TFI settings

[dkdixie]

I ordered a TFI unit for my 08 1600 Nomad. Mainly to (hopefully) cure the off idle stumble I have.
Figured I might as well go for performance as well.
I've read various threads that stock setting are on the rich side.

So far, engine is stock except for V&H baggers

What settings have worked for you on 1600's?

CaddmannQ......jump in here!

I've heard so many opinions on this issue, and my suggestion is just to go tune it by the instructions. I really can't give you concrete advice on setting for a 1600 with stock pipes etc. except to keep all the settings low except the unmarked pot when you first start tuning. Set that 4th pot at 9 o'clock. (Ignore any marks on the adjusters, and think of these settings as clock times. The lowest setting is 1 o'clock.)

On my 1500, I run about 2, 4, 1, 8:30 (green, yellow, red, and unmarked, in that order.) Guys with 1600's tend to set the yellow pot (acceleration) around 5:30 or 6 o'clock. This is for bikes with pretty open pipes like the baggers, and a low restriction air kit like the BAK or Caddman, or Coyote, etc.

Now, here's the quandry. Actually there are two of them:

The first is that there are sample differences between seemingly indentical bikes. Some run richer, some leaner. Some, for instance, ping badly, some a little, some not at all. These differences result from the fact that there are many factors involved in the "state of tune" of any given engine, and there's a tiny bit of manufacturing tolerance on each factor. On any sample, these might add up in one direction (a "hotter" engine) or the other. Almost none are adjustable by the owner without advanced knowledge and tools required to optimize or "blueprint" the engine. Because of this, any settings anybody can tell you from experience are only a starting point for your own tuning efforts. The good news is that tuning a TFI is not complicated at all.

The second quandry is that the best attainable performance does not mean the best street ridability and smoothness. Some dyno tests will tell you that the fastest performance is obtained by turning all the adjustments ("pots") to their lowest setting. This may well be true, but from daily riding experience I find that I like the figures I mentioned above for the best balance of stoplight-to-stoplight riding (I'm an in-town commuter mostly) fuel economy, easy starting, least pinging, and best cruising with passenger and full luggage. You'll notice I don't even mention dragstrip performance or top speed runs. I don't normally do either, so adjusting for those demands is unimportant to me.

As a final note, some tuners will tell you that the top performance adjustments are also the ones that produce the best fuel mileage. In the perfect world, this is absolutely true. Unfortunately none of us own the perfect engine or live in the perfect world.

Very well put Mr C. Especially like your comment about top end or drag strip performance. So many people want their bikes to go like crazy and get 50 mph while doing it. It just doesn't happen that way. When it gets right down to it, those little guys that designed these bikes did a pretty good job. They make a lot of people happy riders.

Thanks, and please...just call me Cadd.

[blowndodge]

Your such a Cadd.....

It's a job description, not a moral judgement.

[bobzinger]

I have a 05 1600 Nomad with V&H Baggers and a 1/2 Cadd (9X2 filter left side only) and I put plugs in that are 2 steps colder. Installed a Kyuryakyn Wildthing TFI (same as techlusion). I mostly wanted to get rid of the stumble when I cracked the throttle and reduce pinging. I believe they recommended 3, 4, 1:30, 9 as a start. I settled on 1:30, 2, 1, 9. The stumble is gone and it only slightly pings when it's 95+ degrees but I can still get 35 MPG on the hiway.
I think it kind of depends on what your TPS is set to as well. I'd go with a Power Commander next time.

[dkdixie]

I have a 05 1600 Nomad with V&H Baggers and a 1/2 Cadd (9X2 filter left side only) and I put plugs in that are 2 steps colder. Installed a Kyuryakyn Wildthing TFI (same as techlusion). I mostly wanted to get rid of the stumble when I cracked the throttle and reduce pinging. I believe they recommended 3, 4, 1:30, 9 as a start. I settled on 1:30, 2, 1, 9. The stumble is gone and it only slightly pings when it's 95+ degrees but I can still get 35 MPG on the hiway.
I think it kind of depends on what your TPS is set to as well. I'd go with a Power Commander next time.

The "stumble" is my reason for buying as well. Thanks for the response

[dkdixie]

Have only put about 60 miles on bike since TFI installed. The "stumbling off-idle" issue seems to be resolved. Used bobzinger's initial setting of 1:30 as base to try.
Considering that 1:00 is off (confirmed by TFI), it is about as low as you can adjust.
Plugs definitely show richer mixture.
Biggest change is throttle response. Like a different bike.
Need to play with it some more and see what is does to mileage.....and if I can run lower octane fuel.

[macmac]

You guyys might consider getting the rest of the caddman q kit on these bikes. More so if you have V&H baggers.

