Custom PCIII user? Tell me about your experience, and I'll post it here.
*NEW* "The PCIII worked OK at first... But, I still had the stumble. So I read your directions for adjustments and got the stumble out and the idle working perfectly. Now I am SOOO thrilled with the performance of my PCIII'ed Sport-i."
Clarke Morian III - Loveland, OH - Sport-i
*NEW* "For those that may have considered buying a PCIII for your fuel injected bike, I just installed one on my Centauro and the results are impressive! Immediate steady, non-stumbling idle, and improved performance throughout the RPM range. I think it needs some tweaking on the upper RPM range, but generally it's a big improvement over the Creedon
chip I put in two years ago! It would be nice to take advantage of the custom mapping services available from one of the tuning centers, and get it dialed in to perfection, but in due time! The installation went great and all parts and pieces fit according to the instructions it came with. Thanks to Todd Eagan for his efforts to get another custom batch of these made for the early FI systems., I plan on experimenting with the mapping a little and see how the V10 responds, but that's half the fun!"
Gary Girouard - Ashburnham, MA
"The C-5 chip was an improvement but soon the coughing from the engine was back, even if it was in a smaller degree. I thought I would live with that until I learned of the Power Commander. Once I fitted it myself (10-min. job) the bike runs much smoother. No special tuning, just bolt on and go. Unfortunately the local Dyno does not have the Tuning Link software necessary to tune the Power Commander, but it was well enough set up out of the box. I am definitely satisfied."
Nickos Costopoulos - Athens, Greece - Centauro
"Well, the saga of the Sport-i hotrod continues - this time with some solid and, IMHO - spectacular improvements. I had 5 chips to test, with the best of the 5 to be mapped. This extended the dyno time required... but the net result is that I'm now satisfied that given the resources and technology available to me with that bike - my motor mods have been optimized and I'm getting full benefit from them - finally! Yee Ha!! In short I regained the HP lost after the dual-plug / decking mods and saw spectacular improvement in the low and mid rpm range. Throttle response is absolutely crisp - the way it should feel IMO. The best way I can describe it is what I told Todd after my first test ride - it felt for the first time like the throttle was connected directly to the motor. Tuning link, which talks directly to the PC III and maps in real time "on the fly" puts the whole package together. I know what I rode in with - I watched a new map created in real time on the system - and I know what I rode out with. Amazing improvement. I'm a believer."
Pierre Pfeffer - San Diego - Modded 1100 Sport-i
"Mounted the 16M PCIII to my chipped Sport-i... The results are very noticeable! The bike responds quicker to throttle changes and is much happier to rev. It really pulls stronger and doesn't loose its breath at (Guzzi) high revs. Indeed, while the bike used to be not quite so happy at > 7000 rpm, it now easily hits the rev counter at about 8200 rpm. Noticing this, I tried a top speed run and saw that it easily reached over 200 km/h with still throttle left AND the willingness to go further (other traffic put a halt to this trial). I suspect that 220 km/h or so will be possible. I once tried this before and the bike ran out of breath at about 200 km/h. Another funny thing was that at the beginning I thought the bike was in 2nd gear while it actually was in 3rd gear. It seems that the bike at 2000-3000rpm in 3rd gear now feels like it used to do in 2nd gear. And all of this without a real custom map for my bike AND without the bike being properly adjusted (last sync session and valve adjustment has been about 5 months ago). I intend to do a custom map in the next coming months. So, all in all a very worthwhile investment. It feels like the Guz' has been dormant until now. The sheer fun of hard acceleration reminds me of the days when I had a Kawa GPZ1000RX."
Rob Buijs - Netherlands - '97 Sporti
"I set the TPS to the required voltage, balanced the throttle bodies, connected the PCIII... and developed a huge smile. I rode for 250 miles straight, because I was enjoying myself so much. (The bike is) Much faster and (has) far more linear acceleration which is amazingly evident. Smoother throttle control makes driving at slow speed, and in congested areas far more tolerable. Thanks for all your effort. Very happy!!!"
Roberto C. - L.A. - Centauro
*UPDATED* "Todd, Fantastic job adjusting my map! Absolutely brilliant. I've put another 300 miles on the Centauro since my last email an am still very pleased with your second revision of my Tuning Link map. This really is one of those things that you just have no idea how good it can be until you've tried it. I feel like this is what the Centauro should have run like from the factory. The bike really screams and cruising is smoother. Gas mileage up to almost 50mpg from 35. I am extremely grateful for your assistance...
Since early December, I've put over 2,000 miles on my 97 Centauro V10 with the Power Commander installed and I am very happy to say that my bike is running the best it has in it's 18,000 mile history. The V10 is my primary daily transportation and until I installed the PCIII, my "in town/traffic" riding experience was consistently frustrating. Previously, with my "chipped" 1.6M, K&N pods and full D&D exhaust, highway miles or "sport" riding were always most pleasing as I'm sure I had "tuned" my bike very well and to the best of my ability. Conversely, trying to hold a steady throttle at lower revs and careful maneuvering in slow traffic always provided a "sputtering and stumbling" experience. With the PCIII installed, I can hold an even throttle at any position and have a SMOOTH running engine without missing or bucking. I now have a much improved and noticeable level of consistent control and full-range power that before I could have only hoped to expect from the 'chip'. Surprisingly, I have gained all this positive performance without using Tuning Link. I am quite anxious and excited to see what kind of gains I can enjoy by creating the personal map for my bike. Money very well spent, Thank you!
