ECU remap......confused!!

[snowr0]

Evening all!
After buying me S10 in July, just back from western France and Picos trip, 2800 miles in 12 days, best tool I've ever owned for touring, apart from the good lady having minor gripes about passenger seat! :-[
Side edges putting pressure on inner thighs......any ideas? :question:
Anyhow, after loads of miles, fully laden and all road conditions, noted that fuelling, especially at altitude, could be better for smoother control and delivery.
Read soooo much about remap of ECU, ECUnleashed or Velox racing, but as not "wedged to the hilt", really feel that I need to know more before the kids dinner money is spent on "another" bike mod!
What is the general concensus, does it really transform the motor?
Cost, Velox £150, sounds fair, Off the Road remap, €389, £312, why so much more and what do you get?
Biggest question is how do I know if mines' been done already?
Easiest would be to find someone, preferrably local, who'd let me have a go on a chipped ECU bike!
Im in the West Midlands, Newport in Shropshire, between Stafford and Telford, if anyone willing to allow an evaluation test ride I would be greatly appreciated and subby fuel if needed.
Dick Snow.

 

[tenbob]

Aup! Dont know about the seat mate as my Mrs is happy as a pig in muck on the back? Been reading up myself about the ECU unleash n from what I gather its highly rated by the vast majority of folks who've had it done. Others might churp up n explain it better, but think if the the initial off the throttle pick up stumbles a bit as ya talking off in the first few gears then it ain't been done (like mine). I think I want to have it done, save the silly cost over here?, but am also scared to get the ball in motion due to knowing zip about the voodoo subject that is electrics... ???

 

[snowr0]

Tenbob, thanks for that, was wondering what would be a noticeable fact if the remap had been done or not, that helps.
Still would like a go on a mapped one to see if there is a noticeable difference.
Can't get over why Velox Racing at £150 are soooo much cheaper, mailed them and this was the reply:-
"Hi Richard, there is no way to tell if the ECU has been flashed if there is not one of our stickers on the ECU.
There is no way we can read the ECU and see what settings are on it.
The service offered by others is the same as ours, probably using the same kit we use and supply if you want a kit of your ownso you can flash the ECU yourself, the kits are £300."

So.......sorely tempted.............

 

[Checkswrecks]

There are numerous threads already about flashing the ECU and the search function works really well on this forum. In few words for the pre-2014 bikes, it does make a world of difference to have the Sport mode re-flashed. As soon as the shop doing it plugs in your ECU, they will be able to tell what software is running.

I'll offer a few thoughts toward your pillion seat.
One is to flatten it slightly. Do a search on my avatar name and pillion seat and you should find the photos for how I cut a plastic shim to raise the front by about a cm. With that and the small Airhawk, my pillion rider is very happy back there.

To re-contour the seat, you could also consider the Seat Concepts recover kit, which costs $156 US. Again, numerous threads already exist about it.

 

[The Ferret]

For the pillion seat try a sheepskin. I use a half skin on the rider sat for long journeys and its very comfortable.

 

[Rasher]

Had the exact same issues myself when I bought mine and did a lot of two-up touring.

The flash makes a HUGE difference, the fuelling is not off at altitude, just that when you get to the mountains you get tight hairpins that have you lugging out of bends in low gears at low revs - bang in the middle of the restrictions.

My Mrs had the same issue with the seat, Tony Archer re-worked both rider and passenger seat, cost about £100 inc postage for the pair, and extra inch of foam sorted it out and made it far more comfy.

I also changed the rear shock (another huge gain) and re-worked the front forks with linear springs (well MCT did) and that also made a good difference to both comfort and front end feedback.

Your not a million miles away so if you wanted to ride down you could go for a spin with my seat(s) and see if you like them.