An excerpt from the attached document:
Street Tuning EFI
For most bikes ridden on the street, the goal of tuning will be one of the following:
braggin’-rights (dyno shoot-out and bike-night) tuning,
area-under-the-curve tuning,
and street-tuning.
If you’re tuning for braggin’-rights, you only need to maximize the 100 percent throttle cells. If you’re tuning for maximum area under the curve, you’ll probably tune each above-idle cell to near-maximum power. Street tuning falls somewhere in the middle of all that.
Many of us have been led to believe that in order to adequately street-tune a fuel-injected bike, we must examine and possibly alter every cell in every corner of the EFI map. We have also been led to believe that as a result, EFI tuning can only been accomplished using a load-control dyno (as opposed to an inertia dyno). Neither of these is necessarily true.
If I were developing an entirely new map, for a combination that no one had done before[1], then I would certainly like to have a load-control dyno available, but in a great majority of cases, we are not developing an entirely new map. Instead, on the typical customer bike--which is probably stock except for something like a Power Commander, pipes, and air cleaner (stage I), or perhaps the same but with an different cam (stage II)--we are modifying a map that was originally created by someone with such a dyno.
The thing that is confusing for some owners is that the brand names of the parts used during development of that map may not match those on the engine being tuned. In that case, many worry that there is “power left on the table”. Fact is, the brand used is not usually very important. What is much more important is the specifics of the part itself. The type of pipes[2]; the specifications of the cam; the material used in the air cleaner…
Even with such differences, most of the time, most of the map will almost certainly be a good enough match—defined as being close enough that we cannot feel any difference on the road[3]. Select a close-enough map, install it, then ride it. If you’re not hearing pinging, and your gas mileage is in the high 30’s to low 40’s, there’s a good chance that the map is fine[4].
Yes, there may be a few areas of the map that probably should be changed, but those will tend to be in areas that we can tune without that load-control dyno—or even on the street.
Two facts to remember here:
The great majority of the cells in a map are either unused in real life, or do not actually have enough effect that the rider can actually feel it.
Installing most parts that are intended for similar use will do okay with similar changes to a map[5].
It will not be necessary to completely re-map, and to do so is a waste of time and money.
[1] By definition, this would be a heavily modified engine using custom or very specifically selected parts. This would not include the typical FLH-style bike with true-duals, an air cleaner, and an EV27.
[2] Two-into-ones, true duals, drag pipes, type of mufflers, etc.
[3] We engine junkies often get carried away with the maximum potential of an engine combination. We worry about getting the last couple of horses out of it. We tend to forget that if you can’t feel it, it ain’t there! We’re not building a racing motor, remember, and we’re not building a dyno queen. Anything within a few horses of theoretical power for our combination is good enough for the street. If you often spend big money for power that you cannot feel or even consistently see on a dyno, you might kinda wanna re-think your priorities maybe? Just a thought…
[4] Less than high 30’s might be too rich in cruise areas, while more than low 40’s might be too lean in those same areas. Mileage is most affected by cruise settings for most people.
[5] That is, just because you’ve installed a Woods W6 instead of an EV27 does not mean your map is completely no good. Most of it will be fine So, even though an EV27 and a W6 are certainly very different cams, with different specs, and they “feel” somewhat different in use, their effect on the needs of the engine are probably close enough that not too much in the way of different fuel maps will be needed—and any changes that are needed can be accomplished on an inertia dyno and/or on the street (by someone who has some idea of what they’re doing).