I just completed a tuning link session with my Centauro. The experience was quite interesting. I had my bike mapped by Marty at HD of Auburn, CA. For a Harley shop, the guys were quite cool and sincerely interested in the Centauro. 2 hours, $270 - noticeable changes seem well worth it. My first impressions of the custom map are good. Low speed
manageability is improved, 3000-3500rpm "stumble" is diminished and upper rev range is WAY better. The motor spins up radically quicker and overall vibration is reduced."
Rob Buczynski - Reno, NV - Centauro
"Just had my PCIII installed on my Centauro, and the difference has been incredible. By chance I ran into Nick at a dealer last week and after we commiserated a bit about how poorly the stock Centauros ran, he asked if I wanted to try his PCIII�d bike. I, of course, jumped at the chance. I was astounded at how well his bike ran, and I couldn�t wait to get the PCIII installed on my bike. I have a Mistral cross over and Carbon Fiber cans and an aftermarket chip. The aftermarket chip had made the bike rideable, but certainly not smooth running. I still had all of the problems that plagued the stock set up: flat spots, poor off idle response, surging/hiccupping and missing; they were just less severe. After the PCIII was installed on my bike, all of these problems have disappeared. No flat spots, and the power just spools up seamlessly from idle to redline. Tractability in traffic is vastly improved, and the bike holds a much better line in corners since the surging/hiccupping and missing have gone away. All this, with a map that was not custom made for my bike. I now will certainly go to a Tuning Link Center to fine tune things. I want to thank you guys for taking the bull by horns and solving the mystery of the sputtering Guzzis."
Steve Bezaire - Pasadena, CA - Centauro
"I work in a shop which also houses a 'Tuning Link Centre'. A local Guzzi shop brought in a Centauro to have a PCIII setup (first one on a Centauro we have done). We had previously had this bike on the dyno when it had a C5 and crossover installed. No more top end power but midrange really cleaned up. The mechanic was really impressed after his test ride and the owner rang a couple of days later to thank us for a fantastic job! He was also mighty impressed with the mid range the bike now had. The problem with this bike was the mixture was all over the place. The only place it was good and consistent was top end. Even if you took your bike to a tuning link centre and ran it up to check mixture quality, it would give you an idea as to whether or not your bike would benefit or not."
Taken from the Aus COG list - Bill H.
"I just took the Daytona RS out for the first time since I rode it right after the PCIII / Dyno / custom map session a week ago. Not only was the throttle response previously rough and demanding of a very measured hand on all of the chips available, it was previously also inconsistent. From one ride to the next you were never sure how it would run, respond or idle. It was with some anxious anticipation that I started it today (clear, sunny, mid 60s). Based on the temporary nature of previous tinkering, I was prepared for the dyno effects to have leaked out. Whooeeeee! I think the dyno effects are multiplyin'. Runs like it never did. Goes from full throttle to idle without quittin' (even cold), winds up smooth and powerfully, and never stops dancin' the front wheel on the throttle (while attemptin to hold it down) until third gear. While I said it took a reasonably skilled and measured hand before, it was because it had such bad manners in terms of response. Now it's simply evil in a very honest way. Kinda gonna have to learn this one all over again. This bike will no longer tolerate marginal or cold tires. Stay away from these Power Commanders if you don't want these kind of problems." Read Mike's full detailed write-up here.
Mike Curtis - Grapevine, TX - Daytona RS
"I have been running the C5 chip in my Centauro since last year... But Todd asked me to bring my bike to DynoJet for further evaluation. They hooked up the PCIII, put my bike on the dyno and ran the program (Tuning Link). The difference was very notable. The bike is considerably smoother throughout the rev range. You can almost forget shifting, as it pulls from virtually zero to redline in any gear smoothly. As Curtis say's below, whacking it off the lights makes the front come off the pavement, something that never happened before, mostly due to my bulk, possibly.
Watching the whole process, as the computer program refines the bike, was very educational. It is basically using the sniffer to correct the fuel/air mix at incremental steps in the rpm, and throttle openings. Nick warned me about watching the bike trying to buck off the dyno when the throttle was opened wide at an idle in top gear. Before the program began correcting the mixture, the bike did jump all over the place, despite being strapped down. Each time the computer ran through the program, it smoothed it more and more, until the throttle roll-on barely made the bike move at all. This was definitely felt on the street, as I could open the throttle at any rpm, and accelerate smoothly, even when in way to high of a gear. The unit just plugged right into the injector plugs, as it is built with the matching connectors. Basically it boils down to how much you want to spend. Based on what I saw, the asking price is reasonable. I feel it is worth it..."
Tim Crump - Las Vegas, NV - Centauro
"Throttle response is energetically seamless. This bike is light-years smoother at idle and all rpms than my (chipped) Daytona RS. This apparently absolutely linear power increase, coupled with to me, remarkably smooth throttle at all rpms and no stalling is simply more than I ever would have imagined from my Daytona. My Daytona is redlined at 9K and really doesn't offer much after about 8200 and hits the rev limiter at about 8800. Nick's Centauro (with a tach redline at 8K) pulls extemely hard all the way to the limiter at 9K. I found it almost impossible to keep from banging the limiter in 1st and 2nd every time during spirited riding, even lofting the front wheel by a simple whack of the throttle. Five Stars! Can't live without one".
Mike Curtis - Grapevine, TX
"It truly does respond incredibly. Instant hard acceleration, even from relatively low in the rev range, extremely smooth, linear power, revs right up to 8k+ without a hitch. It's a blast to ride, and feels like a completely different motorcycle. I'm not sure why there is so much difference and I suppose the same thing could be accomplished by burning a chip, but the performance I witnessed evidently hasn't been burned into a chip yet".
Rod M. - Encinitas, CA
