By Digby Wesson:
Turbos and motorcycles is South Africa’s best kept secret – This business is flying and going strong and has been for many years. The operation includes two of the best Turbo tuners and builders in the business, Turbo Direct SA and Dunamis motorsport.
Who goes for a fully blown Turbo motorcycle?
All petrol heads, speed freaks and racing guys, for top speed runs and Drag racing.
Turbo Direct still holds the record from 2013 of 406.9km/h for their Turbo Direct Hayabusa.
“This has been a very successful business for the last 20 years,” said Chris Kambouris founder and CEO of Turbo Direct SA. “Many of our first machines are still running today.
“Many of our records still stand after more than 10 years!”
“We will use the record from 2013 on Sakkie van Jaarsveldt’s Hayabusa at Wesselsbron (Dirt Riders) a top speed record of 406,9km/h achieved over a STANDING START Texas Mile (1609m) Distance – the record still stands today. This bike with the late Sakkie Van Jaarsveld at the helm, has won many events and rules the 1000m sprint distance in S.A with a standing start to 1000m sprint record of 389.5km/h plus many other awards,” said Kambouris.
Today you will have to wait in line for a professional complete turbo build which could take 3 weeks, depending what option you select, entry level basic turbo to a full blown race bike. Bikes built over the years range from 200hp to 550+hp builds with a varying degree of engine, transmission, clutch and forced induction assemblies, there’s also very special tuning, exhaust setups, custom engine builds, anything, and everything from mild to wild, which is built by Quinten Swanepoel from Dunamis Motorsport, with the support of TurboDirect S.A, using the locally designed and manufactured TurboDirect S.A turbochargers.
“Any motorcycle can be turbocharged, but the most popular and successful bikes are the Suzuki Hayabusa. The improvement of the Power and top speed is extraordinary and is generally increased from 50 to 200% depending on the upgrades carried out.”
These upgrades are not cheap, and a basic entry level system will cost you R100 000 plus, depending on the required setup and power output, as well as component choices. What’s involved in the kit and conversion is lowering the compression ratio of the engine using forged internals, fabrication of the manifold, intake, exhaust system, fuel system, piping and then tuning. Fitment of the turbocharger, and supporting hardware, injectors, ECU, cooling system upgrades, and much more, all form part of the upgrade, in order for it to be a reliable and precision built result.
Turbocharged motorcycles are still very popular, and in demand as many motorcycle fanatics, petrol heads, riders and racers want a show bike, a drag bike, or street bike and favour and love the turbo option, even if it’s tuned in a very low boost setup for the faint at heart. Normally only fitted for drag and street type racing. “This, however, is not the case as we have many turbocharged street bikes on pump fuel, for the street, drag strips, circuit events, show bikes, top speed bikes. So, the market for performance motorcycles is still huge and very much alive today” said Quinten Swanepoel Dunamis Motorsport,
Turbo Direct SA and Dunamis motorsport were totally committed to supporting Turbo Motorcycle racing, and all turbo motorcycle development from the outset and still today they are heavily involved in the industry, they have sponsored many teams and riders over the years and have been hugely successful both on the local and international front. Today they still support key riders, Drag Top Speed record holders such as Quinten Swanepoel, Sakkie van Jaarsveldt and Theo Cahill.
To contact Dunamis Motorsport and Turbo Direct SA call Turbo Direct SA 011 329 5195 or mail them on info@turbodirect.co.za
