ECU Flash from Ivan's Performance available

[tonik]

Put mine in as soon as I got home. Just got back from my 40 mile test course, I use it as my benchmark for all peformance mods, tire changes, suspension changes and so on. Through a national park in a valley near here, zig zag in and out side roads in it. Nice combo of sweepers, kinda curvy sections and elevations changes. Then a decent freeway run back.

It does everything everyone has said, runs like a raped ape. Cooler, throttle response is awesome...1500 to 2500 is now a very usable rpm range. Very nice if you drive aggressively like I do..I can throttle/brake down into a curve in 3rd..leave it there and go WOT half way through and it launches and drives right out. Usually needed to downshift into 2nd before to do that. Very very cool.

However, in a couple of spots it has a ping, that concerns me. For example 70 mph in 5th which is 3K and right in the sweetspot for hp/torque on this bike if I go 3/4 throttle to WOT it pings. I run Shell high octane.

[Kap]

I've got enough miles on my bikes now, so I think it's time to make a formal comment. I had both of my 1700 Vulcans done by Ivan (a 2010 Classic and a 2013 Voyager). Both the bikes run premium fuel, have Kuryakyn Alley Cats, Thunder throttle body gaskets, PC-Vs, RACNRAY's throttle mods, and exhaust upgrades.

VOYAGER: I expected the Voyager to be an easy flash as I ride it pretty easy and it seems so forgiving. Plus it has regular slip-ons. With that in mind, I had the Voyager done first. My biggest concern with this bike was getting rid of the pop and if it ran better great. Before the flash, the PC-V was able to really help with the pop, but the bike felt like it was running rich at times and it never really felt "tuned" (even after about 40 PC-V map adjustments). After the flash, and with the PC-V set to dead zero, the bike is SOOOO smooth and there's no pop at all. The throttle response is great and the bike just feels right. I will say to those getting this done, be sure you adjust the throttle cables as the bike is NOT going to be slushy anymore so you will want to be more exact with that setting. Gas mileage seems to be in very normal range, I don't really watch that too closely.

CLASSIC: The Classic has Cobra Dragsters (they are loud). The pop was much worse on that bike and there was a tuning issue. I tried both a PC-V and Cobra PowerPro tuners but wasn't happy with the pop or the power with either one (the PC-V worked better). I was really dreading having to take the darn Dragster exhaust off and going back stock, but if the re-flash didn't work that was where I was headed. Ivan did his re-flash and I set the PC-V to give just a touch of fuel at high RPM and full throttle. SO SWEET... 99.9% of the pop is gone, even with Corba Dragsters! The response and power are both great. Gas mileage seems improved (getting about or better than the Voyager now), but that's not really surprising as the settings I was running with the PC-V were pretty rich. Recently, I find myself taking this bike out more than the Voyager as it's so much more fun to ride now.

PROCESS: I used Fed-Ex to ship to Ivan and paid a touch extra to get him to ship back using 2 day shipments. I get a discount on shipping thru my office, that made it easier. For two weeks in a row, I removed an ECU on Sunday night (starting with the Voyager), shipped it to Ivan on Monday morning, and got it back before the weekend. There was no weekend downtime because it was two day shipping both ways. Ivan's turn-around time was very fast.

COLD START: There's been talk about cold start idle being higher after the re-flash. Ok, I think it may be a bit higher now, but for me it's not too high or even a hint of an issue. Ivan explained that it was necessary for him to make some cold run adjustments, in order to improve some of the warmer running conditions. Fine by me for sure. I let the bike idle anyway for a while before I touch throttle (in the morning I idle going down a slight grade for about 3 or 4 blocks as I leave my neighborhood).

SUMMARY/OPINION: This is more of an opinion than a summary. It is my opinion that if you are running stock pipes, filters, and feel the performance is good, then Ivan's re-flash may not be needed to improve your riding adventures. However, if you've made any mods to your bike and still feel it needs something, get this done. I was so frustrated with the way my bikes were running and ready to put both bikes back to stock. God knows I hated the thought of undoing the work that was done. After the re-flash, I'm very satisfied with how this has turned out.

[JD Hog]

Originally Posted by Kap

I've got enough miles on my bikes now, so I think it's time to make a formal comment. I had both of my 1700 Vulcans done by Ivan (a 2010 Classic and a 2013 Voyager). Both the bikes run premium fuel, have Kuryakyn Alley Cats, Thunder throttle body gaskets, PC-Vs, RACNRAY's throttle mods, and exhaust upgrades.

