Best ECU reflash?

[twinrider]

Being in Japan, I will have to send my ECU overseas to get it reflashed. Italy is out as I don't want to deal with customs delays. That leaves ECU Unleashed and Off The Road. Has anyone determined if there is any performance difference between the two reflashes?

Been reading up on it but haven't found a clear conclusion other than some of the European S10 owners raved about the performance after the OTR reflash, and some of the ECU Unleashed reflash reviews seemed a bit tepid, saying there wasn't a whole lot of difference other than the 1-3 restrictions being removed.

Any enlightenment is appreciated.

 

[MotoPumps]

::017::

 

[gbergma1]

Below is the response I got from the ecu unleashed folks:

"Hello Geoffrey,

Thank you for your inquiry. We have a great Tune File available for the 2012 Super Tenere. We work on each of the internal parameters of each ECU including, removing any factory restrictions (ignition and/or throttle), optimize fuel and ignition curves, deceleration maps, throttle maps, rev limit,and many more. This allows us to maximize horsepower while also significantly improving the ride-ability and control of the bike. Plus we are able to accommodate for modifications that have been done to the bike (ie exhaust system, intake, etc).

We are not disabling the O2 sensor at this time, however we have drastically improved throttle response and eliminated a lot of the common problems with the XT1200's fueling.

Details on the XT reflash and its benefits -
Our reflash effects the Sport mode only, leaving the Touring mode stock for rain, off-road and situations in which traction is more critical than power.

The flash offers great horsepower gains throughout the the RPM and in all gears ......but really shines in the mid-range with gains of up to 12 HP, where a majority of Tenere riders will spend most of their time. The overall power gains range anywhere from +4-12hp with no additional modifications. The smaller 3-4 HP gains are at the top of the rpm range which is still good considering this bike is not really meant for huge top end power.

The flash is beneficial on many levels from power to the much improved ride-ability and predictable of the on/off throttle characteristics due to our tuned deceleration maps. Here is an excerpt from our FAQ Page which specifically address the power limitations/struggle the Super Tenere is known to have in its first 3 gears:

My bike has an irritating jerkiness or delay with the on/off throttle at certain RPM. Can the ECUnleashed ECU Service fix this problem?? In each of the ECU parameters (Fuel, Ignition, etc) we have the ability to tune each maps, in each gear, at each RPM. We develop our Tune Files not only for maximum power increase but we also significantly smooth out the power/torque curves making the bike more consistent feeling. This helps a ton with the jerky on/off throttle that is notorious in most modern sportbikes. It helps eliminate upsetting the chassis during mid corner throttle corrections, while also assisting in corner entry and exit. We also work on the deceleration maps which considerably helps corner entry. It reduces the amount of engine braking that comes on when decelerating for a corner.


Attached are a few different dyno graphs showing gains in different gears. There were no additional mods besides the ECU flash. Also offered are the standard adjustments like, extended rev limit, remove top speed limiter, etc. You can also see our Tune of the Month for August 2011, which featured the XT1200 Super Tenere for additional results from the reflash.




-ECUnleashed Staff



ECUnleashed Tuning Technology LLC
info@ecunleashed.com"

 

[~TABASCO~]

I have it and it works. We do this for other customers as well and works very well for each customer.

 

[X5]

ECUnleashed Flash +1

 

[Dallara]

Being in Japan, I will have to send my ECU overseas to get it reflashed. Italy is out as I don't want to deal with customs delays. That leaves ECU Unleashed and Off The Road. Has anyone determined if there is any performance difference between the two reflashes?

Been reading up on it but haven't found a clear conclusion other than some of the European S10 owners raved about the performance after the OTR reflash, and some of the ECU Unleashed reflash reviews seemed a bit tepid, saying there wasn't a whole lot of difference other than the 1-3 restrictions being removed.

Any enlightenment is appreciated.

Comparing the ECUunleashed and Off-The-Road DE re-flashes you might consider the following:

1.) Personally I can't even recall of one person that posts on these forums that has gone with the Off-The-Road re-flash. Maybe there has been, but I honestly can't remember seeing any posts from any here or on the Super Tenere board. You'd think that if it was clearly superior somebody, somewhere would have noted that, and the word would have spread...

2.) Lots of folks have had their ECU's re-flashed with the ECUunleashed mapping and yet I cannot recall one, single, solitary report of any problems or dissatisfaction.

3.) Remember that with the ECUunleashed re-flash you can easily, readily, and quickly have your ECU returned to stock mapping if you don't like the ECUunleashed re-flash, and most shops I know of that do the ECUunleashed re-flashes will gladly return your ECU to stock for no additional charge if you don't like it.

4.) Despite this option of easily going back to stock mapping, I cannot recall any instance of anyone, anywhere deciding to dump the ECUunleashed re-flash and return to stock mapping.

I'll leave it to you to follow those points to the logical conclusion...

And I can highly recommend the folks at AF-1 Racing in New Braunfels, TX - specifically Ed Cook there - as a reputable, reliable, and professional shop to do the ECUunleashed re-flash.

And as I mentioned over on ADVrider, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, Twinrider...

But this very subject has been hashed, rehashed, and rehashed again, over and over, here and on the ADVrider forum. My honest, best recommendation from here on in on the re-flash is for you to spend some time with the "Search" functions on various forums. No sense in all the same folks having to type the same stuff again and again.

For instance, I promise that if you carefully search you will quickly find you answer to your "who develops the re-flashes" question you posed on ADVrider. It's been answered... and answered... and answered... here and there, repeatedly.

In the end you're still going to have to decide on only one, that is unless you get more than one ECU, like I suggested to you on the other forum.

