Tuner needed on my 8th Gen?

Hello all. I'm new to the VFR, but had two ST1300's in the past, and currently ride a road king as well. I just installed a Delkevic 14" muffler on the VFR and plan to replace the air filter with a high flow filter. The bike seems to run fine with just the new muffler, but I'm curious to know if I need to get a tuner for it...???

I never modified my ST's, and I'm not looking for much performance gain, just better airflow. I'm used to riding my battleship Harley that can't get out of its own way (and needs a new map tune every damn time I look at it), so the VFR is fine for power and performance. I put the pipe on, pulling the baffle out first, to be heard a bit and now I think a better air filter will make things work that much better.

So what's the word, do I need one or will the bike be okay without it?

Thanks in advance!!

Check

 

It will be fine without it. I've never felt the need for one, and I ride like a scalded dog.

 

As I understand, the headers and the Cat are the real restrictions on this bike. With just a slip-on you should be fine without a tune.

 

Could some one please explain this for me as I'm struggling to get the concept here.
"Not looking for much performance gains, but better airflow."

Can someone seriously feel the 1-2, if that, bhp gains from an air filter. Let alone the 5 from an aftermarket exhaust and of course the weight saving. Maybe on high speed runs but not in every day use.

 

I'm not looking to feel any performance gains... just looking for better airflow through the engine so that it will run smoother with possibly better throttle response. No, you can't really feel 1 - 2 HP gain, but again, not looking for anything like that.

Anytime you can help the engine breath better it will run smoother and more efficiently.

Also, when you improve airflow the ECM can lean out the engine causing it to run hotter, or it can't richen it up enough to keep the temps down. A tuner will help cure that.

On EFI HD's if you swap out the pipes and increase air intake they will definitely run hotter to the point that you could damage the engine, consequently a tuner is nearly imperative.

I don't know enough about the VFR engine to know if that could be the same, so I thought I'd ask.

As an aside, I have been watching the engine temperature and have not noticed an increase in temperature since I put the Delkevic on it, but I've only managed to get 20 miles on it so far.

 

The VFR is one of the smoothest running motorcycles made. I doubt if you will accomplish anything for a lot of money spent.

 

You definitely do not "NEED" to get a tune for just a slip on and or air filter. Most of the air flow restrictions are in the header and velocity stacks (also in the intake cams and exhaust ports for the +2014). In 1998 and 1999 the VFR800 had a catless header with 32mm primaries. In 2000 onward the header was given a catalytic converter and smaller 30mm primaries. In 2002 the vtec model was introduced and given two longer velocity stacks. In 2014 Honda continued with the downward peak hp trend of tuning for lowend at the expense of peak power, by further lengthening the velocity stacks, redesigning the header again, redesigning milder intake cams and milder exhaust porting. All of those tweaks kind of suck (depending on whether you are a fan of lowend torque or peak hp), but the 2014 vfr800 does have one good thing going for it, Honda bumped the compression ratio up from 11.6 to 11.8:1. So for 2014, what you are left with is a bike that feels stronger up to about 9 or 10,000 rpms and then falls on its face at 10,500 (this can be seen as the reported top speed dropping from 155 down to 137mph), a trade off that most of the VFR customer base probably appreciates.

With all that said, I would really like to see someone start throwing some modifications at the new 8th gen. A 98/99 catless header and short velocity stacks could possibly really wake these 8th gens up, up top or on the other hand, maybe the mild exhaust porting and intake cams would need to be addressed first. It would be really cool to see someone with an eighth gen, slap on some 6th gen cylinder heads, 98/99 headers/velocity stacks and a good slip on and tune. That would probably be a really strong, but pretty much stock vfr800.

As far tuners and air filters go, Rapid Bike Racing is the top of the line for tuning and Pipercross is the top for air filters. Rapid bike racing offers fuel/ignition tuning and auto fuel tuning as standard (the ignition advance makes huge low to midrange torque gains on the 6th gen, I'm not sure about the 8th, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did for the eight as well), while power commander does not offer ignition tuning for the vfr800 and needs an extra module for auto tuning. For air filters, Pipercross is the only true performance air filter available for the vfr800 (I don't know if they offer a 2014 filter yet), the K&N and BMC filters have reduced inlet openings over the stock filter and offer no additional airflow. Whether any air filter will make a difference on a mostly stock 8th gen has yet to be seen, but I wouldn't bother with any air filter besides a pipercross.

 

I don't think many folk spend too much time with the needle in the last 1,250 revs before the redline so it's not really an issue

 

Yeah, not really an issue for too many people, unless you needed to make a high speed pass or were on the autobahn lol.

 

Thanks all for the advice. I was about to order a K&N air filter, but after reading the info from CandyRed. I'll take a look at Pipercross for the air filter.

Again, many thanks. Now it's off to load another map on my Harley... :distrust:

 

I wonder if the airbox was even updated on the transition from 6th to 8th gen. You minght just be able to buy a 2002-2013 pipercross air filter.

 

Have you dyno tuned your VFR yet with the RapidBike module, CR46? What AFR are you using as your base for the mapping?

 

You know already know the answers to those questions lol

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Just checkin'! I believe you are using the add on wideband 02, self tuning, module......

Been doing a little reading and talking with some folks about the RapidBike module. Planning a new machine soon and looking at modules to get the most out of the usual full exhaust, airbox lid, chip, etc. Haven't decided on which way to proceed just yet....but the Rapidbike is in the final group. I won't be doing the self tuning thing if I do.

 

Yeah I remember you're not a fan of a set AFR target or wide band o2 sensors. What bike is the next project?

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2016 or 2017 Ducati Hypermotard 939SP (W/dealer installed Termi Full Ti exhaust, airbox lid, and uprated chip) the year will depend on the timing and deal....looking at 2016 right now, but 17's are coming

 

Oh that's cool. The owner of cycle pro, Yaman, is really into Ducati's. I looked at what's available for the hypermotard and it looks like they have an Evo module, but not a Racing. I would give cycle pro a call on Monday and see what Yaman says.

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Yep to the piper cross. Not to say different here, but depending on what you want for the money, yes a dyno tune with some ecu management helps big time. Now where's that one 8th gen at that added a PC and gave it a dyno tune at ? he got 112hps out of it. Pretty sure he was in the UK too. Considering the stock is hovering right around the 93-95hp mark, that right there should be more than decent IMO.

 

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/50019-Pipercross-airfilter?highlight=

This is were I bought my Pipercross airfilter.