VOYAGER: I expected the Voyager to be an easy flash as I ride it pretty easy and it seems so forgiving. Plus it has regular slip-ons. With that in mind, I had the Voyager done first. My biggest concern with this bike was getting rid of the pop and if it ran better great. Before the flash, the PC-V was able to really help with the pop, but the bike felt like it was running rich at times and it never really felt "tuned" (even after about 40 PC-V map adjustments). After the flash, and with the PC-V set to dead zero, the bike is SOOOO smooth and there's no pop at all. The throttle response is great and the bike just feels right. I will say to those getting this done, be sure you adjust the throttle cables as the bike is NOT going to be slushy anymore so you will want to be more exact with that setting. Gas mileage seems to be in very normal range, I don't really watch that too closely.

CLASSIC: The Classic has Cobra Dragsters (they are loud). The pop was much worse on that bike and there was a tuning issue. I tried both a PC-V and Cobra PowerPro tuners but wasn't happy with the pop or the power with either one (the PC-V worked better). I was really dreading having to take the darn Dragster exhaust off and going back stock, but if the re-flash didn't work that was where I was headed. Ivan did his re-flash and I set the PC-V to give just a touch of fuel at high RPM and full throttle. SO SWEET... 99.9% of the pop is gone, even with Corba Dragsters! The response and power are both great. Gas mileage seems improved (getting about or better than the Voyager now), but that's not really surprising as the settings I was running with the PC-V were pretty rich. Recently, I find myself taking this bike out more than the Voyager as it's so much more fun to ride now.

PROCESS: I used Fed-Ex to ship to Ivan and paid a touch extra to get him to ship back using 2 day shipments. I get a discount on shipping thru my office, that made it easier. For two weeks in a row, I removed an ECU on Sunday night (starting with the Voyager), shipped it to Ivan on Monday morning, and got it back before the weekend. There was no weekend downtime because it was two day shipping both ways. Ivan's turn-around time was very fast.

COLD START: There's been talk about cold start idle being higher after the re-flash. Ok, I think it may be a bit higher now, but for me it's not too high or even a hint of an issue. Ivan explained that it was necessary for him to make some cold run adjustments, in order to improve some of the warmer running conditions. Fine by me for sure. I let the bike idle anyway for a while before I touch throttle (in the morning I idle going down a slight grade for about 3 or 4 blocks as I leave my neighborhood).

SUMMARY/OPINION: This is more of an opinion than a summary. It is my opinion that if you are running stock pipes, filters, and feel the performance is good, then Ivan's re-flash may not be needed to improve your riding adventures. However, if you've made any mods to your bike and still feel it needs something, get this done. I was so frustrated with the way my bikes were running and ready to put both bikes back to stock. God knows I hated the thought of undoing the work that was done. After the re-flash, I'm very satisfied with how this has turned out.

My 2015 Voyager is stock except for Ray's Throttle Mod and I would say that the re-flash was a huge improvement over stock. For those with a stock setup this is money well spent.

[Ivan_ipp]

Since there has been a couple of guys with large intake systems who have experienced a lean condition at large throttle openings at high rpms.... I feel that I should offer a separate flash for the open intake systems.

Anyone with a big air kit that experiences pinging and wants to have the fuel adjusted, please send it back and I'll add the fuel for you.

I will also take care of the shipping too.


Ivan

[tonik]

Originally Posted by Ivan_ipp

Since there has been a couple of guys with large intake systems who have experienced a lean condition at large throttle openings at high rpms.... I feel that I should offer a separate flash for the open intake systems.

Anyone with a big air kit that experiences pinging and wants to have the fuel adjusted, please send it back and I'll add the fuel for you.

I will also take care of the shipping too.


Ivan

Mine is all stock, but I am pinging at highway speeds with a heavy roll on.

[Ivan_ipp]

Try a different gas station please. ..

There's no reason for it to ping with a stock intake.

[Peg]

Originally Posted by Ivan_ipp

Since there has been a couple of guys with large intake systems who have experienced a lean condition at large throttle openings at high rpms.... I feel that I should offer a separate flash for the open intake systems.

Anyone with a big air kit that experiences pinging and wants to have the fuel adjusted, please send it back and I'll add the fuel for you.

I will also take care of the shipping too.


