Power Comander

I picked up a PC III in the group buy last month.
I finally got a chance to ride the bike today.

I also put in new plugs, fluids, & a K&N Air filter, since I had it all apart. I put on a Staintune low on last spring.

I was worried that I would not be able to tell the difference, I had not been on the bikes for months, and I had resigned my self to not being to impressed.

What I perceived in my ride is the bike has more grunt as I roll on the throttle coming out of turns, and that bit of hesitation in lower RPMs seems to have gone away as well. I always keep my Gas Tank full, so my fuel is not fresh. But it certainly felt like it was eager to get down the road, and didn;t seem to hesitate like it does on older gas.

I made several roll on passes on a two lane road and had to be careful to not hit three digit speeds.

Except for the fact that the Rev Limiter is not gone, I'm happy. I looked down at one point and the tac was spinning close to 13k. A little over red line, other than that, no other issues. The toughest part was fishing the cables and tacking apart the factory connectors.


Maybe it is just cuz it was the first ride of spring, but I really thing the bike ran better. In my book the Power Powercomander gets a thumbs up all around. (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif)

TommyHoffman, Apr 1 2007, 11:42 PMI picked up a PC III in the group buy last month.
I finally got a chance to ride the bike today.

I also put in new plugs, fluids, & a K&N Air filter, since I had it all apart. I put on a Staintune low on last spring.

I was worried that I would not be able to tell the difference, I had not been on the bikes for months, and I had resigned my self to not being to impressed.

What I perceived in my ride is the bike has more grunt as I roll on the throttle coming out of turns, and that bit of hesitation in lower RPMs seems to have gone away as well. I always keep my Gas Tank full, so my fuel is not fresh. But it certainly felt like it was eager to get down the road, and didn;t seem to hesitate like it does on older gas.

I made several roll on passes on a two lane road and had to be careful to not hit three digit speeds.

Except for the fact that the Rev Limiter is not gone, I'm happy. I looked down at one point and the tac was spinning close to 13k. A little over red line, other than that, no other issues. The toughest part was fishing the cables and tacking apart the factory connectors.


Maybe it is just cuz it was the first ride of spring, but I really thing the bike ran better. In my book the Power Powercomander gets a thumbs up all around. (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif)

Hey Tommy can you please let us other 98 owners know how your gas mileage is effected with the PC, I was going to buy one too but my bike seems to run great without out it and I felt the same way you did "would it really help?" You really came close to 13,000 rpms? Thats pretty cool, seems like its acting like a 600cc bike. Are you running the Turbo city fuel pressure regulator mod too?

-Dino

I jumped in on the Group buy on the 2nd to last day, I am waiting for mine to show. I really hope it takes away from the low rpm "notchyness" and abrupt off throttle to slight throttle response.

I also contemplated getting the TC FPR also, I hope I made the right decision.
Anyone else with a 5th gen please please keep us posted.

F&F

Flash and Flare, Apr 2 2007, 06:23 PMI really hope it takes away from the low rpm "notchyness" and abrupt off throttle to slight throttle response.

It will. My PCII really smoothed out the off idle throttle response. I am using one of the provided maps for a slipon, K&N and regular fuel. However, when I tried one of the maps for premium fuel, there was an occasional but very bad hesitation at off idle throttle. The kind that would nearly make you fall over because you would be expecting to arrest your lean angle with throttle that just wasn't there. I never tried to fine tune the map settings.

Did you have any issues running the plugs behind the frame? I started putting mine on last night and I couldn�t get the plugs to fit in-between the airbox and frame.

Power Commander does not increase the rev range past the normal factory rev-limiter.

5th Gen tachs are 4-500 rpm "optimistic"...so if you think you're almost at 13,000, you're actually just below the 12,400 limit.

da9b20, Apr 3 2007, 08:12 PMDid you have any issues running the plugs behind the frame? I started putting mine on last night and I couldn�t get the plugs to fit in-between the airbox and frame.

