At this point in my life, I’m not one to abuse my vehicles. If I want to go fast, I take out one of my Tridents. The Ultra we bought for comfort, and everything I had done so far was to create more “useable” power in normal driving range. It has seldom seen RPM’s above 4500, and seldom would I apply full throttle in any gear. However, the erratic times I got in my previous runs have me intrigued, and I can’t wait to get out on the same road and repeat the tests. The first one was a simple full throttle roll on, in fifth gear, from 60 mph to 90. The previous best time was 14.5 seconds., with a worse of 17.5 seconds. Now, with the PowrPro installed, the best of four passes was 12.4 seconds, and the worse was 14.0

From 40 mph to 90, using third and fourth gear, shifting at 5500, the best I timed before was 15 seconds.
After installing the PowrPro, I got that time down to 12.4 seconds. That’s a significant difference.

I also cracked the throttle wide open in fifth at 50 mph, which is only 2050 rpm, and experienced no lugging or detonation. In all fairness, the air temps were only 70 degrees....hardly hot by any degree.

We realize that there is a lot of possibility for error in any of these homemade tests, but after four passes at each test, just taking the averages and comparing shows a definite gain in power. So far, I’ve only put on 90 miles since installing the PowrPro, and from this point on I’ll be driving like I normally do, and check gas mileage. I believe that I’ll get slightly less mileage, and here’s the reason why.

A member of the M109 forum was nice enough to forward to me a letter he received direct from a Cobra rep, that answered his specific questions. This last paragraph explains the difference between the PowrPro on bikes with or without Ox sensors.

"CVT is a continuous mixture-correcting process, not a fixed set of values “in a can,” like that of the stock EFI system or previous EFI tuning systems. Instead, CVT operates continuously, detecting throttle movement that indicates significant acceleration, and there is a threshold below which it switches to one of two other modes. If the bike has an exhaust oxygen sensor, this data typically controls the mixture in steady cruise or during slow roll-ons, and the PowrPro system adjusts this to 14.2- to-1 air/fuel ratio, giving maximum-power operation. If the bike has no oxygen sensor, the system observes the range of variation of mixture over several cycles and sets the mixture to the rich end of that variation. "

Based on my spark plugs and exhaust coloring, I think my TC88 has been running about perfect at cruising speed. It appears to me after reading the above, that may change back to being a little richer. Here's pictures of my plugs (at 10,000 miles) and my pipes before installation of the PowrPro.

 

Summary

In corresponding with Anthony from Phat Performance, and speaking with him by telephone, I was very impressed with his overall professionalism and willingness to “take a gamble” on having a couple of forum members do a review. This certainly could have backfired on him.

So, let’s start with the negatives. There’s only a couple, but something I noticed. For it’s price, it seems to be lightweight in construction. I was expecting something more “hefty.” Joe Minton mentioned that fact as well in his review of the original Fi 2000. As I mentioned earlier, I was reluctant to follow the directions and mount it under the seat where I couldn’t easily keep an eye on it. The single ground wire was light in gauge as well. On the other end of the harness, however, the wires and connectors appeared to be made as heavy as the original Harley ones they plug into, and unlike the original Fi 2000, there are no doors or hinges or snaps to break, as this is a sealed unit.

Cobra should also have not named it so similar to their previous, still produced Fi 2000. Having two products with such similar names has obviously confused many people, especially when they think they are getting a "deal" when they find a Fi 2000 for $200 and think they are getting a Fi 2000 PowrPro that sells for $500 and up.

Positives: As I had already done a Stage One download on a 2006, when it still actually enrichened the fuel/air mixture, I was pleasantly surprised at the additional gains. The “seat of the pants” dyno is fantastic. There is no hesitation, missing, decel popping, or other issues. If a customer were to install this unit on a completely stock Harley, along with freer flowing air cleaner and pipes, I believe they would really feel the difference, with the added benefit of a cooler running engine at cruising throttle.

The biggest benefit, however, if it continues to work as claimed, is that it is “plug and play.” It was simple to install, and the user does not have to learn and deal with mapping issues that many of the other tuners have. If you have a newer Harley with the quick release gas lines, being able to easily take off the tank would make the install a snap. Bikers can now change out parts, such as air cleaners, pipes, or increase displacement, and the design of this product will automatically adapt without additional cost for remapping or dyno time--again, if it lives up to its claims.

 

"If the bike has no oxygen sensor, the system observes the range of variation of mixture over several cycles and sets the mixture to the rich end of that variation. "

Well, I went for a nice easy, 104 mile ride yesterday, driving at 60-65, and used 2.5 gallons, which is just barely 40 mpg. Being it was a perfect day for riding, I would have expected around 45 mpg, based on 5+ years of riding.

