Building a Tune Map for your Harley
 

I have been looking at after market tuners like Power Vision for my 2017 CVO Limited with Stage III kit. It is currently all HD with a SE tuner.

Here’s where it gets interesting and the reason for this thread. I was told something yesterday I’ve never heard before. Would like to know if others have done this and opinions in general.

I was at a local Indy that I have known for about 15 years. His parents owned a dealership years ago and he’s been around bikes all his life. He did work for me way back on a 2008 FLHX which was all very good.

So we were talking tuners and he said “Why don’t I just let him build me a tune”?

He shared that he has been building tunes for several years now. He has a Technoresearch product that costs about $9k that allows him to build a custom tune and load it right into my ECM without buying a piggy back device.

They tap into my head pipe and install bungs that allow them to run wide band O2 sensors. Then they ride the bike in all conditions for about an hour. Then they build a map based on the parameters found.

What really surprised me, even though this is not a concern at this point is that he says a dealer cannot even detect the tune.

Total cost is $450.00.

It sounds a lot like a Dyno tune without a Dyno and bypassing a add on tuner.

I would love to hear opinions and comments regarding this.

Thank you

🍿

I really doubt his claim that a dealer cannot detect his retune.

I would let someone put it on dyno that I trust,don’t believe he will do as good as a dyno tune on the bike.
Now several years ago a guy local to me said he could put it on a dyno and Harley dealer could find tune after he did it.
Don’t know if that is true or not.
But I don’t really worry about warranty,I will always put my bike on dyno and get it tuned.

To fully optimize the motorcycle I would put it on the drum especially if you’re paying the money, this way you know the tune is correct. If you can get the right guy to tune it for you but your trust.

Even if there was no tell tail electronic marker there was a non factory tune looking at the timing and air fuel tables would alert a HD tech the bike had a tune.

And the wide band sensors would be a giveaway as well.

If the guy is really good maybe he could get it close and almost certainly better than stock, but put it on a dyno and you'll know it's right in all areas.

Having done it both ways with most all devices, I can say street tuning is better than no tuning, and dyno tuning covers more of the map.
Techno Research Direct Link tuner (using wide bands) works exactly like any other flash tuner device (using wide bands). Capture/record O2 data @ the exhaust, compare the AFR requested @ all recorded cells with that data, and adjust the VE tables accordingly. Measure, compare, adjust, until the AFR measured = AFR desired (within a few percent). I use TTS green VCI, as it allows me to record factory narrowband and aftermarket wideband at the same time.
Street tuning results in data that covers some of the map. This is road tuning. Blue cells indicate closed loop, and XXX cells indicate open loop.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...3dee68bd73.png


Dyno tuning covers most of the map.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...42c9139a84.png
And Digital Tech reports last flash & ECM contents to HD corp any time it's hooked up. Nothing is invisible...

2 years ago , when I had my cams done , I had the direct link ( Techno Reasearch ) dyno tune done , had to purchase a license from HD to have it done , put the bike on the dyno . This program adds the map directly to your ecm , no tuner involved ( Power Vision , FP3-4 etc ) , bike runs amazing , no issues at all since the day I picked it up , worth every penny .

This sounds pretty much like what he is offering you , possibly just has maps already done for certain set ups .

Thanks for all the replies so far. Good information.

I want to be clear on a couple of points.

I am not worried about warranty myself. However I really found it questionable that it could be undetected.

As for the wide band sensors they are only used during the ride / tuning process. They are then removed and you continue with your stock O2 sensors.

The thing I was having trouble wrapping my head around was not buying or using a tuner like Power Vision as an example. Even if you Dyno tune on a drum don’t you usually use a tuner?

Thanks