Dyno tune Trike

[msocko3]

My wife had a FRANKENSTEIN kit put on her 1200 Sportster, along with new short exhaust and new cleaner. My local guys tried twice to reset maps without a dyno but it never tuned well. Still backfires.
I called a local dealer with a trike Dyno machine and they quoted $350 to tune it. I already have the SS plug in for tuning before it was a trike and ran great with the first set of pipes/cleaner upgrades ( not the same as new ones on the trike).
This fee seems ridiculous to me!! That is almost 4 hours labor!! Has anyone ACTUALLY WATCHED their dyno tune to see how long it took. I can't hardly believe more than an hour could be used. I mean ACTUALLY WATCHED OR DONE, not stories?

That price is actually cheap, I've paid on average $400 - $500 with one tune being closer to $700. Don't just look at it based on a labor rate, you have to consider the folks doing the tuning are working out of a 6 figure dyno cell. The Dyno it self is a touch over $70,000, then throw in fans, exhaust, noise control, computers and a host of other odds and ends. Most places have a special room constructed just for the dyno.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

I street tune and dyno tune.

A street tune can take all day

A dyno tune can take an average of 4 hours or more.

Fact:

Some tuners roll your bike in and do one heck of a job tuning it. You can feel the difference and see the TQ band in the chart.

Some tuners roll your bike in and do a chart run, change a few things on the fuel mixture table and print out a chart from another bike and hand it to you. Charging you for a full tune.

You asked for real and seen events not stories... OK, here's one.

I looked at a dyno tune per request from a member on the other site. I compared his tune to the original library calibration from the tuning manufacturer. There were no changes. The dyno operator flashed the library calibration and went to lunch charging $400 bucks for his work.

Here's another... A very well known person sent four, count them 1, 2, 3, 4 new calibrations to his customer when the customer complained about the calibration being used as a so-called "Dyno tune specifically for the bike components". After trying all four (4) of these manipulated calibrations sent by this person I was asked to look at what was going on. All four (4) calibrations sent to this customer were identical in all ways with only one change... The name of the file.

Last one... I had someone from the other forum give their bike to a Dyno operator for a tune using a popular flash tuner. The bike was picked up after paying the $385 for the tune. A dyno chart was handed to the owner with his receipt. The owner wasn't very satisfied so he asked the dyno operator to look at it again. He picked up his bike and wasn't very satisfied for a second time. This owner asked me to remote into his computer and look at his tune. I searched for a flashed file but didn't find one. Come to find out the tuning device was not married to any bike at all. The dyno operator just handed the guy a sheet from another bike, collected $385 and gave the bike back to the customer. That's right... let me be clear. The tuner was not married to the ECM so the bike was never flashed with any calibration. After presenting his case to the owner the dyno operator lost his job and money refunded.

These are real life cases and examples of operators not doing their job. There are way more stories that I have with great dyno or street tuning results. $400, give or take 50 bucks, is a proper rate to pay for a tune. If you don't want to pay that or take your chances with someone else tuning your bike then do what I did years ago... learn how to do it yourself. It doesn't take a Wizard.

 

[Gorilla]

I had 2 trikes dynoed by the same shop. I was there in the shop both times the whole time watching the work. First tune was to a 2007 HD 103 Police Roadking with a Champion conversion. The interface was a Power Commander III. The tune took 5 hours. The second was a 2013 HD Tri SE tuner and the tune took 6 hours. The tuner person took a 1 hr lunch a 2 smoke breaks. A good tune does take time.

 

[Springman2007]

Dyno Tuning you trike; getting your money's worth....

A good point has been raise, how do we know we are getting our money's worth when we get a dyno tune from a shop? This is a question, I HAVE PONDERED A LOT OVER THIS WINTER.......

Now, my plan was to take my trike to Roeders Racing; and they have a really good reputation; I am given to understand. When I talked to them on it at the beginning of winter, they told me they would nee the trike for a couple of days and the cost would be around $500.00.

So, that was my game plan. I even pre-bought a Harley Race Tuner as recommended for the tune.

But now, over winter I have been reading about the ProVision system and one of its significant aspects is its ability to teach itself.

So, now here is the question to ponder:

Is it better to get a dyno tune, or to invest that money into a tuning system that can teach itself?

I keep seeing the $500.00 for the dyno-tune as a one-shot deal....but, that same money into a tuning system that can teach itself as more flexible and a better investment toward the entire lifecycle of the trike and the changes I could make to the trike long-term.

So, what do you guys think?

