[mobike008]

Background

Iam not new to powerboxes and having used them extensively on my previous car and also have one in my current car, from this experience I know already there are plenty of performance related benefits and almost zilch issues with respect to side effects to the engine. This raised my confidence level to a large extent when the initial thought crossed my mind; Should I go for my bike too?

Link to my review of RD box on my Cruze

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2906572

You can read about my Maroon Marauder (RE Classic Chrome 500cc) by visiting this link :-

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...umps-home.html


Flashback

When I was fitting the RD box on my Cruze, I was discussing with Chetan from RD if they have a box for a bike. He asked me which bike I own and I replied "RE Classic 500" and he smiled and said we got one exactly for that bike, I thought; Nice, and immediately forgot about it at that point of time. However, that confirmation was filed away in some corner of my mind with the thought that let me first use this box on my car for atleast a year before contemplating something similar for my 2-wheels

Apparently, fate had some different plans chalked out for my plans of RD box for my bike. After using the RD box now for more than 6 months, I developed confidence on the product as Iam thoroughly enjoying the immense surge of extra power delivered through this box in my Cruze and car has turned into a blisteringly fast machine and haven't encountered any problems till date (touchwood).

One fine day, this very insane fetish for additonal power cajoled me into taking such an early decision apart from the other important reason being it being a simple plug and play without fidgeting with internal mechanicals of the engine.

Had it been a either of these (complicated remap, spending a fortune, or whiling away a lot of time at a garage working on modifications) then this powerful addition to Maroon Marauder wouldn't have happened this fast

For all purchase decisions, I normally do minimalistic research and mostly rely on my gut feeling for my decisions and patience being not one of my strong virtues, once the seed is sown in mind, it has to happen sooner than later

About the Product

RD calls this product "PowerTronics" which is available for following 5 bikes



1 Royal Enfield Classic 500 CC
2. KTM Duke
3. Yamaha R15
4. Honda cBR 250
5. Kawasaki Ninja 250

They are extremely partial to already powerful machines. Arent they??

I know many bullet lovers will first ask this question. Is it available for the Cast Iron (CI) engines? Or their query maybe particular model specific like is it available for an Electra Or Thunderbird?

Unfortunately, NO. It's available only for the Classic 500cc (EFI models)

Perhaps, RD can chip in here and provide feedback if and when this box would be available for other bullet models as well.

Installation

Chetan as always is extremely pleasant to deal with and when I told him of my decision he was extremely prompt in sending me the box from Bangalore to my home as apparently it wasnt available at any dealership in Hyderabad at that point of time.

I received it last weekend and believe you me, i was sitting on it for atleast 3-4 days as there was simply no time to get the box fixed to the bike due to loads of work at office. Finally, it happened on the auspicious day ( Ugadi/Gudi Padwa) which was on April 11th. Though Chetan insisted it's a simple DIY, I didnt want to take any chances and visited an RE dealership that opened < 1 month ago which is a stone's throw away from home.

Being a holiday, I approached the showroom from rear as front had shutters downed and as suspected it was open and thankfully their head mechanic (Naseer) was lounging on the sofa and I requested him to help me out with this installation.

He promptly accompanied me for this work

Installation Steps :-

1. Open the left side box where the original/stock ECU of the bike is installed

2. Use a screw driver to gently open the connector

3. Plug the RD box to the connecting sockets and use the rubber band that is provided in the box to hold it in place and affix it back into the slot

That's all it took. 5 Mins and 20 bucks !!!

PowerTronic Box



Stock ECU



RE ECU as provided by company



RD ECU after its fitted in same slot



Mysterious connectors. Dont know what they do as its still with me in box



Step-wise guide to select the map of your choice :-

1. Keep the Engine Switch ON and Ignition Switch OFF

2. Open throttle 100%

3. Switch ON the ignition key (Dont start the bike, please)

4. You will see the ECU indicator blinking 5 times ( As throttle is opened 100%)

5. Close throttle a wee bit : say 80% ( You will notice ECU indicator blink 4 times)

6. Similarly, close it a bit more : say 60% ( you will notice ECU indicator blink 3 times)

I learnt how to select the map by seeing this video on youtube. Here is a link for an R15 : I couldn't find one for an RE Classic 500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpso6XTmljs

How to select the map of your choice?

Suppose you would like to select "Map # 3" simply hold the throttle till you reach a position where the indicator is blinking thrice and hold the throttle at same position and wait till the blinking lights stop. Now your bike's in "Map 3 Mode". Simple isn't it?

5 Pre-set Maps. What are they?

a) Maps 1-3 are the ones you should be using if your running on a stock engine with 1 being the balance between power and FE increase. 2 & 3 are more on the power improvement category

b) Maps 4-5 should be chosen if you have modified the bike like running on peformance plugs, rebored the engine to make it powerful or installed a performance airfilter etc. Since in these modes the engine runs rich and there is more fuel injection happening into the engine

[mobike008]

What you'll like :-

1. Simple Plug & Play Installation

2. Choice of 5 pre-set maps with different tunes for different needs

3. Increased power, Improved driveability & Better Low-end torque

4. Engine feels smoother and Idling is softer


What you wont :-

1. Kick-start gets disabled post installing the box

2. No proven data of increase in performance namely ( 0-100kmph, In-gear Performance etc...)

3. Reliability; as it's relatively new in market

4. Priced a bit on steeper side (MRP : Rs.17,000)

[mobike008]

