Before you decided on the Power Vision, you must have considered other tuners. What swayed you away from Thundermax, for example ?

 

Great write up. I think the PV is going to mature into an outstanding product. I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with the PC V and auto tune for most people. The PV and other ECU flash units are a great option for those who have the time and gumption to dig into the ECU tables and self tune a number of tables the PC V can't get access to.

 

I love the write up and would love to have one but with a gps and MP3 player on the handle bars I just don't want it looking like an airplane. Does it need to be mounted permanently?

 

I don't think I want a tuner mounted on the handlebars.

 

The tuner is not a permanent fixture. You use it to gather data, tune, and then you put it away.

 

Maybe not, as Fuel Moto already has quite a few PV tunes for TBW bikes and I'm sure they're increasing in number weekly.

I don't think this is the case. My experience with FM maps has been excellent, and I would suggest that although you might gain a few percent by doing a dyno-tune, assuming the tech is competent, I doubt if you'd feel the difference. Also, if you get a dyno-tune, then get another in a month the results won't be exactly the same either. Getting a competent tune across the operational range of the bike is not a given, since all techs are not created equal, so you may be doing better with a canned FM tune or map than a custom dyno-tune. Also, because of the ECU's ability to compensate for temperature and altitude you can have a good tune performed in WI on another like-equipped bike and have it run optimally in LA. Bikes are not that different, and if they were each bike would need to be dyno-tuned to meet EPA regs. They don't, and every bike model gets the same tune from the factory, at least those sold in the U.S.

Describe "hiccups." If you have PCV-AT already and are happy with the bike's performance, I would keep it. I had good luck with this arrangement on my bike for two years and only changed for the reasons I listed in the first message. I gave it a lot of thought and waited quite a while after PV was introduced before finally taking the leap.

 

No, I didn't consider other tuners and was in no way yearning to make a change. I was very happy with the PCV-AT and only moved to PV because it was an easy transition, being able to import my existing PCV map to the VE tables, and I wanted to experiment with some of the tables in the ECU. I also like the display unit, as there are some signals that I like displayed in front of me at all times, like front-head temperature, and it also doubles as a datalogging device. It was just too smooth a transition from PCV-AT plus the added features that finally moved me to change.

The new T'Max for TBW bikes seems to be a good device, but the version for non-TBW bikes had too many issues for me to have moved to it several years ago or even now. One deficiency on the older version was that it didn't have knock-sensing and many were having problems with getting the spark-advance set right. It also didn't make full use of the stock MAP sensor. Although this apparently has been changed in the new TBW version I don't know if it has been retrofitted to the older version. Anyway, it costs much more and doesn't have a display unit. It does auto-tune with WB O2 sensors, but I'll get a close facsimile of that when DJ gets their software finished for use with the AT-100, which I have still installed on my bike.

 

I think that's it in a nutshell, and I certainly don't think PV is for everyone. It also isn't something every PCV owner needs to think is a necessary upgrade, because IMO it isn't if you are happy with the way the PCV is working. Most are.

I believe DJ will enhance the functionality of PV in the ensuing months with diagnostic software, etc. I know they're currently working on this for use with the AT-100 (Auto-Tune), although there is no ability to do true auto-tuning with WB O2 sensors. The upcoming diagnostic app will be fine for most of us, I'm sure.

 

No, it doesn't. I only needs to be mounted if you want to flash a tune to the ECU, datalog, or see the display while riding. I like the info you have at a glance, like head temperature, so I will keep mine mounted to the handlebars. As for clutter, that's subjective, but I understand your concern. That occurred to me too, but I don't think it looks too cluttered with the PV on the right and Zumo on the left. I'll take a photo of the two together and post it soon. The Zumo uses a Ram mount and the PV a Techmount, which doesn't look like I gave a lot of thought to cosmetic coordination, but I'm more interested in the functionality, as my ride isn't a show-bike anyway. You don't see the mounts unless you peer around anyway, and both are mostly black and don't grab for your attention.

 

Great write up! The LCD touchscreen looks slick. Thanks for sharing your approach to the added changes in step 2a+. I use to use a piggy back tuner and now SEPST and love the way you can look into the aspects of the map itself and adjust as needed. I've learned alot.

Keep us posted on how it turns out!