Reading that quoted sentence over and over, I'm wondering what Cobra means by "several cycles." Is a cycle each time you turn the bike on and off, or a cycle based on time or revolutions of the engine? While I was doing the acceleration tests, I put on 32.4 miles and used 1.6 gallons. If that WOT driving was figured into the "cycles", it would then be a major factor in its calculation of cruising A/F . I'm hoping that each time I ride, a more true average of how I ride will factor in and raise my cruising gas mileage back up to what I was getting.

As far as the 100 mile ride...my favorable impression remains. Everytime I had to slow down, and then speed back up, there is a very noticeable difference in power, and an equally noticeable difference in sound when accelerating. We'll be taking another ride today and I'll post results.

 

I just returned from a 200 mile ride, at how I would normally ride. I would expect before installation to get around 45 mpg, driving at 60-65 (I live in an area where 99% of the roads are posted at 55). As my last fill of 2.6 gallons was 10% ethanol, I'm now running an appoximate 50/50 mix of non-ethanol/ethanol. I stopped today at exactly 100.2 miles, and put in 2.3 gallons of 10% ethanol, which would be 43.6 mpg. At this point, with a five gallon tank, I now have a mixture of about 75% ethanol. Arriving back home, with an additional 106 miles on the clock, it again took 2.6 gallons, giving me 40.7 mpg. I should mention it's been a long time since I've gotten less than 42 mpg, except on our trip when we got some really bad gas in Wyoming, dropping us down into the 37-38 mpg range, and lots of detonation.

On today's ride, I passed through several small towns where I had to either slow down to 30 mph, or stop at country intersections, and again, the power difference accelerating is very noticeable. It will be hard to keep my hand from twisting the wick, just as I experienced when I first installed the Andrews 21 cams. That will affect my gas mileage as well.

Here's a pic of my pipes after about 300 miles. The right one has gotten a little darker.

 

The other thing I hadn't thought to mention is oil temps. I ran today for 200 miles with the vents on the lowers closed, as well as my Freedom wings on the fairing. Air temps were around 70-72 this afternoon. At my first gas stop the oil temp was right at 200, and arriving back home it was at 210.

Later this week, temps are supposed to get close to 80. I hope to be able to get out and see what happens. My Ultra usually runs at 230 with the vents OPEN, not closed.

 

I had a nice visit by telephone today with Anthony from Phat Performance. He asked me one more thing to add to this thread....Would I now buy this product if I knew previously the difference it would make?

My answer to him was, "At a price of $500 for a totally new product, I would have been reluctant to purchase the PowrPro without having some feedback to go on from other users. Now that I was able to test the PowrPro, the choice would now be easy for me. I don't want to have to teach myself how to understand mapping that some other products would require, and I don't want to incur the additional expense of adding new head pipes or welding in bungs to install Ox sensors that other products would require. The ease of install and the totally automatic features of the Cobra Fi 2000 PowrPro, along with the very noticeable increase in power, would make it a very desireable product for me." Yes, with what I now know, I would spend the money.

One thing I didn't mention earlier in this review is that at the end of the afternoon of running the tests, I did some full throttle runs, and taped them. You can see for yourself the results by clicking on this video. There is no hesitation, no blips, just steady power and acceleration.


(Please note: Video no longer available to keep my *** out of trouble!)

Note: Due to the mounting of the Droid X, the video is upside down. Note also a higher speed is attainable remaining in fourth gear. That has nothing to do with the PowrPro. It is only an indication that the power of the engine is greater in fourth gear--it cannot overcome the gearing by shifting to fifth.

 

Please understand, I am as skeptical as they come when it comes to "hype." I've been reading all I can all over the internet about this new PowrPro, and have seen both positive and negative comments. Phat Performance wanted an honest review and opinion, negative or positive, and I'll give both. So far, the only negative to me is a noticeable drop in fuel mileage, which is opposite of what the Suzuki riders are reporting, but I don't know if they have non-ox sensor bikes or not. I will continue to report back my fuel mileage. Living in Minnesota, this time of year, we often have cold mornings and warm afternoon temps, and I know that makes a difference, especially on short rides.

If you google Cobra Fi2000 PowrPro you will find all the other forums, and you can read the reviews.

 

Here is the letter that was forwarded to me a couple of weeks ago by a member of the Suzuki M109 forums. It has now also been posted on other forums. I do not have the name of the Cobra rep that wrote it, so I certainly hope that it is genuine, but make no claims to its authenticity.

---------------------

What follows is a pretty good overview of how this products work, and from this the following should be clear:

This unit does not have to measure air temp changes, altitude changes, load changes or the other bits of data that get tossed about in conversations. It’s concerned with the rate of acceleration and adjusting the air/fuel ratio to create the maximum power given the combination of products and environmental conditions.

It is not tuning to a preset air/fuel ratio. In fact, that air/fuel ratio read by the oxygen sensors is simply the downstream by product of the engine making the most power it can.

