[image: View Post]hareynolds, on 24 September 2011 - 05:20 PM, said:
I am a simple, old man. Well, a simple old man who likes to do The Ton on the way to work every damned day.
All I really need is something that "sorts-out the fueling down low" (good phrase BTW). I have a PC-III on the LeMans, so I definitely see the point of having one, but THAT bike has 92 hp (shaft) on ~500 lbs, so a few extra ponies are welcome. On the VFR I feel no need whatsoever for than ~150 hp at the rear wheel (although I don't blame folks who think they can use it); I just want to take low speed corners smoothly, without having to out-think the fuel injection.
I spoke to Mike Haven at MPH Cycles, our local Guzzi maven, today; he's just back from a week in Italy at the invitation of Piaggio,
HIS take is that it would cost Honda $50K or more to do the 50 states Emissions testing to qualify this fix, so either they aren't gonna do it, or it's in-process and will take several months. My personal belief is that they will homologate the remap on the large tanked 2012 model, then try to back qualify the 2010.
In any case, it looks like we Yanks are STUCK, at least for a while.
In the meantime, are there any UK dealers who will reflash my ECU for me??? I'll pay, provided we can turn it around within a couple of weeks. The Aprilia Futura would appreciate the attention anyway.
I'm a former Guzzi guy myself, emphasis on "former". I owned an 07 Griso, sold it after 4 years just after I bought the VFR1200. The Griso was a nice bike with unique design and a fun ride if rather rough around the edges compared to the Honda fit and finish. But hey what would an Italian bike be if it were polished like a Honda? The factory support on the other hand is, as you imply, a joke. I thought Piaggio would improve things for Guzzi, but no. I had two warranty claims for some minor stuff and a recall outstanding that were never fulfilled by Piaggio in 4 years. I couldn't even obtain valve cover gaskets from the local dealer (which later closed its doors). How bad is that? I decided to give it up before a major breakdown occurred after 4 years of waiting and hoping that Piaggio would turn things around, and with the new VFR sitting next to it, it was a no brainer. I still have my 98 5th gen VFR though, it's a keeper.
So anyone who thinks the situation with Honda is bad, you've never dealt with an Italian bike company before. At least Honda and the other Japanese companies have real infrastructure and organization behind their bikes. It may not always please everyone, but it is there and that counts for a lot when you need fast delivery of replacement parts like when I lowsided the VFR. Except for a mirror, all parts were delivered a week later.
Things like re-mapping the ECU are in a different category of course than simple parts replacement and has lots regulatory hurdles and implications. Being an engineer myself I understand that once something enters mass production, making changes is like turning an oil tanker and takes lots of time and deliberation by several parties. Not easy to do nor quick. I do hope that a remap is in the works, though to be honest, I'm quite satisfied with the DCT, the low speed fueling issue for me is modest at worst. I would be very surprised if any EU dealer would be willing to re-flash a US model ECU due to the legalities, not to mention technical compatibilities involved. Won't hurt to try though.