Beginner's Engine Control Options?

[NetKev92]

I have a Yamaha R1 (let's pretend it's an R6 for now), and I need to decide how I want to control the thing. I have a large portion of the original bike wire harness, but several of the relay boxes are absent from the harness. I can work on replacing these parts and reviving the original wiring harness, or I can pursue other control means. What basic engine controls have enough capability to keep up with a 12k redline?

I've seen discussion on MegaSquirt and Motec control units. What are the low-cost options? Which require a larger dose of the DIY electronics gene? Am I better off working on reviving the bike's harness?

Thanks,

[NetKev92]

I have a Yamaha R1 (let's pretend it's an R6 for now), and I need to decide how I want to control the thing. I have a large portion of the original bike wire harness, but several of the relay boxes are absent from the harness. I can work on replacing these parts and reviving the original wiring harness, or I can pursue other control means. What basic engine controls have enough capability to keep up with a 12k redline?

I've seen discussion on MegaSquirt and Motec control units. What are the low-cost options? Which require a larger dose of the DIY electronics gene? Am I better off working on reviving the bike's harness?

Thanks,

[Mechanicaldan]

Hi Kevin,

I believe your lowest cost option would be to hunt on E-bay for the parts or another complete wiring harness for the R1. If you only have minor bolt ons, try to find a Power Commander on E-bay also. A Power Commander will give you enough adjustment of the fuel curve for most bolt on parts.

MegaSquirt is cheap, but a LOT of work, and if you have to ask which is better, you might get in over your head with MegaSquirt. It will give you as much tunability as you could want, but you probably only need that if you're going with serious modifications such as a turbo, aftermarket pistons and camshafts, etc.

[NetKev92]

I'm staying bone-stock, so I really don't need anything special for mods. I just need to keep the engine fed and sparked.

I was concerned about difficulty level with the MegaSquirt looking at the website and forums. I'm essentially a one-man build team, so staying simple to save time is important to me.

Will the increased vehicle weight and tall gearing require any special tuning to prevent detonation with a stock ECU? My tallest gearset is likely to top out near 170 mph. I'm counting it a matter of time until I try making a Bonneville speed run to see where it tops out.

[KU_Racing]

If you are planning to use an R1 engine in a vehicle topping out at 170 mph, your gearing will be shorter than stock.....

If you are able to get a stock harness and ecu from ebay or another source ( as Dan suggested, and I agree) you shouldnt have detonation or driveability issues.

[markocosic]

If you're running a standard engine setup, keep the standard engine management system.

The engine won't much care what vehicle it is fitted to in terms of engine management (provided that the intake/exhaust arrangements remain the same/very similar), but do pay attention to the cooling system especially with a more enclosed engine in a slower, heavier vehicle that has the potential to work the engine harder for longer.

Provided that you have the connectors for the regulator, ECU, coils, injectors and engine sensors you can recreate a suitable loom easily enough. Find yourself a mannual for you bike (Google is your friend, or email me if you have no joy) and just take your time/be methodical about it - I'd go so far as to say you needen't understand what the wires/components do, provided you can follow the circuit diagram.

(the only non-generic "black boxes" on the R6 are the ECU itself and charging system regulator - everything else can be replaced with generic items)

Hope this helps!

[NetKev92]

Many thanks. A number of engineers I work with were concerned about detonation due to increased the increased inertial load of the car, so I figured I'd ask the people who have tried motorcycle engines in small 350-900 lb cars already. I really can't see any difference that weight of the vehicle would make. With a bike, you would spend less time at a given state because you'd accelerate through it more quickly, but all of the steady state conditions for load/power/rpm could happen on a bike as well.

I have a manual for the bike and a couple "car kit" wiring diagrams from the D-Sports Racer guys that I found online. I guess it's time to start looking at the cost of the missing bits.

Cheers,

[markocosic]

Get the engine intake air and/or coolant too hot and you could run into detonation. Get the installl wrong in a heavier car and you could get the coolant and intake air hotter - so some truth in what they're saying.

With a bike manual and the DSR boys help though you'll be fine! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif