Help - low end throttle horrible on new bike, will an ecu flash help?

[zeek]

Long time, long distance touring rider, but new to my 2016 super tenere with only 2k mi in last month. Love the bike, absolutely hate the snappy throttle at low speed. I literally can't ride at low speeds without feeling like a bucking bronco or babying the clutch excessively. Touring mode is great for highway, otherwise sport is what I use but the low end on sport is horrible. Can somebody offer me some advice - 1) can an ECU reflash cure this, and 2) can I do it myself (I'm a programmer for work if it helps)? I have always done my own MC maintenance and mods, a local Yamaha shop said they are certified to reflash but I'd rather do it if possible. And last question, 3) how much can you adjust the new mapping - can I tweak it or do I get a list of Opt 1,2,3 for example?

Many thanks for any help ! I sincerely appreciate it.

Zeek

 

[greenwall]

It transformed my bike. Hated the fueling for the same reasons as you, but was slowly convincing myself that I was adjusting to it. Finally had enough and paid a member here to reflash my ECU and have not used T mode since.

 

[zeek]

It transformed my bike. Hated the fueling for the same reasons as you, but was slowly convincing myself that I was adjusting to it. Finally had enough and paid a member here to reflash my ECU and have not used T mode since.

Thank you !!!! I was trying to convince myself of the same. Awesome.

 

[Defekticon]

If you anticipate headers/exhaust I'd recommend doing it at the same time as the flash using ECU unleashed. If you're not interested in that direction, I highly recommend avc8130 (anthony) here on this forum to re-flash your ECU. It will eliminate the surging throttle.

 

[VRODE]

It transformed my bike. Hated the fueling for the same reasons as you, but was slowly convincing myself that I was adjusting to it. Finally had enough and paid a member here to reflash my ECU and have not used T mode since.

My thoughts exactly. It transformed my 2016. Sport mode is mostly all I use now.

 

[EricV]

Before you throw money at a flash, stop.

What did you ride before?

Have you adjusted the slop in the throttle cable?

Have you balanced the throttle bodies?

Define low speed?

How do you use the bike? I.E. what type of riding have you been doing? Long distance touring is somewhat subjective. I rode 1100 miles last Monday to go experience the eclipse totality. I spent about 16 hours on the bike with a couple hours of stopped time during the ride.

There are few reasons to be feathering the clutch on this bike. It will idle at 7-8 mph. Outside of a traffic jam or some off road conditions, let the clutch out and ride the bike.

Most riders that have never ridden a EFI bike, much less a throttle by wire bike, have to re-learn throttle control before they can be happy with the Super Ten. It's not necessarily the bike.

Unless you are willing to buy the kit to re-flash it yourself, you're likely going to live with what ever version you pick, within the two modes you can switch between.

Also worth noting is that most Super Tens keep getting smoother until about 6k miles. I would strongly suggest you do other things and not flash the ECU until after it's really broken in. Just IMHO, having bought a '12 and put over 100k on and having a '15 with a tad over 15k on it now. Both bikes needed the throttle cable slack adjusted. Both bikes got smoother to about 6k. Neither are flashed and some people will prefer that, but start simple and work up to expensive.

 

[snakebitten]

Huge fan of the flash. Especially the Gen 1 Super Tenere.

But it is not an exaggeration that the Tenere is a much different bike after 6000 miles. It just gets smoother and less finicky with the throttle, seemingly.
Still, a really good running Tenere with oem fueling, runs even better after a good flash.

The list of happy reflashed customers is long and distinguished.

 

[zeek]

If you anticipate headers/exhaust I'd recommend doing it at the same time as the flash using ECU unleashed. If you're not interested in that direction, I highly recommend avc8130 (anthony) here on this forum to re-flash your ECU. It will eliminate the surging throttle.

nope, not interested in fine tuning exhaust or getting more power, just taming the throttle. Thanks for advice!

 

[zeek]

Huge fan of the flash. Especially the Gen 1 Super Tenere.

But it is not an exaggeration that the Tenere is a much different bike after 6000 miles. It just gets smoother and less finicky with the throttle, seemingly.
Still, a really good running Tenere with oem fueling, runs even better after a good flash.

The list of happy reflashed customers is long and distinguished.

What mechanically do you attribute the difference you mention in a smooth throttle after 6k mi versus 2k mi?

 

[hobdayd]

My bike (2016 ES new) is totally diffrentbto ride after removing throttle free play at adjuster by the twist grip, removing excess travel boot to gear leader and fitting shorter levers so my clutch pull is always in one place. I only ever ride in S.

Not even thinking of a refresh. No need.

