De-cat & O2 sensor eliminator plugs: opinions please.!

skidmark said:
"Are there any owners out there who've just done the de-cat & eliminator plugs who can advise as to whether or not this would improve matters? "
Going back to the original question, yes I have just done the temp speed sensor, head temp, bosch coils and leads and the O2 eliminators along with the factory decat. In that order. Of that lot the O2 made the most difference to tick over and clean running. It does smell more though. Decat is a bit louder but not offensive.
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Yep,it’s a copy that from me, 2016 MK2 euro 3 , the o2 delete plugs must me the most inexpensive mod u can do to make a difference, I have short stubbie silencers/ decat pipe ,it’s done away with the odd cough and splutter I used to get,and also an odd judder ( as if fuel had stopped for a tenth of a second)does not rev up or cut out at all .
 
iwilson said:
As far as I'm aware motorbikes do not get tested for emissions in the UK when undergoing an MOT. The factory only has to get a pass mark as part of the process in getting type approval to sell the bike. Which is why people often permanently remove their catalytic converter on a bike but if you own a car you have to refit it for every MOT as cars do get emission tested. I think they stuffed up the throttle body design, didn't realise it - struggled to tune around the problem to get the engine to pass the relevant emissions regime. The end result is the unstable idle we see today. If you don't believe they could make that mistake then look at the oil in the airbox issue. It took forever for them to work out what was going on and multiple attempts at fixing it. Lets face it the fix is a band-aid and the bikes still come out of the factory with a nappy on (the plastic oil collection bottle). I mean what manufacturer ships a modern engine with a nappy strapped to it!



Spot on Ian, there is currently no emissions test for motorbikes in the UK as part of the MOT, it's all about gaining Euro compliance to enable the bikes to be sold. I have no doubt what you say regarding the fundamental design flaws being the route cause of the issues we now see. I'm just trying to find an easy workaround the problem that will give me an improvement, if it can be done.! To this end, I'm fitting a decat pipe which will stay on regardless. Then I will try blanking off the O2 sensors & fitting a pair of eliminator plugs. At about £30 for the caps & plugs, it's worth a try on the basis that I can put the sensors back on if there's no improvement or if it runs worse...
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skidmark said:
"Are there any owners out there who've just done the de-cat & eliminator plugs who can advise as to whether or not this would improve matters? "
Going back to the original question, yes I have just done the temp speed sensor, head temp, bosch coils and leads and the O2 eliminators along with the factory decat. In that order. Of that lot the O2 made the most difference to tick over and clean running. It does smell more though. Decat is a bit louder but not offensive.
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That's great thanks & it gives me some hope.! I'll post up an honest assessment once I've fitted the parts & put enough town mileage on it to know if it's worked.
 
iwilson said:
I wouldn't think so, once the throttle butterflies start to open they flow way more air than through the IAC valve. Hard to say without being there, has Power Commander looked at it? If it occurs like clockwork I'd put it on a dyno, would be simple to identify and fix it.
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Cheers that makes good sense. Probably just slightly bad fuelling from Norton’s map. The power Commander improved the fuelling a lot but probably needs more time on the dyno. There is no pre programmed map from DynoJet for the Norton so it’s a modified map on the dyno. It’s only a small niggle and disappears with a increase of the throttle. Huge thanks to all you knowledgeable guys working for us all
 
Well that's the first part of the job completed, the decat pipe has now been fitted. But what a pig of a job it was! What should have taken no more than an hour took a good half a day... :rolleyes:

The decat pipe was a full inch longer than the cat pipe & although it sleeved further over the down pipes, it wouldn't go on far enough to lose the difference in length. As a result I had to remove both downpipes & cut 1/4" off them to prevent them being strained. The downpipes & decat pipe were then re-fitted but not tightened so as to allow some movement. When I then went to re-fit the silencers however, the L/H side fitted perfectly but the R/H side was clearly too close to the swinging arm. This required tweaking the angle slightly further outwards on the decat pipe R/H side, not an easy task on a short length of stainless steel that diameter.!

All completed now though & the bike sounds fine & looks a lot better without the discoloured cats spoiling the aesthetic. Has anyone else encountered similar fitting issues with the decat pipe (new style)?
 
I have never fitted a New Norton De Cat X- pipe . It doesn't make sense that they would change the length by an inch or more ? You had to cut off an inch of your head pipes ? Maybe the sleeves were too tight to allow full insertion ? I would have called Norton on that one !
 
The decat pipe was exactly 1" longer as measured. Most of the difference (approx 3/4") was lost by them fitting further over the downpipes but I still had to trim 1/4" off them as they had reached the internal smaller diameter on the decat pipe. This was felt with a solid clonk & also measured just to be certain.
 
So only a 1/4 inch. You should tell Norton about it because this could be resolved by making the larger outer diameter longer so it will fit all of our bikes. Let them know I say.. Just a bit longer expansion on the mandrel . They may have fixed it on the spot for you Could it be that this X-pipe was incorrectly made ? I would hate to cut my pipes !
 
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It may be that the new style decat pipe is made for a Euro 4 spec bike? The catalytic converter section is visibly different on those to the one fitted to my own 2014 Euro 3 spec bike but I don’t know if they, or the downpipes, are different lengths?

Just a thought... o_O
 
iwilson said:
..Lotus Club btw is doing a run up the Awhitu peninsula on Sunday, I’m taking the Norton you’re welcome to tag along.
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That would be a good run from here, thanks for the invite. I had 3 days away on the ES2 last weekend so on a short leash this week : )
 
ntst8 said:
That would be a good run from here, thanks for the invite. I had 3 days away on the ES2 last weekend so on a short leash this week : )
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No problem, went out yesterday for a 100km shakedown ride. Within 10km one bar end mirror made a dash for freedom but was foiled by me sacrificing my front brake to hang on to it! Fixed on the roadside so all good. Confidence continued to build and ended up having a good blast through my favorite twisties. It was only when I got home I discovered things could have ended badly!

De-cat & O2 sensor eliminator plugs: opinions please.!


Rear tyre must have got compressed sufficiently to catch the plate holder and do quite a bit of damage. Tyre seems ok and I didn’t notice anything at the time. Needed a hammer to straighten it out. Adjusted the angle to prevent a recurrence.

De-cat & O2 sensor eliminator plugs: opinions please.!


Run was about 250km today and it ran perfectly all day. Well almost... At our first stop the guy behind me in a Dodge Viper reported running over my number plate - oops!
 
Hello Iwilson , Can you extend the tail tidy further back so it will clear the rear wheel travel ?
 
First of all, I made the same mistake by not putting a plate sized backing plate behind the license plate. My license plate ripped along the tidy from wind and vibration. You can get presized and drilled plates from fleabay at a very reasonable cost. Luckily I caught it before it completely ripped. So I assume you nicked that extended tab under the plate?
 
Britfan60 said:
First of all, I made the same mistake by not putting a plate sized backing plate behind the license plate. My license plate ripped along the tidy from wind and vibration. You can get presized and drilled plates from fleabay at a very reasonable cost. Luckily I caught it before it completely ripped. So I assume you nicked that extended tab under the plate?
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Yes the tab would have been the lowest point it has\had a reflector on it to get through the annual Warrant of Fitness. The second picture is the angle currently, it wasn't a lot lower but clearly just low enough to catch the tire. I'd imagine the ability of the tire to deform and the rotational energy meant I didn't notice at the time.

TonyA said:
Hello Iwilson , Can you extend the tail tidy further back so it will clear the rear wheel travel ?
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I could but this was just quick and easy and I don't have the fabrication skills or equipment to do a better job!
 

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