Is a power commander worth it?

[mikesaa309]

Debating whether or not to get a PC5. My bike is standard apart from end cans though dunno if it's standard downpipes or not but I'm assuming they are standard ones. Will there be a significant power increase and/or MPG improvement with just a PC5 or is it only worth it if I put on a full exhaust system? Also is there any problems with reliability? Watch a few videos on youtube of people who have had car remapped and one guy had his Audi A5 remapped and the flywheel failed because it wasn't rated for the torque the remap gave the car. Is there anything that would cause the engine to become less reliable on the GSX? 

[KiwiCol]

A PC5 is completely fine to add to the bike, if you want one. It won't cause it to become unreliable.  They allow the AFR ratios to be tuned on the bike, this can improve fueling & smooth out the rev range. I think there's a bit more power to be had, not a lot if your system is basically standard, but put yoshi cams in & a full Akro exhaust & the power goes up noticeably.
Think some of the members are getting 125 - 135hp from a setup like that..
Cost for that setup & dymo time, which is needed to get it set, is a big drawback for most, as how often do you wring out everything the bike has at the moment?  Wide open throttle, full power probably only gets used 1% (or less) so if it's going fast enough without the PC5, you have to ask yourself, why do I want this? 
If it's just to have a 'better' bike, then yes, you should get it & spend the thousands of dollars setting it up right. If it's to get marginally better fuel consumption using your current setup, then I'd suggest keep yer dollars for fuel & not a PC5.

[Will14]

Totally agree with everything said above & I found in the past that even with standard exhaust set up and a generic map installed from the power commander web site that it smoothed out the jerkiness while on/off the throttle and increased the responsiveness without paying for dyno time 

It's also keeping your eye out on ebay as the older PC3's come up quite often for relatively cheap prices and work well enough for most on the 1400's

Cheers

Pete

[DP1400]

A stock `14 has decent power, decent torque and decent fuel economy, and performs quite well. I therefore wonder why folk get obsessed with wanting to spend big money on such little gain that a PC could provide?

Maybe the answer is to buy a `170bhp 190mph pocket rocket` too, for those odd times when the `14 is just not enough......

[Hooli]

A PC3 & dyno map on mine was totally worth it.

Max power is bugger all difference, I think I gained 2bhp. However responsiveness & smoothness at low throttle/revs became a lot better - typically 30mph in 4th or 40mph in 5th where a lot nicer. It just makes the bike better to ride, the 3-4mpg gain means it paid for itself ages ago too.

Mines a K2 with full Akra, K2-K4 run rich as standard. Later ones are often lean on part throttle, I've seen a standard K7 FE with the dealer Yoshi can on a dyno when Grumpy refused to continue the run as it was dangerously lean - that FE was totally standard fueling etc.

[Big Phil]

So I have never understood why anyone would pay 100's of £$€¥ or whatever for a power commander. The 14's have so much torque and acceleration that anyone other than a complete idiot with a death wish could use on legal roads.  Fuel consumption could surely never be improved enough to get your hard earned back even if you did a million miles😂 Now having said that and never having had one, I can't say if they add to the joy of a Sunday blast by smoothing out the Rev range. So perhaps if I could pick up one used for a low price I may be tempted.

My question is: There are most probably tons of power commanders on FB but are they bike specific or do they fit all? If they do fit all are they any use without being set up by an expert? I know nothing about them and will not apologise for my ignorance. I just can't be arsed to research a bit of kit that seems completely irrelevant on such a powerful bike. Further to that, I know full well, you guy's on here will put me right🤗

[Hooli]

No they don't fit all bikes. The actual power commander is the same thing, but they have the correct plugs for the bike's loom to suit each bike.

When you install one, the base setting is a downloaded map (downloaded from Power Commander) to suit the mods you've got. That map will be a bit rich (as that's safe to allow for differences between individual bikes) but even that improves the bike. The more mods you've got, the more difference you'll see. A dyno setup will adjust that map to suit your exact bike.

I find the improved response etc at low throttle/revs - ie where we normally ride these bikes, made it even better to ride & was worth it. As I've done 140k miles since the custom map, I'm damn sure the 3-4mpg more has paid back the £150 it cost me to get the dyno tune done.

Going away from 14s I fitted screaming eagles, PC3 & a sports air filter on an ex's sportster 883. It went from doing 105mph flat out to 125mph & still pulling! I merged two different downloaded maps as one run better at low revs & another at high revs. It also gained 20-25miles per tank, which as it did 85miles till the reserve light when standard was a worthwhile gain!

Basically a power commander & map does the same as rejetting a carbed bike, if that helps understanding the differences it makes.

[seth]

On my k2
I did a few trips with the same folk
Kawazaki ZXR1200, a GSX750, a GSX1200 inasuma and my GSX1400 k2.
Standard I had the biggest tank 22liters and the zrx had the smallest tank 19litres
I always need fuel before the others .
After fitting a full akroprovic system and a pc3usb I still had 2 bars on the Fuel gauge when the zrx was on fumes .
A trip to Sweden and back I was getting every 4th tank of fuel for free compared to before .
So totally worth it and that was without a custom map on a dyno just using a powercommander map.
That said when I did the same set up (akroprovic and pc3usb) my k6 it got slightly worse on fuel (though it was way better standard than the k2 was standard )
But much improved after a dyno map.
Hope that makes some kind of sense. 

[Big Phil]

Wow! Okay Hooli you have my upmost respect as a real biker not a part time jaunt about like I have become in my old age. I still stick with my premise however that high mileage (Not a million miles perhaps but 140k 😳 is more than most of us do in a life time) is the only reason you would ever consider a PC on a 14 given it's too quick already to need more oomph. I get other bikes without the power can really gain from re-mapping but not a 14 on a Sunday blast or occasional commuter trip. I will stick with the standard specification but thanks again for explaining how the PC works. That's why I love this forum! You guys blow me away with your know how🤗

[Hooli]

Your choice, but I said the biggest differences I noticed riding my after the PC3 & custom map was when riding slow. It got rid of a fluffiness I hadn't even known was there till it'd gone.

Main thing that got me to get a custom map was my bike came with an Akra & PC3 already fitted, so it seemed daft not to get the job finished.

[Irish in Oz]

My 14 has always been stock and has always been smooth, so never needed to change anything.
If you put in a 4 degree advancer and remove pairs isn't that mean't to help all that unsmooth low running.
Thought I would have noticed it after riding the FJR.

[Hooli]

I've never ridden a later one, but I suspect K5 onwards aren't fluffy anyway. K2-K4 are a bit rich as standard which does make engines less responsive.

[grog]

Mines good. In the past have thought about PC and Dyno. Never got around to it, moral to that is, she runs just fine. I did find disabling PAIRS was a good move. Was around 8 yrs ago so cant remember exact diff.

[Mick_J]

I fitted a PC to my K7 1400 and it made no discernible difference so I took it off and sold it.  Bike is fully stock apart from a slip on can.

[grog]

mjgt, exact same as mine.