Originally Posted by Tapper
After Market Fuel Computers
This is a good time to talk about aftermarket fuel controllers, so lets hit on what they do real quick. The 1300 guys can manipulate their A/F ratios by changing jets, but it’s a bit more complex (and expensive) for the 1800 riders. For the VTX, there are basically three types of controller available. All three do exactly the same thing – they manipulate the amount of time the injectors are turned on during the intake stroke, by intercepting the voltage the ECU sends to the injectors. How the decide how much longer or shorter to turn the injector on, varies a bit though, and that variety is important thing to know when selecting which controller to use on your bike (if in fact you choose to use on at all – none of them are ever really necessary, regardless of what pipes or airboxes you add on to the bike.)
It’s also important to understand this: None of these controllers is ever a necessity, regardless of whether you change pipes or airboxes on your bike. The stock ECU will, in almost every case, adjust to the changes in airflow you’ve caused, and give you a reasonably good A/F ratio. But you should understand, that the ECU is not programmed to give you an A/F ratio that is optimized for horsepower from the factory – instead, Honda worries about things like pollution, engine temperature, and rider perception, and so the ECU can be said to be “de-tuned” in order to address these other concerns. So the real function of these add-on controllers is to correct the error (or eliminate the de-tuning) that Honda induced in your fuel curve on purpose, in order to reclaim the lost horsepower and improve engine efficiency (possibly at the cost of making more pollution, hearing more deceleration backfiring, etc). Adding on aftermarket pipes or airboxes can sometimes exaggerate this de-tuning as well, so we need to be able to modify our fuel curves to match the configuration of our bikes. Got that? These boxes aren’t necessary, but if you’re hunting more horses, they can sure find them.