vifferman
18th November 2005, 15:03
Do Not FIDDLE!
I've found some fiddlin' I can do that doesn't seem to invoke my beloved mate's ire, nor violate the "And don't you dare fiddle with this one!" rule.:blink:
I have a friend who has a 1998 VFR800. Not long after he bought it (due in part to my encouragement), he managed to score a brand-new Power Commander in a K&N clearance sale, for the non-princely sum of $US35, shipped. As you can imagine (if you can do elementary maths) this is quite a saving over the normal $US300 price.:blank:
So for the past year or more, this PC has sat in its box, untouched, untested, unloved, until I came along and asked if I could borrow it. For a bit. Of pseudo-fiddling, I guess.
He said "Sure! No worries! Yes, you can! Why not!"
Righty-ho then! Let's do it.:2thumbsup
Blatant Fiddling
The first thing I did was some vandalism: unplugging the oxygen sensors from the wiring loom.
The second task was some tomfoolery, to wit: fooling the ECU into thinking the oxygen sensors were still connected, by plugging some 330ohm resistors into the O2 sensor plugs. This stops the ECU indicating an error, but because it realises the bogus sensors are talking nonsense, it won't run the EFI in closed-loop mode.
I rode the bike like this for a bit, and it was a big improvement, as the transition between closed-loop and open-loop mode can be "a bit problematic", and closed-loop mode is ultra-lean, complete with lean surges, pinking when hot, and all that. The bike now felt like a carburetted bike.
Commanding Up The Power
Next task was to fit the Power Commander - a veritable piece of piss, despite my bike having a hissy fit and biting a piece out of my finger. Owie!
(I was going to put some photos in, and maybe I'll do it later, but it's so simple, there's not much to illustrate).
1. Unclip cover over ECU, under seat, in tail of bike.
2. Pull ECU out, and unplug grey plug.
3. Plug PC into ECU, and grey plug into PC.
4. Put ECU back, and replace cover.
5. Stick PC on undertray using velcro.
Software
The Power Commander doesn't actually do anything to the ECU - it just intercepts the signals passed from the ECU to the injectors, and modifies the pulse time, according to three tables, and the ignition timing using a fourth table. The tables may be edited via Windows-based software, then loaded onto the PC unit via a USB connection or serial cable. Each set of four tables is a map.
The tables are like spreadsheets, and have columns representing throttle position, and rows representing engine revs. Each cell may have a range of values, depending on what the table represents, and the model of bike.
Power Commander provide a range of maps as starting points, and others are available from the Interdweeb. The maps are tiny (3kb or so), and have space for explanatory notes to be added).
In addition, there are three buttons on the PC which can be used to lean or richen the fuel mixture over three ranges each of which encompasses one-third of the rev range of the bike (Low, Mid, High). Each tap of the button enriches the mixture, and each (longer) press leans it, by 4% (in the case of the PCII I was using) or 2% (PCIII). Any changes made this way are in addition to whatever the map is doing.
So, How's It Go, Mistah?
It's a mixed bag. You'd think that there would be little difference between various models of aftermarket zorsts, and years of bike. And you'd also expect (I did!) that if I chose a map that sounded closest to my bike's setup, it would be right, right? Wrong! (that's worngA, eh Ixion?)
I started off with one labelled, "VFR800, stock, standard airfilter, Staintune exhaust". It was crap! It had some hole thing going on (henceforth known as "the herkyjerky"), and some lean bits here and there.
So I tried a Urpeen setup: crapper.
So I disconnected the PC.
Then I tried again, with some advice from another fiddler, and loaded a stock, standard, vanilla map. Not the 'zero' map (all zeros, funnily enough), which does nothing, but one for a stock standard bike. It was OK.
Then I added some button presses - +8% low-range, and +4% mid-range. Now we're talking.
Adventures in PC Land
Then I got more adventurous, and tried a map The Fellow Fiddler From Florida sent me over the Interdweeb - his bike was the same year, same setup (apart from the pipe), and he swore it turned his bike into a fire-breathing monster. It was semi-crap, partly because he'd done some weird things with the ignition timing, based on some other map PowerCommander had on their site, and it meant the bike went absolutely mental unless I was very careful with the throttle and clutch taking off, and held my tongue in just the right position.
So, I edited that, read the manuals again, fixed up the igntion timing somewhat (advanced only at big fistfuls of throttle), added some richness at low throttle openings, and disconnected the flapper valve. Just because I could - it doesn't do much except make the bike noisier.
It's...it's ... it's OK.
The lean surge has gone, and there's some real oomph here and there, but there's some bits that feel a bit 'doughy'. So there's more fiddling to do, which would be OK if I had a Palm Pilot, or the old laptop I'm using didn't take fifteen bazillion years to do anything. It takes longer to fire up the laptop than it does to edit the map or load it onto the Power Commander.
Now What?
