Yamaha caught everyone's attention when it announced the new 2018 YZ450F would have Wifi connectivity and be tunable with a free smartphone app.
ADB MX Editor Lee Hogan had the opportunity to test out Yamaha’s new Gen-Y style Power Tuner at the 2018 YZ450F Australian Press Launch. You can read Lee’s ride impression of the new bike in ADB issue #457 – on sale now.
The free-to-download smartphone app boasts almost all the features of the $422 Yamaha EFI Power Tuner but in app form – it’s brilliant.
Words: Lee Hogan
The briefing that we received the night before regarding the smartphone tuning got a little bit confusing. I’m reasonably tech-savvy but certainly no computer wiz when it comes to this type of stuff.
The app allows you to adjust the fuel and ignition by 16 different sections each via wifi. A Log function allows you to make notes about your riding location, conditions, bike settings and more, giving you a baseline for future rides. The app can also monitor a range of data such as race settings, maintenance and system diagnostics, engine run time and more. While it’s connected to the bike it can monitor a range of different telemetries, engine rpm, throttle position, coolant temperature, air pressure, intake air temperature and voltage. And don’t worry, it’s password protected so no one can connect to your bike without the code.
Once we got out on the bikes and started riding I was relatively impressed with the stock setup but was really looking forward to having a play with the app.
Shaun Thomson was our man and to start with I told him I wanted to liven up the bottom-end a tad, so I could pull third gear out of some of the tight hairpin turns.
Thomo pulled out his phone, keyed in my bike’s code and brought up the information. Within about 20 seconds he had hooked up the ‘aggressive’ map and I was off for a couple of laps. While the bike definitely did come on quicker it was swiftly followed by a lack of midrange punch which I wasn’t too happy with.
So I headed straight back to Thomo with this information. He nodded and said: “Mate I’ve got a map for you to try that Chris Hollis and I came up with. Shane Booth loved this map also!”
Of course I replied, “Plug her in mate, let’s give it a try!”
The new map was an improvement over the stock one and, in my opinion, way better than the aggressive map, which seemed to go in all kinds of wrong directions.
The good thing about the app is that you can save your own favourite settings and even send them to your mates … or keep them to yourself if you want to get all secret squirrel.
This technology is a big step in the right direction but I can definitely see some people out there playing around too much with it. You know the type of person I’m talking about… That dude who used to change the main-jet in his 250cc two-stroke eight times a day. That guy is going to do his head in completely.
Read Lee’s full ride impression of the new Yamaha YZ450F in the latest issue of ADB Magazine – #457, on sale now.
