2WheelDynoWorks ECU Reflash Review

[phicurious86]

So I’ve had the reflashed ECU in my bike for about a week and a half now. Figured I should do a little review.
 
All testing was done on my butt dyno, and is thus completely subjective. ~60% of the riding was done on surface streets.

Comparison to stock fueling with yoshimura pipes:
 
Low rpm acceleration/torque – Significant difference vs. stock fueling. Definitely has more pull from idle all the way up to 4k rpm.
 
Mid rpm acceleration/torque – Significant difference at mid rpm, especially in gears 4+. Roll on the throttle at 5k and the bike sprints up to 7k. Stock fueling I might have called it a brisk jog.
 
High rpm power/hp – Maybe most significant difference here. Engine grunt drop-off was pretty apparent right around 8k rpm on the stock fueled bike. Bike keeps trucking up until the other side of 9k with the reflash. Most noticeable to me in 5th and 6th gear.
 
Throttle response – Significantly smoother than the stock fueling. The bike pulls pretty hard pretty much anywhere in the rpm range and in every gear. No noticeable weak spots other than post 9k rpm. Way less engine braking for the ECU reflash also helps the feel of the throttle. Note the reflash does not remove the bike’s tightly wound spring feel. If you don’t want the bike to launch forward, you need to play gentle with the throttle (especially in lower gears and rpms).
 
Fuel Economy – Worse than stock fueling. I was getting right around 54.5 mpg stock and get right around 49 with the reflash mpg (according to the mpg indicator on the bike). *Most of my riding for the 54.5 mpg stock fueling was done during the break-in period and thus the bike was not ridden as hard or fast as it is now with the reflash*
 
Personal aesthetics – Some things I noted on the reflash: Way less engine braking. Basically no backfiring even under hard deceleration. Faster idle (I opted to bump mine up about 150rpm) which has translated into a stronger sounding bike at 1250rpm idle. The bike just sounded anemic at 1100 rpm idle and I have no idea why such a small rpm difference would translate into such a noticeable engine sound (probably has something to do with the better fueling down low). The engine also jumps more quickly up to 2k rpm from idle as I start to let out the clutch (read almost instantly). Didn’t do this either on the stock fuel setup or with the ejk.
 
Comparison to EJK Fueling with yoshimura pipes:
 
Low rpm acceleration/torque – Very minor difference in pull from 1.5k to 4k rpm.
 
Mid rpm acceleration/torque – Again very minor to no difference in pull through the mid-range. Even less so than low range rpm.
 
High rpm power/hp – Very minor difference here too.
 
Throttle response – Minor to no difference. ECU reflash feels a little better from idle to take-off, but only just.
 
Fuel Economy – ECU reflash is worse than what was I was getting with the EJK by about 1mpg (~50mpg with the EJK), and doesn’t have the ability to change the fuel economy on-the-go like with the EJK (though I was running the EJK .5 lower than recommended for the yellow and green fuel zones).
 
Personal aesthetics – Both the EJK (with the 02 sensor disconnected) and the reflash resulted in way less engine braking. Couldn’t tell the difference between the two. EJK had more backfiring compared to ecu reflash. EJK also took a little fiddling with to take care of some minor exhaust popping under hard acceleration. Reflash was able to adjust idle and so all my comments about the better sounding engine at idle apply when compared to the EJK.
 
End Result:
 
I consider the $319 money extremely well spent when compared to the stock fueled bike. The bike feels more powerful and refined everywhere; my ass don’t lie. The idle adjustment is also a big plus for me on a bike that felt dangerously anemic before the reflash (I was intentionally holding the throttle open just a little at idle for fear of stalling the bike on take-off).
 
Now compared to the EJK I’m less sure how many people would be able to justify the ~100 extra bucks for the ecu reflash. The reflash is definitely simpler as compared to hooking up the EJK, but the EJK isn’t so complicated that a novice couldn’t rig it up (with this forum’s help). For my part the idle adjust was worth that extra Benjamin just for the peace of mind and sound of the bike at idle. For someone who’s not concerned about such things, then the EJK would probably give just as much riding enjoyment as the reflash.
 
 
 
 

[YZEtc]

Thank you for the write-up on this.

[Cruizin]

Great review! @phicurious86

[Quixote]

Thanks @phicurious86 for the detailed review.
 
I had expected the reflash to have better gas mileage than the EJK under very similar conditions.
 

[phicurious86]

Reflash and EJK were super close on gas. Should have mentioned I was running my EJK at .5 less than recommended in the green and yellow fueling zones. Probably made a difference.

[FZRDR]

Excellent  write up!
I've been waiting in anticipation as I have the EJK already.
 
Thanks,,,,,,,,,

[JA50N]

Thanks for the review, I should be getting my ECU back on Monday. Can't wait to ride with it. What is your setup? Yosh pipe, baffle/no baffle, snorkel removed?

[phicurious86]

Thanks for the review, I should be getting my ECU back on Monday. Can't wait to ride with it. What is your setup? Yosh pipe, baffle/no baffle, snorkel removed?

Yoshi carbon, baffle in, snorkel removed.
 