A simple explanation of what each map does and is meant for which type of RE Classic 500 (Stock Vs. Modified) as per RaceDynamics

[mobike008]

After fitting the PowerTronics Box, I rode for about 150kms so far which I feel is decent distance to gauge and arrive at a fair initial assessment of how the bike has changed after fitting the powerbox

I have used only "Map 3" till date and outlining my initial feedback below :-

1. Each time you switch on the ignition, ECU indicator will blink 3 times which is nice feature as you'll know which map your in when you start the bike

2. First impressions when you start the bike is you'll notice idling of engine has become really soft. A low bassy hiss instead of a steady thump, thump

3. Slot in 1st gear and give a short blip to throttle, it will certainly put a grin on your face. The bike lunges forward with an eagerness of a jungle cat trapped in the body of a bull and there is a definete improvement over stock pick-up

4. I tested the bike for 0-60kmph and 0-80kmph. I feel both these speeds come up faster than when bike was in stock mode and this is just my personal impression as it was not done with any professional equipment like vbox etc. According to RD, with the PowerTronics addition, you will easily shave 1 sec to 0-100kmph performance.

5. Low-End torque is an improvement that is much clearly noticeable than the performance gain. I was able to slot into 4th gear at 20kmph on a flat surface road without experiencing any knocking to engine

6. As most of the 150kms were split into several 20kms-30kms rides, I felt, there is a higher need to revv the engine to keep the bike on when slowing down. However, surprisingly when throttle is at idle, the engine stays ON and seems in a peaceful state of tune. Silent and almost felt like the engine is switched off

7. Maroon Marauder feels much more softer and vibrations are almost none. Though I wouldnt attribute it entirely to RD box addition as my bike was free from any major vibrations ever since i bought it till date with 6000kms on odometer. But, now engine feels even better.

8. In the past, I have complained in my thread that I havent been able to reach higher top-speeds due various reasons so Iam not sure if this box will increase the top-end grunt as well, though I am most comfortable riding between a maximum speed of 80kmph-100kmph. RD can confirm if top-whack has also increased in real world and if they ever tested it using professional equipment

9. Post installation of box, starting the bike via. the starter button takes longer than when in stock mode. Needs a bit more throttle revv to bring engine to life

Finally, how can a review be complete without some pictures of the subject in question

[mobike008]

Thread is moved from Assembly Line to Motorbikes Section

[parsh]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Mysterious connectors. Dont know what they do as its still with me in box

Looks to me like it is the VGA computer connector cable.

1. OUT Male from RD Box for Diagnostics/Tuning App most probably



2. Connector cable Female Blue on one side to connect to OUT Male from RD Box and Male on other side to go into Computer's Female Blue VGA port.

[ACM]

Yep the extra cable is surely for configuration of the RD box using a computer, but that would also require a device driver and a configuration software. They could remotely get you to update the software on the RD box if they have a new software patch for any reason. You are not likely to require this in the life of the product.

I guess improvement of low end torque is more important than the top end and the box seems to be doing that well. A check on FE would be the next thing to keep an eye on.

Congrats on the mod Mod.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by parsh

Looks to me like it is the VGA computer connector cable

Originally Posted by ACM

You are not likely to require this in the life of the product.

Thanks. I thought so too but, wasnt sure as there was no manual or anything as part of the package.

Your right ACM, I am unlikely to tamper with the remaps anytime in future

Originally Posted by ACM

I guess improvement of low end torque is more important than the top end and the box seems to be doing that well. A check on FE would be the next thing to keep an eye on. Congrats on the mod Mod.

Iam also a fan of better low-end and not so much for the top-end ( in a bike atleast). Will keep track of the FE and will report back of my findings after a few tankfuls are completed.

[NMS]

Had a quick question here as well ?

Worst case scenario, what if the Starter mechanism were to go bad? What would be the alternative to start up the bike ? Remove the RD box and kick start it ?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by NMS

Had a quick question here as well ?

Worst case scenario, what if the Starter mechanism were to go bad? What would be the alternative to start up the bike ? Remove the RD box and kick start it ?

Over the last 16 months of ownership of my bike. There was not even a single time the bike refused to start when used the starter button. Even if I started it after 15 days

So coming back to your question, in worst case scenario then it seems obvious the only way to start is re-fit the stock ECU and use the kick start

Would love to know views of RD here as to why bike's kick start mechnism is disabled and for situations like mentioned above, is refitting the stock ECU the only resolution?

[motomaverick]

Nice Avinash, so you have RD'fied your entire fleet Though I am not too well versed with Bullets, but I thought the low end grunt of these bikes are much more than the Japs. Good to see the positive effect of reduced vibrations and engine noise. Any smoking or the like noticed?

[himanshugoswami]

great going there Avi- so now you have an RD box on the WA and MM, your fetish for power and speed is being satisfied for now, but now i am waiting for the day when we see an A4 3.0 TDI and a HD Fatboy in your garage, because after your present rides, these are the only logical upgrades!

[agambhandari]

Great Mod!

Those extra cables are Serial cables(RS-232C) for connecting to PC.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Any smoking or the like noticed?

Thanks

Normally petrol engines dont emit smoke from their exhausts. I havent seen any till now atleast from my Bullet

[sajid33]

@mobike - but need help on this : i own a skoda octavia vrs having a stage 1 remap from superchips, a milltek sports exhaust and a K&N CAI, just wnated to know, can i fit any RD products on top of those mods? would i get a noticeable performance increase? forgive me if my question sounds silly