I was at a local shop the other day and asked about getting a tune. The owner told me that he doesn't use a dyno but can tune by base line maps and adjusting by riding the bike. They had a dyno in the past. The part of are conversation that had me thinking is that according to him doing a dyno tune is that it's like putting 5,000 to 10,000 miles on the motor. Is there any truth behind that?

 

What. Well I have had my car dyno tuned twice and unless running wide open throttle does that to a motor I think your advice may be a bit off. I could see it if you were breaking in a new build on a dyno however a seasoned motor,I doubt it

 

You can get it close, but I wouldn't pay somebody to just get it "close". If somebody else is going to tune my bike they should be hooking it up to a dyno with external instrumentation.

 

Never heard about the "5000 to 10,000" mile thing before.

I'd like to know how he goes about verifying a/f ratio to say the least.

The dyno is a tool. If it were me, I'd find a shop that used one for tuning.

 

5,000 to 10,000 on the motor? Seriously?? Why do you think you need a Dyno tune? Did you change something? That would dictate if you really need a Dyno tune.

 

That right there is the kind of shop that gives real tuners a bad name.

 

I'm in the process of installing a 95" kit, cams, 2in1in2 head pipes, S&S vfi module. I am trying to find a good tuner that I can trust. I was picking up some parts at the shop and seen their business card that said they did dyno tuning. When I asked that's when he said that they got rid of the dyno

 

There is no way possible he can give you a tune by riding it. A carbed bike sure, but not a FI bike, noway in hell, I don't care who he is or what he knows. A bike is tuned by either throttle position or MAP load and RPM's, there is no way to know what TP you are at at any given time without having something hooked up to your ECM telling you. Not to mention that each cylinder is tuned independantly. He might get lucky and get a bike running better his way, but it would be by changes large areas of the MAP at a time and not individual cells.

 

I would never step foot in that shop again, and I would tell my friends to steer clear as well.

 

I only buy parts in shops. I usally do my own work but tuning isn't one. I plan on down loading a map from the S&S website to break it in. I'm still looking for a local tuner that I can work with.