Read the tuning threads, now i'm really confused

[Frosty Rider]

Yep, 18mm

ok, that is a bonus at least, i just need to wait on Hanso to see if i should buy and use the autotune, or just ditch the whole power commander thing and go with the stock ECU, and find out what is involved with with disconnecting the power commander

 

[R3Tex]

Ok so a few basics...

1. There are three things that make your bike perform...air, fuel and spark
2. Your Ecu controls air, fuel and spark
3. PCV alone does not control spark
4. A PCV is a fuel module that intercepts the signal from the ECU and inserts its own dollop of fuel thereby increasing or decreasing the air fuel mix as programmed.
5. AutoTune....at least as I understand it...is an additional module that attempts to monitor your riding habits and adjust your tune to match (taking into account altitude, humidity, etc)
6. Based on my experience what AutoTune really does is continually lean out your mixture (mine is turned off and thereby a waste of money)
7. Best reason to have a PCV is so that your local tuner can actually tune your bike because almost nobody can speak Tune ECU
8. PCV has value as long as you find a good dyno guy that can lay a tune on your bike that wakes it up

Disclaimer: I am not a tuner, I do not have my own bike dealership, and I make no warranty either express or implied...simply my personal observations. However, I do have two Rockets, both fitted with PCV's. One with AutoTune, one without. Both have bespoke dyno tunes. The one with AutoTune has it turned off because the tuner had no idea what to do with it, so I figured if a guy that has been trained by DynoJet has no idea what to do with it I REALLY shouldn't f#ck with it

 

[Nat67]

I agree with @R3Tex .
Not being too computer literate myself , I have the pcv. The pcv does come with factory set tunes for the r3 but I think more generic than optimal !
A good dyno tuner will see what your engine is doing , via the dyno and then write a custom tune for the pcv based on your requirements and the optimal running of your engine . At the same time , the tuner can enter your bikes ecu and alter settings such as the secondaries , temp control , rev limiter and primarys .
The overall behaviour of my bike was transformed after having mine tuned which included , opening the secondarys 100 percent , upping the red line to 7000 and lowering temp of fan switch on . I can't comment on any one thing , coz it was an overall package which met with a holy **** response on test ride !
The main issue here with pcv is that you need a good dyno tuner and that costs money , but to me was money well invested , as well as having a dyno print out to show the gains !

 

[EasTexRIII]

I agree with @R3Tex .
Not being too computer literate myself , I have the pcv. The pcv does come with factory set tunes for the r3 but I think more generic than optimal !
A good dyno tuner will see what your engine is doing , via the dyno and then write a custom tune for the pcv based on your requirements and the optimal running of your engine . At the same time , the tuner can enter your bikes ecu and alter settings such as the secondaries , temp control , rev limiter and primarys .
The overall behaviour of my bike was transformed after having mine tuned which included , opening the secondarys 100 percent , upping the red line to 7000 and lowering temp of fan switch on . I can't comment on any one thing , coz it was an overall package which met with a holy **** response on test ride !
The main issue here with pcv is that you need a good dyno tuner and that costs money , but to me was money well invested , as well as having a dyno print out to show the gains !

The biggest problem for most is finding a competent tuner anywhere near them

 

[Frosty Rider]

Thanks for the information, now it is starting to make more sense, the ECU is the main control unit, the PCV is sort of an assistant to the ECU in that it intercepts the information from the ECU and further controls the fuel mixture, and the autotune intercepts all of that information and then makes finer adjustments to the on the fly for the fuel air mixture.
So if i am now grasping this correctly i would first need a decent tune for the ECU, then another for the PCV, and the autotune will take care of the rest on its own

 

[warp9.9]

Ok so a few basics...

1. There are three things that make your bike perform...air, fuel and spark
2. Your Ecu controls air, fuel and spark
3. PCV alone does not control spark
4. A PCV is a fuel module that intercepts the signal from the ECU and inserts its own dollop of fuel thereby increasing or decreasing the air fuel mix as programmed.
5. AutoTune....at least as I understand it...is an additional module that attempts to monitor your riding habits and adjust your tune to match (taking into account altitude, humidity, etc)
6. Based on my experience what AutoTune really does is continually lean out your mixture (mine is turned off and thereby a waste of money)
7. Best reason to have a PCV is so that your local tuner can actually tune your bike because almost nobody can speak Tune ECU
8. PCV has value as long as you find a good dyno guy that can lay a tune on your bike that wakes it up

Disclaimer: I am not a tuner, I do not have my own bike dealership, and I make no warranty either express or implied...simply my personal observations. However, I do have two Rockets, both fitted with PCV's. One with AutoTune, one without. Both have bespoke dyno tunes. The one with AutoTune has it turned off because the tuner had no idea what to do with it, so I figured if a guy that has been trained by DynoJet has no idea what to do with it I REALLY shouldn't f#ck with it

Good write up bud. What would really be nice is to get Nev's opinion on them. I know my 07 has the power commander III in it and a New PCV sitting on the seat.. The bike was done by Bob Carpenter. If I remember right one of the reasons he uses the PC units is necause not a lot of tuners use tune boy or the above listed tune ecu. The other reason is since it is basically a DFA it will allows 100 % of the injector pulse width ratio instead of only 80% that is programmed in the ecu and can not be altered. Now in my opinion in order to optimize either one on a dyno you should have it tuned on a braking dyno so you can hold a specific rpm at a specific throttle position or lamba signal depending on where you are on the map. I am not trying to run down non breaking inertia dyno's as a good tuner can get results. I just believe the braking dyno allows for more finite adjusting. Again like tex I am no tuner mechanic or the rest of the lisbility statement above.

I will add the PCV which is a PCIII with the mutiport hub system built into it. Has some other goodies in it like mapping per gear. A extra 5 volt pick up for boost mapping, for the forced air croud. (By far funner the a NA motor). I am sure it has some other goodies that I am not aware of yet. Warning Hanso I have a auto tune and will probably be picking your brain.

Anyway hopefully Nev will give us his opinion as I always pay attention to what he post.

 

[Nat67]

The biggest problem for most is finding a competent tuner anywhere near them

You are so right there Clint , took me a lot of hunting to find a dyno , let alone one with a tuner who was familiar with the R3 .
Fortunately , one turned up bout 80 miles away . Luckily England is small .

 

[warp9.9]

Ya finding someone around here to tune a rocket is just not goingto happen. Thats why I've been toying with the idea of forgoing a Trophy and instead maybe a used dynamometer. Its a hard choice as I would love to add a trophy to the stable.

 

[EasTexRIII]

Ya finding someone around here to tune a rocket is just not goingto happen. Thats why I've been toying with the idea of forgoing a Trophy and instead maybe a used dynamometer. Its a hard choice as I would love to add a trophy to the stable.

I'd ride my arse to Illinois if'n you do - will you use Tune Ecu or Tuneboy if the bikes not running PC3 or 5?

 

[Wrecka]

Fuel economy sounds like crud. My R3R with Ramair , Evilmitch headers , custom Muffler and dyno tuned map from similar setup gets around 270klm per tank with a few litres left. Im also running a big heavy car tire that im guessing wouldn't be benifical to fuel economy?