Springman

 

[msocko3]

A good point has been raise, how do we know we are getting our money's worth when we get a dyno tune from a shop? This is a question, I HAVE PONDERED A LOT OVER THIS WINTER.......

Now, my plan was to take my trike to Roeders Racing; and they have a really good reputation; I am given to understand. When I talked to them on it at the beginning of winter, they told me they would nee the trike for a couple of days and the cost would be around $500.00.

So, that was my game plan. I even pre-bought a Harley Race Tuner as recommended for the tune.

But now, over winter I have been reading about the ProVision system and one of its significant aspects is its ability to teach itself.

So, now here is the question to ponder:

Is it better to get a dyno tune, or to invest that money into a tuning system that can teach itself?

I keep seeing the $500.00 for the dyno-tune as a one-shot deal....but, that same money into a tuning system that can teach itself as more flexible and a better investment toward the entire lifecycle of the trike and the changes I could make to the trike long-term.

So, what do you guys think?

Springman

Roeders Racing is a good shop, I'd take one to them if need be. Them needing it a couple days means they are taking the time to do it right, they are making sure they adjust any tables for a good cold start, and also a hot start. A truly good tune is much more than setting the AFR and VE tables, which is what most folks who tune their own do. Timing is a good example, sometimes more can be had by working on the timing tables, not every engine likes the same thing. With timing sometime less is more also, less timing can increase torque, it can also make the engine run smoother when done right.

Only you can answer whether or not a DIY tune is best for you, and whether or not you can do it. I will say a mild cam swap or stock engine tune is much easier than something with wilder cams, ported heads and higher compression.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

A good point has been raise, how do we know we are getting our money's worth when we get a dyno tune from a shop? This is a question, I HAVE PONDERED A LOT OVER THIS WINTER.......

Now, my plan was to take my trike to Roeders Racing; and they have a really good reputation; I am given to understand. When I talked to them on it at the beginning of winter, they told me they would nee the trike for a couple of days and the cost would be around $500.00.

So, that was my game plan. I even pre-bought a Harley Race Tuner as recommended for the tune.

But now, over winter I have been reading about the ProVision system and one of its significant aspects is its ability to teach itself.

So, now here is the question to ponder:

Is it better to get a dyno tune, or to invest that money into a tuning system that can teach itself?

I keep seeing the $500.00 for the dyno-tune as a one-shot deal....but, that same money into a tuning system that can teach itself as more flexible and a better investment toward the entire lifecycle of the trike and the changes I could make to the trike long-term.

So, what do you guys think?

Springman

Just to fill you in on a little more information.

No tuner, not the SEPro you purchased, not the Power Vision nor the TTS or any other tuning device on the market can teach itself. You may be misunderstanding what may be called either the, "Smart Tune" or "Auto Tune" or "VTune" as an automatic learning device where you can do a plug and play then forget it. These are programs available to you for using the tuning product. This software will assist you with recording data so it can be applied to a better calibration to install/Flash in to your bike computer or ECM.

The only device that teachs itself is the ECM. It uses adaptive values which overlay the calibration file in the ECM. Each time you Key on/ Key off your bike these adaptive values are added to improve your performance.

Paying a good Dyno guy is usually the ticket if you don't have time to learn the tuning software however, if you plan on doing more motor upgrades/modifications in the future then you will need to pay the tuner again.

 

[Livin2Ride]

It doesn't take a Wizard.

Maybe not, but having access to one can be a very good thing ThumbUp.

 

[Springman2007]

Roeders Racing is a good shop, I'd take one to them if need be. Them needing it a couple days means they are taking the time to do it right, they are making sure they adjust any tables for a good cold start, and also a hot start. A truly good tune is much more than setting the AFR and VE tables, which is what most folks who tune their own do. Timing is a good example, sometimes more can be had by working on the timing tables, not every engine likes the same thing. With timing sometime less is more also, less timing can increase torque, it can also make the engine run smoother when done right.

Only you can answer whether or not a DIY tune is best for you, and whether or not you can do it. I will say a mild cam swap or stock engine tune is much easier than something with wilder cams, ported heads and higher compression.

Yes, I am very sure that Roeders can and will do a first rate job; it's why I sought them out in the first place. But as you say, is it my best path? It very well may be, as I am by far not the savviest in the tuning realm.

I now see the key to this question is in my abilities....maybe it is best to stay with my original plan and enlist Roeder's services....they have a lot more experience...

As for motor-work, I want to keep mine simple: I changed the air cleaner and mufflers; decatting the headpipe; and, I think I want to go with the TTS-100 cams; also, I decided to upgrade the charging system. That is all I think I will do on the motor for a while......

Springman