Tuning Tools

I've been looking at alternatives to Dyno tuning.

I realise getting my bike to a quality Dyno with people who know what they're doing is the best way to get the tune spot on but I'm not aware of any good ones in Canberra, let alone any who can/will tune a bike without a PCV.

I'd love to go down to Victor Harbor and have Mr. Lush take a crack at it but it's a bloody long way to go and would take time I haven't got.

So ... what about real time data logging?

CANLogger1000

Here's a device which costs 169 Euros, will plug into the OBD2 port and log 32 channels at a time while riding, presumably including the O2 sensor, TPS, RPM, MAP sensor, Ignition timing etc.

I know the O2 sensor isn't a wide band item so there's that. And of course, I'm not a dyno guy.

But provided I can get the bike to stick within safe AFR range, is this worth pursuing to help fine tune?

Does the Rocket have a knock sensor so I can be sure the ignition curve isn't too aggressive.

Why not just use an Auto-Tune which will tune the bike as you ride it?

PCV/AT

idk said:

Why not just use an Auto-Tune which will tune the bike as you ride it?

PCV/AT

Click to expand...

That may very well be an option. It is significantly more expensive than the CAN Logger 1000.

PCV + AT is about $800 - $900 AUD.
CAN Logger 1000 is about $300 AUD.

I reckon I'd learn more about tuning my bike using the CAN Logger too.

I don't think that the 06 rockets used canbus system.

ChrisACT said:

That may very well be an option. It is significantly more expensive than the CAN Logger 1000.

I reckon I'd learn more about tuning my bike using the CAN Logger too.

Click to expand...

OBD loggers can be found very cheap. BUT teh R3 is NOT OBD2 - It is barely OBD1. The plug is the only thing that is OBD2-ish.

All you need is AFR (real) RPM, TPS and maybe GEAR. The rest is pure analysis - not logging.

But without WideBandO2 you're stuffed. All you can do is approximate.
Also be aware the R3 has two sets of fuelling tables.
Download TuneECU first and simply LOOK at what's in there to change. Then decide.

What is the aim? - Power, economy, smoothness?
Do you know how much you ride at specific throttle openings?.
Tuning for WOT is pointless if you hardly get above 15%.

ChrisACT said:

That may very well be an option. It is significantly more expensive than the CAN Logger 1000.

PCV + AT is about $800 - $900 AUD.
CAN Logger 1000 is about $300 AUD.

I reckon I'd learn more about tuning my bike using the CAN Logger too.

Click to expand...

If you can afford it - get it. You will never regret getting quality, even if it is a bit more than originally budgeted. When you are enjoying your ride you won't be thinking about how much it cost. When you do other mods such as pipes or filters, the bike will retune itself and you will have saved time and money again. Do it once and do it right.

Chris the 730 mile (each way) ride to Lush's is the best thing you can do. I went 500 miles (each way) twice to get my Rocket tuned for the Dobeck Performance AFR Plus. This device is the answer if you are not going to get the dyno tune. My bike is also a 2006.

The more are two reasons CAN logging doesn’t work very well, I’ve tried.

One: The ECU update rate through the OBD connector is very slow, very very slow, I’m talking about 2 or 3 data point as you sweep through second gear. So to work with the data you have to extrapolate the missing data via interpolation, not the best method.

Two: No wideband sensor, so basically no good data. Even with a setup that adds a wideband into the data log like I was using, see problem number one.

The only good way to datalog I’ve found on an R3 is with PC-V, AT-200, POD-300 and use the MAP sensor as an optional (raw) input recording map values into the POD-300 logs.

Even doing it the last way, you miss out on an log of cells in the table that you can easily tune on a dyno but not so easily on the street. Doing sweeps through 20,25,30,40,50,60,70,78,100 percent throttle is a lot of time datalogging on the street. It’s also needs to be open road and preferably up hill so you spend longer in each cell of the table.

It can be done, but it takes quite a long time to do right. My street tune was close but I still picked up 6hp having it on a dyno in early 2017. The more power you have the harder it is to street tune as the bike shoots straight through cells in the table so quickly, once your over about 200hp it’s nearly impossible, trust me, I’ve tried (with some limited success). I’ve been street tuning vehicles for 14 years now and I’m still challenged on the R3, just avoid the headache and do it right

Thanks for your advice, guys.

Sounds like the Dyno is the go after all.

You casn pick up PC-V and auto tune pretty cheap on flea bay well cheapish anyway.