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Shoodaben Mt. Runner initial impressions

godpossessed

Tricycle
I received my ECU yesterday, in its newly re-flashed form, and it couldn't have been better timing. The weather here in Birmingham was 67 and sunny today after a long string of unseasonable cold days.

My normal riding buddy has a large displacement V-Twin cruiser and usually I let him set the pace. Before the flash when he would roll on the throttle, in the 30-50mph range, I would drop behind until my revs came up. Today I never dropped behind in a low speed roll on. The traction control light flickered often in low gears between 4 and 7k RPMs, as the front wheel got light at full throttle.

I swear this thing feels like it is shifting better especially during easy clutchless upshifts. (I wonder if the flash removes the torque load from the tranny faster during throttle closing.) Parking lot maneuvering seemed easier to manage than before and popping during engine braking is all but eliminated.

I still need to adjust my throttle cables and I never got enough open road to attack the twisties but I am certain that I will still be discovering improvements when Spring finally gets here.

Two definite improvements:
1 - low and mid-range power
2 - on and off throttle transitions

Money WELL SPENT!! Thanks Steve - the MR flash is a winner!

Mark
 
Wow, that sounds great! Do you have any other performance mods besides the re flash, or is it an other wise stock bike?
 
Also got this flash late last year when it was still in beta. I’ll agree with those comments. Best part for me is the throttle control when hustling through the tight stuff. Engine brake is nice as well.
 
Godpossessed said:
I swear this thing feels like it is shifting better especially during easy clutchless upshifts.

Mark, there was a pile of work to get the up and downshifts as nice as they are while also getting the other attributes of deceleration and throttle control in Mountain Runner. During building this flash, getting the shifting as nice as it is was the single biggest challenge (my beta testers will attest to that). I think Mountain Runner has the best clutched and clutchless  up and downshifts I've ever felt on a c-14. Glad you noticed that, and thanks! Steve
 
I really want this flash but I am going to wait till I get these crappy Bridgestone's off and figure out what I am doing with exhaust.
 
Grant said:
I really want this flash but I am going to wait till I get these crappy Bridgestone's off and figure out what I am doing with exhaust.

I did not realize how crappy the stock Bridgestones were until I replaced them with Angel GT's and found what this bike was capable of with good tires!
 
Mine should be on the way back from Steve. Two rounds of flashing... First was the decel flash when I got the bike in 2016. and now this one.

It's going to be a bit different this spring. Installed the Penske and AK-20s while the ECU was on vacation.
 
This isn't a review of the flash, as I only got the ECU back in the mail this morning and haven't had a chance to test it, but a comment on SISF.  I got the Evolution flash in 2017, and liked it, but as someone who spends most of the time on rides hustling through tight turns the Mountain Runner looked like a better fit.  I emailed Steve for instructions to ship, and had a unique question about payment because I had a pile of gift cards from Christmas I was hoping to use somehow to cover the cost.  I don't want to say exactly what Steve did for me, because I don't want to put him on the spot, but he very graciously made me an offer that benefitted me, but cost him personally, that he didn't have to make.  I sent the ECU off and got it back in a week. I'm sure I'll be pleased with the MR flash, but I'm very grateful for Steve going out of his way in customer service.  What he did he didn't have to do, and it wouldn't have made me any LESS happy as a customer if he didn't, but he did it anyway without any prompting from me.  He made the offer cold on his own initiative.  When a business owner will do that it says a lot about them.  Thank you Steve!  I'll report back about the flash then too.
 
rrsperry said:
Mine should be on the way back from Steve. Two rounds of flashing... First was the decel flash when I got the bike in 2016. and now this one.

It's going to be a bit different this spring. Installed the Penske and AK-20s while the ECU was on vacation.

Looking forward to your comparison.
 
ghostrider990 said:
Those stock B-Stones are a crime against Biking Humanity.  :-[
+1000!!!
The moment i swapped them for the Pilot 3s, I was suddenly in love with my bike all over again!
 
Jerdurr said:
ghostrider990 said:
Those stock B-Stones are a crime against Biking Humanity.  :-[
+1000!!!
The moment i swapped them for the Pilot 3s, I was suddenly in love with my bike all over again!
ghostrider990 said:
Those stock B-Stones are a crime against Biking Humanity.  :-[

Exactly why I feel it is important to change them before adding to the power of the bike. As far as doing exhaust fist that is in case what I do there changes Steve's tuning suggestions.
I sure wish tuning for the bike was more like tuning for my Duramax, for my Duramax I own the ECM interface (via, EFI Live V-2) and my tuning comes buy way of emails.
BTW if anyone has questions about tuning their diesel truck feel free to PM me I can make may good recommendations.
 
