[Epic]

I'm an older guy, don't do track days or race. I have always had a bike since 17yo, but due to life, the 1992 FZR1000 I've had in the shed for the last 9 years was only probably ridden 10 times before January this year when I really got back into, and fell in love with riding again. I bought the 959 in April, and it is the first bike with injection and electronics that I have owned.

While getting used to riding again, I found it a slow process to gain confidence cornering the Panigale. If there were surface bumps in corners, or if i wanted to trail off some speed with the throttle while going around a bend, and then transition the throttle back to cruise or light acceleration, the lean surging really disrupted my zen. Nothing like the silky smooth fuelling and throttle transitions on my carby FZR.

So one night a few weeks ago while bored on the internet, and seeing no progress (at that stage) with Tuneboy, I spent my tax return and hit the BUY button on a Rapidbike EVO kit. I immediately had buyers remorse!

I installed the Rapidbike and at the same time unhooked the cable from the exhaust valve.

On the first ride with the Rapidbike installed, the buyers remorse was amplified and I thought I had wasted my money. Even though it says it needs to "learn" over time/distance, I sort of expected to notice a marked improvement straight away after reading about other people noticing immediate improvements. Things have improved significantly since that first ride though.

Some things I have noted with the Rapidbike EVO kit after around 800km:

- The fuelling seems pretty much perfect 99% of the time. The only time it feels like it's "old self" is when I am descending out of the local hills at about 60km/h. I'm pretty sure I read that Rapidbike leaves the deceleration zone alone, so this would make sense.
- I don't notice any extra power, just much improved ride-ability and confidence.
- My confidence in cornering the bike (especially on non-perfect roads) has improved more in the past 3 weeks than the previous 6 months.
- real-time and average fuel consumption figures now seem to be completely inaccurate as the Rapidbike is lying to the ECU about what is going on with the O2 sensors and injection timing.
- Fuel consumption doesn't appear to have altered much if at all, though for some reason the fuel light comes on later. Maybe the fuel light is a result of maths, which is now being affected by all the Rapidbike's lies.
- 6th gear is possible at 75km/h (46.5miles/h). 70km/h (43.5miles/h) is pushing the limit a bit.
- The bike is no longer a high strung pain when I decide to ride her to work occasionally.
- Race setting is now the correct setting for all occasions. Though i haven't ridden in the wet with this bike yet.
- I used to love the bike. Now I really love the bike.

And about that exhaust valve:
- The exhaust note no longer has the annoying "quiet" zone. Otherwise no perceivable difference.

 

[SixShock]

I have a RapidBike system as well that I will install around this week, Can you give me tips or PM any suggestions?

 

[Epic]

I have a RapidBike system as well that I will install around this week, Can you give me tips or PM any suggestions?

I mounted my Rapidbike as in the attached pic. I got the idea from OldManMike's post on the 899 forum, and the pic is his 899.
I ground off three small plastic nibs on the black inner guard in order to mount the Rapidbike flush.

- I took off the mid fairings on both sides.
- I took the battery out completely.
- I took photos of how everything is connected on both sides before unplugging anything.
- I removed the regulator rectifier on the left side, and also undid the ECU on the right side to allow the unbolting of the mounting panels they are secured to, to more easily route the harness. I'm pretty sure I unplugged a bunch of other stuff to make it easier to move the panels around. (Refer to previous photo's taken to plug it all back in)

If you look between the top radiator, and the horizontal cylinder head, you will see that a harness runs across at the top just under the frame/airbox. This is where I ran my Rapidbike harness across. I fed the Rapidbike ECU connector, USB, crank sensor cables from right side to left, as they are the smallest. Either loosen your radiator so you can move it forward a bit (I didn't do this), or cut up a cereal box or something to protect the radiator as you feed the connectors through.

Have a REALLY good look at the round connectors (injectors and TPS) on the rapidbike harness to see the locating tabs and how they are positioned. When you undo the factory harness connector, gently pull it out and see which locating tabs are where. I used a small mirror to double check on the airbox connector. When you plug the round rapidbike connector onto the airbox, it is NOT done up properly until you feel/hear a click with the retaining ring.

The rest is pretty easy to plug in according to the instructions. After everything was bolted on except for the fairings, I turned the ignition on with the laptop connected. The Rapidbike ECU wanted an update so I I let it do that. I also adjusted the tuning to start at 2500rpm instead of 3000rpm. Everything looked ok so I started the bike. It took a couple of minutes for the O2 sensors to heat up and start operating. Then I bolted the fairings on and rode it.

