Power Commander V

While I was on holiday a package arrived from Bayside Performance. I've been interested in installing a PC5 on my VFR and I finally got around to ordering one.

What does it do?

It overrides the motorcycle's fuel injection system to alter the air/fuel ratio. It can be programmed at small incremental throttle openings in each gear.

Why install one?

Modern fuel-injected motorcycles must meet emissions standards and therefore have "lean spots" in the air/fuel map in order to pass the tests. A Power Commander with a proper map will eliminate the lean spots for an ideal air/fuel ratio and therefore improve performance and make the bike run more smoothly.

Fairings come off again... getting pretty quick at this now.

Honda left a perfect spot under the seat for a power commander

You need to pull the axle out of the tank to run the wires under it.

Plug and play.... almost.

This little hot-tap splices in to the throttle position wire.

Here's the fun part: installing the 02 optimizers. The rad needs to be partially removed to get your hands in there. The plugs can be dismounted from their frame bosses which makes them a little easier to work with.

I went for a quick ride to try to feel the difference. It seemed to pull harder and more cleanly from lower revs, and the throttle reponse seemed crisper between 2500-5500RPM. I'll need to get it out for a proper ride to really evaluate the difference.

I have read some reports of the 02 optimizers throwing a fault code. Basically all they do is short out the 02 sensor signal to the ECM. Evidently, the VFR's computer is a little more sophisticated than they were expecting and isn't fooled by the optimizers. If I run into this problem I'll just hook the 02 sensors back up. My concern is that this will cause the PC5 and the ECU to "fight" over the fuel ratio and cause a surging. We shall see...

edit: You'll probably need to zero out the throttle position on the power commander. Mine thought the throttle was open 5% when it was closed. CLick on "power commander tools>calibration tools>throttle calibration. Whatever the voltage reading is with your throttle closed, set that as the minimum. I think on mine it was 0.708 or something.