[JA50N]

Got my ECU installed this afternoon and promptly went out for a 40 mile ride. WOW! What a difference. The bike is so much smoother in off/on throttle transitions. The popping on decel is completely gone. It leaves from a stop better than it used to. It even has a bit more power than it used to also (that was the last reason for getting the flash). It even sounds different at idle (a bit quieter) than before. I am very happy with spending 320 bucks. Completely transforms the bike. Great work 2WDW.

[modmaster]

ja50n, What is your setup?
 
modmaster

[JA50N]

Yoshi system, snorkel cut inside and outside.

[ryan4130]

Thanks for the comparison. How are you getting your MPG numbers?

[so1102]

Thanks for the comparison. How are you getting your MPG numbers?

There's a feature built into the gauge cluster

[ryan4130]

@so1102 No one knows how that number is derived. It could be an estimate based on stock fueling and throttle with rpm. It most likely is not accurate while adding a piggy-back fuel controller or ecu flash

[phicurious86]

Thanks for the comparison. How are you getting your MPG numbers?

Just used the mpg estimator on the bike. I compared the estimator to the numbers I got from ~2.5g of fuel and the odometer and the numbers seemed to be in sync (this was after I installed the EJK). I can check it against the re-flashed ecu the next time I fuel up, but it's not going to be super precise. If someone wants to run the bike dry after adding a precise amount of fuel to the bike, she/he is welcome to.
 

[ryan4130]

Well I don't mean run her dry.... Never run any vehicle dry.... but run to like one bar left or 20/30 miles left kind of thing. Try to keep it somewhat scientific and accurate so any MPG claims would be real

[phicurious86]

Well I don't mean run her dry.... Never run any vehicle dry.... but run to like one bar left or 20/30 miles left kind of thing. Try to keep it somewhat scientific and accurate so any MPG claims would be real

How would you know that 20/30 miles were left? I ran it until the warning flash bar came on when I compared to the two before, but there's no way to know how many miles of driving remained on that (since varying use of throttle results in varying mileage).  
Give Yamaha a call and see if they'll illuminate how they're calculating mpg?
 

[ryan4130]

A "trip f" comes up when your bike has a bar of gas left, or some set miles

[pattonme]

I guess Yamaha marketing was right after all; that the bike is aimed at people who fuss over MPG. Shet if running correctly meant it only got 30mpg I still wouldn't give a damn. From the sound of it, the reflash or EJK is well within 10% and more like 5% delta. No brainer.

[bmwpowere36m3]

I guess Yamaha marketing was right after all; that the bike is aimed at people who fuss over MPG. Shet if running correctly meant it only got 30mpg I still wouldn't give a damn. From the sound of it, the reflash or EJK is well within 10% and more like 5% delta. No brainer.

and price
 

[so1102]

I guess Yamaha marketing was right after all; that the bike is aimed at people who fuss over MPG. Shet if running correctly meant it only got 30mpg I still wouldn't give a damn. From the sound of it, the reflash or EJK is well within 10% and more like 5% delta. No brainer.

this.  I'm planning on doing the reflash and I still have the stock exhaust!  To me the fueling improvements alone would be worth it -- not to mention the free updates (should I ever decide to splurge on a noisemaker)

[rick]

I guess Yamaha marketing was right after all; that the bike is aimed at people who fuss over MPG. Shet if running correctly meant it only got 30mpg I still wouldn't give a damn. From the sound of it, the reflash or EJK is well within 10% and more like 5% delta. No brainer.

With only 3.7 gallons in the tank (according to the book - I'll never let it go dry to find out as this will do nothing beyond shorten the life of the pump) If all I got was 90 miles to the flashing reserve, I'd never have bought this bike.  
That mine is getting routinely 65 mpg w/o trying is just gravy. I have an easy 200 mile range with this bike. And that's a good thing when yer out in the boonies on a Sunday and open gas stations can be few and far between. 
 
My only issue with the FI is too much engine braking in the 1st 3 gears. I'd prefer using the, um, waddya call 'em, oh yeah, brakes to slow down. 
 
BTW mine's not stalled in a long while such that I've pretty much forgotten about it. 

[ryan4130]

I guess Yamaha marketing was right after all; that the bike is aimed at people who fuss over MPG. Shet if running correctly meant it only got 30mpg I still wouldn't give a damn. From the sound of it, the reflash or EJK is well within 10% and more like 5% delta. No brainer.

 
 
I don't know what you are trying to prove by saying I'm making a fuss over MPG. If you don't care to know, then move along. In my mind, if there are changes occurring to my bike by doing any mod, I'd like to know... Doesn't mean I am an MPG addict. I liken it to data sheets on materials or products... They tell the whole story and not just the benefits.

[pattonme]

It wasn't directed at you @ryan4130, but rather an observation of the broader fz07 community on this forum. I've been on my share of forums and this one is unique in bringing up the issue of MPG so frequently and evaluating mods (not exclusively) in that light.

[botbullet0]

It seems like popping on decel is generally disliked on this forum. Any reason? I've always loved the popping I got on my cars when I installed new exhaust systems.