The Beemer and Power Commander - it works!!!

[fnfalman]

It's been a long time coming, but DynoJet finally came out with the Power Commander III for various BMWs, but not including the new generation of 1200-cc flat twin (aka Hex Head because the head cover is hexagonal in appearance) or the new generation of the 1200-cc inline four (aka Munic Muscles). But the previous generation's single, flat twin and I4 are all good to go with the PCIII.

I got one ordered up for my Rockster and it didn't take much to install, except that one has to take all of the rear fairings off and unbolted about three dozen nuts and bolts just to slide the gas tank back to expose the innards for installation.;P The installation was pretty straight forward and the manual from DynoJet was a cheesy copy of some pictures, but thank goodness, very straight forward with the direction and very clear with the pictograms as to what connects to what.

This model of bike (R1150R) was dynoed (not by me but another bike dynoed by San Jose BMW - a highly respected BMW joint) stock at 77-hp and 70-lbft of torque. Mine with the full Remus exhaust system was measured at 90-hp and 70-lbft of torque. The Remus system added more oomph on the top end but didn't hurt the low end at all. My bike has more torque at low RPM and less at the top end, which is exactly what it is suppose to be as per BMW's design. However, there was a big flat spot at mid range (which is confirmed by the BMW Motorrad USA mechanic who's my riding buddy) showing the bike running lean for emission passing purposes. Well, she done gone now!!! The horsepower curve is now a nice linear curve and the torque is also the same albeit still losing some at the top end. The tuner enriched the lean spot and set the bike's overall fuel/air ratio at 13.6.

The RPM needle sweeps from idle to redline now without hesistation of flat spot as before. And from the dyno, the PC itself added about 4-HP and about 2-lbft of torque. Pretty much what I expected. But the power curve is not peakish any more and the surging at low RPM is also gone.

All said and done, the PCIII cost, installation and custom dyno tuning set me back around $750. Was it worth it? To me it was, but most other BMW owners aren't too amenable with modifying their bikes' performance. They'd rather spend the money on overpriced BMW-marqued luggage gear, windshield and handguards. My bike is much more rideable now when the pegs are draggin' and the tires are smokin'. It's exiting corners with authority instead of lethargy.

[TimP]

I am seriously concidering getting one for my yamaha 600R. Thats what I have heard about the commander. It might not add alot of HP, but it really smoothes out the power band. I think you just pushed me over the edge.

[fnfalman]

You'd be lucky if you get 10-hp out of a PC, but the improvement in power curve is definitive and noticeable.

[mmsig229]

My 929RR has a power commander. I didn't own it prior, so I can't really comment on the difference. Guys do swear by them though..

[fnfalman]

Dyno your bike with the PC on and then disconnect it and dyno the bike again. Compare the two power curves and you should see a big difference in usable power. The most I've ever seen was maybe 10-hp at peak output and that was on a Hayabusa with full exhaust system from Micron and K&N filter, but the whole power range is significantly smoother without the usual peaks and dips.

All I know is that the big ass, annoying flat spot at mid range is gone from my BMW and it looks like the surging at low RPM is gone as well. But whether or not it's worth the money, that's a personal call.

[Compy]

I just installed a PC on my 919. I don't know if it's making more power, but it certainly revs quite a bit faster. It smoothed out the powerband as well. I no longer have the annoying surge that seemed to happen around 5500 RPM.

Is it worth what I paid? Probably not. Did it make a difference? Definatly!

[Three-Five-Seven]

For the price you quote, I've purchased three Power Commanders. The maps that Dyno-Jet includes with the power commander more than cover all reasonable possibilities for engine configuration. Most guys I know who've dyno'd their PC equipped bikes have heard the tech say, "it was dead on without any adjustments" after passing a c-note bill across the counter.

The best part of Power Commanders is the smooth throttle response, which, on a BMW is a serious issue.

[fnfalman]

The BMW PC units are wide-band and that's why they cost more than a typical PCIII. If one were to get a wide-band PCIII, then it would cost as much as a BMW PC unit.

And the stock setting helped smoothed out the power curve but did nothing for the big, fat flat spot. The dyno tuning had fixed the flat spot problem, which is exactly what a PCIII, especially a wide-band PCIII suppose to do.

If I were to have a typical bike with a typical setup, then I probably could have gotten online and download a map from some other guy that had the same setup as mine. But consider that there's only one BMW custom map available at DynoJet and it doesn't even look like mine, I had no choice but to shell out the bucks and get a custom tuning session.