Power Commander's vs Tune ECU's

I just bought a 2013 Roadster with 3,500 miles. Just love the bike and trying to learn all the details. I'm very mechanically skilled but not that computer savy and havn't got a clue about "flashing, mapping, editing tunes". None of this existed when I had my last bike over 30 years ago. Back then all the souping up was done mechanically i.e. valves, stroke, compression, timing, jetting.

My question is this, I don't want to alter this essentially new bike in any way mechanically, stock is fine, but is there a benefit to retuning (electronically speaking) if I leave it stock? Also which device makes the most since, Power commander module or Tune ECU?

I'm assuming the Tune ECU is way more envolved but offers more tune ability, and the power commander seems simpler and more reversible if I screw something up.

I have plenty of power for my taste. The only thing I notice is a slight popping when closing the throttle decelerating, but not what I would call detonating or anything harmful. I just don't know if that's normal or not.
Thanks for any input.

If you are happy with the power
and not planning on changing intake and exhaust . Then just enjoy the ride. With tune ecu you can raise the speed limits and upper gear restrictions, but if you do not spend time at higher speeds it's not needed.

Don't mess with it. The stock bikes run smooth. If you don't want to change the intake or exhaust but want the maximum power you can get out of it, which is not going to be much more, use TuneECU to open the secondaries and then buy a Power Commander and have someone good tune it. A lot of effort for not much change.

For the most bang for your buck on a stock setup. Spend the $20 on a cable, and download Tune ECU. Contact @Speedy and nicely ask him if he could write a tune for you.

Rocket3Pilot said:

I just bought a 2013 Roadster with 3,500 miles. Just love the bike and trying to learn all the details. I'm very mechanically skilled but not that computer savy and havn't got a clue about "flashing, mapping, editing tunes". None of this existed when I had my last bike over 30 years ago. Back then all the souping up was done mechanically i.e. valves, stroke, compression, timing, jetting.

My question is this, I don't want to alter this essentially new bike in any way mechanically, stock is fine, but is there a benefit to retuning (electronically speaking) if I leave it stock? Also which device makes the most since, Power commander module or Tune ECU?

I'm assuming the Tune ECU is way more envolved but offers more tune ability, and the power commander seems simpler and more reversible if I screw something up.

I have plenty of power for my taste. The only thing I notice is a slight popping when closing the throttle decelerating, but not what I would call detonating or anything harmful. I just don't know if that's normal or not.
Thanks for any input.

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If you search 'tune ecu triumph' on the net you will find numerous videos on youtube etc showing how to use tune ecu, I went through that learning curve when i bought a new storm in 2012 but have not messed with the rocket roadster (yet) only had it 2 days!
As has been mentioned, unless you are changing the exhaust or doing inlet mods there isn't much point messing with the tune but if you do fit free flowing mufflers you will need to alter the fueling and tune ecu is an easy and cheap way to do that
Tune ecu is totally reversible as the first thing you do before loading a new tune into the bike is you save the existing tune to your computer, if desired you can easily revert back to that tune. This time around I think what I will do is make any changes then have the bike dyno tuned, the tuner can use tune ecu or tuneboy to custom map the engine on the dyno - this saves the endless test rides and trying to figure out if you have it right or could it be better....pain in the butt. Power commander can achieve the same results its a 'piggyback' system that alters tuning characteristics externally whereas tune ecu hooks directly into the bikes 'brain'

Thanks all for the responses. I don't think I'll mess with it for now, good advice. What a great machine!

Dobeck Performance AFR Plus is the way to go for guys who don't want to change the stock bike but would like to improve power and get better fuel mileage. Plug and play and no dyno tuning needed.

Rocket3Pilot said:

Thanks all for the responses. I don't think I'll mess with it for now, good advice. What a great machine!

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Right choice especially if you like what you have. You can get all the tuning aids you want Auto tune, Dobeck stuff, Innovate and or Wego III Wide ban O2 recorders or even the new Live tuning Tune boy which uses a innovate wide ban O2 controller that merges with tune boy live to auto tune or live tune on a dyno. I am not going to get into which is better to use. I will how ever point out to you that no matter which one you choose the O2 sensors are not quite accurate and degrade over time. So once you use one I would take it off before it degrades and give you a degraded fueling curve.

But since you chose not to mess with it right now ( which is great) I would still get the 20 dollar cable and tune ecu for maintenance purpose. That is the one thing no one can beat price wise for maintenance.

warp9.9 said:

Right choice especially if you like what you have. You can get all the tuning aids you want Auto tune, Dobeck stuff, Innovate and or Wego III Wide ban O2 recorders or even the new Live tuning Tune boy which uses a innovate wide ban O2 controller that merges with tune boy live to auto tune or live tune on a dyno. I am not going to get into which is better to use. I will how ever point out to you that no matter which one you choose the O2 sensors are not quite accurate and degrade over time. So once you use one I would take it off before it degrades and give you a degraded fueling curve.

But since you chose not to mess with it right now ( which is great) I would still get the 20 dollar cable and tune ecu for maintenance purpose. That is the one thing no one can beat price wise for maintenance.

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Thanks. So will the tune edu do something more than modify the stock map? What other maintenance purpose? Does it read fault codes or something, like the ones for cars?

Rocket3Pilot said:

Thanks. So will the tune edu do something more than modify the stock map? What other maintenance purpose? Does it read fault codes or something, like the ones for cars?

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Reads faults and clears them. It will help you do test like tach, speedo, fan, fuel pump. You can correct the speedo error if you decide to. You use it to balance the throttle bodies set the TPS or change the TPS. It is worth it for the maintenance alone.