You still have air restriction in the cross over tube. You can get a heck of a lot more air with a right side or both sides set up. A both sides set up will draw most of the air the systems needs and not really take much air from the left side.

The TFI chip settings, combined with V&H baggers and the cadd set up really stand the bike up and make it go like it should.

Once you have refuned the TFI fior the particular bike, you can feel it right in the seat of your pants and don't need no stinking dyno to prove it.

Not only that, it is my personal belief these sock engines are so starved for fuel that they must work just to run at all.

Cad and I set up my 01 1500 at his place, and instantly I went from 35/36 MPG to 45/46, and that was riding 2 up and towing a trailer of 130 pounds, plus 200 + more pounds in gear!

After refining that I got 46/48 Mpgs.

Well that bike got stolen, and I bought a used 06 in 06, and did the same things.. That bike stock got 35/36 mpgs' and instantly went to 46/48, and if I ride like my ol departed granny wants, I can almost get 50 mpg's.

I got more mpgs 2 times and a lot more bang for the buck too.

One thing to note (and I've "noted" this before, but will take this time to do so again) it is way too easy to set the TFI up too rich. If you do, you'll get a small boost in off-idle performance, but at the cost of rich running at most low throttle settings, meaning practically 100% of the time when you're just cruising. A small adjustment of the TFI can make a big difference in performance, so make tiny adjustments when tuning.

[burkazoid]

Ignorant question here, by TFI are you referring to which module? I have the Cobra fi200r. Ever since swapping out the pipes with the Cobra True Duals Slashcuts, I've used the default settings: 3-5-0. It always smells rich, so recently I set it back 1 setting: 2-4-0. I definitely noticed it idling differently, although I haven't ridden with the change. All I want is a supreme cruising experience. It gets around 4-7mpg lower at 3-5-0, depending if I'm riding two-up.

Do I have to do adjustments in whole increments (i.e., 3-5-0 to 2-4-0), or can I go in half increments (3-5-0 to 2.5-3.5-0)?

There's only one shop around here with a dyno, and that's the Harley shop, and my understanding is ever since they changed ownership they're basically stacking boxes of t-shirts on it now. Otherwise, I would have probably switched to the Power Commander by now.

TFI = the Techlusion Fuel Injection accessory module. I think Cobras are all just rebadged TFI's though if yours only has three adjustments instead of 4, it's an outdated model.

On any of them, you can make adjustments a small as you wish. The real problem is that people want to make very large adjustments. That causes you to "lose touch" with what the adjustments are doing. My opinion is that it's way too easy to set these things too rich. The same is true of Power commanders from what I hear.

Your first tuning task with the Cobra is getting a good idle. The engine must be fully warmed up. Letting it idle in the driveway a while isn't really good enough. Go ride it around at least 10~20 minutes depending on how cold the weather is.

Turn your stock idle adjustment knob down a tad & see if adjusting the first adjustment on the Cobra will increase the idle speed. If it goes over 950 RPM, turn the stock speed down just a little more and adjust the Cobra's first pot again to try and increase it. At some point, any adjustment of the Cobra will make the idle RPM slow further instead of rise, so reset the stock knob to 950 RPM & that should be the best possible idle mix. If you find you now have a flat spot off-idle, then adjust the first pot a little up until it's better, and reset the idle to 950. Don't go nuts here. If a small adjustment improves it but not completely you may want to settle for that. Any more gas will make it run too rich elsewhere.

The second pot must be set by making seat-of-the-pants acceleration runs. Do a good strong roll-on in 3rd gear from 30 to 60 and see how it pulls. Adjust the middle pot a tad & do it again. Have somebody pace you or time you if possible. Did it get better or worse? That tells you if your adjusting in the right direction or not. When you get to the point that it's slowing down from too much fuel, back it off about 1/2 "hour".

The last adjustment requires high speed runs violating any speed laws around here. For Vulcans with stock engines or just pipes and filter mods, it should probably always stay at or near the lowest setting.

[bobzinger]

Cadd's right here. Make small corrections and ride often. I got some pinging at close to 2860RPM this past weekend. So is it the 2nd pot I need to turn up for over 2500 RPM?

[burkazoid]

Cadd,

First, thanks for the detailed reply. You certainly didn't have to go to all that trouble, but I do appreciate it.

My Cobra TFI does have the three pots. What I never read anywhere (until now) is that I can adjust in minor increments. I took it for a short ride last night at 2-4-0, and I didn't notice an appreciable change in power, but it does idle a little differently. It also didn't run nearly as rich.

I will take your advice to heart, and perform a full test so that I can properly adjust the idle, and acceleration.

Thanks again.
B.