Dallara



~

 

[twinrider]

Comparing the ECUunleashed and Off-The-Road DE re-flashes you might consider the following:

1.) Personally I can't even recall of one person that posts on these forums that has gone with the Off-The-Road re-flash. Maybe there has been, but I honestly can't remember seeing any posts from any here or on the Super Tenere board. You'd think that if it was clearly superior somebody, somewhere would have noted that, and the word would have spread...
Dallara



~

Tobers, the inmate who started the reflash results only thread. Pretty ecstatic over the results.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=3640.0

I think geography plays a big role in what service most people use. For me, I have to send it overseas in either case so...

 

[Dallara]

Tobers, the inmate who started the reflash results only thread. Pretty ecstatic over the results.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=3640.0

I think geography plays a big role in what service most people use. For me, I have to send it overseas in either case so...

Well, ya' got me... There's one.

Dallara


~

 

[Rasher]

I think they're are a few factors to consider:-

1. Some market machines may be less restricted making the flashes less noticeable - I don't think anyone can confirm this for sure, but it could be a factor.

2. Some people use lower gears more, those who ride predominantly fast roads are less likely to notice the difference, if you live at the top / bottom of an Alpine pass the difference will seem astonishing, if you commute down a freeeway / motorway you would barely notice the difference.

3. All the flashes will remove the throttle restrictions which makes the most difference (and can be done with clutch switch)

4. The differences are most likely to be down to how refined the fuelling / ignition maps are, but I would guess all flashes are a good improvement on OE, and any difference from one flash to another will be relatively small.

5. Some flashes do tidy up the fuelling in touring mode, others leave it entirely stock.

6. All engines are slightly different and a Flash is still a generic one size fits all - this may be why some bikes respond better than others as the flash would be developed on one bike, and will be about 90-95% optimal on most bikes, and only 100% spot on on the actual bike they used.

Adding a power commander would get it perfect with the Flash removing the retrictions and the PC optimising fuelling for YOUR bike.

The UK ECU Unleased dealer ha stold me there is still a significant difference between a flashed bike and a flashed bike + Power commander - and a significant price difference as the flash is about £300, but adding a PC5 and custom mapping takes the total bill to about £1,000.

You could use the clutch mod + a PC5 and custom map with the 50 cent / pence clutch mod, but this works out about £650 so is still a lot more than just the Flash.

In the UK there are some ECU tuners, I know of one who decodes ECU's himself (ECU Unleashed use Piasini equipment) but has yet to do a Tenere, and with the Yamaha ECU you can only Flash back and not read back, so to get the original software from an ECU needs to hack one open, but once sorted he can normally do anything including fuelling, ignition, throttle timings, changing default mode, adjusting rev limits in each gear and sometimes altering closed loop settings. This would be my prefered route, but I don't want my ECU hacked open and have been unable to find a used one to give him - but he is offering a free flash to the first Tenere owner (Who does not mind the ECU being cut open, apparently he only needs a small slot to get to the pns on the circuit board to read out the codes)

I think any Flash will be good compared to stock, and for the ultimate motor you will need a custom map, or to add a Power Commander. I think most of us would be happy with a flash, i am pretty chuffed with the clutch mod, but with my exhaust system I do need a custom map.

 

[streaky]

Tobers, the inmate who started the reflash results only thread. Pretty ecstatic over the results.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=3640.0

I think geography plays a big role in what service most people use. For me, I have to send it overseas in either case so...

I got mine done by Off road .de as well ,Brilliant ,Different bike, They can put it back to standard as well , But why would you want to , ,Four day turn around ,Highly recomended

 

[triman11427]

I've just sent my ECU to be flashed with ECUnleashed for 2 basic reasons. Remove the 1-3 gear restrictions and the abrupt deceleration issue when off throttle. Although I don't live on an alpine pass I do commute daily and I find these 2 issues most pressing. The bike is really very competent at stock but those that have done an ECUnleased flash seem to be very satisfied. I don't see the need for this type of bike to have 135hp. I am consistently finding myself doing 80+ and the bike isn't stressing at all. I've had it up to triple digits, and on this bike that's plenty fast. The other issue is how far do I want to take this bike from stock and how much money do I want to invest in it. I come from the Harley world where the cheapest expense was buying the bike. The upgrades and aftermarket products available are ridiculous. I promised myself some restraint when I purchased the S10. So I decided to get a new can, replace the air filter and do the flash. I'm hoping this will be sufficient and I know a PC5 and auto tune would be the ultimate, but alas I would be breaking my promise. I'm very confident the upgrades will help bring the bike very close to where I will be satisfied for years to come. At least that's my plan. Jaxon has been indispensable with imparting his extensive knowledge and experience with these decisions. His patience knows no bounds. ::012::

 

[3putt]

28,000 miles and still stock.

 

[snakebitten]

19,500 miles.
The drivetrain is the ONLY thing still stock. But so far the clutch mod is plenty sufficient. 3 modes.

 

[Jerry]

ECU Unleashed- great.

 

[Blue Star]

TR, you can get ecuunleashed flash done in TOKYO too. Look for their dealer in Tokyo. Slightly pricier but turnaround is a day. You need to feel comfortable with the local dealer playing with your ecu though, they speak Japanese only. I couldn't get much confidence. Else I suggest sending to Australia (look for dealer on ecu's website) I once spoke to the dealer and he was very knowledgible. Also postal charges to Australia is cheap and turnaround is quick.

On a side note - let's catchup offline on our s10 vibes. I haven't ridden at all since we met so no chance to offer swap test.