The ride to work today was super smooth.

 

[DJ Shrug]

Makes sense now why the RapidBike uses the stock O2 sensors (which look like they're wideband) while the Tuneboy calls for an external O2. I didn't realize it was a piggyback vs ecu flash solution.


Do you have any other engine mods?

 

[Epic]

Makes sense now why the RapidBike uses the stock O2 sensors (which look like they're wideband) while the Tuneboy calls for an external O2. I didn't realize it was a piggyback vs ecu flash solution.


Do you have any other engine mods?

The stock O2 sensors are narrow band. Dimsport have just figured out how to use them to tune the fuelling with the Rapidbike setup.

I currently have no other mods. I just received a Sprint Filter in the post yesterday (PM127S...not the carbon one), but i will only install that once the current air filter needs replacement.

 

[DJ Shrug]

The stock O2 sensors are narrow band.

I guess at WOT/some throttle, you don't really need a wideband and it'll be close enough, but makes sense that any sort of deceleration tuning would be left alone since it'd go crazy at stoich.

Glad it works out for you.

 

[SixShock]

Hi Epic, when you did the install, did your bike throw any error codes or anything like that? Person who is installing mine is asking because most panigales with rapid bike installed tend to throw codes from what he has seen. My bike will be the first bike that he'll do the whole install himself.

 

[Epic]

Hi Epic, when you did the install, did your bike throw any error codes or anything like that? Person who is installing mine is asking because most panigales with rapid bike installed tend to throw codes from what he has seen. My bike will be the first bike that he'll do the whole install himself.

I haven't had any error codes at all.

 

[Sqweegel]

Hey Epic,


Good to see another Perth 959 on here.


Where did you buy the EVO from? And what did it set you back?


Oh and did it make your bike easier to start????

 

[Epic]

Hey Epic,


Good to see another Perth 959 on here.


Where did you buy the EVO from? And what did it set you back?


Oh and did it make your bike easier to start????

I bought mine from Rapidbike Australia and they have an Online shop as part of the site.
It was $699 plus a small amount (around $20 I think) for Express Post shipping.

It has had no effect at all on my starting experience. According to the downloadable software manual, the Rapidbike EVO/Racing units don't adjust tune for when your throttle is closed.

You don't travel south down Tonkin in the afternoon at all do you? Or Park at Curtin occasionally? (They're the two 959's I have seen around town)

 

[Sqweegel]

I bought mine from Rapidbike Australia and they have an Online shop as part of the site.
It was $699 plus a small amount (around $20 I think) for Express Post shipping.

It has had no effect at all on my starting experience. According to the downloadable software manual, the Rapidbike EVO/Racing units don't adjust tune for when your throttle is closed.

You don't travel south down Tonkin in the afternoon at all do you? Or Park at Curtin occasionally? (They're the two 959's I have seen around town)

Cheers Epic,


Would you say your bike is now, dare I say it, Jap bike smooth?


Or is it just Ducati smooth? haha


I live in Mandurah mate so don't think they are me. Come to think of it I don't think I've seen a 959 on the road yet when I'm on mine.

 

[Epic]

Would you say your bike is now, dare I say it, Jap bike smooth?
Or is it just Ducati smooth? haha

You know what...my thought process has only been comparing the 959 to itself before the Rapidbike, but now that you have asked, I ride my FZR to work almost every day, and I reckon the 959 is pretty much as smooth as the FZR from 2500rpm up (that's the rpm at which I set the tuning to start....3000 rpm is the default setting).

I'm going to set tuning to start at 2000rpm and see what it does.

 

[Sqweegel]

You know what...my thought process has only been comparing the 959 to itself before the Rapidbike, but now that you have asked, I ride my FZR to work almost every day, and I reckon the 959 is pretty much as smooth as the FZR from 2500rpm up (that's the rpm at which I set the tuning to start....3000 rpm is the default setting).

I'm going to set tuning to start at 2000rpm and see what it does.

Sounds great mate. Let us know how it goes set to 2000???


So just to clarify all you have to do is plug it in (in a manner of speaking) and the bike will tune itself?


Almost sounds too good to be true......

 

[Epic]

So just to clarify all you have to do is plug it in (in a manner of speaking) and the bike will tune itself?

Almost sounds too good to be true......

