ECU programming, among other things.

[thebruce]

I have been kind of dreading bringing this up, as the prevailing attitude with the 1500 seems to be leave the engine alone, it'll outlast the rider but install a 200A alternator to feed all the farkles under the sun...

Having ridden the little piggy for a couple seasons I am thoroughly impressed with what the mothership gave her.

I think the engine is quite capable of at least another 1000 rpm, and am wondering if anyone has had experience in tuning the ecu or raising the limiter? It really feels like it's getting up on the pipe just as the limiter hits.

I am currently in the process of changing all the lights that I can find to LED. Turn signals and brake lights are of the anti-hyper-flash variety to combat self cancel and cruise control issues. Built-in load resistors. Marvelous.

Headlights are LED from Amazon, $36CAD. 360* adjustable for indexing in the headlight housing, and I'm pretty impressed with the results, to be honest. Obvious high/low beam pattern, and it wasn't hard to set up. We will see what the longevity is like, but at least there are 2 of them... what are the odds they both burn out at the same time?

I have also installed a compact powered subwoofer in the left saddlebag, which sounds pretty good until the bag is closed. I may have to do something creative with the bleeder screw access to port it. Or just leave the bag cracked unless the weather is deplorable.

I'll not be cutting holes in the bike. She's too clean to suffer that fate.

I have a 4 channel Pyle marine amp to power the four 4" pioneer speakers that I replaced the stock units with. Truthfully it sounds like garbage and I have some bass blockers coming to hopefully clarify the output. If this fails I have a kenwood ultra compact amp in mind to replace it.

How cheap is too cheap? Maybe Pyle...

I went on the LED mission in order to preserve the apparently stock alternator. If I can cut the lighting consumption by 75%, maybe it will live for another few years, with the added audio load.

She is getting a new battery this year. The lead-acid I bought her with 2 years ago is showing signs of giving up the ghost.

Other fun stuff includes a madstad 12" dark smoke windshield. Currently enroute from cyclemax, as well as LED cornering lights, oil filter, air filter. Cornering lights to be modded for full-time operation.

The fork seals will be renewed (again), this time with Honda units. The uninstalled el-cheapo seals the bike came with leaked immediately upon installation.

New Honda pads for the front brakes to be installed as soon as forks proven not leaking.

The stanchions do not appear to be damaged or pitted to the point where a leak would be inevitable. There is a small possibility that I put the fork seals in upside down or damaged them installing last year, you just never know, unless you know...

[WingAdmin]

To my knowledge, the ECU is not the type that can be "flashed" with alternate programming. I believe it's burned into EPROM/ROM. Whether or not the rev limiter is a function of the programming, or a discrete circuit, I couldn't say.

I would not try to bump the redline up without first replacing the valve springs. They're already at least 20 years old, so they're definitely tired and not in their prime of life. I would want to bump up the valve spring rate to handle the higher RPMs to keep the valves from meeting the pistons inappropriately, but of course then you're then looking at increased wear on the lifters and cams as well.

Is it possible? Maybe. Are you looking at diminishing returns in comparison to the work involved? Very likely.

[AZgl1800]

I agree,
the ECM is not programmable, it is burned into a ROM/EPROM

I have run the two 1500s that I owned at 4500-5500 RPMs all day long on extended trips, pushing hard into 40+ mph headwinds.

it does it without complaining....
you need to exorcise the 'two stroke' mentality and allow the Flat Six to do its' thing with lots of Torque.

It was never designed to be a Flat Tracker.

[thebruce]

Ah, the old PROM chip dilemma. Copy that.

The valves floating would be a concern. Not exactly 1st on my list of things to swap out.

The raised limit in my case would be accessed for fractions of a second (long enough to do damage, I know) in 1st and 2nd, as I thoroughly enjoy acceleration. I'm thinking the top of 3rd would be breaking most speed limits around here.

For whatever reason I find the limit in 1st quite often and a bit of headroom would be neat. Adjust rider settings...

I generally don't ride anywhere the bike can stay at a constant RPM for extended periods. The fact that they can be working at peak torque all day long leads me to believe the motor is capable of more.

This may be something I look into eventually... it's definitely on the backburner for the riding season as there are already far too many things to do before I put insurance on it...