To Dyno or not

[joesnomad]

As I have stated before my bike pings real bad its an 06. I have thought about the resistor mod, still undecided. I like the idea of it and the cost factor is great and its easy to do. It seems every time I do something cheap and easy it comes back to bite me in the ass, if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any. I talked to a performance shop today to get there take on my options. He seems like a decent guy seems to know what he's talking about. First he said that he never seen a 1600 ping he has worked on them before he also said that he wants to drive it first before doing anything, that makes sense to me. I assured him that I could introduce him to one that does ping. He said as I already new that if I wanted to change exhaust it would be the time to do it when its dyno'd no sense in paying twice. Makes sense to me. I still am not sure if I want a louder exhaust or not, I like the idea of being able to talk to my passenger when traveling with out an intercom. Although I've not done it yet I wonder if load pipes would get annoying after hours in the saddle. I don't like to ride behind some of my riding buddies and listen to there load exhaust all day long. I really like my bike just how it is but the pinging has got to go one way or another. He recommended a power commander, from reading on hear that seems to be the consensus of most also. I forgot to ask him today about just adjusting the TPS. I asked him about price he told me dyno costs $60.00 custom mapping cost $270.00 and power commander $285.00. I have no idea what this type of service usually costs. What have some of yous paid ? I would also like it set up to run regular gas. If I'm going to pay $600.+ I at least want to be able to save enough for a drink at each fill up. Any suggestions ? I have no problem with spending the money for the repair If its the best permanent solution. I'm content with performance I get now I'm not looking for more if it happens, great but if it doesn't that alright also. I'm not rich $600. is alot of money but I want to get this fixed once and for all so I can just go on enjoying my Nomad and put this pinging sh*t behind me.

[rewindgy]

Your getting a very good price! Losers in town here want $600 - $800 just to do the Dyno & mapping! There are only two guys who do it and the Stealer who sold me the PC III just guesses at the settings! I haven't put the PC III in and it's sitting in it's box - I can't make up my mind if I just sell it or bite the bullet and put it in? So far I am waiting to pull my trailer and see if I really need it as the way I have my bike set up now mileage is very good and power is acceptable.

[Top Cat]

Just my opinion but as for LOUD pipes I would say no. Your idea of loud and mine may be different. The removal of the rear baffle made the sound I was looking for. From what I have gathered on here, V&H Baggers with the baffels in are not that loud ???
I would start with the cheapest solution first and work my on from there. Resistor mod would be first if it were me.
I'm sure BD will chime in here as soon as he gets time.

I'm with TC. Keep the costs down as long as ya can. There will always be an opportunity to spend it.My pipes are stock and I like them just fine. If I did do a power commander or other module I'd leave the pipes the way they are.

[tomk]

Joe -- Why don't you try the resistor first? It's so quick and easy and reversible. It might change all your other plans. I see several people swear by it -- and they installed pipes too.

There's a lot of money to be paid for a dyno and mapping. I wouldn't do it unless I made a few modifications like exhaust and intake (I did and I haven't had it dyno'd yet).

[01nomad]

I put a resistor, don't remember if it was a 1000 or 1500 Ohm on an '05 and it took the pinging away. He don't like loud pipes and is happy with it not pinging. ME, I have Bubs, the best. Not too loud unless you get into it.

[joesnomad]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm leaning toward trying the resistor mod first. My biggest concern is should something go wrong while its under warranty and they get to looking around and find that resistor solderd in will that void the warranty. Companies are always looking for a way to screw you and this ones pretty easy to spot. I'm not overly happy with Kawasaki's handling of this problem with the pinging I still feel that they should take of the repair too many people are complaing of the same problem and it seems to fall on deaf ears. When I was looking for abike I was told that Harley was piss poor at fixing warranty problems so I decided to go with Kawasaki maybe they are all the same they got my money now go screw off. I like my dealer alot great people they said that they called Kawa. about my problem and they made note of it. That was their response.

[blowndodge]

Joe,

I would start by trying to fix it myself. There's a wealth of info on Pinging Nomads. It's unfortunate that since fuel octane varies a lot in the US that Kawasaki didn't put a knock sensor in the Nomad. California's top octane is 91. My manual calls for 93.

Our bikes ping because of the emissions standards. When Kawasaki set up the Nomads fuel injection they did it with the engine temp fully warmed and the throttle at a certain setting. Problem is, is that at that throttle setting the bike is at the verg of pre-ingition, especially with California's 91 octane premium. I almost never hear of 93 to 95 octane regions ever have a problem with pinging.

I've done the 1K resistor and have adjusted to TPS minutely. from 4.40 to 4.43. My Nomad used to stall all the time if I let the clutch out too quickly from a stop without giving ample throttle. Now I can pull away without any throttle.

The bike can still ping on hot days, especially in stop and go traffic when the radiator fan is operating. At max coolant temps when this happens, it always pings a little.

I'm looking into modifying the water temp sensor with a resistor at the moment. The "true" operating temperature of an engine is how hot the radiator fluid is, not necessarily the intake temperature.

According to the manual, the resistance value of the the water temp sensor has more of an effect then the air temp sensor.

Kawasaki lists the resistance values associated with the water temp sensor as follows:

2.162 -Â* 3.112 k Ohm at (68 degrees F)

0.785 ¡Â* 1.049 k Ohm at (122 degrees F)

0.207 ¡Â* 0.253 k Ohm at (212 degrees F)

From these values we can see that there is a 1k Ohm variance at 68 F.

As the motor heats up this sensor tells the ECU to reduce fuel to the injectors. I'm thinking that it removes too much fuel and the motor pings. One can also find a way to make the radiator more efficient at heat transfer which would keep the coolant cooler and the water temp sensor would tell the ECU not to lean out the mixture too much.

Right now with summer coming, I'm going to reduce the ratio of distilled water to antifreez to about 70/30. Reason being is that water is twice as effective at removing heat through the radiator than antifreeze is. I know from experience that this reduces engine temps rather well. If you live in a climate that temps fall below 0 degrees F then I wouldn't go this route. I live in Southern Cal and the coldest it's ever got in 29F. Feeze point at 70/30 mixture is about Zero F. I'm totally in the safe zone.

Corrosion issues are a non issues as with distilled water in an aluminum engine do not create the electrolysis reaction to promote corrosion as some have indicated it would. Only Iron blocks or heads would have a problem. Our Nomads are aluminum. Others insist it does without offering why that would be, I ignore...

If this still doesn't provide total relief from the pinging, then I will install a resistor in the water temp sensor so that the ECU thinks the radiator fluid is cooler than it is and not lean out the motor as much. This will not affect the temp the fan goes on as that is controlled by another temp sensor.

Too bad Kawasaki short changed us with the programming of the ECU and we need to find a way to fix our bikes. I'm not comfortable with service shops fixing my ride. Never have been.

If this works this summer

[naugaman]

BD, sounds like you have been thinking the same thing I have about the water temp sensor. Let us know what you find out. The biggest thing that bothers me is the cough and stall of the engine. I had that happen before any of my mods. My friend also talks of his stock 06 stalling at times. To help out, I have been running my RPM up a bit.

[blowndodge]

Mine "coughed" too when knew. Sounded like someone hiccuped into a coffee can. Just a very slight tweak on the TPS cured that completely. My idle is low, 850 and smooth as molassess.