Hello World. I ws looking/searching on DIY on bikes and i came upon someone how says that there is a way to flash your ECU by yourself, at home. He also mentiond that you need some Software and a Laptop/PC but no dynotune. In other words, if you can find/get the program to run your bike with and some flash "scripts" on the Internet, you can setup your bike in your garage.
Now my question is as follows. It sounds crazy and dangerous at the same time, but could that be done? I mean you can for sure find some flashes out there and programs, all though I know nothing about of, but is it feasible?

There definitely are ways to flash your ECU at home, specifically woolich racing http://www.woolichracing.com/products/kawasaki/kawasaki-ecu-flashing.aspx sells kits to allow you to flash your ECU.

In my opinion, the 3 biggest caveats to doing this yourself are:
1. Getting a proper map for your bike, in your location for your riding habits.
2. The learning curve associated to do the flash and make/tune the maps (although this can be a lot of fun if you like learning about this stuff!).
3. The cost associated to buying the kit is more than sending your ECU to someone to flash it for you.

If you'll be flashing multiple bikes or are the kind of person who likes to continue to fine tune your maps and will be using the flashing hardware more than a couple of times the kit could be the way to go. Otherwise I personally would just find someone who has a good reputation and send the ECU to them to flash as its easier and cheaper.

Alternatively, Power Commander has "piggy back" ECUs and oxygen sensors that in my opinion are pretty easy to use and are comparable to the cost of having someone flash the ECU for you (although adding things like the autotune and LCD screen drives the cost up a LOT more).

PS: this is probably better posted to one of the other topics as this topic is intended for people posting how to do something, eg if you had a step by step guide on how to flash your ECU at home that would be perfect here, but good luck with your tuning!

I didn’t know were to post so i chose this topic, so if it’s the wrong topic please someone move it where it belongs.
I don’t wish to buy such a package all though I’d like to have a go with it. I am still saving money for the PC and autotune but now i have other plans for this bike as I’m grounded till next summer due to speeding way to often. Since I have so much time off the bike I just don’t want to leave her alone and decided to do a complete status check.

L.E. Thanks for the link. Although the 300+ $ doesn’t sound that bad, I’m gonna wait and see how things go. Who knows

* Last updated by: Grinch on 8/14/2019 @ 7:29 AM *

Yeah, you can buy Woolwich software and do it yourself. If you trust the source of the maps, it will be no different than having a pro flash your ECU and send it back to you by mail. They don't run your bike on a dyno when they do that, it's just the tune they created for the same model of bike you own. Should be very close but not perfect and that will be good for most applications.

If you want to do a custom self tune, it's dangerous. Gotta run that bike at top speed to tune the whole map. Best done on a track.

Since you have the Autobahn, couldn't you run flat out there? Seems like the perfect place if they have at least a couple miles of no speed limits.

(BTW, getting your suspension tune pics loaded up today)

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/14/2019 @ 11:23 AM *

Thanks Rook. I’ve played quite a lot on the Autobahn and anywhere i saw fit and as a result got my license suspended. I’m not planing on doing a tuneup by myself first of all because I’m not a mechanic or at least someone who really understands the parameters a bike should work with. It was just something that sounded quite strange giving that a tuneup ain’t that cheap around here. If I’m not mistaking it’s ranging between 300 and 500 € (350-600$ ?!) I do most of my bike repairs and adjustments by myself but I’m no expert. As i said before I’m planning a major check up on my bike and I’ve taken into consideration a tuneup but at that price I’ll just wait and finish my initial plan till next summer in hope that I’ll get my license till then.

Pretty much there are 2 options, flash your ECU or buy a piggy back ECU (eg Power Commander 5), well... or leave it stock but what fun is that? It all depends on what you are wanting out of your bike and the amount of effort you want to spend on it. I wanted WAY better fuel economy without sacrificing top end power so I started with a PCV (Power Commander 5), ignition module and a map from a tuner that was part of the parts I purchased off of him.

This was a good start but I felt like there was room for improvement (for example, he's at sea level and I'm over 1000m up and ride to the mountains) so I added an auto-tune module/O2 sensor and eventually an LCD screen. This allowed me, with lots of learning, to fine tune the fuel map to give me the results I was looking for.

Its more work and at the end of the day more money but its something I enjoyed learning about and doing. As Rook mentioned the other "problem" with the auto tune is the need to operate the motorcycle at various throttle positions and RPMs and the longer the engine stays in that RPM range the better. So you could get started on this while you're not able to ride but the real work requires some seat time or ideally a dynamometer.

It was just something that sounded quite strange giving that a tuneup ain’t that cheap around here. If I’m not mistaking it’s ranging between 300 and 500 € (350-600$ ?!) I do most of my bike repairs and adjustments by myself but I’m no expert.

Don't confuse a tuneup with AFR tuning. A tuneup would be changing spark plugs, testing battery and maybe a few other things having to do with ignition. AFR tuning is adjusting the fuel to match the flow of air into the motor. Timing is the other big thing that gets tuned. In both cases, the stock values that are programmed into the ECU are adjusted higher or lower to achieve optimum performance. I'm not sure what they are charging for a custom dyno tune these days but just a flash alone without the custom dyno is around $300.

I’ve looked up some while ago how/what a power commander works/does and how the rider can “customize” his bike. So a PCV, auto-tune and a screen are my next in line big purchase. I hope this weekend I’ll be able to do the clutch, sparks, and chain slack. To come are suspensions, brakes and cooling system.
With tuneup I meant what you with AFR mean. I just cannot go somewhere just to have the sparks changed and a battery check :))

Look at the links under ELECTRCAL SYSTEM, Dyno Jet Products here

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=B2290E90-D56B-84E2-12EE7284B957F53F