- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,485
- Reaction score
- 659
- Location
- Blouberg, Cape Town
- Bike
- KTM 890 Adventure R
Jens Lyck from BoosterPlug writes:
You may have noticed that the motorcycle manufacturers did not introduce a lot of new models for the
2019 season. We saw new colors and a few changes in style, or they may have implemented a known
engine into a new type of bike, but with a few exceptions, there was no real new motorcycle models.
And the reason for this is simple: The R&D sections in the factories are really busy preparing for the
2020 EURO5 emission standards (and the similar EPA standards for the USA).
The current standards are already very hard on the engines, and the motorcycle factories are facing a
major challenge with the EURO5.
The emission standards are the same for cars and motorcycles, and that have proved to be a major
issue for the motorcycle industry. The problem is that the car has a big heavy flywheel that will allow it to run reasonably well at low RPM’s despite the very lean air/fuel ratio. The typical motorcycle engine will have very light rotating parts and thereby virtually no flywheel weight, and that is the reason why the stock motorcycle engine is suffering from the weak idle and poor low speed throttle control.
So the motorcycle R&D departments are using every trick in the book to make the motorcycle engine cope with the lean mixture (this is actually the main reason for the variable cam timing technology that is now popping up on different high end models)
But despite all the efforts there is no doubt that the motorcycle engine will need the small controlled
fuel enrichment from the BoosterPlug even more in the future.
Another very important thing with the 2020 emission standards is that it will involve some kind of anti-tamper monitoring of the ECU. We do not yet have all the information on this, but it is likely to involve the following:
• The ECU programming will be locked so the user can no longer change the fuel mapping by “flashing” the ECU
• Sensors will be monitored and the ECU is forced into “Limp” mode with reduced power if one
or more sensors are not delivering a realistic signal.
The sensor monitoring can (will) be a major problem for the aftermarket fuel injection controller devices that requires the owner to remove or disable the lambda sensor: A realistic signal from a regulating lambda sensor will oscillate between 0 volt and 1 Volt, and if you remove the lambda sensor or install a “Lambda sensor eliminator”, the sensor signal to the ECU will be fixed – and the ECU will
not see a realistic signal.
This will probably mean that the cheap lambda sensor eliminators will disappear from the market, which is a good thing as they do not do anything good to either engine or environment, but also the multi-adjustable devices like Power Commander and Bazazz will be severely challenged by this.
As the BoosterPlug is offsetting the air temperature signal to force the ECU to provide a slightly richer mixture at idle, low RPM, and during acceleration and deceleration, the ECU will still receive a “realistic” signal.
So we do not expect any issues with the BoosterPlug and the 2020 motorcycles.
You may have noticed that the motorcycle manufacturers did not introduce a lot of new models for the
2019 season. We saw new colors and a few changes in style, or they may have implemented a known
engine into a new type of bike, but with a few exceptions, there was no real new motorcycle models.
And the reason for this is simple: The R&D sections in the factories are really busy preparing for the
2020 EURO5 emission standards (and the similar EPA standards for the USA).
The current standards are already very hard on the engines, and the motorcycle factories are facing a
major challenge with the EURO5.
The emission standards are the same for cars and motorcycles, and that have proved to be a major
issue for the motorcycle industry. The problem is that the car has a big heavy flywheel that will allow it to run reasonably well at low RPM’s despite the very lean air/fuel ratio. The typical motorcycle engine will have very light rotating parts and thereby virtually no flywheel weight, and that is the reason why the stock motorcycle engine is suffering from the weak idle and poor low speed throttle control.
So the motorcycle R&D departments are using every trick in the book to make the motorcycle engine cope with the lean mixture (this is actually the main reason for the variable cam timing technology that is now popping up on different high end models)
But despite all the efforts there is no doubt that the motorcycle engine will need the small controlled
fuel enrichment from the BoosterPlug even more in the future.
Another very important thing with the 2020 emission standards is that it will involve some kind of anti-tamper monitoring of the ECU. We do not yet have all the information on this, but it is likely to involve the following:
• The ECU programming will be locked so the user can no longer change the fuel mapping by “flashing” the ECU
• Sensors will be monitored and the ECU is forced into “Limp” mode with reduced power if one
or more sensors are not delivering a realistic signal.
The sensor monitoring can (will) be a major problem for the aftermarket fuel injection controller devices that requires the owner to remove or disable the lambda sensor: A realistic signal from a regulating lambda sensor will oscillate between 0 volt and 1 Volt, and if you remove the lambda sensor or install a “Lambda sensor eliminator”, the sensor signal to the ECU will be fixed – and the ECU will
not see a realistic signal.
This will probably mean that the cheap lambda sensor eliminators will disappear from the market, which is a good thing as they do not do anything good to either engine or environment, but also the multi-adjustable devices like Power Commander and Bazazz will be severely challenged by this.
As the BoosterPlug is offsetting the air temperature signal to force the ECU to provide a slightly richer mixture at idle, low RPM, and during acceleration and deceleration, the ECU will still receive a “realistic” signal.
So we do not expect any issues with the BoosterPlug and the 2020 motorcycles.
