Remap 2012 Commando

Greetings! New-ish owner here. A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to find a 2012 vintage Commando 961 Cafe Racer on sale with 192 miles on the clock. The dealer told me that the one previous owner was a collector who'd bought it then later decided to sell to release funds for a property investment.

Needless to say I've put a few more miles on since then!

With its first MOT being due and having done enough miles for a first service I took the bike to Krazy Horse because a) it's close by and b) several posts here have praised them.

As requested they fitted long decat pipes, had a poke at the flickery fuel light and did the service. I also asked for one of the funky remaps that people have praised but was told that on the older bikes the ECU isn't field-programmable. When I suggested swapping in a newer ECU I was told it "probably" wouldn't be compatible.

Does anyone know if that's definitively true? Am I stuck with the factory settings?

Here's the bike!

Welcome aboard.
That’s a beautiful green, and unusual for a 961. Cheers.
So, Krazy Horse sold you the exhaust, but neglected to inform you beforehand that the ECU was not “field programmable”, whatever that means. I was not aware of this being the case on 2012 models.
You need to find out what is required to get that ECU remapped. If you have to send it back to the factory, then do it ASAP. The stock EFI map will run very lean with decatted/free flowing exhaust. I know. I have a decatted SBN aftermarket exhaust and used the stock map for many months. You can’t begin to appreciate the difference between these bikes running lean, and running with the appropriate remap. It’s very significant.

Thanks for the feedback which is kinda what I figured I might hear.

"Field programmable" is my term - I work in the technology sector - what I was actually told was that they couldn't download to it.

I called up Norton this morning and spoke to a very helpful chap who explained the situation. The older bikes have Omex ECUs and Krazy Horse simply don't have the necessary interface to them. Chances are they will soon, though, because I was told that the newer bikes are likely to go back to using Omex, and that in any case a new map will be made available "imminently." Norton will let me know when that is and all I'll have to do is post the ECU to the factory for them to program and send back.

Impressive service for a Saturday morning.

Hello Furrycat , How does the bike run now ?

The bike is a fantastic color. Welcome. Are there any complaints with the way the bike is running? I think if it starts well and runs well without any niggles to beef about, you're doing quite well. Personally, I'd only get concerned if the performance of the bike has changed for the worse. I didn't notice any "stellar" changes in performance after I got the stock map changed to #77, and I kind of pound on the beastie. I do have that popular vibration from 42-45K rpm, which is a little annoying, but the bike winds out and pulls like a freight train. Looking forward to the newer remapping though.

I don't think the performance is any worse. It's difficult for me to judge "how well" it's running given that I've never riden any other Commando so have nothing to compare against, and also because I've only had my licence two years and don't have a lot of experience with other bikes anyway.

My observations would be that at 5k RPM it makes a pleasingly angry noise and seems to pull away nicely enough. I wear an open face helmet so even with the mini windscreen my enthusiasm for high speed tends to give out long before the bike's does. Any "issues" that there are would be at lower speed. Below 4k RPM I might as well be on a scooter and below 3k RPM I might as well be on a pushbike. I get the impression that the machine really wants the throttle to be nice and open.

I saw a post on here where, if memory serves, someone was saying that his father likes to give the bike a bit of clutch at low speed. Certainly when I'm going round a mini roundabout in town I find that the bike will start to cough and splutter as the revs drop and I feel compelled to apply the clutch slightly to even out the power, at which point "oh noes I am going to understeer off the road" and I need more beans. That's something I've got used to and will now try to change down earlier and keep the revs up.

Also when starting it from cold it sometimes splutters a bit off the driveway, though it's usually fine by the time I get to the end of my street. Compare with my (only) previous bike, a 2007 Bonneville (with carbs) where I'd just yank the choke out, set off and push it back in after a bit.

Whether there's an actual problem here or the bike just needs to be riden loudly, I don't know. I have no objections if it's the latter!

It sounds like you need the re-map.

As you gain experience with the bike, your attention will begin to focus more on the various peculiarities of the bikes operation while running lean.

