NEWB Question

[plongmire]

I have a touring rocket. I have seen a couple of posts dealing with tunes and exhaust mods...to give the touring model a little boost...

I have to say, I have no idea what this means...and what is a tune and how do I apply it to my bike...I know I am an idiot but I like to ask questions and learn...

 

[ScottishR3T]

Well to keep it simple

Modern fuel injected bikes are controlled by a computer. This computer controls how much fuel and air get squeezed into the cylinders at certain throttle openings. This dictates how much power the engine makes.

Engines have to pass strict emissions testing so the manufacturer tunes the computer to make it burn as clean as possible. Clean isn't always the most efficient and certainly isn't the most powerful.

You can get a cable to link your laptop to the bikes computer and use a free programme called tune ecu to change how the bike fuels the engine. If you change the exhaust, making it easier to get gases out, change the air filter, making it easier to get gases in and change the tune you can see some easy power gains.

Especially on the tourer model which is heavily restricted from the factory.

Probably clear as mud but hope that helps!!

 

[alexwasserman]

In addition to the above is that when you make mods to the bike like bigger more open pipes, or changing out the filters to allow it more airflow in, you need to then update the ECU so it knows how to deal with the changes. The tune is the software you load in.

To get a tune you can either search on here for someone with the same setup, or you can go to a dyne tune who'll create a custom tune for your bike.

Even on a stock bike a better tune will remove the restrictions and improve performance - not required, but recommended. Then, once you add new pipes, filters, etc, a better tune becomes required.

 

[plongmire]

Even on a stock bike a better tune will remove the restrictions and improve performance - not required, but recommended. Then, once you add new pipes, filters, etc, a better tune becomes required.

Ok both posts were really helpful. I am wondering what is the best tune ofr a new stock bike to remove the restrictions. And where do I get the cable to hook my computer up to the compute?

 

[BigAl1952]

http://www.lonelec.co.uk/index.php?..._id=32&zenid=7df1bd568fe3c87482ab15f11eabd2f6

Here is the one I ordered. Tuneecu can be downloaded from the net. There is instructions there as how to download it and you will need to download drivers to make the cable work in your laptop. I cant recommend a tune for you but I know one of these guys will. Al

 

[alexwasserman]

The TuneECU 'standard custom' tunes are here:

I say standard, meaning, they're custom, but have been made available on the official TuneECU site, rather than random corners of the internet.

This is the section to look for: Rocket III Touring / All VIN's / Keihin ECU

This is the recommended stock tune: R3T_stock_or_slip-on.hex It's Power-Tripps tune. Info:

A stock R3T or one with a slip-on exhaust tends to make ~86 hp on my dyno (~ 13% lower than a Dynojet), and 130-131 ft-lb of torque. Simply re-calibrating the ECU (mapping) tends to result in 115-117 hp, and 140-142 ft-lb of torque. A very nice improvement.

Attached is a "tune" for stock and slip-on exhaust R3T models, as well as a graph of output differences. Dashed lines are torque. Red is an R3T with TORS and stock air filter. Yellow is after tuning. This resulted in 43+ mpg cruising at 70 mph on 87 octane fuel. Speedo corrected for stock tire. Speed limiter raised. Ignition timing improved in lower gears. ENJOY!​

 

[vanguard138]

That tune worked well on my touring.

 

[Jag]

+ 1 on that tune for me also

 

[plongmire]

ok ordering the cable now and then will work on setting up the computer. Just watched a guy do a tune install on his triumph. He did something I have not seen people talk about. He did a TPS reset, I thought that was helpful...

1. Turn the key off for ten seconds
2. Turn the key back on for ten seconds
3. Then turn it off again
4. and start the bike
5. then run the TPS restart on the software.

 

[alexwasserman]

ok ordering the cable now and then will work on setting up the computer. Just watched a guy do a tune install on his triumph. He did something I have not seen people talk about. He did a TPS reset, I thought that was helpful...

1. Turn the key off for ten seconds
2. Turn the key back on for ten seconds
3. Then turn it off again
4. and start the bike
5. then run the TPS restart on the software.

For the TPS reset, take a read here:

As great as the software is, the site is pretty awful.

The instructions for the reset are here, search for this section: "For the Reset adaption, if required, you have two options, example of Triumph Keihin ECU:"

It talks you through the official procedure.

You'll see it referred to all over the place as the '12 minute idle' or '12 minute reset', etc