The 919T is an amazing bike. The thrill of getting on the bike, starting it up, and ripping through the gears is more than enough to make the time and money worthwhile. The stock 919 is a great bike, super easy to ride, and very comfortable. The 919T is all of that plus it has the power to leave the rider scared and everyone else wondering what bike just pulled away from them like they were on a Harley. The massive power gain that is obtained from adding the turbo is, of course, the main reason to purchase the system, but just the general idea of having a custom, turbo bike is amazing in itself. Anyone can go out and purchase a bike that will put up better horsepower and torque numbers than the 919T, but the numbers aren’t everything. A 'busa (Suzuki Hyabusa) with a turbo and nitrous will have over 300hp, over double the 919T. Well, I let someone who just sold a 'busa with turbo and nitrous ride the 919T, and he came back about 35 minutes later saying that it was probably the most fun bike he has ever been on. The 919T is a super fun, amazingly fast, and really enjoyable bike.

Now, down to the nitty gritty that everyone wants to know about.

Installation: The kit is not something that is going to go onto the bike in a couple hours without any headaches. As with any major project on a motorized vehicle there are frustrations, difficulties, and annoyances. All in all the kit went on really easy, the instructions were easy to follow if time was taken to read them carefully, and everything worked just as it was supposed to. The kit took about 12 hours for two people to install, taking a lunch and dinner break.

Quality: The kit seems rock solid. The amazing fabrication and thought that went into fitting all of the parts into the old air box space is very well done. All of the parts are built from quality material, and are beefy enough to withstand the application.

Ride: The 919T has to be ridden to fully understand how great the ride is, but with that said, the bike is insane. There is way more than a noticeable addition of power, but it comes on fairly smooth and is very addicting. On the first dry pavement ride the bike reached above an indicated 145 mph without a problem. The extreme amount of power and torque in first gear makes it impossible to keep the front end on the ground, and if a good amount of weight is kept forward it will float through second and third. On top of the enormous power gain the 919 has not lost any of its loved characteristics, the bike is still super easy to ride, takes the twisters very well, and looks good.

Look/Sound: Other than the different out-pipe the bike looks almost stock. Unless someone is looking for a turbo they will not know that it is there. The sound from the stock left muffler (modified per the instructions on 919turbo.com) is great. The bike sounds good from idle to red line, and it turns heads while doing it. Many people worry about exhaust being too loud, I do not think this is the case with the system, it is just a good sounding, head turning bike.

General Concerns: It seems like the biggest concern (that everyone has) about the 919T is the heat produced by the turbo. The first couple days of riding the weather was fairly cool, and the temp gauge almost never came off of the coldest indication. After a two-hour ride with lots of high speeds, good boost, and 80 degree weather the bike temp topped out at about 2/5ths the way up the gauge. Also, the out pipe for the turbo does not get very hot. There is exhaust running through it, and the exhaust is heated a little by the turbo, but it does not get hot enough to melt anything. The turbo out pipe and heat shield are not something I would want to hold my hand on right after running the bike hard, but it is cool enough to touch and not get burned, and the two stainless steel heat shields on the modified muffler are plenty cool enough to hold a hand or leg on without any issue. So, the heat concern is not one to worry about.

Tuning is another general concern, and again not one to worry about. If an air/fuel gauge is purchased with the bike the Gen3 ECU is very easy to tune with the instructions given from WAVE Engineering. And, if the instructions are not good enough for the operator, the guys over at WAVE seem very knowledgeable and willing to help.

The last main concern, and only real one, is high speeds on a naked bike. This is not the fault of the design of the kit or anything from the guys at WAVE, just the fact that naked bikes aren’t really meant to be traveling at speeds in excess of 120 mph. The power even in the high gears, combined with the wind at high speeds is more than enough to make the front end of the 919T light and a little bit shaky. A simple addition of a steering stabilizer will take care of this problem.

I know people want to hear some bad with all of this good, but I don’t really have anything. WAVE Engineering is a great, easy company to work with, and they are very helpful and accommodating whenever needed. Of course there were some annoyances with the install and test runs, but nothing that wasn’t fixed easily, and most likely caused by operator error. I would recommend this kit to anyone who loves the rideability of the 919, but wants more power, or someone who just wants a super fast bike that not many people will recognize.

~ Brandon and James