What is a Power Commander? It is a simple plug-in device that allows the user to tune any fuel-injected motorcycle. This means that you can adjust the ratio of fuel and air in the combustion chambers of the bike, so that you get the most efficient, most powerful combination of fuel and air possible. Too much air, not enough fuel, means a "lean" burning condition - and power is lost. As an example, consider if the mixture were ALL air, no fuel - there would be no burning at all. And likewise when there is a very low amount of fuel and way too much air, only a little bit of burning occurs, but not the huge explosion that you need to give maximal power.
In the same way, if you have too much fuel, and not enough air, maximal burning does not occur and you lose power. This is called a rich fuel mixture. You could think of the extreme circumstance where there is only liquid fuel and no air at all - so no burning could occur. And then if you had just a tiny bit of air, you might get some weak burning, but not the explosive combustion that you want - so there is something less than maximal power.
Either a lean or a rich condition is not what you want. You want something in the middle. A ratio of 13.2 parts air to 1 part fuel produces maximal power, that's a ratio of 13.2:1. At a lean ratio of 17:1, you're running lean, and at 12:1, you're a bit rich. By testing your bike on a dynamometer while sampling the exhaust gases, you can determine exactly how to adjust these ratios to get the most power out of your bike.
There's also an issue of potential damage to the bike. If you run a mixture that is too lean, the flame spreads across the cylinder head more slowly. At an extreme, the flame might be so slow that it is still present when the inlet valve opens for the next cycle. This means that the new mixture will ignite prematurely, causing backfire. It also means more heat is retained in the cylinder walls and cylinder head, which can lead to engine overheating. It's just one more reason to have your bike tuned properly.
There's another adjustment that greatly impacts power - ignition timing, also called "spark advance". This is just the setting of how early or late the spark fires in the ignition chamber. Optimally the fuel air mixture should have enough time to fill the chamber. Then the piston should be allowed to compress the mixture. Finally, the spark should occur just before maximal compression of the fuel:air mixture. If we set the spark to ignite too ealy, this is called "timing advance". If we delay the spark too late, this is called "timing retard". Either way, we are getting less than optimal power from the explosion.
See the discussion on timing retard in the TRE mod for more on this topic.
You can pay a dealer to run the bike on a dyno, determine all these proper settings for you, then enter them into your ECM , and that's the best thing to do initially. But then if you want the ability to change your "mapping" (meaning this set of computer entries that sets your fuel/air mixture and timing) yourself later on, it's nice to have a Power Commander© installed so you can do this with the press of a few buttons, or with a few strokes on a computer keyboard.
This, then, is what the Power Commander© allows you to do : to change these important settings of fuel, air, and spark advance, without having to go to a dealer each time. If you are only going to change your exhaust pipe, do a TRE mod, and maybe a PAIR mod, then you're better off just doing all those mods first, then paying the dealer $100 for a one-time re-mapping of your ECM . This way, you get your mods done, get a new map once, and never need to re-do it.
But if you're an experimental guy who likes to play with different settings, or if you think you might do extra engine mods in the future that will require re-mapping, then you may want to spend the money on a Powercommander© that will let you re-tune your engine in a few seconds each time. At a cost of $120 that I paid, everyone in the world should get a Powercommander©. But at the current cost of ~$350, it's much more sensible for most guys just to get a dealer remapping done for 1/3 the cost.
Again, if you're only planning on a single re-map, then don't spend $350 on a Powercommander©, instead pay $100 for a dealer to run your bike on a dyno and reprogram your ECM. But if you've paid for the unit, then see below how to install.
The power commander is just a plug-in. Very simple. The directions and the CD they give you with it are quite good, and 99% of people will have no problem. But if you're like me you need a little help. This pic shows where you locate the proper wiring harness connector -- it's on the LEFT side of the bike. I took the gas tank off to be able to reach it better.
The only hard part here is how to disconnect this connector! Every time I think I've seen everything, some Japanese engineer comes up with a new hassle to install into a simple plug device.
Look where the arrow is, put your finger BEHIND this tab, pull TOWARD you while pulling the connector apart, and it will finally come apart. I probably wasted 1/2 hour tryin to figure this out in a dimly lit motorcycle shed at 3 am.
This picture finally shows the stock Suzuki plug separated, (ends indicated with stars), and the PC-3 plugs (shown with orange circles) ready to be plugged in. Just do that, and you're done!
If you need more help, go to the Powercommander© web site, where you'll find plenty of information on the use of your unit. Also your PC3 should have come with a CD which will help explain how to use it.
Choose your Bike/Year and download free maps.
Available PC3 map downloads for 2002 GSXR-1000
Here are the results of my current setup below. Pretty phenomenal - 163 rear wheel horsepower ! This was done at L and D Suzuki in Dover, Delaware. They spent an hour trying just about every available map and then tweaking them with different settings to see which would give the smoothest curve and highest top horsepower.
You may see that this map is most closely related to the Graves system map for the 2001 GSXR, but it has very significant differences from the Graves version that I have on CD and have downloaded and previously tried. You can get my map and try it - just right click the link then choose "Save As..." .
Remember no one else's custom map will be perfect for YOUR bike, even if you have the same model and same mods. But if you have a similar bike and mods, you'll probably get about 98% efficiency, and there's no harm in trying it. It can't possibly hurt your bike. To get your own map, you'll pay a huge amount of money just for that last 2% of engine efficiency.
Note my bike is essentially stock, from a power standpoint:
My MAP file - Right click, "Save As..."
Note that Firefox (up to 3.0.5) has a bug in it that will not allow you to download my .map file. If you try Internet Explorer instead, the right click will work just fine.I've not been able to find a fix for this bug of the browser. Alternatively you can download the "zipped" version of the map file. Because this results in a ".zip" file extension (instead of the ".map" file extension"), the download should work fine on either Firefox or Internet Explorer. If you still have problems, just email me and I'll be glad to mail you the file directly. Of course, if you download the .zip version, just use WinRAR to open the zip file. More on zip files and how to process them here.
Yes - for me, but not for you 
. Why? because I paid only $140 for my PC-3, and $75 for the tuning session. Right now, the PC is going for $350 alone. Add up your own cost of the PC + cost of the tuning session at your local dealer before deciding on this, but I'm betting you can't get the whole deal for under $500 - and that's just too much money.
I'd suggest you skip the PC-3, and just have the dealer re-map the ECM , which will save you a TON of money. Just make sure you've done your last engine mod before going for that tuning session. And make sure to un-do the PAIR mod before you go for a tuning session
Did the custom mapping make any REAL difference? Is it worth the cost? Well here is the hard data:
| Map run before tuning: | '01 1000 Stock map: OEM filter, Stock exhaust, #M308-004 |
| Time of mapping session: | 1 hour |
| RWHP with stock map | 160 RWHP |
| Top RWHP with new map: | 163.8 RWHP |
| Cost of custom map: | $75 USD |
| Cost of Powercommander | $140 |
| Total cost : | $215 |
| Total cost per horsepower: | $72 |
This is not a difference that I can feel with my butt. The bike might run a little smoother than before, but that's probably in my imagination. My recommendation is to skip all of this and do a simple ECM re-map instead. Call your dealer - most can do this for a fraction of the current cost of a Powercommander.