Had that problem following the instructions, so I just did what I thought looked OK and disregarded the instructions there.

vfrev, Apr 3 2007, 10:11 AM

da9b20, Apr 3 2007, 08:12 PMDid you have any issues running the plugs behind the frame? I started putting mine on last night and I couldn�t get the plugs to fit in-between the airbox and frame.

Had that problem following the instructions, so I just did what I thought looked OK and disregarded the instructions there.

Is your wire exposed ?

Trace, Apr 3 2007, 05:32 AMPower Commander does not increase the rev range past the normal factory rev-limiter.

5th Gen tachs are 4-500 rpm "optimistic"...so if you think you're almost at 13,000, you're actually just below the 12,400 limit.

Ok dumb question: I've never gotten my bike past 10K without the engine cutting and getting a FI light (not that I try) but are you guys saying that a PC allows the bike to rev beyond 10k? or do you need a combo of of an FPS and A PC? or is it just that its time to replace my ECU?

Your bike should easily run well beyond 10k rpm. What is the FI code that is stored. It will tell you exactly what is wrong, highly doubtful that the ECU is bad.

chris2992, Apr 3 2007, 01:37 PMYour bike should easily run well beyond 10k rpm. What is the FI code that is stored. It will tell you exactly what is wrong, highly doubtful that the ECU is bad.

Agreed, and not a dumb question at all. More like a damn good question!! My bike easily zings right to the rev limiter if I want it to, including 5th gear. I have a shift light set for 11,800 and I see it flash all the time. Zing, zing!!

Maybe you can further explain this "cutting" that you mention. Typically, at high revs an engine with something wrong (like bad sparky plugs) will "miss" or stutter due to the high cylinder pressures literally preventing a weak spark from lighting the mix. Or weak coils, or some other fuel/spark problem. Hell, it could even be a weak valvespring that gives up trying to control an exhaust valve at 10,000 rpm and you get valve float. But anyway.....you should easily see redline.

you'll get codes when you turn the key and flip on the kill switch right ? if not how do you pull the codes? as of now when I turn the the bike on I have a steady FI light until I turn on the killswitch then you hear the fuel pump prime and the the FI light goes out.

Zero_1, Apr 3 2007, 02:58 PMyou'll get codes when you turn the key and flip on the kill switch right ? if not how do you pull the codes? as of now when I turn the the bike on I have a steady FI light until I turn on the killswitch then you hear the fuel pump prime and the the FI light goes out.

use a paper clip and the jumper connection. Do you have the manual?

Zero_1, Apr 3 2007, 02:58 PMyou'll get codes when you turn the key and flip on the kill switch right ? if not how do you pull the codes? as of now when I turn the the bike on I have a steady FI light until I turn on the killswitch then you hear the fuel pump prime and the the FI light goes out.

It's all right here: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=280

So I got it wired and I love the throttle response. I think the power commander was worth it. I drove a good bit on it yesterday and some today.

[image: pciii.jpg]

I jumped in on the group buy as well to upgrade my PCII to a PCIIIUSB. Fishing the cables was a bit tough but otherwise all went well on the install. I wish they would make that main cable a tad longer.

I'm running the M160-304 map "2000-2001 Honda VFR 800 Erion full exhaust Stock or aftermarket air filter" and I went on a long ride today to compare it to the PCII and custom map for the Erion full system that I had before. It was definitely worth the upgrade. Throttle response is really smooth and it makes power that increases in a linear fashion all the way up to the limiter. It is very ridable at almost any rpm. I really noticed the smoothness on the tight coastal twisties. Transitions from acceleration to deceleration were really nice and I found myself really moving along carrying a lot of speed through the corners. I was making good power before with the PCII and the custom map I was running, but this is quite a bit better. Just awesome!

Fuel economy seems to be close to the PC II and custom map.

I was afraid that I might lose something in the deal but I'm happy all around. I imagine a custom map for the PCIII would be really great, but this setup really good as is.

I guess now I'll have to get the cool Quick Shifter and Aux graphic display!


[image: lcdmain.jpg]

Put my PC3 in today using the Erion Slipon map and it runs great. No more "notchy or snatchyness" no more chug chug chug when pulling away from a stop sign.
Was able to get the wires behind the frame, I unplugged the 2 vacuum hoses from the air box and pushed the main wire harness down and they went in just fine. I did have a SOB of a time getting the connectors to pop put under the frame, my big fingers had a hard time getting them out, but once out everything went perfect.

