo system and set it up as close as stock as you can.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

First time Spyder owner, long time bike rider. I have recently gotten a 2008 Spyder SE5. It came with a Turbo kit on it, and dont get me wrong, that thing is fun and zips right up there fast. Definatly a fun toy to have around for a person like me. Here is the problem, I bought this machine for my wife. She is uncomfortable on a 2 wheel machine so she wanted to try and get on a 3 wheel machine. I got a REALLY good deal on the machine but it is alot for her to learn on.

What it does right now, really likes to drink the gas, backfires on the shift, i have gotten the tunner to settle a little bit and can maintain 60mph OK, but much higher than that on the freeway 70-80mph it likes to surge. I can see it build boost and then come back down. just doesnt like to hold the speed. It spits and spudders in the lower RPM around the 4k and below mark. The check engine light will come one randomly then when i go to check it out it clears off when i turn the machine off and back on. the transmission light will come one if down shift manualy. It has a paddle shifter to go up and goes down manually, if i let it come down by itself the light stays off.

My question is does anyone on her know what settings to use to turn this tuner down maybe? Any advise on setting it up, i have found a "manual" of sorts on the internet but it is very vague on the levels of change.

if i cant get it run a little better and smoother, i just might pull the tubo system and sell it. I consider myself a fairly good mechanic and can figure that out, but am a Big Twin guy and just have not monkeyed around with these machines much. Any general advise about both this machine and the turbo set up would be very much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

... & .. .... way back shortly after Spyders came on the the market one of our members ( " docdorun " ) ventured into the world of Turbo's. He blew a couple up and I think He still has a record run at Bonneville Salt Flats. I think He may have worked with AeroCharger ... I looked Him up on the " members list " and His last entry was on 2-7-20 .... PM Him , good luck .... Mike ...... Mike ....PS also try " Setho " He raced at the Salt Flats also and may be able to help .....

[Ball0175]

thanks for the info!

[Piratezz]

Turbo's are good, if they measure up with the engine, from what I read here, it's not the case, remove the turbo, look for a tuner in your neighbourhood, set standard tune, drive it, and then see if you like it.
You can always tune up, but backfires and irregular shifting, does not bring you the miles of smiles a Spyder should bring.
I tinker allot with my spyder, but i stay far away from turbo's, simply because the spyder does not need it, right out the box, it's a fairly decent machine to drive.

mho, just start from stock, and then upgrade , to your liking,

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Turbo's are good, if they measure up with the engine, from what I read here, it's not the case, remove the turbo, look for a tuner in your neighbourhood, set standard tune, drive it, and then see if you like it.
You can always tune up, but backfires and irregular shifting, does not bring you the miles of smiles a Spyder should bring.
I tinker allot with my spyder, but i stay far away from turbo's, simply because the spyder does not need it, right out the box, it's a fairly decent machine to drive.

mho, just start from stock, and then upgrade , to your liking,

X's 10 .... plus you can get approx. 20 HP MORE from that V-twin with an ECU re-map from Monster Fuel ... for about $350.00 ..... and from the 100's of owners here who have it, I haven't read of any issues with it's use .... Monster has a local ( Louisiana ) distributor also " Wickit performance " ...... Mike

[Piratezz]

I think that, when having a turbo fitted, to a machine, owner would also have a hot tune in place, start with stock, and then go up.
this is the only way to go, get familiar with the spyder, then upgrade. imho not every tune is for anyone, turbo's are not for everyone.

Mine is tuned for more bottom end low rpm's torque, cause i want to drive fast out from o km/h, don't care much for top end speed, cause overhere it's impossible to drive that for more then a mile or so.
I drive alot of 2up, and then I want to put the machine 5th or 6th gear, and just cruise, @65/70 km/h, and not lug the engine. I am the lucky guy who knows an engineer, who writes the ECU- software, for KTM Racers, so he knows what he's doing.

Also imho opinion, If you decide to go back to stock, most of the issues you have with the spyder now, will dissapear..

[Mikey]

Don't know about you, but I like reliability, if your not racing the bike, put it back to stock, with a ecu mapped out, for your style of riding. If you done need or want that go stock all the way! I've watched guy's take perfectly good toys and muck them up with aftermarket junk and have nothing but troubles with it or worries about getting the right gas, this and that, to me it's not worth it! You want to go faster get a bigger motor that's been tested out. Good luck on your new to you bike, hope you get it to where you can enjoy the ride!

[Ball0175]

Ok so I have to agree with everyone here. Next question is where do I get an exhaust and air box for it? The kit removes both of them and I obviously don't have the original stuff. Cold air intake? Full exhaust?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Ok so I have to agree with everyone here. Next question is where do I get an exhaust and air box for it? The kit removes both of them and I obviously don't have the original stuff. Cold air intake? Full exhaust?

I had an 08 GS, I mad a " cold air intake " ..... it was fairly easy .... I bought some FOUR in. Alumin. clothes dryer flex hose .... the hottest air is where the rubber air box snorkles are ... I cut off about 2 in. and attached the Flex hose to it and routed it over to the Air Intake on the right side plastic panel .... this allowed outside ambient air into the airbox and the Throttle bodies .... after doing this I noticed my engine ran cooler during the summer .... good luck .... Mike ... PS - what KIT are you referring to ?????

[Ball0175]

I had an 08 GS, I mad a " cold air intake " ..... it was fairly easy .... I bought some FOUR in. Alumin. clothes dryer flex hose .... the hottest air is where the rubber air box snorkles are ... I cut off about 2 in. and attached the Flex hose to it and routed it over to the Air Intake on the right side plastic panel .... this allowed outside ambient air into the airbox and the Throttle bodies .... after doing this I noticed my engine ran cooler during the summer .... good luck .... Mike ... PS - what KIT are you referring to ?????

The kit is the areocharger kit. Turbo, intercooler, y pipe, programmer, gages, air box, cooler pipe

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The kit is the areocharger kit. Turbo, intercooler, y pipe, programmer, gages, air box, cooler pipe

OK , what I did, might not fit ...... Mike

[blackphoenix38]

The kit is the areocharger kit. Turbo, intercooler, y pipe, programmer, gages, air box, cooler pipe

If you are selling that kit I'd be interested.

[AtomicEd]

Wait a minute, before you go tearing your Spyder apart and spending lots of money trying to restore it to stock, I would recommend first turning down the boost to only 1 or 2 psi or maybe all of the way off. (Does it have a boost gauge?) There should/has to be a boost control valve somewhere. Either a manual valve or a "blow-off" (boost relief) valve. Just guessing here, but there will also be a boost controlled fuel regulator with a hose off of either the airbox or the intake that should give you the correct fuel flow for the boost pressure; but more than likely it won't need any adjusting since it should allow for non-boost conditions; but it might. Turning the boost way down should give you near stock performance.

I've been fiddling around with turbochargers for decades. Even built my own turbo system for a Kawasaki ZX-11. While I'm no expert by any means, I've made enough mistakes to say I have some first hand knowledge of what not to do. Give this a try, see what she thinks, then come back if she isn't happy.

[Mikey]

[Eckhard]

To me is sounds like the best scenario is sell the bike and buy a stock one that can receive an ECU mod.

[Mikey]

It is a Deep rabbit hole!!!