First is the bike will surge a bit when trying to maintain a constant speed for a prolonged period of time. This is most noticeable when using the original map, which produces the leanest conditions. I also noticed a flat spot in the power curve between 3200-4200 RPM. The bike seems to stumble in that range, then ran fine about 4200. Also, cold starting was a problem. The bike would die immediately after starting. I would have to apply a bit of throttle for 90 seconds or so, before the bike would respond properly and provide a weak idle.

These conditions improved after updating the EFI with map #77. Biggest improvement was in the above 4000 range acceleration. Other areas were better as well. Starting was marginally better, and the flat spot was only apparent during cool running, before bike was fully warmed up. Once at operating temp, the flat spot was gone.

After communicating with SBN I decided to update to map #90, which is supposed to work much better with my de-catted exhaust. This map improved the 4500+ RPM acceleration, and has also improved the cold running performance. I still have to use a bit of throttle after the initial startup, but just for 15-20 seconds, and then the bike will idle at 1200 RPM reliably without stalling. Also cold running flat spot is now much narrower, 3800- to just over 4000 RPM. As before, once the bike is fully warmed up, there are no flat spots in the power curve.

The revised EFI maps are making definite advances in overall performance for the 961. All we need are a few more revisions to the maps and we will have that modern EFI motorcycle experience.

Ride your bike, they are all slightly different as are the owners. If you can't live with it then ship the Ecu if it's too far to visit the factory.

A year on I was finally able to get the engine mapped as Krazy Horse now have the software, and immediately the bike felt better to ride. Much smoother in the low gears and at low revs and the throttle opened up nicely on the road back to Cambridge.

That's the good news. The bad news is the head gasket had gone. I wasn't massively pleased about that on a four-year-old bike and my wallet is now £730 lighter for the repair, service and MOT. On the plus side Norton picked up the tab for the breather kit and I no longer ride around with my own oil puddle. Touch wood I should be sorted now.

furrycat said:

A year on I was finally able to get the engine mapped as Krazy Horse now have the software, and immediately the bike felt better to ride. Much smoother in the low gears and at low revs and the throttle opened up nicely on the road back to Cambridge.

That's the good news. The bad news is the head gasket had gone. I wasn't massively pleased about that on a four-year-old bike and my wallet is now £730 lighter for the repair, service and MOT. On the plus side Norton picked up the tab for the breather kit and I no longer ride around with my own oil puddle. Touch wood I should be sorted now.

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Was the head torqued at 1,000 miles?

richard-7 said:

Was the head torqued at 1,000 miles?

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Not that I know of. When I took the bike in last year there were 1136 miles on the clock and Krazy Horse did not say anything at the time about doing the work. That's not to say that they didn't, just that I don't recall.

In all likelihood that is the problem, though.

Apparently I spoke too soon about everything being sorted. This morning there was a pool of oil under the bike much bigger than any I've previously seen. Krazy Horse will be collecting the bike at the weekend to take another look at it.

Maybe they forgot. ?????

richard-7 said:

Maybe they forgot. ?????

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My dealer also forgot to do the re-torque at the 1000 mile mark.
One of the mechanics picked up the mistake from the service log during a subsequent visit for the electric starter.
This may be an all too common situation.

Two weeks after the bike was picked up I got a call to say that Norton had sent over a new breather kit and it had been installed. It was delivered back to me on Friday. I wasn't at home so my builders, keen bikers themselves, ensured it got back into the garage.

Yesterday afternoon I fancied a test ride so I opened the garage and found the bike leaning over very precariously. The bolt in the side stand had gone. The second stand I've had that's broken.

All's well that ends well, however. I got on the phone to Krazy Horse and they said to come over and they'd sort it, which they did by cannibalising a stand off one of their display bikes. I got my ride out after all, there's now no oil on the floor, the bike stands up properly and it rides smoothly.

Ownership begins for real here!

Glad to hear it.

furrycat said:

Yesterday afternoon I fancied a test ride so I opened the garage and found the bike leaning over very precariously. The bolt in the side stand had gone. The second stand I've had that's broken.

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Glad to hear your Commando didn't suffer a fall over.
Did the dealer look at the bolt to determine the cause for the bolt breakage?
Could have been over torqued.
Mechanics normally don't pay much attention to correct torque settings for such bolts.