My only mods are
Micron CF high mount
K&N drop in filter

Anyone got other maps to share for a 98 5th Gen ?

F&F

There should be a link or 4, for Cozey's map. If'n you cant find it, P.M. me your email. (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif) Be bring'n maps'n'stuff to the Gap, on disc too.

Flash and Flare, Apr 21 2007, 07:14 PMAnyone got other maps to share for a 98 5th Gen ?
F&F

Rivcyko, Apr 21 2007, 08:32 PMThere should be a link or 4, for Cozey's map. If'n you cant find it, P.M. me your email. (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif) Be bring'n maps'n'stuff to the Gap, on disc too.

The thing is, my psycko friend, cozye's map is for a 6th gen, and F&F is looking for a map for a 5th gen. (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/biggrin.gif)

Dad sends

After I read about some of the 5th gen guys getting PCIII USB's on that group buy and liking the improvement over the PCII, I bought one for my 2001.

BIG difference - definitely worth the cost. As soon as I started the bike it was obvious it was running much better. Then riding the bike, I found it ran much better than with the PCII + custom map I had done for it.

I started with the Erion slip-on map on Dynojet's web site (M106-303). I test rode the bike with that map once and was very pleased but wanted to see if I could improve the on/off throttle and the coming-off-idle action even more.

Using Trace's, Tinymind's tuner's, and my tuner's ideas from my PCII custom map, I added +3 fuel in the 0% throttle from 1,250 to 4,250 rpm. That definitely improved the on/off throttle and the coming-off-idle action even more - it is much smoother and pulls stronger now. I stopped adding fuel for 0% throttle at 4,250 rpm because my thinking is that above that rpm, the inertia of the bike and the engine will be enough that adding fuel for 0% throttle is not desirable or necessary. And also the dyno maps I looked at all stop adding fuel above 4,500 rpm or so @ 2% throttle, so I thought 4,250 rpm would be about right @ 0% throttle.

Some thoughts about dyno tuning for a PCIII: When we buy a PCIII, most of us are looking for improved rideability, with more power being a nice-to-have secondary consideration. A dyno just isn't going to be able to tell you how the bike rides. All the experienced Dynojet tuners I've talked to do their work the same way: They use the dyno first, then ride the bike as many times as necessary for the final tweaks to the map. My thinking is that that process is pretty much the same as just downloading a map from Dynojet's web site and tweaking it. The Dynojet map gets you very close, then you tweak it from there for your bike for best rideability.

My map is attached to this post if you're interested. This is Dynojet's Erion slip-on map for PCIII USB's on 2000-2001's (M106-303), with my tweaks in 0% throttle.

BTW: I bought my unit from www.fuelmotousa.com Yeah, I'm a dummy - I didn't get in the group buy so I paid a bit more. But by waiting I got to find out whether it was worth upgrading from a PCII with a custom map first before I spent my money. The guy at fuelmoto claims to have all model PCIII USB's in stock. I don't know whether he really does or not, but his shop is close to Parts Unlimited's HQ, which is the USA distributor for PC's, so even if he doesn't have them in stock he can drive there and get them quickly. I ordered mine on Monday and received it Friday in San Diego. He has a Dynojet dyno and gives you a map with your unit. His map was pretty similar to the Erion one on Dynojet's site so I went with the Erion map because it was a bit richer in a couple spots (which is why I chose it over the Two Brothers map on Dynojet's site also). Also the fuelmoto guy extends the PC's warranty by one year, making the warranty two yrs (I hope I don't have to use it). His price and shipping charge is good, and he sells PC's for even less with free shipping on his EBay store (when he's overstocked on some models I guess).

So ... 5th gen folks with PCII's ... PCIII USB's are definitely worth the upgrade ! And TommyHoffman and AvidOne - Thanks for the posts that convinced me to buy !

Dad sends
 M106_303usmcdad.djm ( 4.03k ) Number of downloads: 5