If a bike has oxygen sensors, we make use of those sensors to adjust cruise fuel. They are not engaged when the bike is under acceleration.

Make no mistake this is a very sophisticated product that takes fuel-injection tuning to an entirely new level.

In developing this product, we thought a truly intelligent system should be able to gather and analyze the information it needs to make adjustments as you ride with no extra equipment, no extra hassles. This was the goal of the PowrProFi2000 with CVT— Continuously Variable Tuning without the need for dynos.

You already own a highly accurate dyno—your engine’s crankshaft. We think of crankshafts as turning smoothly, but in fact when a cylinder fires, it accelerates the crankshaft slightly. Every engine has some kind of torsional shock absorberbetween crank and gearbox, which is there to accommodate this slight variation in crank speed. With the application of modern high-speed electronics, we can access this information and
time the rotation of the crank from one firing to the next, and analyze whether the next firing is slightly stronger or weaker than the previous one.

Now comes the clever part: using the measurement of how hard a cylinder accelerates the crankshaft as a way to correct fuel mixture. If the mixture is a bit lean and the CVT system adjusts it to be a bit richer at the next firing, more power will be produced and the piston will give the crank a slightly stronger kick. We can use this as a tool to move from whatever fuel mixture the engine is actually receiving,toward a more efficient mixture.

The next step is a way to time the rotations of the crank, so crank speed at one firing can be compared with crank speed at the next firing. Fortunately, bike manufacturers give us this info for free--as the time from the beginning of one fuel-injection squirt to the beginning of the next one, 720 crank degrees later. Yes, the engine’s other cylinder may be slowing the crank by being on its compression stroke, but all we need is comparative information.

We also need to experiment with fuel mixture, just as race tuners or EFI programmers do. If we make the mixture a little leaner and the next crank cycle takes a little bit longer than before, we know we¹re going the wrong way. This is just like what old time race tuners did by changing carburetor jets and then looking at the bike¹s quarter mile ET or lap time. However, in the case of the Fi2000 PowrPro, this process now occurs up to 80 times per second--it¹s literally Continuously VariableTuning.

The Fi2000 PowrPro conducts its fuel-mixture tuning by varying the mixture slightly. If the crank moves a tiny bit faster when the mixture leans out slightly, the PowrPro knows that¹s the right direction and the system leans the mixture again--or vice-versa. With a big twin cylinder engine turning
5000 rpm, one cylinder is giving us 42 of these opportunities to tune the fuel mixture every second. The result is that the Fi2000 PowrPro continuously and quickly drives fuel mixture to the value that gives best power. This process allows the system to adapt to any engine modifications you make. It¹s like going to the drag strip with a stopwatch and boxes of carburetor jets up to 80 times every second.

When this system was still in its initial planning stages, one option under consideration was to use this data to create a new conventional fuel map similar to the one programmed into the engine¹s stock EFI, and then to periodically update it. That turned out to be unnecessary because
Continuously Variable Tuning does the same job without the expense and complication of storing, updating and retrieving data to or from a fuel map.

CVT is a continuous mixture-correcting process, not a fixed set of values “in a can,” like that of the stock EFI system or previous EFI tuning systems. Instead, CVT operates continuously, detecting throttle movement that indicates significant acceleration, and there is a threshold below which it switches to one of two other modes. If the bike has an exhaust oxygen sensor, this data typically controls the mixture in steady cruise or during slow roll-ons, and the PowrPro system adjusts this to 14.2- to-1 air/fuel ratio, giving maximum-power operation. If the bike has no oxygen sensor, the system observes the range of variation of mixture over several cycles and sets the mixture to the rich end of that variation.
__________________

 

Well, the weather cooperated today, and it got to 86 degrees. I went on a 102 miles ride, and topped off the tank with 2.4 gallons, for 42.5 mpg. I stopped and checked my oil temps every 30 miles (I have the digital dip stick) and the warmest it registered was 222 degrees, which would be about 8 degrees cooler than it used to run at.

One of the magazines finally tested the PowrPro. In the October issue of Bagger, they took a stock 2010 Roadglide, changed out the pipes, air cleaner, and added the PowrPro. You can read and see the results on line at:

http://www.baggersmag.com/tech/1110_...m/viewall.html

The letter I posted above is part of the article.

 

I've now got 1000+ miles on since installing the PowrPro, and it continues to perform well. I'm especially pleased at the "roll-on" power available now at highway speed, when passing other vehicles. It is just such a smooth acceleration when I roll on the throttle.

My cruising mileage has now also improved. On a 400 mile ride today to Minneapolis and back, at speeds of 60 - 75 and driving on freeways part of the time, I averaged 44.6 mpg. Air temps were at 81 degrees, and the warmest my oil got was 220 degrees.