 

[scott123007]

I don't know why the T mode stands for Touring. Once you're touring along, it makes no difference what mode you're in. Retarded, if you ask me. Where T mode works best is exactly where the jerky throttle is bothersome to you. Slow riding, stop and go, and off road.

As Eric said, do the basics and give the bike some time. A lot of that 6000 mile break-in that everyone talks about though, is just as much the rider acclimating to the bike as the bike itself.

 

[ace50]

Two other things that haven't been mentioned, increase the CO2 settings and maybe a throttle tamer.
Both have been mentioned as a help on the throttle smoothness.

 

[Checkswrecks]

As Snake mentioned, for some reason at roughly 5,000 miles this model just mellows out.


The off-idle S-mode throttle is indeed harsher when the bike is new. But as Eric wrote, make sure that you have the basics set up first, because they will affect the off-idle throttle behavior a LOT.

If/when you do want to reflash it, member AVC8130 has done a lot of ours and is usually cheaper & quicker than most of the bigger services.

Ace50 -
We in the US can't adjust CO on the Gen2 bikes.

 

[zeek]

Well, I took out some slack in the throttle cable like suggested and it did help a lot in the power-off to power-on transition. The flash can wait at this point, figure I'll be at 6k in another month or two and can do it over winter if need be. Thanks to all for their help. Great forum.

 

[WJBertrand]

Regarding the recommendation to adjust the throttle slack. I don't see any adjusters at either end of the cables (at the throttle assembly or at the throttle bodies). There appears to be an adjuster in-line on the cable, but on my bike it is covered by a vinyl sleeve that appears to have been shrink-fitted and so won't easily slide out of the way. I don't think I can access the adjuster without destroying the sleeve.

How have you all accessed the adjustment?

 

[EricV]

Regarding the recommendation to adjust the throttle slack. I don't see any adjusters at either end of the cables (at the throttle assembly or at the throttle bodies). There appears to be an adjuster in-line on the cable, but on my bike it is covered by a vinyl sleeve that appears to have been shrink-fitted and so won't easily slide out of the way. I don't think I can access the adjuster without destroying the sleeve.

How have you all accessed the adjustment?

It's not shrink fit. It will slide down the cables with a bit of effort. It is also possible to adjust at the throttle bodies, as I recall, but for this purpose it's better to tweak it at the inline adjuster, as there is usually some trial and error associated with what it feels like static and how if feels with the engine running. Be sure to try lock to lock turns of the forks to make sure no rpm rise occurs, once you're happy with the adjustment.

 

[WJBertrand]

It's not shrink fit. It will slide down the cables with a bit of effort. It is also possible to adjust at the throttle bodies, as I recall, but for this purpose it's better to tweak it at the inline adjuster, as there is usually some trial and error associated with what it feels like static and how if feels with the engine running. Be sure to try lock to lock turns of the forks to make sure no rpm rise occurs, once you're happy with the adjustment.

Thanks Eric, maybe I'll just try a bigger push on that sleeve. When I had my throttle bodies out for the valve adjustment, there were no adjusters on the cables. I was looking for the traditional threaded end and lock nut, but the cable would only go back onto the TB one way. No opportunity to adjust it that I could see. Maybe I missed something?

 

[snakebitten]

What mechanically do you attribute the difference you mention in a smooth throttle after 6k mi versus 2k mi?

How I wish I knew. I can't count how many times in 6 years that the newly arriving Tenere Club member had similar issues that you describe. And every time, at least one of us PDP owners would state the "give it 5-6000 miles before ya declare you can't live with it. Cuz it's gonna improve significantly"

I know most have the initial reaction you do. "Why? What's gonna change that much?"

Then 6000 miles later, they're saying the same thing to the next new club member.

There are folks around here that know way more than I about such things.

 

[magic]

I really don't buy into this 6,000 mile break in thing. I do believe it takes a while to get used to riding an EFI throttle by wire bike. This may take 6,000 or more miles of riding. In those first 6,000 miles most of us have probably removed the cable slack, synched the TBs, played with the CO setting, adjusted air screws and just learned how to ride the new bike. When I rode Harleys, it took me a long time to develop the right touch to ride them fast. You have to be very smooth on the throttle, especially at low speeds. On my S10 the biggest improvement that I saw was the throttle tamer. I still plan to get mine flashed this winter. My new F150 has a very touchy gas pedal and after 10 months I think I'm much smoother with it, especially starting out from a dead stop. My truck has a whole different feel on the gas pedal than say my wife's Subaru.

 

[EricV]

Well, that begs the question of how many miles do you have on your Super Ten?

I've had a new '12 and now a '15 that I got with 3k on it. Both smoothed out around 5-6k and just have less vibes, fewer efi oddities and smoother clutch asction after that period. I didn't need to get used to anything when I moved from the '12 to the '16 except CC.