No responses to my previous post, hmm. Doesn't matter much.
I have to say that my new V7III Racer hasn't shown much temperament or any running problems. It's still pretty much a baby with less than 500 miles on the clock, but it has started reliably, warmed up reasonably quickly, and, once warm, behaved itself with clean running: no pops or surging, stumbling, etc. When still cold, it had a typical cold start flat spot coming off idle. I was a little reluctant to mess with it, it ran so well compared to the Scrambler I sold (which was just awful to begin with and improved to some degree with the Rexxer I bought for it, but never ran to my satisfaction).
I'm an old hand at tuning carburetor setups. My only previous EFI motorcycle was a Ducati 907IE that originally had cold start and running behavior like the Racer did, but that older EFI system came to life nicely after trying a couple of modified EEPROM upgrades. I'm no stranger to computers, software manipulations, and embedded systems. So I figured, what the heck, I need a tool to do service maintenance myself anyway and as long as I can reflash the ECU with the original map it can't hurt.
Todd's GT ECU Flash Tool is indeed very similar to the Rexxer unit. I had investigated the cost of repurposing the Rexxer for the Guzzi but was quoted a price that made selling it with the Scrambler and buying a new unit dedicated to the Racer a more sensible deal. Plus, with no disparagement intended, the guy doing the Rexxer didn't sound so thrilled about working with Moto Guzzis— I long ago learned that if you're going to work on stuff that is niche-oriented and a little out of the mainstream, work with people who share the passion for them that you do. Todd definitely shares my passion for things Moto Guzzi.
The unit arrived on Thursday. It didn't have the flash drive in the box, but a quick email to Todd netted a download link for the software and instructions. I had the software installed and the FT unit initialized and ready quickly. I connected it to Racer and had it loaded with the OEM map the following morning*, sent the OEM map to Todd.
* I had no problems with the FT at all, but I did have a couple of minor problems doing the connections to the Racer. The "clip nuts" used in securing the right side cover over the battery on Racer are extremely cheap, flimsy bits ... two of mine were broken just by undoing the cover bolts. The one that was broken and unusable I temporarily exchanged with another that was in a more accessible location, the other one was just barely serviceable. When I rode to the dealer on Friday afternoon, I picked up a spares packet of six nearly identical clip nuts because I knew I'd need to replace more of these. The ones he had were a Ducati part number and were obviously much sturdier than the ones Guzzi used although not flash-chromed. No matter that, you can't see the clips once the cover is in place anyway....
Todd was away at the SoCal Guzzi gathering so there was a little delay getting my custom map back to me. No problem: I had a couple of nice rides on Racer anyway. The update map was waiting in my email when I returned from this morning's ride so I loaded up the FT with it and then flashed Racer's ECU. (Yes, I replaced both of the broken clip nuts on the side cover this time.) By then it was about time for an early dinner, so my partner and I arranged to meet with another friend at a suitable restaurant a few miles away. I left early on Racer to see what the reprogramming had done and took the long way there.
Racer has been a happy boy so far and eager to run, but doing just the ECU flash and nothing else so far makes it feel like he's just passed puberty.
Seriously, much smoother, stronger off idle response even cold, no lean spot, surging, or stumbles: a richer, cleaner pull right up to the break-in rev limit (and a little beyond). It's harder to keep the engine under 5000 rpm when you open the throttle up and its lost none of the easy even-tempered behavior when cruising around either. I can feel that the whole mixture curve, while not changing the basic character of the bike, is now
right throughout the rev range.
A plus for the GT ECU FT is that it performed the ECU flash without completely wiping out all my configuration settings for the bike. Units, fuel mileage readouts, trip odometer, clock, instrument brightness, etc—all were as I had them set before doing the flash. The Rexxer unit reset everything when I updated the Scrambler and I had to spend another half hour restoring its settings; this was slicker and more convenient by far.
Todd, you get high marks from me. Your map for the stock bike is excellent and the user experience excellent as well. Thank you!
Now lets see when the black Agostini long mufflers for the V7III Racer come back into stock... I'm waiting for Racer boy's voice to change now.
usw,
G