race tuner woes

[hercengmech]

Hey all,
I've been having a lovely time with my new race tuner. I've got an '04 vrod with force streetfighter pipes installed, topless aircleaner and se air filter element. When I try to program the ecm, it says that it cannot communicate with the bike. The wires are connected correctly and I haven't had the ecm flashed before (I've heard that sometimes that will cause the rt to not acknowledge the vin and ecm of the bike. Any solutions? Someone told me that you have to disconnect the knock sensor or something like that. Jog any memories? The user manual said nothing about that, but its worth a try.

[springer-]

Is the run switch on the handle bar in the run position when you turn the bike on to program it? I am not sure about the V-Rods but some of the big twins have 2 of the same 4 pin connectors that the SERT plugs into. Only one of them is the right plug. You might check to see that you are pluged into the right plug, if it has 2 also.

In the 01-03 Big Twins, there was a incomplete vin number problem with the ECM and the SERT wouldn't read it or work. In that case the dealer can reload your ECM with a stock flash and put in your VIN to correct it. I don't know if this would be the same on a V-Rod since I have minimal experience with them.

Another possibility, are you selecting a com port before you try to program it?

[Vetteman]

Herengmech,

I shot you an email early this a.m. but your work firewall kicked it back to me. Springer pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The only thing I had to add was are you using a USB/serial port on your laptop?

Let us know how it turns out.

[hercengmech]

You all are very right. I didn't have the ignition switch on the handlebar in the "run" position. It works fine now. Before I found that info out, my local stealership tried to lie to me and tell me that a stock ecm must have a se flash before the race tuner will work. All along he probably new what the problem was. What a bunch of jerks. Never, never, ever use harley davidson world of oklahoma city. Go to the dealership in Stillwater, OK.

[frankencat]

Been there, done that

[Vetteman]

Glad to see you're up and tuning

For the most part HD dealerships are very honest. I have a lot of respect for Willie and his company. The problem stems from the need to tune out EFI systems on these bikes in a culture that hasn't adopted well to the technology as a whole. HD needs to inject new blood into their tuning process or step aside and let us third party tuners take over the market. The culture is already migrating in this direction.

My love for this "sport" stems from my automotive racing and tuning background. Working with far more advanced EFI systems and software than SERT, I find tuning EFI bikes a blast. Not too complicated and lots of room to incorporate some automotive technology into their systems for drivability sake. There are several products on the market that you can purchase today that provide a feedback system but like cars, require additional tuning to maximize the bike's performance.

The focus now is to miniaturize components like a wideband O2 sensor so it can be tucked away in the exhaust system so it doesn't present an eye sore to the owner. That's just the tip of the iceberg!

Have fun learning your new software, but keep in mind it's a good idea to get a wideband A/F reading on the bike to see how close to stoch (14.7 A/F) your tune is once you change the map (you can read the plugs like we did in the old days but that's and art all to itself). Another way to accomplish this is to put the bike on a dyno with a wideband A/F. As with any IC engine, running a lean A/F (above 14.7) in the power band will cause detonation and permanent engine damage that won't be covered under your HD warranty or extended warranty contact.

As in any forum, I'm sure you will get many more points-of-view in this thread from other members.

Cheers

[Totenkopf]

Originally Posted by Vetteman

Glad to see you're up and tuning

For the most part HD dealerships are very honest. I have a lot of respect for Willie and his company. The problem stems from the need to tune out EFI systems on these bikes in a culture that hasn't adopted well to the technology as a whole. HD needs to inject new blood into their tuning process or step aside and let us third party tuners take over the market. The culture is already migrating in this direction.

My love for this "sport" stems from my automotive racing and tuning background. Working with far more advanced EFI systems and software than SERT, I find tuning EFI bikes a blast. Not too complicated and lots of room to incorporate some automotive technology into their systems for drivability sake. There are several products on the market that you can purchase today that provide a feedback system but like cars, require additional tuning to maximize the bike's performance.

The focus now is to miniaturize components like a wideband O2 sensor so it can be tucked away in the exhaust system so it doesn't present an eye sore to the owner. That's just the tip of the iceberg!

Have fun learning your new software, but keep in mind it's a good idea to get a wideband A/F reading on the bike to see how close to stoch (14.7 A/F) your tune is once you change the map (you can read the plugs like we did in the old days but that's and art all to itself). Another way to accomplish this is to put the bike on a dyno with a wideband A/F. As with any IC engine, running a lean A/F (above 14.7) in the power band will cause detonation and permanent engine damage that won't be covered under your HD warranty or extended warranty contact.

As in any forum, I'm sure you will get many more points-of-view in this thread from other members.

Cheers

Vetteman,
I agree wholeheartedly!

I installed a AFR gauge on my bike and my front cylinder pipe has a O2 sensor port 2" from the exhaust port. The gauge and Bosch O2 sensor seem to indicate about 1 point more rich than a sniffer up the pipe but at least I know the offset and can tune with the on bike AFR gauge. It's really a benefit to have real time feedback ALL the time. The only thing I wish I'd been smarter about is getting a port built into the rear pipe when it was being fabricated so I could monitor it also. There is definitely an offset between the two cylinders when I read the plugs( it's an art is right!). But I'm having a lot of fun and it's really interesting when old school guys look at my bike and notice the O2 sensor in the pipe and have no idea what it is or the gauge up on the handlebars.