Ivan

I'll assume that that your generous shipping offer won't apply in my case Ivan?

I have wondered whether I re-install my EJK tuner to add a little fuel across the board. As you thought, with our simple choice of either 91 or 95 octane down here, I can no longer run with 91. I'm also suspicious that I've heard it ping slightly even on the higher grade fuel, as well. Loaded up, under hard acceleration up a hill in a tall gear.

I would be happy to take another two week downtime, perhaps in a month or two when we get deeper into our off-season - for just such an adjustment to add fuel, and if you thought it might work OK, in the meantime I could try the EJK set to add a little fuel either across the board or in just the acceleration / WOT bands?

I appreciate that the EJK is a tuner you may not be familiar with. And feel free to PM me if you think it's a discussion we should continue off thread.

Otherwise, and as I hope I've previously told you - I think the work you've done on my ECU is absolute magic!

[Ivan_ipp]

Just to clarify things here:

This applies to people with BAK's (open type air filters) who experience problems at full throttle, above 4000 rpm...
It does not apply to people that have a stock intake.

Each case will be handled separately in person by phone.
(you need to have a discussion in person on the phone with me)

Do not just send it back without speaking to me first.


Ivan

[smokier]

Originally Posted by Ivan_ipp

Since there has been a couple of guys with large intake systems who have experienced a lean condition at large throttle openings at high rpms.... I feel that I should offer a separate flash for the open intake systems.

Anyone with a big air kit that experiences pinging and wants to have the fuel adjusted, please send it back and I'll add the fuel for you.

I will also take care of the shipping too.

Ivan

This is excellent customer service. This is a business that wants to take care of it's customers and do the right thing.

Another thumbs up for Ivan IPP

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Originally Posted by Peg

I have wondered whether I re-install my EJK tuner to add a little fuel across the board. As you thought, with our simple choice of either 91 or 95 octane down here, I can no longer run with 91. I'm also suspicious that I've heard it ping slightly even on the higher grade fuel, as well. Loaded up, under hard acceleration up a hill in a tall gear.

Peg,

I've been messing with the PCV on my bike with the ECU flash and a Roaring Toyz Intake with a Freedom 2-1 exhaust. It needs about +5 fuel at 3500 and above RPM in the 60% to 100% throttle input to get it rich enough to make good power or it felt a little flat in the open throttle areas.

Ivan's caution here has been that adding fuel below 3500 will reduce power as the engine likes to run lean down low. I can say I found that to be true, every time I added fuel below 3500 RPM I got a little boggy feeling when I opened the throttle. If you can get your EJK to target a specific RPM range as a hard cutoff for adding fuel it should work.

I'm currently running 91 octane at 5000 feet elevation and have not heard a single ping even before I started adding fuel. That's the highest octane we can buy here in the mountains. Not sure if there's an issue with fuel quality in NZ or if there's some other factor.

Jason

[Ivan_ipp]

"Down under" uses the old octane calculations that we used to use in the 60's and 70's...

Their octane # are different than ours .......
For example their 95 (regular) is equal to our 87.



Ivan

[terryd]

Originally Posted by Ivan_ipp

Since there has been a couple of guys with large intake systems who have experienced a lean condition at large throttle openings at high rpms.... I feel that I should offer a separate flash for the open intake systems.

Anyone with a big air kit that experiences pinging and wants to have the fuel adjusted, please send it back and I'll add the fuel for you.

I will also take care of the shipping too.


Ivan

Will this be a change applied to all flashes going forward? If so, would you have done this to mine which was flashed yesterday, 4/27?

[Ivan_ipp]

It will be going forward.

No yours was not done.

Once again,
Each case will be handled separately in person by phone.
(you need to have a discussion in person on the phone with me)

I don't have the time to spend everyday on the forum, but I want everyone happy.... please use the phone for questions about this.


Ivan

[gv550]

Ivan, would there be any problem with swapping out the reflashed ECU with a stock ECU? I have a couple buddies who would like to try your reflash in their bikes before deciding to go ahead with getting their own done, and I'd let them borrow mine for a day or two. And I have a spare stock ECU that I'd take with me on trips to northern Canada and Alaska due to scarcity of premium gas.
Almost 10,000 km on my reflash now and bike is running great. After swapping my throttle body my cold idle is 1500 rpm.

[Ivan_ipp]

No problem with that...

Glad that the problems are solved


Ivan