Just got it installed last night. Very simple installation as it comes completely prewired and plugs in between the injector and the ECU. Only other hook up is the ground, which came with a ring terminal already attached. All the wiring is a good universal length to allow you to mount the control unit either behind the front number plate or under the seat on the rear fender. I had to use the rear fender as my front number plate has molded reinforcements that prevented a clean install without hacking the plastic. I don't like to hack any more than I have to. This morning I fired it up, got it warm, hooked up to iBeat and reset all 3 CO settings to 100. They were last set to 98, 104, 104. The tuner comes preset with JD's recommended adjustments based on his testing during development for this exact bike. I could tell immediately the bottom end was much cleaner just from whacking the throttle from idle. No more stutter . Haven't ridden it yet but will hopefully be able to in the near future to see how the rest of the throttle range is acting. An accelerator pump feature is also an option to enable. It works based on throttle rate change. Almost nothing is more frustrating to me than getting a bog instead of wheel lift with a big root, log or pile of trash and biting it. The instructions are somewhat in depth with explanations of what stock settings are, what the unit is currently programmed with when you receive it (not stock settings), and how to correlate adjustments to carb settings for those people who are carb minded. JD doesn't list an FI for anything but 09/10 310's right now but he's got units for 2010 TE/TXC 250's if you call. Price is $209. I'll update this thread as I ride more.
Wow, that's a good price. I was about to buy a PCV/Autotune for much more. I wonder how this compares. I've always had good experiences with his carb kits. What issues were you having that prompted you to buy this? Just the stutter?
Yeah, the stutter was present at times while riding but not all the time. It seemed to be worse after a long down hill with switchbacks and letting the engine do some of the braking. When I'd hit the gas it would stutter pretty bad at lower RPM. At one point I thought I was running out of gas (had just installed the big IMS) or the battery was coming loose. Above the lower RPMs it pulled very well. After the downhill parts it would seem to clear up. I had really thought I had adjusted the bog out with iBeat a few months ago. Heck it may a temperature sensitive thing with the seasons? Anyway, I can adjust this thing somewhat like a carb now. I like the price of this solution and the ease of adjustments. Still need to get out to the trails and really see how it acts.
Cool. Well I can't wait to hear how it works out for you. Got one on the way today. Hopefully it will clear my issues up for $400 less than a PCV.
The way things are going you may be able to take yours riding before I do Ankle's still tender and work is nuts. Do you have iBeat to bring the CO's back to 100 for a vanilla setup? James ships them already slightly tweaked based on their dyno runs. You can probably still adjust it with success regardless.
Update- Got to ride it in our native habitat yesterday in some really nice single track. I had no low rev bog issues what-so-ever on the 1st half of the ride using JD's recommended/pre-programmed settings. We took a break after a couple of hours, I let a couple of folks take it for a spin during the break; they both loved it. We sit for 10-15 minutes and proceed with more of the same type of riding but with a few big puddles to splash initially and that damn stutter is back! It quit occurring after about 10 minutes of riding. Now I'm wondering if there's a temperature issue, such as a coolant temp sensor having a null zone or something. One other thing that seemed to cause the stutter or maybe is coincidental is that after splashing puddles it tended to stutter and then dissipate after no puddle splashing. Can the puddles create any kind of localized temperature "shock" that might cause the ECU to falsely adjust fueling? Or might we be looking at a CTS that has a glitch? Or is something sensitive to water? I inspected the wiring today, no obvious issues or water logged connectors. I'm going to replace the CTS and continue to tweak.
Thanks for the update. I got mine in the other day and will be testing it out this weekend. I heard that the TPS sensor could cause the bike to cut out if it becomes loose from the throttle body. I'm not sure if your problem is the same as mine - with mine the bike will completely shut off mid stride.
i had the same problem......it took me a bit to find it ...........it was water getting up/on the spark plug lead were it joins up in the coil............so i removed the lead/coil ass cleaned and blew it out with air and sealed it up every were with high temp black silicon and have never had the problem back its worth a try
Thanks! I noticed that area gets doused every time I ride in muddy water. It probably clears up after engine heat evaporates the water intrusion, thus running normally after a few minutes. I hope that's the problem as the bike really runs good otherwise.
