dynojet powercommander worth the cost for 2004 cafe sport?

[xroads]

i am getting my cafe sport ready for some serious riding.  got the carbon exhaust on, buell footpegs install, roper plate on order.  what can i expect to get in terms of performance gains w/dynojet powercommander?  i have looked online, and the only late ones that i can find are for 2001.  is this the same as a 2004?  who would have the best price?  any help appreciated.  thanks.

[GuzziMoto]

The wifes V11 has a Power Commander. It is an earlier red frame model. The Power Commander was a big improvement, not so much in absolute power but in improved drivability and better response. If yours has an O2 sensor then the results may be somewhat reduced without taking the sensor out of the loop. If you buy a Power Commander I suggest you buy one from someone who actually knows Guzzi's as they are not really well supported by DynoJet and having someone with a good map database will help a lot. Todd at GuzziTech comes to mind. I would suggest you go with whoever can support you with maps and technical support the best rather then who is the cheapest as Power Commanders are just like every other computer, garbage in garbage out.

 

That said, the current trend seems to be reprogramming the stock ecu. It seems like a better way to go, but I had already done the work for the Power Commander so unless an issue arises I probably won't open that can of worms. But if I was to have to do it all over again I would seriously look into it. There is a thread here that covers it.

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17865

I would read that before deciding.

[fotoguzzi]

with Mistral exhaust I'm pretty sure I don't need a PC3.. I have it well tuned and can't believe it would give me any more the a couple HP.. not worth it to me, my bike runs perfect!.

[droydx]

I added a PC to my 03 after adding a FBF open lid airbox, Stucchi X-over and Mistral TI cans. After adjusting, it removed the stock mid range stumble at around 4K and added a lot to the top end, which was extremely lean with the modifications. The bike pulls hard now all the way to redline.

 

Like anything, you have to start with a good baseline tune up, make sure that all settings are spot on for fueling, TPS settings, balance, etc. and then you can fine tune with the PC.

 

A lot of guys will reflash their ecu's once and be done with it, but I like being able to do it myself, when and if it needs it, and have been very pleased with the addition.

 

Andy

[moto fugazzi]

The PC3 probably won't do a whole lot of good unless you have a custom map made for it. My 2001 V11S ran so much better once I had my dealer setup everything properly (I have Stucchi X-over and Mistral silencers), then he put a CO meter on the bike and adjusted the CO trim to +10 (CO reading of 4.0). I did add my PC3 to his setup just to fine tune it since I already have one, an AFR meter, and the DJ LCD100 display. I had to add and subtract fuel in some places on the map, but in all honesty, it's probably not necessary since my bike runs so well after the setup. MPG also has gone from 33MPG to 39MPG after the dealer setup, but before I added the PC3.

Ken

[GuzziMoto]

I added a PC to my 03 after adding a FBF open lid airbox, Stucchi X-over and Mistral TI cans. After adjusting, it removed the stock mid range stumble at around 4K and added a lot to the top end, which was extremely lean with the modifications. The bike pulls hard now all the way to redline.

 

Like anything, you have to start with a good baseline tune up, make sure that all settings are spot on for fueling, TPS settings, balance, etc. and then you can fine tune with the PC.

 

A lot of guys will reflash their ecu's once and be done with it, but I like being able to do it myself, when and if it needs it, and have been very pleased with the addition.

 

Andy

The new thing now is that you can flash the ecu yourself. That way you can flash it and re-flash it as much as you need to. It offers all the adjust-ability of the Power Commander, plus it sounds like more. It also lets you access the ignition map as I understand it. Prior to this you had to run a MyECU to have that kind of adjust-ability. The Power Commander is OK, as mentioned I have one and it works well for me. But the ability to adjust the ignition timing would be awesome.

Some people have the stock ecu and are happy with it. Others found they needed to improve on that, either because they had modified their bikes or they were not happy with the way their stock ecu ran the bike.

I took the original question to be what are the advantages of the Power Commander. In my experience the advantages are better throttle response and improved drive-ability more the out right power. If you are happy with the way it works stock and don't have a need to improve that aspect of your bike than it may not be worth it to add a Power Commander. Plus, as mentioned, there are better options available now.

[xroads]

great response from all, but i'm still a bit in the dark.  assuming i don't pop for a pc3 and if i want to learn to "do it myself", what tools will i need to redo my ecu so that i can maximize the benefits of my less restrictive exhaust?  how do i tune the computer to run w/my setup?

[fotoguzzi]

with software called VDST or Guzzidiag.. it will assist in setting everything right but is not a re-flash of the CPU.

[GuzziMoto]

Did you read the thread I linked to that covers it?

The first line starts out with a quote from Paul, "The last 2 years I've been busy with others to work on diagnosics for the guzzi ECU and now reflashing it too."

It goes on to explain what you need, what you can do, and how to do it.

[xroads]

yes, i did go to the link.  my knowledge of computer controlled equipment is very low and frankly, i'm intimidated and somewhat ashamed by my lack of technological expertise in this area.  i can dial in any tonti frame w/carbs in a half hour flat.  i am also good a building long range shooting instruments that hold a minute or less at 1000 yards, but i have no idea what that link was talking about.  i feel like such a dweeb.

[Tom M]

Here's my  ,

 

No matter what you do the first and most important thing that you need to do is make sure the bike is properly tuned before you do anything with the fuel mapping. Check and adjust the valves to spec, balance the throttle bodies, and verify the TPS is set correctly.

 

The 2004 bikes had decent mapping from the factory.  You would probably see a fairly modest gain in performance over stock with aftermarket cans and a PCIII or a remapped ECU.  Your money might be better spent on an aftermarket exhaust crossover.  They really help get rid of the 4k rpm flat spot in the torque curve that all the stock V11s have.  I have before and after dyno runs that show it, but more importantly you will feel the difference.  The Mistral will give a heftier boost in the midrange but the FBF or Stucchi will help the midrange and the top end.  (Don't get an FBF crossover, they all crack sooner or later.)  If you were to go with pods or open up the airbox in addition to the exhaust mods you would need to do something with the fuel mapping to richen it up.

 

A PCIII might be the best way to go for someone who doesn't really want to get deeply into ECU mapping.  If you buy a PCIII from Guzzitech and tell Todd what mods you have on your bike he will supply a map that should work well.  If you add more mods later you can either modify your own map yourself (it's easy), find another map from Todd or here, or have a custom map done.  There are also lots of shops that can create a custom map for your bike.  One of the best in your area is Dyno Solutions.  They did a real nice job on my bike for the previous owner.

 

The only real downsides of the PCIII that I can think of is it can't modify the ignition curve, and there isn't a very large library of maps available on the web.  It sure would be nice if more members here posted their maps to the fileshare section

[docc]

xroads,

 

Not to take anything away from the guys who have had good results from the PC, and now the excellent work Paul has given us, but there are those among us who have had very good results with the V11's factory tuning parameters. For me, it took a few "tune-ups" to get the results. If you can dope F-class you can tune your Guzzi.

 

Once you've mastered the factory settings and you are still not satisfied, there are these other options which many here will continue to help with.

 

(ie: when you're not grouping, the answer is probably not changing optics.)