Purchasing, setting up and operating our new dynamometer
In April of 2019 we began the long journey of purchasing, piecing together and operating a dynamometer. A Dynamometer typically known as a ‘dyno’ is an instrument which measures the power output of an engine. To Keep things simple, the motorcycle is loaded onto the dyno, the front wheel goes into a wheel chock and the motorcycle is then tied down. The rear tire sits on top of a drum that spins. The spinning drum then sends the information to the computer to calculate the Horsepower and Torque as well as the Air Fuel mixture coming out the pipe. We knew owning a Dyno would provide us with the ability to tune motorcycles safely and accurately as well as the ability to test drive through the winter months, so this piece of equipment has been on Scotty’s radar for quite awhile, ever since his first experience during Harley Factory training course in Fairview Alberta.
Fairview winter 2015
Back in early spring 2019 we came across a Dyno machine for sale by Trev Deeley motorcycles, a Harley Davidson dealership in Vancouver B.C. Knowing this was our best opportunity, we jumped on it and before we knew it the dealership was sending us photos of the dyno being packed up and ready for shipping across Canada!
Fast forward to June 26th AKA CHRISTMAS in June. A transport hauled the dyno in many, many pieces on many many skids from Vancouver to Strathroy and we spent the afternoon on the hottest day of the summer unloading everything into the shop it would eventually be put back together in.
Once we had everything unloaded the real task of reassembling it began, a Dyno not only requires a lot of space, but ventilation, electricity and many helping hands. From the end of june until now we have slowly put the walls, ceiling and ventilation. Special thanks to Lyle from Williams Mobile Service, a neighbour and friend in our complex here, for helping us with the heavier pieces! Naturally we got the best part together and working first…
Of course we laid down the where the walls would go and where the ventilation would need to be put, but we couldn’t wait to get the dyno running! After getting everything hooked up and working out some minor issues with the computer we brought her to life! After Many hours of playing with our favourite new toy, tweaking little things, and getting it set up exactly how we like, we got into ventilation.
Now that we have told you all about our dyno adventure, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of the dyno, tuning.
Tuning is the modification of the Electronic Fuel Injection system to ensure the proper air fuel mixture for ultimate combustion. While a Carb is re-jetted, an EFI system requires adjusting the desired air fuel mixture, as well as the A/f and Spark Tables. If we think of an engine as an air pump, when we increase the air flow with an exhaust and/or air intake upgrades then we need to adjust the EFI MAP to add more fuel and spark timing for complete combustion and desired performance.
Types of Tuning:
1) Piggyback Systems such as Fuel Pack & Power Commander require extra connections and modules that hopefully don’t fail, and use a basic generic map that is close enough. They also may require bypassing O2 sensors therefore lying to the ECM, basically just dumping extra fuel, still runs ok but is it really proper tuning? Or is it just good enough?…
2) Reflash the ECM or simply hooking up the laptop to copy and paste a map that worked good on the last similar build. Again, this is close enough and stills runs ok, but is it properly tuned or just good enough? This is typically done by shops to save time & money. I have actually had calls from customers that have had tuning done, but their odometer didn’t move, so the bike wasn’t even road tested!!
3) Mobile Tuning is a better option which smaller shops use that can’t afford the expense of a Dyno but still want to tune. This method custom builds a map for the bike, but requires road testing to try and hit all RPM’s, the throttle positions and engine loads. In order to hit as many “cells” on the map the tuner must ride the bike up and down the highway hitting extreme speeds, putting themselves and the motorcycle at risk. This is still not hitting all “cells” on the map. Again, this is close enough and runs good enough…
4) Dyno Tuning is the most effective and accurate why of remapping an EFI system. With proper smooth engine loads, this is done in a safe and controlled environment. The tuner is able to control the RPM’s and not only hit all cells on the map but they are able to hold in that cell for longer periods of time. This allows the tuning software more time to sample accurate A/F ratios and provide better adjustments and ultimately the best map for that bike. Not all bikes are created equal!
During a recent tuning session on a bike that we personally tuned, we were using the Mobile Dyno techniques and thought it was good enough…then we re-tuned on the Dyno we were able to get 6 more HP and 10 more Ft Lbs of Torque!
If your spending $5000.00 to get to 100 Hp that’s roughly $250/HP……..Therefore 6HP/$1500.00!
In order to get the most out of your hard-earned dollars spent on expensive performance upgrades on your bike, do not settle for close enough. Get the most bang for your buck and do the job right! Ask your shop what kind of tuning are they using to tune your build….is it good enough? Dyno Tuning is truth!
Scotty’s is now the only motorcycle dyno station in the area, check out our Dyno page for more details on prices etc. We will be holding dyno days, and special events for customers to come and have their bike ran on the dyno! For updates on these Dyno days and events feel free to sign up for our email list!
Stay ‘Tuned!’
