TBM Top Steering  $325

In this write up you will see the differences in the TBM system verses the UMI. Installation is simple with the TBM but uses the stock steering base plate. Complete instructions will be available soon as we are going to be installing a complete TBM system to include their newest addition to the steering. “The Base Plate”

So far things look good for the TBM system. They have 2 sets of riser pipes available. One for endurance or offshore and one for closed coarse. Above picture shows the two height differences on the TBM. Farther below you will find pics of the two different risers installed. When ordering you will have to choose one of the two but also can purchase the other size risers. Talking with TBM I asked for custom riser to allow me to lower the bars for CC riding as we tend to want to be over the bars when cornering. His suggestion was a -3″ riser. That would be 3in shorter then the standard riser.

So lets start with the CC TBM kit and compare it to the UMI. See Pic below.

In this pic you will see that we used two 2008 Ultra 250’s models to compare the differences in height and placement of the bars. The UMI is a fixed and none adjustable but firm and rigid steering system. UMI kits will only fit a standard tube bar and is often used for CC racing or sport style riders.

The TBM C/C kit has the ability of 2 inches of hight adjustment and forward positioning. You can see by the photo we set them to match in height. This allowed us to compare the two. Opposite of the UMI the TBM will only allow for a fat style bar. Notice the difference in bars.

I must say that I’ve been partial to UMI as they are historically the masters of watercraft steering.

Still it was hard to overlook the massive potential for customization the TBM kit had. As if you could fine tune the kit for any style of riding. I’m almost disappointed in UMI for not pioneering this new standard of watercraft steering systems.

As if the C/C adjustments and possibilities wasn’t enough, TBM has a Offshore set up that seems to be preferred for long endurance riders.

This is of the Offshore TBM Steering Kit.

Notice how much higher the riser reach to enable a rider to stand more and operate the steering with a straight back avoiding riding fatigue.

Another pic below of the CC set up. See how it has been dropped to enable lower crouched riding style used in C/C racing.

Next from TBM will be the steering base that is surly going to be a great addition to the top section

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Cover, Steering Column, KAW Ultra 250X/LX RK5-SCC-090       $44.95

OK so you may be asking why now with this new Riva part. Well for some time Riva has been doing testing that showed their Pro Air intake system could be exposed to water ingestion when running a UMI steering system on the Ultra 250.

What this part does is cover the exposed area around the UMI steering system. This cover or protection does an awesome job of deflecting water away from the Pro Air intake system. So far their has been no water ingestion on our race boats during testing. I chose to use it on the race boats as to put this item under the hardest test condition available.

Be sure to use silicone when installing this item. Its important to get a good seal all around the mounting points of the cowling.

Oh the unit you receive will not have the Riva sticker on it. In fact it will almost look like a stock piece once installed. By warned though you may have to cut a small bit more out to accommodate the throttle cable and wiring . This really depends on what bars you have installed on your system.

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Part # 611-25210 

R&D answer to the tunners in all us. This unit replaces the stock BOV on the intercooler.

PSI range from 5 to 22. Fully adjustable.

Commonly we have just blocked off the intercooler with a BOV Block Off. Now we can acually control the BOV and tune it. Tune properly adjust this unit you will want to get the R&D BOV Tester Kit.

This BOV replaces the stock unit wich is blue in Kawi Diagram below. Installation is simple and easy. First you set the pop-off of the BOV and then you install it.

Next we will tune the R&D to our prefered blow off setting.

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TBM Racing Tunable Super Scoop. $225.95

Be sure to read the update at the bottom of this page.

While I was at the WF in October I had a chance to meet with Tim Bushman the owner of TBM Racing. During this chat I found that Tim has been working under the radar on some new stuff for the Ultra 250 and LX.

Tim showed and explained their newest addition to the TBM line up. Its the Super Scoop. Sure I was thinking WOW another scoop grate. At first glance I wasn’t all that impressed until he took out the center scoop and showed me the 3 position points that the consumer can choose from. Wait what is that, say it again. That’s right this scoop grate is tunable for a custom fit to any riding style.

Here is the TBM Super Scoop.

Picture A is of aggressive center setting. Notice how the billet scoop hangs down below the bars for maximum exposure to water surface.

Setting B is a milder set or mid setting. Notice the billet scoop is set back a bit to reduce the amount of scoop effect.

Final Center Setting is C. Notice how the center scoop is retracted away from the water surface .

As if thats not enough to keep ya busy with tunning, Tim added another optional rear scoop. Notice the two following Pics. One with the rear scoop installed and one with out it.

Ok so we did some testing on the TBM against the Stock and R&D unit.

Here are our three test units.

Stock intake, R&D intake and TBM intake set ups are used on these three test units.

In these runs we focused on top speed and hook up abilities. We opted to go with side by side comparisons instead of doing swap outs on one unit. The testing was all done in the open ocean along with flat water lagoon areas.

In testing we found the optional positioning of the TBM was nice to adjust. We used all the positions available and found the TBM to be extremely aggressive, more so then the R&D unit. The TBM has the chip piece in the back which seemed to add a bunch of drag but extreme hook up in the rough chop. The center fin was easy to move up and down. We found that the TBM offered similar speed as the R&D unit when the TBM was without the chip and center fin all the way up. Position C from above photo.

Any other adjustments to the TBM showed it to be more aggressive and speed would drop. Though in extreme rough condition this may be of a benefit. For our testing it slowed the boat down making the R&D always pull out in front. The stock intake as always was the fasted on flat but the slowest on any kind of effective chop.

Some Pics of the unit installed.

As we continued to do test we found there to be a bit of a top end drift from side to side. Though minor it was not anything we have encountered in the past. So we looked into the differences between the R&D and the TBM. We found the TBM to have the two bars to be about 3mm deeper in the water. To ensure there was not an issue with the boat we switched out to the R&D and the issue went away. Though the effect was extremely minor we still started to do adjustments to the TBM sponsons to see if we had something there to cause this but nothing changed the effect. Again I say it was minor and probably due to the deeper dig the TBM offers.

So now we opted to completely remove the center wing and rear chip. In this position we saw our highest top speed the compared to the stock intake. Though in this position it performed alot like a stock intake. We did notice that in this position that the turning stability was better then the stock intake.

During another testing day we  was able to observe more the versatility of the adjustable foil and rear chip. Rough water tunning was extremely flexible. Without a dought the optional tunning of this intake makes this a must have grate for any offshore race. The freedom of change is truly a benefit.

Again we tested but this time we have removed the center wing but installed the rear chip piece. We found better top speed in flat but not stock top speed. We found it to be faster in mild chop and it performed nicely in rough water.  Ideal for recreational riding.

So for me this is a excellent tool for offshore racers as it truly gives you that race site options. As most endurance guys will tell you how every day is different conditions and being able to tune is crucial in racing offshore. For example. TBM’s Brice Lopez was racing in the KaruJet. I watched as the third day of racing went from terrible to smooth water. He simply did some quick adjustments and he was able to maintain speed and handling that finished him in the top of the pack.

#43 Ultra 250X, Brice Lopez of TBM & Speed Marine.

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UPDATE. We are finding logevity issues with this intake grate. Several have fialed in different aspects. Mind you I was carefull to install properly but still we have seen the center foil tear loose and be eaten by the prop. Other failures have been that salt water has coroided the bolts in place and has made removing the bolts impossible.  Carefull with this item and constantly check and recheck the foil and chip. If must put some silicone over the bolt. The billet corrodes quickly.