Yes, all you do is plug it in.

My understanding of how it operates is as follows.

The Rapidbike intercepts signals FROM the crank angle sensor (so it knows what rpm the motor is doing), the throttle position sensor, and the O2 sensors. It then sends the Ducati ECU a lie about what the O2 reading actually is. In effect it's telling the Ducati ECU what it wants to and expects to hear, while actually using the genuine signal to make decisions on fuelling.

Then it intercepts signals going TO the injectors. This tells the Rapidbike when to fire the injectors, but the Rapidbike chooses how long to fire them for, and therefore how much fuel is injected. It adjusts a fuelling map based on throttle position and rpm. Once it has done the initial tuning, it will then only need to make constant small adjustments for changing conditions such as temperature and humidity.

What the rapid bike does is quite simple. It runs the bike at a richer air/fuel ratio than the factory ECU Euro 4 settings, which gets rid of the lean surging. The complex part is how it does that so well using only narrow band O2 sensors.

 

[Dingo]

I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would purchase this unit for the street, for close to $600, when you can bring your bike to a reputable tuner with a dyno to make the bike 100% without adding electronics to the mix, for close to $400... can someone elaborate please!

 

[SixShock]

I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would purchase this unit for the street, for close to $600, when you can bring your bike to a reputable tuner with a dyno to make the bike 100% without adding electronics to the mix, for close to $400... can someone elaborate please!

In California, you cannot get a tune legally unless you declare your bike a race only.

Now this is speculation on my part *correct me if I'm wrong since I know zero about tunes*, the ECU will "correct itself" back to OEM fuel settings unless you wipe the factory ecu settings. Rapidbike in theory, shouldn't have to mess with that since it's just a piggy back unit that intercepts and changes the fueling.

 

[Dingo]

I didn't think they check emissions on motorcycles here in CA.
I think once changes are made and saved to the ECU, it's done. I don't think it'll revert back to factory under any circumstances at that point - but a Ducati Tech would know... any on the forum that know?

 

[Sqweegel]

I think its AWESOME. Even if you take the bike in for a service and they reset the factory settings
the Rapidbike will still hold your tune from what I understand.

No stressful dynotuning for the motor. No additional lambda plugs to be welded into the exhaust.
Sounds like a power commander only better.

I've seen a lot of tunes done over my years in the trade and to have something that can smooth
out the tune on a bike like the Pani for just $600 AUD is worth every cent.....

 

[Epic]

I think its AWESOME. Even if you take the bike in for a service and they reset the factory settings
the Rapidbike will still hold your tune from what I understand.

No stressful dynotuning for the motor. No additional lambda plugs to be welded into the exhaust.
Sounds like a power commander only better.

I've seen a lot of tunes done over my years in the trade and to have something that can smooth
out the tune on a bike like the Pani for just $600 AUD is worth every cent.....

All of these reasons.

I did have my reservations after personal experience with narrowband tuning a Megasquirt install, but Dimsport have definitely got a handle on it. The great feedback from the 899 and 1199 guys who have it, made me decide to give it a shot.

 

[Epic]

Sounds great mate. Let us know how it goes set to 2000???

I finally got a chance on Saturday to change the "start tuning" setting to 2000rpm. I don't think it will be possible to go any lower due to the cold motor idle rpm etc.

I also noticed my trim maps were maxed out in a couple of the cells.

For each cylinder the Rapidbike has a fuel map (which does NOT change automatically) and a trim map (which DOES get adjusted automatically). In normal running it overlays the trim map on the fuel map. This allows you to set a maximum amount of change (positive or negative) to the trim map auto adjustment, in order to protect the engine in case of O2 sensor failure.

You can choose to manually apply the trim map to the fuel map permanently (have to do this individually for each cylinder). This then alters the fuel map and sets all trim map values back to 0. So this is what I did.

I assume the maxed out trim cells may have been due to me disconnecting the exhaust valve, which is a condition that I guess is not catered for in the Rapidbike map for stock bikes.

Things I have noticed as a result:
- suburban slow speed roundabouts are now fine in race mode.
- when filtering/lane splitting, I used to accelerate a bit, pull the clutch in and coast/gradually slow down...repeat as needed. This was to avoid the lean surge. Now I just cruise up the middle on the throttle at low revs with no surging.
- It does seem to have more pickup in the rev mid-range. Instead of changing down a gear or two to pass, I'm able to just gas it, and it goes.