my nagging feeling of disappointment in the stock performance of the 09 VMax is gone. The butt dyno, arm stretch caliper, and sphincter back pressure sensor...all lead me to the confident evaluation that if you don't have this ECU, you have a castrated VMax.

Now don't go asking for proof, and numbers and dyno now. I simply got a call that it was in at the shop, chipped and shoveled 4-6 inches of ice and snow off my football field long winding driveway to take advantage of a 46 degree summer blast to get out to the main road, to the shop and have them install as I waited.

I dunno what this thing does, the dealer still doesn't have specifics, and it came with absolutely no documentation except the disclaimer.

All I can tell you is, in lieu of anything firm to look at in terms of what it does, the result is

-markedly snappier throttle response at any and all rpms
-more torque across the bandwidth, and serious grunt off the line
-a vastly improved roll on
-power all the way to redline

I highly recommend it, and yes I think the cost is ridiculous, and I would have liked to have seen THIS ECU as stock, but I think we all can think of legal, marketing, insurance, price point reasons that it did not.

The best thing is I have a genuine smile about the performance of the VMax now.

Sounds great, maybe it does do more than just remove the limiters. How long before we can get someone to get some performance numbers. Dyno, 1/4, roll-on. Not that I dont trust the tried and true seat of the pants sensor, but before I drop $800 vs $35 for Fxstein's fix I would like to see if its worth the money

Apologies "AB" on not getting the hang of this forum's topic thread mystery (to me anyway)...I agree that actual numbers are the definitve action, but there is more going on here than just removing a speed limiter and a little weak tweek. This is a marked improvement in power and delivery. I plead ignorance to FXstein's 35 buck "fix", and can not nor will i compare the two. I personally don't have the know-how to, or want to to, monkey with the stock ECU. Luckily I am very good terms with my dealer so although the expense was not negligible, it was at least not a getting "bent over at the waist reaming" for me.

I am looking forward to my rides with particular zeal now. Maybe I can get a tuner I know to do an actual comparison between the two. I'll contact him and update the list.

Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but..... The warranty issue concerns me. Especially the "grey" area where a modification that causes a failure, or could be linked to a failure.

As I understand motorcycle warranties in general (with laws protecting the consumer), if I put in a high compression pistons and later a rod broke and punched a hole in the engine it would not be covered under warranty. If I change the wheels and the fuel pump went out it would be covered. They "grey" area is the sole determination of Yamaha (and represented by your dealer). Our recourse would be legal action (not a place we want to go).

If I were going to install the Race ECU I think I'd buy it from somewhere other than my preferred dealer and in the event of a need for a visit to the dealership I'd slip my stock ECU back in.

Anyone else concerned with mods and the warranty, especially the Race ECU?

Mike

Ill wait to see the dyno numbers.and see what else becomes available.i can safely assume that there will be a number of ecu/exhaust kits developed to work together.I would particularly like to see a user programmable ecu that i could access via computer and tweak the fuel mapping etc.Im sure ill be completely satisfied with max the way it is for now.

Hey "Z" man, I hope you are correct! I was wishing the new "race ecu" would be what we all wanted it to be. But I agree with Mike about the warranty thing. This bike is so technical and so much HP & Tq. I want that 2 year to see if anything happens. I DO think if Yamaha sells it, then they should warranty it and the whole bike!

With all that said, I wish you well and if your satisfied, to hell with what anyone else thinks; or writes.

You bought it, or are paying for it, so if your happy THAT is ALL that matters!

Ride on, brother!

Shoecop #303

The grey area concerns me as well. I have known my dealer for
20+ years here is what he said." You are not going to hold this
bike WFO all the time yamaha puts this disclaimer on all their
competition parts just ride the b#$%h and dont worry about it and let me know how it runs.



I have the ecu and i installed it last night ecu# 00032. Max has 1200 miles on the clock i should to be able sense any changes. I will let you
know.

cheers

.

Finally we will find out what the top secret Race ECU does.
How did it effect the Redline?
What is the top speed?
Dyno #s?
And anything else you find out.

Thanks to you guys for trying it out. I would think that since it's a Yamaha part the warranty should be good. Did you ask the shop?

The installation of the Race ECU is the same as all other modifications you have done, and will continue to do, to your motorcycles (pipe, PowerCommander, K&N, etc., etc.) The installation of bolt-on, aftermarket accessories DO NOT in and of themselves call your warranty into question. In the event of an issue, or catastrophic failure, Yamaha, or any other manufacturer, would have to send out a representative to conclusively prove that a particular aftermarket item was the root cause of the issue/failure and not a defect in materials or workmanship. The documentation provide by Yamaha specifically DOES NOT indicate that installation of the Race ECU will void your warranty. They merely use the benign language that is used by all other manufacturers regarding aftermarket parts, "The Limited Warranty provided with new Star vehicles has exclusions for certain failures, including those caused by competition or racing use as well as by abnormal strain or abuse. While installation of these components DOES NOT (emphasis added) "void your vehicles warranty, specific failures adjudged by Yamaha to have resulted from the installation of accessory components or other modifications, or from competition use, may not be covered by warranty or Yamaha Extended Service for Star Motorcycles". This language applies to ANY non-factory parts or accessories and simply allows Yamaha to say "sorry" if you add a PC, don't have the motorcycle properly tuned, run it overly lean, and hole a piston. We have dynoed the Race ECU and can confirm that the air/fuel ratio is actually in the richer, power band (12.9- 13.6) rather than being on the lean side. If there was even a remote possibility that this product was going to adversely affect their flagship bike, Yamaha wouldn't even offer it for public consumption. Warranty from Yamaha is not an issue. In fact, as a multi-line dealership, Yamaha is head and shoulders above their competition when it comes to warranty coverage for their customers.

Thats good.....if the bike wasnt bulletproof bad max would know,he has over 3000 miles of "spirited" riding under his belt and no problems.