A tuner somewhat near me who I'm thinking about using wants to use something called a "Direct Link" tuner on my FXDL-S when he Dynos it. It's basically a PC based tuner that you buy a "license" for - no need for any hardware like a SERT or PCV, PV, etc. All you get in the end is a USB stick with your license and a copy of your tune.

The tuner says he uses it because it is more detailed then others, faster and easier for him to use which allows him more time/less distractions to spend focusing on building the tune. Seems reasonable.

However any tweaks/changes need to be made by him (or another Direct Link shop) rather then by the user. Not sure this bothers me, as quite honestly, when I had my last bike tuned on the dyno (using my PV) all I did was save a copy to my PC and never touched it again...

I also suppose once the tune is loaded to my PV, I could always pull a copy off and onto it, right?

This guy is supposed to be great. Been doing it for 15 years. The other shop I used did a good job I think, bike ran great, only bad thing was they don't allow customers in the dyno shack, which I really didn't like. But maybe I was just over sensitive about it. They are a lot closer too.

Only problem is, I already have the PV, and already bought a license for the new bike. I'll have to buy the Direct Link tune license for $350 - on top of the $400 for the dyno run. And that's a pretty penny. Not sure what I'm going to do. Direct Link guy said he could use my PV, but he didn't like them. Makes me think I won't get as good a tune out of him as opposed to using his "comfort zone" tuner.

No idea what I'm going to do...

 

If you already have a Power Vision, I think you'd be money ahead staying that route.

 

I am kind of in the same boat. The best Dyno guy near me uses Direct Link as well - and it's the same thing. I have the PowerVision already but would need to buy a DL licence.

I would think that once the tune is flashed to the bike, the PowerVision is capable of pulling it out of the ECM (just use "Make a copy of the stock tune" option or something like that) and then it should be able to be transferred to the PC for editing if you want to do that.

But as you say - it's kind of spendy to do it that way....

 

Yeah, if I hadn't jumped the gun and bought the $175 PV license, it would be an easier decision. However $350 on top of the $175 plus the $450 run... Ouch!

 

My heart goes out to ya, a Dyno tune alone is $$$.
I understand what the guy want's to do, and it is a good idea to follow the tuners recommendation,, something he's used too.
But;
If, I had Power Vision unit,, I would not spend more money for another flash tune. (period)

 

Yeah. I'll probably go elsewhere. He said he could use the PV, but just didn't seem confident, and was bashing it a bit. Not sure I'd want to use a guy who doesn't like the tool he's given to use.

 

Not that this matters nor do I claim (or care too) know ALL the in's and outs of of tuning but the people that do,recommend a TTS tune. Easy decision for me.

 

I have the direct link dongle or whatever they call it. I was told that they can tune into more cells to get a better tune out of it. Whatever, my bike is running great so all good for me.

 

You had zero problems with your first dyno tune and PV.
You already purchased the license for the S.
In the end you are going to have a bike that runs great with either Tuner.
Why spend (waste) more money to get the same result?
IMHO.

 

I'd stick with the Power Vision. Love mine and wouldn't use anything else...and I had some guys telling me to check other stuff. If the guy isn't keen on tuning with the PV, I'd find someone new because what if he gives you a crap tune as a result? You'll be out even more money trying to fix that.