Falco Tuning

[gi02sl]

I've seen the dyno curves and deficiencies of the stock fuel map. Factory Pro seems to have the chip of choice. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with getting a custom map done by a reputable tuner (with slip-ons) and how they would compare those results, i.e. is it much of an improvment over Factory Pro, which could still use some fiddling depending on the bike.

[Ken Dooley]

I ran a factory pro in my '01 Falco for a while and didn't have good results. I installed the fuel pressure modifier and ran that at 42 psi. I synched the throttle bodies and adjusted everything according to the instructions on the web. I've also got the evo airbox race kit and Staintune slip-ons. No matter what, I just couldn't get the Factory Pro chip to work for me. Fuel consumption was up, and the bike wouldn't idle properly. It ran rich enough that it would burn the eyes of whoever was following me. Mid range power and smoothness was great however. I finally gave up and put the stock chip back in. The place I just started working at is a Dynojet facility so I think I'm going to buy a Power Commander and go that route instead.

[dave333]

The FP chip worked the best for me. I ran the stock chip, the Arrow chip, the Renegade chip and the FP chip. Bike ran great, had a slight stutter when idling, but took off like greased lightning after idle. No dips, no 5500 rpm flat spot, and pretty doggone good fuel economy for my throttle habits. I would recommend the FP chip for anyone that wants exceptional performance for their Falco running slipons...

I don't know of a better tuner than Marc Salvisberg and a custom map will run you in the neighborhood of $200, just like the FP chip.

Bottom line, buy the FP chip...

No I don't work for FP. I have always gotten great stuff from them and excellent post sales support from Marc.

[Aviator]

I'm still waiting for my bootleg FP chip copy :)

[scotteq]

These are the results I got from tuning my Falco: The traces are full stock, FactoryPro EPROM + LeoVinci pipes, and the top trace (red) adds the Renegade airkit to the mix. The Stock trace is quite a bit older than the other two, but the pipe/chip and pipe/chip/airkit traces were done within an hour of each other. All runs were performed on the same dyno, by the same operator, and the airkit was added without even loostening the straps holding the bike to the DJ 150 that the runs were done on.

<img src="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/falcoforum/files/Dyno%20Run%20-%20Renegade%20Airbox%20-%20Small.jpg"/>

It's a 2000.5 Falco with 20K miles on it at the time (30K now), 2K miles on the clutch at the time. I run my pressures at 36PSI in the rear. All together, this combo got me a MASSIVE 12lb/ft gain at 5200RPM, and 2~9HP from bottom to top (depending on what RPM). The bike runs smoothly, and vibration free, pulls like a freakin' freight train down low, but feels (comparatively) flat once you approach/pass 9K RPM. That suits me fine: Better for the motor if it's not spun as hard anyhow.

The F/P chip ran VERY rich when I first installed it, and it was a little fiddly to get it running right. By the 2nd/3rd try, I had a handle on it, and a little time on the exhaust sniffer at a mechanic friend's Auto shop had me dialled in VERY nicely. The F/P chip enables the CO pots on the front panel of the ECU, and I did have to tweak them, but BE CAREFUL: *Tiny* adjustments have a definite effect. The air bleed screws in the sides of the throttle bodies only affect the idle mixtures.

Anyways, It's the opinion of the shop that if I wanted more power out of the bike, I'd have to pull the motor and have mechanical work done.

Scott :)