I took my first test ride with the mountain runner flash today. It was 45 degrees with a pretty good wind blowing so I was only able to ride for 40 miles or so. That was enough to realize this flash is everything Steve said it was going to be. Like everything everyone else has said its the instant power but more important to me is the spot on throttle control. I've had every flash done except the decel and the mountain runner is definitely the best and working with Steve is always a pleasure. He's a straight up guy to do business with. Many thanks Steve.
 
NinjaBreadMan said:
Grant said:
I really want this flash but I am going to wait till I get these crappy Bridgestone's off and figure out what I am doing with exhaust.

I did not realize how crappy the stock Bridgestones were until I replaced them with Angel GT's and found what this bike was capable of with good tires!


I have been lucky enough to have the Mountain Runner flash installed on my GTR1400 here in Australia.My bike is stock standard in terms of exhaust,air filter.What a difference,buckets of torque down low and mid-range, improved fuel economy,smoother gear changes,smooth transition from throttle on throttle off,and excellent deceleration braking.I will be leaving the bike stock standard.
Currently traveled over 350kms testing the results of this flash and totally blown away with the bikes performance now,outstanding.
And Steve is one of natures gentlemen,so good to be associated with his work

+1 regarding how good Pirelli Angel GT "A" SPEC's are.Mine have currently traveled 13500kms, still have 3mm left front and rear,outstanding handling in both wet and dry,excellent turn in.
Will replace with the same.
 

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I was one of the beta testers of this flash so I tried a few different versions of it and I had previously ran the EVO.
Because the finale product wasn't done until the end of riding season I didn't get to ride it much. I did have a very good idea of what it was though because there were only a few slight changes made.
Anyway the weather has been good so I have rode a few decent rides now and I have nothing but positives to say here.
Like already stated the power down low is much better. Shifting is the best its ever been (this was my biggest grip about the C14) 
On and off throttle is exactingly what you need in these GA mountains which is also great in the traffic/city style stuff.
  The de-cel properties are amazing and when you put all these things together you have a tune that makes this beast ride able,controllable,and enjoyable.
Its amazing to know now how bad Kawasaki missed it on the tune. Steve certainly hit a home run!!
 
 
I have had the MR for a couple of months although I've only ridden twice. Today I accidentally started off from a traffic light in third gear and, although it grumbled a bit, there was no shudder or lurching. I just smoothly pulled away. Don't try that on the stock ECU. :beerchug:

Mark
 
Hi Guys!
This is my first post. I have a 2012 C14 , 16000 miles. Bought new 2015. I ran across Steve's website. It said everything I was looking for. I called him and we talked about a lot of stuff , and how i ride most of the time. Long story short I sent my ECU to Fla for spring break. Took advantage of the 350 special. Money well spent. Rollons any gear any speed great. I do a lot of tollway riding in the Chicago area. When I crank on it (still not full throttle) the bike powers up the front wheel , 2nd and 3rd no problem. You can feel it settle back down. I did not think it would make that big a difference. It does! In closing , Thank you Steve for doing this good work for all of us.
Scott
 
I will know here shortly, my ECU is on its way back from a visit with Steve...
 
NinjaBreadMan said:
Grant said:
I really want this flash but I am going to wait till I get these crappy Bridgestone's off and figure out what I am doing with exhaust.

I did not realize how crappy the stock Bridgestones were until I replaced them with Angel GT's and found what this bike was capable of with good tires!

The Kawasaki spec Bridgestones are not good, but the non-K spec BT023s are quite good tires. 
 
I have the new active O2 sensor 2015 and up MR flash. Not much time on it yet but to sum it up in one word spectacular. This flash has actually made me more secure on the bike it's so smooth.
Along with a much more controllable feel the bike has considerably more power I didn't expect.
 
What kind of gas mileage are you guys getting.  No one posted it on this thread unless I missed one.  I have the mountain flash and am getting 35mpg.
 
My fuel mileage says 37.5 on the DIC haven't hand calculate it yet. What is says on the DIC is the same as it was prior to the flash but that is remarkable as since the flash I have been riding much more aggressively and would expect it to be using much more fuel.
If you want to know what has gone way up it's smiles per mile.  :motonoises: :)
 
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