radman
R.I.P. Our Motorcycling Friend
A lot of guys install a Power Commander early on, or so it would seem. I had the benefit of putting on almost 12,000 miles before installing one.
I don't need to go 06 shopping, I got a new bike tonight.
The install went well enough. Loaded the Smoothy Map downstairs at the PC before it even went near the bike. Installed the unit, no biggie, just a little time consuming doing it without resorting to my usual tools-a hammer, lots of invective, and a 12 pack, oh, and doing it nicely, trying not to be in a hurry to enjoy the results. Everything is set-I'm ready to 0 the throttle and go joyjoy. Sooooo, disconnect all the stuff on my worker PC, the one I use for all the mundane stuff, as opposed to my gamer, drag it out to the garage, not a biggie as it is caseless, just a frame with all the guts exposed (I really mean it when I say worker :lol: ), set the monitor up, get all set, turn the comp on and......nothing. Ok, check this, check that, grab a different power cord, still nothing, you can tell somethings up cuz on my 5th trip back into the house not a creature was stirring, critters, wife, all had disappeared :blink: Finally determine that on it's lengthy travels (all of 20 feet) the power supply had taken a shit. Great. Well, dammit, I put this thing in, it's almost 0'd (2nd bar flashing, 3rd brightly lit) and I'm riding, come hell or high water. So out I go, and he ran pretty good, except he wouldn't pull from down low, below 1600 rpm or so, never a problem before, so I write that off to the throttle not being set. But overall, better power, snmoother, and response was pretty terrific. Better things to come tomorrow, I figure.
Come today, grab a spare power supply from work (thanks taxpayers), get home, install it (I knew I left that frame bare for a reason), hit the button and shazam, we're up and running. Hook everything back up, plug in the USB cable to the PCIII (you can 0 throttle without the bike running, just use the 9 volt, turn the bikes kill switch off, and you're good to go) and........mouse takes a shit. Left button, on the Oregon fukkin trail out to the garage, has decided it's kinship with the powersupply is a "till death do us part" proposition. Unfuckkinbelievable. Back into my closet full of spare junk (cats and wife have left for New Orleans by now, where it's quieter and safer), find an old mouse, power down, hook it up, and shazam part duece, we have liftoff! Finally get the throttle 0'd, quickly, before the Towelheads decide to target my garage, and get to ride it right for the first time.
If you don't have one, get one.
Frank is a machine transformed. Throttle response is incredible (can't see the need for the accel pump), he's way smoother on accel, steady speed cruising (75 would kill my right hand after a while) absolutely buzz free. With the kinda loud D&D pipes, I could even hear the difference, a more even exhaust note, especially at steady cruise, where the o2 sensor would lean him out a lot, and the vibes would commence. In short, it's a whole different machine, the ass tells me he's got more snort, but it could be that he's just so smooth on accel now it just feels that way. Regardless, the overall transformation in rideability alone is well worth the price of admission, which is probably the best bang for the buck I can think of. Color me a fan!
I don't need to go 06 shopping, I got a new bike tonight.
The install went well enough. Loaded the Smoothy Map downstairs at the PC before it even went near the bike. Installed the unit, no biggie, just a little time consuming doing it without resorting to my usual tools-a hammer, lots of invective, and a 12 pack, oh, and doing it nicely, trying not to be in a hurry to enjoy the results. Everything is set-I'm ready to 0 the throttle and go joyjoy. Sooooo, disconnect all the stuff on my worker PC, the one I use for all the mundane stuff, as opposed to my gamer, drag it out to the garage, not a biggie as it is caseless, just a frame with all the guts exposed (I really mean it when I say worker :lol: ), set the monitor up, get all set, turn the comp on and......nothing. Ok, check this, check that, grab a different power cord, still nothing, you can tell somethings up cuz on my 5th trip back into the house not a creature was stirring, critters, wife, all had disappeared :blink: Finally determine that on it's lengthy travels (all of 20 feet) the power supply had taken a shit. Great. Well, dammit, I put this thing in, it's almost 0'd (2nd bar flashing, 3rd brightly lit) and I'm riding, come hell or high water. So out I go, and he ran pretty good, except he wouldn't pull from down low, below 1600 rpm or so, never a problem before, so I write that off to the throttle not being set. But overall, better power, snmoother, and response was pretty terrific. Better things to come tomorrow, I figure.
Come today, grab a spare power supply from work (thanks taxpayers), get home, install it (I knew I left that frame bare for a reason), hit the button and shazam, we're up and running. Hook everything back up, plug in the USB cable to the PCIII (you can 0 throttle without the bike running, just use the 9 volt, turn the bikes kill switch off, and you're good to go) and........mouse takes a shit. Left button, on the Oregon fukkin trail out to the garage, has decided it's kinship with the powersupply is a "till death do us part" proposition. Unfuckkinbelievable. Back into my closet full of spare junk (cats and wife have left for New Orleans by now, where it's quieter and safer), find an old mouse, power down, hook it up, and shazam part duece, we have liftoff! Finally get the throttle 0'd, quickly, before the Towelheads decide to target my garage, and get to ride it right for the first time.
If you don't have one, get one.
Frank is a machine transformed. Throttle response is incredible (can't see the need for the accel pump), he's way smoother on accel, steady speed cruising (75 would kill my right hand after a while) absolutely buzz free. With the kinda loud D&D pipes, I could even hear the difference, a more even exhaust note, especially at steady cruise, where the o2 sensor would lean him out a lot, and the vibes would commence. In short, it's a whole different machine, the ass tells me he's got more snort, but it could be that he's just so smooth on accel now it just feels that way. Regardless, the overall transformation in rideability alone is well worth the price of admission, which is probably the best bang for the buck I can think of. Color me a fan!
Last edited by a moderator: