> Nitrous System Designer:  All about me! And why and how I know what I do...

About your "home built" DIY Nitrous Systems Designer! 

Hi, my name is John Williamson, (Burgerman to those that used to read Performance Bikes Magazine) and I want to actually share my knowledge for free.

I will tell you all you need to know to build your own serious and safe reliable Nitrous Kits.

Amongst other things I have been designing building and modifying Nitrous Oxide Injection Systems or "Nitrous kits" as people will insist on calling them quietly for about 20 years now... 

Ever since I started Drag racing my Suzuki GSX1100E 1135cc bike in 1986/7 and my V8 Rover 3500cc 5 speed converted Ford Sierra (was a 1.6L) N₂O car to be exact, for the last 20+ years!  And I do know a thing or two about engines, racing, and building Nitrous Systems...

I have built/installed/jetted/designed systems on loads of cars, both road, and drag race, as well as just as many motorcycles, including two strokes, turbo, and rotary engines.

It all started when I bought one of Trevor Langfield's (HighPower Nitrous Systems or WON Wizards of NOS as he now is) early "development" Nitrous kits. This was in 1986 I think... 

This system was a unique design, using a single solenoid to control both Nitrous and Fuel flow at the same time, to 4 direct port injectors on my Bikes intake system. When it worked it worked seriously well  But due to a lack of any "mass production" units it was always jamming open and blowing various diaphragms and seals etc...

This was an ingenious design spoiled only by lack of manufacturing accuracy and quality control.  So I went off to find something simpler - I also bought some NOS stuff as well, but after checking out how it worked, and the ridiculous control jet positions in the fogger nozzles (worst possible place!) I decided against this too...

What really amazes me is why ALL the US "designed" (copied?) stuff are all clones of this daft arrangement. Anyway I will discuss this a bit later on...  Which is when I started making/modifying various industrial air or gas solenoids to use instead at high pressures... 

Its quite difficult to make a simple reliable solenoid that will work at the 800 to 1200 PSI pressures of N₂0 and also flow enough gas at the same time.  But what's more important is matching the rest of the system. Something WON (Wizards of NOS) already understand and do well. Their systems are expensive but are the best available by a country mile. And are extremely similar to mine since I retained the jet position and most of the pipe sizing etc.

In the end I modified some Solenoids that were designed for compressed air to work at higher pressures and using different seating sealing materials etc. These modified industrial solenoids worked so well that I built around 70 to 80 nitrous systems using them over fifteen year period, with not a single problem! People "knock" industrial solenoids, but believe me, they are safe and reliable, as Industry demands this just as much as racers do!

I have been quietly building and testing Nitrous Injection Kits that I have built for racers, and street cars, for over 20 years. 

I even went so far as to also design and build a Computerised Inertial Automotive Dynamometer system while I was at it to find out much more than could be possibly done without one...

An example of one of these Dyno's is my "Mobile Dyno" (shown slightly above here on this page) - for testing and development work on bikes. This was a totally state of the art design too! I looked at the US Dynojet dynamometers and the drum was too light and the software was very "old" and slow to use. So I Designed and built my own, as you do...

I  also personally posted a web page a good few years ago, for anyone that wanted to build their own Automotive Nitrous Systems (or "kits").  This site replaces that old one. This DIY approach is of course not for everyone!  It's just as useful for those that just wanted to understand Nitrous Injection a little bit better though! Then you will at least understand the differences between the different commercial systems like Zex, NOS, and Nitrous Express, HighPower etc.

Rest assured I wouldn't put my name to anything that does not work safely, properly and reliably!  And everything here on this site is as far as can be reasonably determined factually correct.

After a bike accident left me unable to work, and a full time wheelchair user, I am mainly  short of time, but:  I will discuss any of this stuff freely with anyone that's interested, but I do not suffer fools at all well!  Be warned. I have heard it all before! And DON'T email me for info that's on this site! That puts you in the "fool" category straight away!!!

A balancing stair climbing computer controlled power chair!
I need one now after an angry bike spat me off!

Photo a good few inches below:
This was a scrutineers nightmare,  a very temporary drag strip on an airfield, a rather "strong" 200bhp+  at the rear wheel of my lightly modified road bike, (with 2 stages or 2 Separate Nitrous Systems) bomber jacket, lace up shoes, jeans, no gloves, visor up...  What could go wrong? don't do it!!!   (Don't do as I do, do as I say! I am stupid...)

On the Saturday we had been running full Quarter miles, This was OK but I was getting extremely close to the end of the runway by the time I had howled the front tyre trying to slow down from god knows what speed to zero in too short a distance, to turn around and come back up the strip with the front wheel in the air... I was having fun. All noise, rubber, power and adrenalin!

I was not alone!  So some of the other guys had a meeting with the organisers, and decided to run 1/8th miles instead on the Sunday.  Because speeds would be lower and we would be able to stop!  Bunch of tarts...  Nobody bloody told me though!   I was in the pub of course, so missed them MOVING the start line up the runway 40 or 50 yards to make the pits area bigger for the very busy Sunday. 

