Power Commander issues?

Shortly before we went into lockdown I got the major service done on the vfr1200. After paying more than a grand for this, and a few other niggly bits that needed doing at the same time I was expecting a brand new bike. Well…

The bike is running super rich. Fuel economy down big time - maybe a drop of 5mpg at a guess on an already embarassing return. It’s clearly drowning itself, particularly on start up, where it will cut out once every 3 times or so.

I spoke to the mechanic at the garage about this, and he said well it’s got a power commander V and previously had a hiflo air filter in it so would have been set up for that and the girthy deljkevic end can. He’s put an OEM air filter on as reckons the hiflo air filters are no good for the bike. Honestly I’ve only ever heard that about K&N but there we are. The power commander came on the bike and I installed the hiflo air filter 8k miles ago as when I went to replace the air filter that’s what was previously there

So my plan was to disconnect the PC and see if it made a difference, and if so find a map on google that would be better suited. I lifted the seat up to see the lead snaking off under the tank somewhere. I can access the pc itself though from under the seat.

Does anyone have any experience with issues such as this and know of a good solution? If I can I’d like to keep the power commander in place as my throttle was previously buttery smooth through traffic and I want to keep it that way (not that it is anymore since it’s been playing up).

I have only done about 800 miles on the bike since the service but it’s been about 3 months (basically two weeks of commuting then haven’t ridden since we got sent home). I don’t know if I’d be within my rights to ask the garage to sort it out, as they’ve done the work to an OEM standard and it’s the after market PC seemingly causing issues, and even if I were, I don’t think I’d want to do that to an indy business that’s just been ragged by coronavirus impact.

That mechanic is talking total nonsense, if you want the real SP on Hiflofiltro read what they say about their products here Hiflofiltro: Why Hiflo?

If performance was better before the service than after then clearly something was done during the service to affect performance. If I was a gambling man I’d wager that something was a control module reset, 'king dealers I wouldn’t piss on em if they were on fire.

Not a dealer, independent garage - I always use them and the mechanic in question is extremely knowledgeable about every bike he can talk for hours about specific driveshafts and camshafts on bikes I’ve owned in the past. I’ve always bought bikes that I’ve felt had interesting engineering and I’ve researched in advance and he’s spoken at length about these when seeing them for the first time so I know he doesn’t in general chat s***.

That said, I don’t know if he was just covering his arse, but I spend thousands there in all honesty and they’ve never “found problems” only fixed stuff I’ve brought them

This particular service did take a day and a half as there was a lot to do, and there is evidence that the bike was put back together a bit quickly, there’s a pinched cable I think that’s causing the bike to stall out if given full lock to the nearside

Regarding the Power Commander, not sure if it’s the same as I can do on my KTM and TuneECU but I can see what map is installed and check it against other maps other people have used.
That’ll be a good place to start and definitely see what others are using for your bike and setup.
(I’ve forgotten what bike you’ve got)

It might be worth having a look to see if any other pipes/cables don’t feel right and just double check what air filter is fitted and it’s properly installed. I know refitting the airbox on my 690 can be a issue.

Hey, I can’t disconnect the PC from the bike easily as it goes under the tank. I’m despearate to not take the tank of to check air filter/pc destination as taking the tank off is the worst job on it (VFR1200F) - it’s got the magic fairings and it’s really not fun lol. There are some connector slots at the top of the PC that I can see so I am going to see if I can get an adapter for them and plug a lead from a computer.

Unfortunately my 3 laptops are all macs (don’t ask, I’ve not paid for any of them) two of which run osx and one linux. I have an old imac from 2009 in the “bike workshop” which is no longer supported by updates (again didn’t pay for this). None of these support the PC software apparently, needs windows. So I’ve got a Windows 7 install on order from ebay for the old imac. When that arrives I’ll try wheeling the bike in there and see what’s what. I’ve got a windows desktop in my office but I don’t think I want a bike in the front room. I’m concerned I might like it there too much

Fortunately for me I’m not in a hurry as the insurance on them expires at the end of bank holiday so I’ve plenty of time for tinkering I guess

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I just remember a bit of advice when I was looking to tweak maps on my KTM. Make sure battery is ok and will start as normal or you can end up turning the engine into a brick as you play with maps.

I’ve no idea of the truth behind the statement but, as my battery was on its way out, I never played with maps.

However it is supposedly very easy on the KTMs with TuneECU…

Thanks for the heads up, I’ll work out the process of checking and changing the maps and once I’ve got that figured out I’ll give it a go with an eye on battery

Never apologise for having a Mac, that’s pretty much all I use though I do have a MacBook Air running Windoze :grin:
Good luck in trying to workout what’s up

It’s a lot easier with TuneECU as you can run that off a phone via Bluetooth or a cable

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It’ll be pretty hard with my bike now owned by someone else :joy: :joy: :joy:

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This has happened to my vfr1200.

Before service it was fine. Then I sent it to an independent Honda boffin with ocd to do the expensive service, valve clearance/spark plugs etc.

When I do a cold start now, as soon as you open the throttle it will cut out. As soon as you get going it runs perfectly. It has only cut out on me twice when warm. Both after waiting at traffic lights for a few few minutes. I am now wondering if I had tilted my bars to the n/s whilst I was waiting.

The only advice I have found so far regarding this was to disconnect the battery for a while, reconnect the battery, start the bike, leaving the side stand down, don’t touch the throttle, when the fan comes on turn it off with the kill switch.

Not tried it myself yet. But worth a shot if it saves taking the fairing and tank off.

I would imagine this procedure is for a standard bike, not sure if having a power commander fitted makes It different.

Really interesting that you’ve had the same issue - I’ll see if I can dig out the article and post here for future reference

Might as well give the battery thing a go, not too time expensive