obviously im new here and have started trying to slowly but surely make some much wanted power improvements on my 08 night train. i have installed a fat cat system with great results and im now looking at doing the sert and se air cleaner. i have a very good background with tuning as i have tuned many of my cars in the past and in reality operates the same. my questions are for the guys using the sert. once you download a modified map into the ecm can you revert back to stock? the reason i ask is for two reasons...dont want to lose the stock map, and 2, if you can will it render the tuner useful to another ecm after the removal? also, it appears the race tuner also comes with canned maps to start with like the aftermarkets right? thanks for the help guys!

Paul

 

Yes you can save a map and revert back to it if you don't like the new one you've loaded.. No, the sert is for that bike/ecm only and forever. The canned maps are a starting point for a tuner to work with...It may be fine as is but, to get the most from it, it will probably need tweaking.
For me personally on my '07 NT... I wasn'treally happy until I went for the 103" stage II...She is awesome now...pulls nice up thru the entire rpm range....

 

WOW. so youre stuck with the cost whether you like ity or not...trust me, id love to do the 103, but its gonna be a while, LOL. i might eventually try cams, but if the heads come off, im goin all the way .

 

You cannot go back to the stock map with the Race Tuner. Once you download a Race Tuner map, the stock one is history. The canned map worked pretty good for me with just slip ons and air cleaner. I did change the cranking fuel for better starts and the decel enleanment to get rid of exhaust popping.

 

You can go with one of the other tuners on the market, I think most of them will transfer to another bike if you want to, but the sert doesn't leave any extra hardware hanging around and it can't hurt to have MoCo products as upgrades if warrenty becomes an issue.
I think the cams probably had the most affect although the extra cubes can't hurt....lol

 

so does anyone recommend anything besides the sert? i know everyone will probably have different suggestions,but, it seems this is the favorite. also, if the sert is slaved to the ecm, what keeps you from burning the stock ecm as a calibration (saving to your computer) before you start saving canned maps? that way if you wanted to go back to stock for some reason...anyone ever attempted?

 

The SERT is perfered, because it is desinged to work with the ECM. It does have some annoying limitations. You can NOT read the data on the ECM. It writes and writes only. In order to go back to the stock map, you must go to the dealer and have them install the stock map using a Digital Tech. (The Digital Tech is proprietary HD hardware and not for open sale.)

There are other options available, but each has it's own drawbacks.

The powercommander has traditionally been a popular option, however it is a piggy back system, and has it's limitations. It must intercept the pulse to the fuel injectors and the coils, then modify them, then send them down the line. It's a small delay, but a delay none the less.

If you do plan on doing motor work in the future, it would be a benefit to bite the bullet and get the SERT. (my opinion)

There are replacement ECM's available, and one that I have looked at long and hard is the TCFID unit from Daytona Twintec. It has the benefit of using Wide Band 02 sensors, in place of the Narrowband 02 sensors stock on the 2008 twin cams. It will automatically adjust the air fuel ratio to optimum for your riding. You can hook it up to your computer and download the data from your most recent runs from the buffered memory. You can look at your real time air fuel ratios at different RPMs, as well as against different Throttle positions. It can Read Codes, advance timing, adjust idle, change the calibration to the VSS to compensate for different gearing ratio's, etc.

However, you loose the Ion Knock Sensor on that unit. For me, that was the deal breaker. (Again my opinion)

Instead, I use the Twinscan II plus from Daytona Twintech, with the SERT. It's a bit more cumbersome. You must change the MAP on your own, but my experience from traveling around the country to different altitudes and different gasoline grades, is that I *NEED* the knock sensors.

So the bottom line is that making an informed decision, is your best bet. You also need to take into account how much work you are willing to put in to get this stuff to run right, and how much support you have in your local area. Some HD shops are PowerCommander friendly, others are SERT ONLY. Your support from your local dealer is the key. Even though the SERT is a HD product, if you read the fine print, they print a waiver of warranty in the package, and on the warning when the program opens. If you run into an engine related failure, then the DEALER can be your friend, or enemy. It is the Delaer that drives the warranty claim (Again, in my personal experience). Having the dealer on your side is much better than having the dealer stonewalling you from the other side of the service counter.

As for the Canned maps on the HD SERT software, you will find that they are all combinations of different HD products. I haven't seen a canned map yet for a non affiliated after market producer of pipes or filters, or anything else, for the SERT.

The powercommander website is full of maps for all kinds of aftermarket pipes. So if you plan on going pipes and pipes ONLY, it may be a viable benefit for you.

Good luck with your decision.

RJ

 

good insight ^^^^^. how is it that you revert your changes back to the prior program if you make changes you dont like then? this is why i was under the impression you could read and save cals...

 

It is important that you keep a copy of the map you load into the ecm. When you make changes, you mustsave it onto your computer under a new name. I always use a numeric suffix in order to keep them strait. That way, you can always load the older map, prior to any changes you have made.

It's not a perfect system, but it works well.

 

sweet, unfortunately though, i was going to help my friend modify his dealer "dyno tune" after i got familiar with mineashis is too lean.(my stock tune makes more torque with same exhaust) unfortunately,i dont have his binary file. [:@] without this i cant really do anything with his without the dealer knowing...grrr