Further experiments today and I am so far one very happy camper !
My adjustment of the POT on the Dyna-Boost is still at about 50% with the dash reading about 15C below ambient. I have good results on this setting and intend to leave it to see if the ECU can adapt out or not. My theory is to leave myself some further adjustment if things don't work out.
Took the bike out at 11 am through 40 minutes of heavy traffic in stifling heat (45+C) and not one splutter or stumble.
Then off up the mountain road - Cebu Trans Central Highway (Cebu City to Balamban), steep and twisty up and up then steeply down and up some more, mostly 2nd and 3rd gear with the occasional drop to 1st for very slow trucks struggling up the hills and max speed of around 80 Kmh (50 mph) on the straight parts.
In other words, lots of throttle and gear work to give the chip some exercise, plus some cooler air to see if it makes a difference.
Previously this had been a very difficult road to ride as I considered the Strada plain dangerous when it stumbled so much on the slow turns or even stalled on the downhill closed throttle changes into bends.
With the VR fitted and dialled to 20C less than ambient the bike ran well with no stalls but had much less engine braking and backfired a lot on the overruns.
It was actually quite scary as I could never rely on the engine braking being constant when diving into the very tight downhill bends. Plus as we got up into the cooler air I had to dial the VR back towards normal in order to maintain the dash reading around 10C or the engine would 'run away' a little too much.
Today with the Dyna-Boost unit it was a totally different story....a very enjoyable ride, loads of slow speed chugging going up the hills and out of the bends with the engine pulling smoothly right up through the 1600 to 4/5000 range in all the gears and no hit of a flat spot or stumble. Reliable and fairly consistent engine braking into the bends with hardly any backfire on the overrun too. Up in the high cooler sections with the dash reading around 15C the bike ran like a dream and not a hint of flat spot or stumble all the way and I didn't need to make any adjustments either.
One thing I did notice on the very long downhill closed throttle sections is that there appears to be a cyclic action on the engine braking, which is definitely something new.
For about the first 10 seconds of closed throttle the engine braking is good and as I would consider quite normal, then for about 3 seconds it eases off slightly and the bike speeds up a little, then it shuts back down to normal again. This goes on a cycle of about 10 and 3 all the way down the long hills.
Possible evidence of Roger's theory of the chip having a pulsed action on the O2 sensor signal, but unfortunately I have not yet been able to source a DVM to get some decent readings.
After it cooled down the Exhaust (Finger) check back home, also after 30 mins in the traffic reveals zero deposits - not rich or lean, just perfect
The tests continue, status is -
Original 2013 ECU mapping never been MOSS'd, fuel Petron Blaze 100 RON with zero ethanol, Brisk AOR10LGS plugs, K&N Airfilter, standard (except for De-Cat) exhausts, Cannisterectomy and AIT sensor sitting in the Air Intake on the right side beak. Dyna-Boost chip at 50% adjustment.
Next plan is to let the bike run some more at the same chip setting and see if it still goes well, especially in the heat here.
One idea I have is to pull the fuse on the Dyna-Boost chip and see how the bike runs and how long it takes to revert back to the stalling dog, but that is not something I really need to do just yet.
I have a friend here with a very bad stumbling Terra and plan to fit the Dyna-Boost to his bike and see if it instantly cures it - for me that would be the icing on the cake !!