Whelp, I have to give the PC back before New Year.:doh:
But, I knew that. So what I'm going to do next is fiddle with the Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR), as there's an easy mod that costs nothing (nada) that can boost fuel pressure by 10% and make things sweeter, which is what the aim of all this is. Well, that and the fiddling.:blip:
I've found some fiddlin' I can do that doesn't seem to invoke my beloved mate's ire, nor violate the "And don't you dare fiddle with this one!" rule.:blink:
I have a friend who has a 1998 VFR800. Not long after he bought it (due in part to my encouragement), he managed to score a brand-new Power Commander in a K&N clearance sale, for the non-princely sum of $US35, shipped. As you can imagine (if you can do elementary maths) this is quite a saving over the normal $US300 price.:blank:
So for the past year or more, this PC has sat in its box, untouched, untested, unloved, until I came along and asked if I could borrow it. For a bit. Of pseudo-fiddling, I guess.
He said "Sure! No worries! Yes, you can! Why not!"
Righty-ho then! Let's do it.:2thumbsup
Blatant Fiddling
The first thing I did was some vandalism: unplugging the oxygen sensors from the wiring loom.
The second task was some tomfoolery, to wit: fooling the ECU into thinking the oxygen sensors were still connected, by plugging some 330ohm resistors into the O2 sensor plugs. This stops the ECU indicating an error, but because it realises the bogus sensors are talking nonsense, it won't run the EFI in closed-loop mode.
I rode the bike like this for a bit, and it was a big improvement, as the transition between closed-loop and open-loop mode can be "a bit problematic", and closed-loop mode is ultra-lean, complete with lean surges, pinking when hot, and all that. The bike now felt like a carburetted bike.
Commanding Up The Power
Next task was to fit the Power Commander - a veritable piece of piss, despite my bike having a hissy fit and biting a piece out of my finger. Owie!
(I was going to put some photos in, and maybe I'll do it later, but it's so simple, there's not much to illustrate).
1. Unclip cover over ECU, under seat, in tail of bike.
2. Pull ECU out, and unplug grey plug.
3. Plug PC into ECU, and grey plug into PC.
4. Put ECU back, and replace cover.
5. Stick PC on undertray using velcro.
Software
The Power Commander doesn't actually do anything to the ECU - it just intercepts the signals passed from the ECU to the injectors, and modifies the pulse time, according to three tables, and the ignition timing using a fourth table. The tables may be edited via Windows-based software, then loaded onto the PC unit via a USB connection or serial cable. Each set of four tables is a map.
The tables are like spreadsheets, and have columns representing throttle position, and rows representing engine revs. Each cell may have a range of values, depending on what the table represents, and the model of bike.
Power Commander provide a range of maps as starting points, and others are available from the Interdweeb. The maps are tiny (3kb or so), and have space for explanatory notes to be added).
In addition, there are three buttons on the PC which can be used to lean or richen the fuel mixture over three ranges each of which encompasses one-third of the rev range of the bike (Low, Mid, High). Each tap of the button enriches the mixture, and each (longer) press leans it, by 4% (in the case of the PCII I was using) or 2% (PCIII). Any changes made this way are in addition to whatever the map is doing.
So, How's It Go, Mistah?
It's a mixed bag. You'd think that there would be little difference between various models of aftermarket zorsts, and years of bike. And you'd also expect (I did!) that if I chose a map that sounded closest to my bike's setup, it would be right, right? Wrong! (that's worngA, eh Ixion?)
I started off with one labelled, "VFR800, stock, standard airfilter, Staintune exhaust". It was crap! It had some hole thing going on (henceforth known as "the herkyjerky"), and some lean bits here and there.
So I tried a Urpeen setup: crapper.
So I disconnected the PC.
Then I tried again, with some advice from another fiddler, and loaded a stock, standard, vanilla map. Not the 'zero' map (all zeros, funnily enough), which does nothing, but one for a stock standard bike. It was OK.
Then I added some button presses - +8% low-range, and +4% mid-range. Now we're talking.
Adventures in PC Land
Then I got more adventurous, and tried a map The Fellow Fiddler From Florida sent me over the Interdweeb - his bike was the same year, same setup (apart from the pipe), and he swore it turned his bike into a fire-breathing monster. It was semi-crap, partly because he'd done some weird things with the ignition timing, based on some other map PowerCommander had on their site, and it meant the bike went absolutely mental unless I was very careful with the throttle and clutch taking off, and held my tongue in just the right position.
So, I edited that, read the manuals again, fixed up the igntion timing somewhat (advanced only at big fistfuls of throttle), added some richness at low throttle openings, and disconnected the flapper valve. Just because I could - it doesn't do much except make the bike noisier.
It's...it's ... it's OK.
The lean surge has gone, and there's some real oomph here and there, but there's some bits that feel a bit 'doughy'. So there's more fiddling to do, which would be OK if I had a Palm Pilot, or the old laptop I'm using didn't take fifteen bazillion years to do anything. It takes longer to fire up the laptop than it does to edit the map or load it onto the Power Commander.
Now What?
Whelp, I have to give the PC back before New Year.:doh:
But, I knew that. So what I'm going to do next is fiddle with the Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR), as there's an easy mod that costs nothing (nada) that can boost fuel pressure by 10% and make things sweeter, which is what the aim of all this is. Well, that and the fiddling.:blip: