Guest lawrenceofsuburbia Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Reading a lot here about 'flashing or 're-flashing'. In simple words - what is this? I infer it relates to engine performance in some way. If so, how does 're-flashing' affect warranty? And what are the legal implications so far as The Law is concerned? Purely for my interest and further education as an Oz rider... L of S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjsracing Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 The ECU controls just about everything about how your bike operates: The ABS brakes, traction control, cooling fan, cruise control, speed shifter, ignition timing advance,fuel injector duty cycle, fuel ratio temperature compensation, altitude compensation, speed compensation, gear selection compensation, air mass compensation, indicated speed, rev limiter, and a whole lot more. The factory has many many competing constraints in the performance characteristics they select. Consider a politician. It's unlikely you like everything about a specific politician, You have to settle for a balance of good things and bad things. Imagine that you could take all the politicians, select the things you like, omit the things you don't, and get a new politician just right for you. That's the opportunity when you re-program the ECU. The term of art used to describe re-programming an ECU is flashing. It relates to the fact that the program is stored in flash RAM. 2015 FJ-09, 2016 1290 Super Duke, 2017 150 XC-W (primary ride), 2012 DR650 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted June 6, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 6, 2015 The ECU (engine control unit) is a complex micro-computer that controls many functions on the bike. Like any computer, there will be software running in the ECU. The software has many variable which are set to default values in the factory. The ECU may be able to alter some of these values on the fly to accommodate different climates, altitudes etc. as the ECU controls fuelling amongst other things. The software and data is stored in memory within the ECU. This memory is reprogrammable. There are a number of memory technologies, one of which is flash memory. As stated above, the word flash has taken the meaning as a verb or noun to describe the process or action of altering the contents of the memory. It is unlikely that the software itself is changed in the reflash, but the process will be able to alter the values from their default settings e.g. temperature that the fan is triggered, fuelling values, default value for A/B/STD mode. The programmers do not have to worry about noise or emissions at certain RPM so they can smooth out the fuelling, especially at low revs. Also, for US riders, the reflash can eliminate the 115mph restriction. HTH,HAND etc This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfart Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 If I'm reading between the lines correctly, a re-flashed ECU may not meet legal emission standards that the original ECU program had to comply with. With an older car, when the registration is due for renewal (at least here in California) it is required to pass a "smog check" where the exhaust emissions are tested. If it doesn't pass, it doesn't get re-licensed. There is no such test for motorcycles, old or new. So when re-programming the ECU, the programmer can change original compromise settings made for the sake of emission controls, since no one will ever check. So the bike then runs faster, smoother, etc. than it would originally. Is that about right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjsracing Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 The way i understand it, the manufacturer and and dealer are required to deliver it to you with all the crap installed and with crap settings. As soon as you own the bike, you can legally remove all the crap and set it up to run safely and efficiently. There is federal requirement for "as delivered", but not for "as operated". Local jurisdictions may have additional requirements like California for example. From my experience with with new bikes, KTM North America proudly includes a box of spare parts that includes the blocking plates, caps, bolts, spaces, adapters, connectors, etc necessary to remove the EPA and NHTSA fuel sucking, performance robbing, engine damaging, weight adding, crash inducing crap. (not that I have a strong opinion about this, lol) 2015 FJ-09, 2016 1290 Super Duke, 2017 150 XC-W (primary ride), 2012 DR650 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panooch Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 From my experience with with new bikes, KTM North America proudly includes a box of spare parts that includes the blocking plates, caps, bolts, spaces, adapters, connectors, etc necessary to remove the EPA and NHTSA fuel sucking, performance robbing, engine damaging, weight adding, crash inducing crap. (not that I have a strong opinion about this, lol)Oh my gosh, great laugh, thank you Everyday's a good day when your able to ride 15 FJ-09 - 2WDW ECU flash, Givi SV201, Nelson Rigg tail bag, OES sliders, Koubalink extenders, Ermax Sport, Vista Cruise, OEM seat mod, (smiles) 07 Honda ST1300A (sold) 06 Kawi KLR650 - Big Gun full exhaust, Corbin, Givi, PMR racks, carb mod (keeper) 97 Honda VFR750 - Traxxion Dynamics, Penske, Givi 3 piece, carbon exhaust (keeper?) 20+ years of snowmobiles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FigJam-OhNine Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Everyone above this post is wrong. Flashing is when your bike opens its trench coat in public. Re-flashing is when it does it again when the police have politely asked that it doesn't. Silly bike. Always trying to break the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dmizer Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 The bike's ECU (computer) runs on firmware. Firmware is the operating system (think of it as a program if you wish) that gives instructions to the bike's functions. Firmware is similar to software (hence the similarity in name), the difference is that firmware is set in ROM (read only memory) and software is set in read/write memory (like the hard drive of your computer). Strictly speaking, firmware is read only, so you can't change it. However, with special software (on a separate computer) and the correct kind of connector, an expert can replace the bike's ECU firmware with another custom version. This technique is called "flashing". The term comes from the fact that most firmware these days is stored in flash memory (like the kind on the 8g USB thumb drives in the computer stores). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2wheeldynoworks Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Reading a lot here about 'flashing or 're-flashing'. In simple words - what is this? I infer it relates to engine performance in some way. If so, how does 're-flashing' affect warranty? And what are the legal implications so far as The Law is concerned? Purely for my interest and further education as an Oz rider... L of S I guess everyone answered it for me! Simple words, it's a software upgrade with optimized settings for your hardware. Warranty is unaffected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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