Tune ECU for economy

[tonuptiger]

Helo all,

I've been a longtime lurker here, stealing ideas and farkles and just soaking up the knowledge. The Tune ECU threads have been particularly interesting and this week I have finally taken the plunge and loaded Tune ECU (v1.9.5) onto my old windows lappy.

I have successfully loaded the TOR map (10121) to my bike as a test. and all is working as it should I think.

What i'd like to ask those more knowledgable than I is how do I go about tweaking the map for maximum fuel economy without buggering my engine? I see talk on the forums about getting more power but not so much said about sacrificing HP for MPG. When fuel is pushing £1.40/L, I'd like more miles to my gallon. I'm currently getting about 50-55mpg which is not bad but can I get 60-65?

My bike is;

2001 Tiger 955i
Blue Flame single port can (baffle removed)
Air box snorkel removed
19t front/46t rear

I ride fairly conservatively most of the time, but have been known to push to the ton on a quiet motorway (rock n roll eh!). I like to travel on my bike and often have my TT panniers loaded with camping gear and my missus on the back.


I hope someone can point me in the right direction so I can understand this really useful program and keep my bike running like the champ it is.

Cheers folks,

Wayne

[ChazzyB]

My general MPG dropped about 5% when I fitted the TOR pipe and tune 10121. The best MPG improvement will be realised by restraining that right wrist of yours...  :lol:

[Bixxer Bob]

Wayne,

I haven't seen 50-55 mpg since the first week I got my Tiger so you are already doing ok. Especially with the Blueflame (I have one too).

Most of the map work is to try to get the Girlies to run smoothly as a lot of them don't.  My dabbling in extra power was mainly for fun as I run a Blackbird if I want serious grunt.  It didn't affect the fuel economy unduely but did affect how well she picks up out of corners.

As Chazzy says, the best economy device is your right hand.

[tonuptiger]

Thanks for the replies and advise fellas.

Honestly, the moniker "tonuptiger", is supposed to be ironic, my wrist is very sedate (mostly)  :lol:

But I take your point, and I suppose a regular 55mpg isn't bad at all. I used to only get 30-35mpg when I lived in London. All that stop start traffic i guess. When I moved up to Derbyshire it improved dramatically. Maybe next time I replace the drive train I'll try a smaller rear sprocket?

I'd still like to understand Tune ECU a little more. The EFI is the only part of the bike I have no control over until now, and I love to farkle  :D

I'm going to ride the TOR tune for a couple of days and see how it feels, then I might start tweaking (very carefully of course) and see what happens.

Cheers guys,

Wayne

[Bixxer Bob]

When you start with TuneECU the very first thing to do after you get it connected is to download and save your current tune and all of your trim settings so that you can always go back to them.

I wasn't that lucky as my dealer effed with my bike and gave me it back as a non-runner.  I had to buy Tuneboy to recover it as TuneECU wasn't around then.

Tuneboy software is easier to use (IMHO anyway)..... Pricey though.

[tonuptiger]

Way ahead of ya there Bob. That was indeed the first thing I did and it is in a folder labeled "original tune map - DO NOT DELETE"  :D

I looked at tuneboy a while back when my mpg was way low and the crappy dealer in central London had no clue, but it was too pricey for me. So I'll make do with the free version (Thanks Alain & Tom).

Wayne

[Chris Canning]

Put the snorkel back on to make sure it doesn't fill up with water and take the blanking plate out the airbox,more go no risk  :D

[TigerTrax]

Bixxer....
I am considering trying an ECU tune project. I have never done something like this B4.  I'll study the procedure and make some notes.

My '06 Tiger is stock, no mods to motor, air intake, etc.

About how long should this take? I'm thinking for first time... 3-4 hours.

Are there normally 'tweaks' that need to be done after the ECU tune and having ridden the bike awhile?

Looks like you've done alot of work in this. My hats off to you.

[Bixxer Bob]

I don't use TuneECU much except to download maps to share.  I use Tunedit because it's easier and its what I learned on.

How long? It's like a piece of string.  Only a couple of minutes to hook up and load a map, the rest of your life if yoou start playing with the maps without any setup tools :lol:

Before you start, be clear about what you want to achieve.  If you're just doing it out of curiosity and for fun that's great - learning is a wonderful thing - but if it's running well, in my opinion, don't eff with it.

Most common reasons are:

a.  Popping.  I'm working on a solution to popping that I'll post once I'm sure it makes a difference and it doesn't involve TuneECU.

b.  Rough low rev running.  I have a map for this which is pretty good, and still does 45-46 uk mpg.

c.  Better fuel consumption.  If everything is set up correctly a stock map will give around 45 mpg.  Trying to get better via remapping without a good wide band O2 sensor and some way of reading it is a risky game.  Best done on a dyno.

d.  More power.  I have a map for this too but it's a trade-off, it's hard to live with due to extra noise, vibes, snatchy throttle etc...

PM me when you're ready and I'll help out via Email  

Oh, and read Section nine of the Triumph manual a few times till it makes sense - it's vital to understand how the fuel system works before playing with the maps.

[TigerTrax]

Thanks Bix...
Actually better mileage was my goal.

I do some studying.

[metalguru]

Thanks Bix...
Actually better mileage was my goal.

I do some studying.

Go for a 19t front sprocket and a 46t rear which will give you 90mph at 5500rpm when you next replace your chain and sprockets. With a conservative wrist this will acheive better mileage. Just need to hang on to gears a bit longer but much more relaxed, if you are worried about losing performance just install another map. Best to keep snorkel and remove baffle in airbox, (don't remove screws on the outside though). There are threads on here about the airbox job.

[Guest]

Any of these tune programs work on a MAC ?

[Bixxer Bob]

Dunno, I would go to Tom's site (link in tuneECU sticky) and see if there's a MAC option.

[tonuptiger]

Any of these tune programs work on a MAC ?

I'm afraid not (not yet anyway). I was lucky as my GF had an old pc laptop she never uses. So now it's my "tune lappy" and gets covered in grubby fingerprints  :shock:

I'd also like to add that the TOR map i installed seems to be returning better MPG on my bike. The reserve light popped on at 235miles (of fully loaded, panniers and pillion, mixed road conditions), giving aprox 56mpg. AND, the popping on decel is gone and it rides smoother in the low revs. Happy days.

I'm gonna try putting the snorkel back in and removing the baffle as recommended above. See how that works.

Wayne

[oxnsox]

Is there a particular RPM that is most efficient??

(Haven't dived into ECU tuning but figure you'll get the best economy if you use the engine where its most efficient.....)