Things I've done and things to do............

Message

D-Rider · #16 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:13 am

gramey wrote: TPS is fine but is balancing the throttle bodies a DIY job?

Depends. If you want to do it the "proper way" by CO adjustment, probably not (I bought a gunson'd gastester to do this but can't get that to work well at all)
What you can easily do yourself is balance them with vacuum gauges - that's what I do.

#17 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:56 pm

D-Rider wrote:
gramey wrote: TPS is fine but is balancing the throttle bodies a DIY job?
Depends. If you want to do it the "proper way" by CO adjustment, probably not (I bought a gunson'd gastester to do this but can't get that to work well at all)
What you can easily do yourself is balance them with vacuum gauges - that's what I do.

What bits do you have to remove to do this Andy? Can the airbox remain in situ? And what take off points do you attach the vacuum leads to? I've got a carbtune that I bought for syncing the VFR carbs, and I've also used it to balance the Ducati TBs, but the Falco looks a lot more congested in that area than either of those other bikes.

spiderwheels · #18 Post by **spiderwheels** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:57 pm

mangocrazy wrote:
D-Rider wrote:
gramey wrote: TPS is fine but is balancing the throttle bodies a DIY job?
Depends. If you want to do it the "proper way" by CO adjustment, probably not (I bought a gunson'd gastester to do this but can't get that to work well at all)
What you can easily do yourself is balance them with vacuum gauges - that's what I do.
What bits do you have to remove to do this Andy? Can the airbox remain in situ? And what take off points do you attach the vacuum leads to? I've got a carbtune that I bought for syncing the VFR carbs, and I've also used it to balance the Ducati TBs, but the Falco looks a lot more congested in that area than either of those other bikes.

Instructions are here. I've been meaning to do mine but I haven't got around to it yet.

gramey · #19 Post by **gramey** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:19 pm

Well I'm slowly getting there, funds are always tight but I finally got round to ordering myself a pair of paddock stands from Ghost Bike as I got fed up with wheeling it backwards and forwards to clean it! I've also just ordered a pair of RS 125 long arm mirrors as recommended by Aladinsane as I've got bored of admiring my elbows :)
Final thing for the time being is to order a Gabro chip which I shall be doing in the next couple of days and apart from essential maintenance that will be it for this year.

Falco Frank · #20 Post by **Falco Frank** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 4:06 pm

SOrry for goign alittle off topic but which is ultimately best Gabro chip or Power commander?

D-Rider · #21 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 4:50 pm

Falco Frank wrote:SOrry for goign alittle off topic but which is ultimately best Gabro chip or Power commander?

There is no definitive answer.

The Gabro chip will give you good fuelling appropriate for the bike spec you tell Gabro that you want. It will also give you a revised ignition map.

The Power Commander gives you flexibility to adjust your fuelling according to whatever your set up evolves to.
You can download maps or fiddle about with the mapping with your PC .... but you are unlikely to get a very good result. To achieve that you need set up time on a dyno to develop a custom map.
The (custom) fuel mapping may be even better than with a Gabro chip as it will have been set for your own bike.
Modify your bike and get a new map done.
However you get no changes to the ignition map.

The best of both worlds is to get a Gabro chip for the ignition map and afterwards fit a Power Commander to fine-tune the fuelling and/or allow you to compensate for future changes.

I had a Power Commander but never got round to a custom map. I've since fitted a Gabro chip and have been so impressed that I've completely removed the PCIII. I've still got the Power Commander - just in case I ever make any real changes but in all probability I'll never re-fit it.

Also think of the costs. Gabro chip seems to be about €75 at present.
PCIII - cost of unit (a lot more than the Gabro) .... and then you've got to start paying for dyno time for your custom map.

So each has merits and together they have merits. There is no definitive "best" but I think the Gabro chip is the best value for money by far.

Aladinsaneuk · #22 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 6:00 pm

What he said

Though when the USA economy hosed too 2 dollars to the pound I did buy a pc3 for 150 quid new....

gramey · #23 Post by **gramey** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 6:59 pm

Well it's taken a bit longer than I'd hoped but I've finally ordered myself a Gabro chip

gramey · #24 Post by **gramey** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 5:58 pm

Well my Gabro chip arrived this morning and I fitted it this afternoon, unfortunately not in time to go and test it but the bike fired up sweet as a nut so at least I didn't fry it putting it in

gramey · #25 Post by **gramey** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 10:32 pm

Well I've given in and ordered myself a 15 tooth front sprocket as so many people in the past had suggested I should do so. I'm not sure I actually need any more acceleration as the bike launches quick enough for me as it is, but I'm told it will help in town use.

Aladinsaneuk · #26 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:30 am

As it happens, I do happen to have an evo gadget for balancing.....

Never used it but :)

blinkey501 · #27 Post by **blinkey501** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:50 am

Aladinsaneuk wrote:As it happens, I do happen to have an evo gadget for balancing.....

Never used it but :)

Does that monitor the co level?

gramey · #28 Post by **gramey** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:38 pm

Well the simple task of changing from a 16 to a 15 tooth sprocket turned out to be much harder than I thought. Mainly because whoever had the bike before me clearly wanted to calm the acceleration down, they'd squeezed a 17 tooth sprocket in there!

There was so little clearance in there that even with the back wheel out I had to prise it the last part of the way with very large screw driver.

Should notice a difference in getting away at the traffic lights going from 17 to 15 tooth front?

I also dropped my forks through as they had 5 rings above the top triple clamp, not the stock 3, and set about adjusting my heli bars to the nth degree. The kill switch literally just touches the tank if you push the bars had onto full lock but if the bars are that far round while riding I we'll have parted company by then! About a millimetre to spare from touching the fairing on either side so I'll have to see how it is to ride or if I need to cough up for a more expensive solution.

HisNibbs · #29 Post by **HisNibbs** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:35 pm

Wow a 17 tooth, for 120 mph cruising I guess. 5 rings above the top clap is cool though as it improves the front end feel turning in.

gramey · #30 Post by **gramey** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:51 pm

HisNibbs wrote:Wow a 17 tooth, for 120 mph cruising I guess. 5 rings above the top clap is cool though as it improves the front end feel turning in.

I'll see how it goes with the 3 rings, if it makes the front too lazy I'll pull the forks back up but I'll give it a try first and see how it handles.