In the morning I had a bad head (as usual), missed the "drivers meeting" (far too early + normally ultra dull and full of safety Nazis) and did my first run of the day.  I did the usual full Quarter mile of course. No "end" marker like Santa pod here, just some cones. Counted the gears, punched the various buttons, tried to keep the front on the deck and looked up from the Tacho/Speedo, since 9 thousand RPM in top was just past the "finish" line. Or it was yesterday...

And I saw... A huge row of big round straw bales getting very big very fast! They had not only moved the start up the runway giving less stopping room, + changed to 1/8 miles, but moved a load of straw bales and tapes across the runways other end to keep spectators from wandering in!

Great.. I grabbed too much front brake at about 140, ant locked the front wheel, for an instant when I panic braked and grabbed it a bit too hard and stabbed the floor with my foot! Ouch...

Then I let the brake off as you do and leaned right and aimed between two huge straw bales. I almost went clean through the gap, but just clipped the nearest one on my left. That hurt too!

And made my bike do a huge tank-slapper. Once this stopped (almost instantly) I started braking again HARD and went into a ploughed field at about 100 mph. Ploughed fields stop you REALLY fast...  I didn't actually fall off, it was dead smooth actually but I made huge clouds of dust, straw, blue tyre smoke, coloured tapes and my shoe was wrecked, and I had straw stuck in my hand... Bikes are dangerous... Or beer is, or something. 

This 1135cc bike was a stock motor, with 5 degree advanced exhaust cam, colder plugs (2 grades), stronger clutch springs - so it doesn't slip of course!, longer "Spondon Engineering" swinging arm, 6 inch wide back wheel with 180 or 190 tyre on it,

Yamaha EXUP front wheel tyre and 320mm brakes, 2 big fuel pumps - one for the motor and one to feed both nitrous systems, ignition kill gear shift, and a stainless Eagle race 4 into 1 exhaust with no internals, two nitrous systems. One operates at full throttle, off the line (+40bhp) The other as soon as the tyre can take it, in 2nd gear onwards operated by the starter button! (Another +60bhp on top of the rest). Went well & VERY loud! (Pardon???)

This is (was) also my normal road bike. It was eventually fitted with a big draw through Rayjay Turbo too! (A TO4e for those in the know) Unfortunately it was destroyed in a fire in my workshop.  Along with loads of my skin. The garage actually blew up, due to me not having a fuel tap.

I removed the Turbo's huge carb to re-jet it and plugged the fuel line with a screwdriver. (No tap, for flow reasons) I left the building for an hour, and a full tank of Avgas/petroleum had spilled on the floor as the screwdriver/plug had fell out. I stepped back in and instinctively flicked on the light switch, realised I could smell lots of fuel and looked down. There was a thick fog of fuel vapour about 2 feet deep!  And I was splashing about in liquid fuel on the floor.

I immediately realised the danger just as the central heating boiler came on on it's time switch. Not good. This also lived in the garage!  BOOM!  +Loads of more smaller booms later, (welding gear/nitrous bottles, lots of 5 gallon drums of Avgas etc) no garage left, doors, windows, roof all blown off walls/base cracked and tools and bike mostly melted. I only just made it out because the side door was blown away, as it would not open!  This had NOTHING to do with the Nitrous! So don't worry.  Landed in hospital for a few months!  Life's fun at times. Still, moving on...

Have fun!

John C Williamson, (Burgerman)

John Williamson

*Technically the term NOS is incorrect as this refers to an specific company (called Nitrous Oxide Systems, in the US)

I used to drag race bikes and cars and also designed and built Car and Motorcycle Dynamometers Systems (Dyno's) at one time as well as Nitrous systems.

This picture (left) shows a mobile dyno unit that I used to develop and test my Nitrous Systems, as well as test bikes for various magazines etc.

You really cannot do any serious development work without  a good accurate computerised dynamometer. Anyone that says otherwise, usually does not have one!  So I designed my own 20 years ago.

Some of my other interests and likes include:

1. Small fit blondes (got a fit young Yugoslav republic girl met via the net!) she's lovely.

2. Model planes and helicopters, but mine are all gas turbine / pulse jet powered! And home designed of course... www.burgerman.info

3. Drag racing... Hence my modified V8 powered Ford Sierra 1.6L car fitted with N2O naturally...

4. Bikes, I worked testing bikes for many years for EMAP publications, such as performance bikes magazine.

I drag raced bikes & cars, and abused them. But they won, in 1997 I had a bike accident that left me paralysed from the chest down. Technically I am a T4 Complete Paraplegic... I broke my leg (femur) and my neck, and my back, and all of my ribs. Got collapsed lungs, two helicopter rides, 6 weeks in a coma, a year in hospital, and a severely busted Suzuki 1100... Shit happens.

6. Website Building ?? This one? And many others

7. My Robots ... www.fatnfast.com/robot/

8 All kinds of engineering and electronics, and programming...

9. Modified Powerchairs now too! See www.burgerman.info and www.powerchair-review.co.uk

10. My other site that actually might make some money! www.optimabattery.co.uk 
(unlikely!)

11. Physics

12, Rocketry! Just started building a kerosene / Nitrous Oxide liquid fuelled Rocket motor for fun. No site yet... Soon.

And disabled vehicles that you can drive from a wheelchair. www.wheelchairdriver.com