I've used iBeat to sweep the whole TPS range with no dropouts noted (in the garage) I had the complete shut off thing occur on my 510 when the positive battery connector screw vibed loose, thought i was running out of gas then sputtered and died. Kinda sucks having to have a battery to be able to run.
Wow, just got my coil off and it's definitely getting doused thoroughly with water and mud every time the front wheel goes through it. The area around the mounting lug is open to the innards of the otherwise sealed unit. I cleaned it up a little for the photo, but was packed full of mud previously. Picture shows it better than I can explain it. Think I'll clean it thoroughly and get the RTV ready
So this product fixed the off idle stutter/bog that required me to use the clutch non-stop when I was riding your bike in Oregon? As I recall, it would go fast, or idle, but nothing in between...
Yes, the bottom portion of the throttle range is clean as a whistle, unless you go through water. Just finished slathering RTV into the gaps shown above. I bet that'll cure all throttle issues once and for all. KNOCK ON WOOD! Coffee, this bike is really tall in first gear. Many go to a 12T countershaft sprocket to cut down on the amount of clutching required in slower technical riding. I've been learning the clutch a lot this past year. Yeah, that's why I've got such a big left forearm
Well no miracle fix for me, though I do think it helped a bit. But that might be due to the fact that I found a bigger problem that the ECU has "310" written on it. Doh! I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes, but I can only imagine it would have some impact to have a 310 ECU on a 250. A note on the installation: I found it extremely hard to get the black plug on the JD kit to mate properly with the harness plug. I had to put a zip tie around it to keep it from popping back off.
Ah crap, I had the same sort of issue with the plugs engaging. Appeared like the rubber waterproof accordion looking portion of the male side was a bit too deep, not allowing the plugs to go together and lock the tab to secure them like it is supposed to. I grabbed some WD-40 to help lube things up and it worked by applying constant pressure and patience. Click. Spray silicone would probably work too. Can get a little slippery handling the plugs if you get too much overspray, though. Were you able to go 100,100,100 through iBeat to baseline the ECU? I did that just to simplify how much adjustment was being applied in each region based only on the JD piece, otherwise you have to factor in somehow what has been tweaked on those CO settings if they're not at factory settings, i.e. 100's across the board. May help to recalibrate TPS as well.
Unfortunately I don't have ibeat. I think i'm going to send that ecu off to Halls and get them to reflash it. I'm hoping they can just reflash that ECU to 250 settings. I've never had to have an ECU reflashed, so i'm a bit unfamiliar with it. I might need to try to get my hands on ibeat. I'm trying to find a factory service manual too since we don't have a dealer anywhere close, and those seem to be scarce.
That sounds pretty weird with your ECU data, but I've learned that a lot of anomalies seem to occur with these bikes regarding actual hardware installed vs. what's advertised and/or expected. Just finished my 2nd ride since installing the JD tuner and waterproofing the coil. Shazam! I'm a believer. Tweaked my mid and upper zones to eliminate a bog there and then hit a bunch of puddles + a river, no more hiccups. Hope you can get yours sorted out now that the Hellfire and Brimstone weather has stopped for the moment in your neck of the woods
Well the reflash idea was a no-go, but we used the JD tuner to compensate a bit. The bike will now run fine once its started and the random shutoffs have disappeared. I'm pretty impressed with the device overall. Its simple, inexpensive and is pretty adjustable. I forgot to waterproof that coil. I'll do that this week as our next race will feature a couple of water crossings. I did put a small zip tie around the spark plug wire that goes into the coil. It didn't seem very secure and I thought that might be contributing to my problems...