The next big thing in Sportbikes?

I don’t know if this is even on the radar, but it’s something that I’d like to see and I think it would be useful. I was reading an article on the new ZX14 and got to thinking. In the article, it mentions that the 14 was purposely tamed below 5000 RPM to make it less of a handful as a streetbike. Other bikes have done similar things. The ZX-10 and R1 got really tall 1st gears for example. There’s also the ongoing balance of making a bike ridable and maximizing performance while still passing emissions requirements. It’s always a compromise. When I installed my power commander the prescribed map dumped a ton of additional fuel off idle. So the bike was really lean from the factory there, I suppose for emissions reasons.

With as many people that are venturing to track days now, and the obvious focus of the ZX14 for the drag strip, why not have a selectable ECU? Two maps, programmed right from the factory. All you have to do is “flip a switch” and you can choose between the street legal (and possible street desirable/fuel economy) position, to the off road (or race) position. This race map would simply have the ideal air/fuel ratio throughout the rev range, not the emissionsand fuel effcient compromise. This way you switch between the two quite easily and not violate the “law”. The secondary map could also dismiss the top speed governor, and the street map could be engineered not just to pass emissions, but to also have a more fuel efficient map and have a more desirable street power delivery. The key would be to make the street map more fuel efficient, especially at highway cruising speeds. I know bikes are already very fuel efficient, but sportbikes aren't as good as they used to be. I get 37 on the highway on my 636. A Civic can get that, and I'm assuming that the ZX14 won't be much over 30-32 mpg. I commute 85 miles/day all interstate, if my bike had an economy setting, I'd use it.

What ya’ll think?

It would be easy for them to do, and I think it would be quite useful if they actually made the street map something that you would want to use when on the street. I guess the only problem is that the weenies would say it’s too easy for us childrens to abuse the power and run the bike in race mode on the street. Obviously that’s lame, because most people that want the optimum map for the track are just going to get a power commander and do it anyway. At least if it’s made easy to switch back and forth, more guys might simply flip it back to street mode when they are off the track if it actually makes the bike more street/stop-and-go friendly while being more fuel efficient.  

That would be a pretty nice addition to the PC. I guess until R&D finds a need for "on the fly" fuel map changing we'll just have to carry around a laptop around  

That is already available on the automotive market, I think thats it's just a matter of time before someone like PowerCommander developes something for the bike market.

cheers  

The technology is already out and being used in the MotoGP. Nicky Hayden's bike has a switch that lets him alternate fuel maps while racing, but unfortunately GP technology isn't as readily available to the general public since it costs an arm and a leg for R&D...  

it could possibly be a legal issue.  If you can switch off the govenor so easily and make you bike legal and illegal so quickly it would make it tough to inforce the emission laws...which i guess to some people is a good thing.  It would definately be cool though  

Yeah, great idea.
I doubt it will come from the factory though. Like someone above said, something like that is much more likely to come from an aftermarket company like Power Commander.
And when it comes out, I'll buy it.  

I could see an after market company doing something like that, but the OEMs' couldn't get away with that.  They have noise and emmisions laws to follow...  So do we, but...    I doubt if many people would run in economy mode very often anyway.

RFB, you have a PC3usb on your bike now right?  I think some of the new palms/hand helds have USB ports...  You could load maps onto that and just plug it in and change your map when ever you wanted.  You'd just have to carry it and the cable with you....  I've been playing with my map.  Right now I have it set up for 'economy' below about 5k rpm, and full power above that....  It is a little sluggish down low, so I'll probably go back to the full power map at all rpm.

You get 37 mpg on the highway?  At what speed?  I get 41 mpg or so going 75-80 mph....  I have no idea how Sport Rider got 51 mpg on this bike.  I just can't help playing with the power.    And premium is already closing in on $3 a gallon.  :sad:



Chris  

Actually I tried that. There is special software that you have to download in order to use a palm pilot. I did it and I couldn't get it to work. So I called the people at Power Commander and they told me that the software doesn't work with the PCIIIUSB, it only works with the PCIIIr. he also told me that it doesn't actually work that well and that's why they didn't do it for the USB version. The file a PowerCommander uses can't be any more basic in my opinion, I don't understand what is so hard about it. Yoshi makes a piggyback similar to the PCIII that can hold more than one map, but it doesn't have the support and map availability that powercommander does.

BTW, I fly into work. That 37mpg is all highway at generally about 105mph indicated. Probably a tick under 100mph in reality. I live in an area that I95 is completley deserted most of the time. The speed limit is 70, but most cars are going 85-90, so it's not like I'm dicing traffic at double the speed limit. I have about 42 miles each way total and about 30 miles of that is on the interstate hovering between 9k and 10k RPM. That can't be good for fuel economy.  

i wouldnt mind that at all when i get my first bike..... having lower power at lower rpm would probobly help me out  .... and here in canada (new brunswuick 1$ per litre :S:S).... i think there would be a great market for that in canada. I know i have never owned a sport bike... but i have own several sports car and one thing that i leart was to be easy on the gas if u want it to last.... and i'm sure theres alot of mature guy's out there that think the same.... so hopefully this happens... and i'm sure talking about this on forums will help the product come out sooner as i'm sure that the power commander marketing department moniture these forums.  

That's cool RFB...  Didn't know you tried the palm thing....  

Sounds like a fun commute when you can go 100+    I only live 4 miles from work, so speeding doesn't really save me any time...  Even though I do occassionally feed my need for speed.  



Chris  

I was bathroom reading one of my 2004 CW issues and there was a letter to the editor about either switchable maps or detuning a hyper engine a bit to make a sportbike more streetable. The response, which seems quite reasonable, is that there is a whole lot more to making an engine make power or get good mileage than a simple ECU change. The response goes on to say that our sportbike engines are optimized for horsepower and that there'd need to be changes in intake, exhaust, internals etc. to get a decent MPG upgrade.

Now the letter to the editor was talking about a 30something MPG to 60something MPG, which was like 70% increase in mileage. Regardless, it sounds nice but I agree it probably takes more than just an ECU change to affect mileage without affecting the longevity of engine parts.  

Yeah, fprintf....  It isn't worth the trouble to play with the mapping for an extra mpg or 2....

There are better economy gains to be had by gearing, and throttle control.  


Chris