NO LIMITS TRACKDAYS

it would with a standard ECU as there’s scope for dialling in the finer details such as air:fuel ratio, ignition curve, rpm, throttle connection between throttle tube and injector bodies and so much more. However, this is only possible with the right people monitoring the data, interpreting rider feedback and having the experience to know exactly how far to go when it comes to making the adjustments for, for example, rpm limit or ignition advance.

To get the best out of fitting a Motec (M170 for BSB specification) you will need a few, okay, a lot of extra components to make it work, and also, to make it worthwhile fitting a complete replacement ECU. Starting from scratch is a huge undertaking and you’ll need to fully commit in order to reap the rewards. As mentioned above, the Motec (M170 £2000) box you now have in your hand needs programming; it is essentially a ‘powerful brain’ that first of all needs educating. It will need a base map loading up just to get the bike started and it’s from here all the work starts… because in addition to the initial purchase of the ECU, you will need to factor in at least the following items and get them calibrated and reporting to the ECU:

Dash (with logging, about £2500)

I covered the benefits of an aftermarket dash in a previous issue; they’re certainly more robust than a standard dash and the display is more applicable to racing, rather than having a combination of road and race info with a few warning lights thrown into the mix. Clarity is very important when racing at a high level and at high speed; you have very little time to take in the information, racers process so much info in such a short time and probably glance at the dash once per lap to grab lap time and quickly see if anything else is showing out of the norm. Looking at the dash for what seems like an almost immeasurable length of time can show a racer their lap time, water temp, oil pressure, laps to go, and during qualifying, they will be notified of the pace through each sector as well – so whether they’re on a hot lap or not. It’s also through the Motec dash that you will communicate with the ECU.

Wiring loom

A bespoke race wiring loom is a thing of beauty, each one is hand made to the team’s specification and only the strongest components are used – and by this, I’m really referring to the connectors. You won’t see any bullet connectors, crimps or shiny insulation tape on a BSB wiring loom, just a very well laid out single loom, with each sub-section branching off and plugging in securely without any excess wire or need for cable ties. Autosport connectors are used at this level; these are metal multi-pin plugs that lock in place when connected and the connection and construction is so strong, you could probably hang your bodyweight off them. Each individual wire is soldered to a single pin, fed into a waterproof rubber grommet/seal and then locked into a designated pin hole in the connector. Only the best quality of wire is used as well – try to imagine the heat generated inside the frame where the wiring loom sits and then how much water spray will soak the bike during a wet race or practice session. These components cannot fail throughout all of this, speeds are so high and the racing is so close, the consequence of a broken wire during the heat of battle is unthinkable.

Lambda sensors

Constantly measuring air:fuel is crucial on a race machine, as the fuelling of a bike probably gets tweaked every session for one reason or another, but the air:fuel will be changed to deal with different temperatures, altitudes (Knockhill) and just general fine tuning. You will be fitting a full aftermarket race exhaust system and will need new Lambda sensors fitting as close to the exhaust ports as possible (post combustion obviously), to get the most accurate reading.

Wheels’ speed sensors

Monitoring both the front and rear wheel speed as well as the GPS speed gives some of the key information needed to set up traction control, wheelie control, launch control (although none of that is permitted in BSB); engine braking strategies and cylinder kill are also very useful rider aids and use wheel speed information comparing front with rear. You would think that the speed of the front and rear wheels would be the same, but when you have 200+ horsepower, expect some wheel spin and sometimes 20mph more from the rear end, which is not good for your lap time. Whether you have traction control or not, rear wheelspin needs reducing as much as possible and you can only do this with accurately calibrated wheel speed sensors.

Temperature sensors

You will want accurate temperature sensors to measure mainly the heat of the oil and water, but there’s also air temp, tyre temp and brake temp that can and do get monitored in various race championships or by test teams. I’m sure you already know the importance of temperature on a race bike; engine and tyre temp are the most critical from a safety and performance point of view, but engine temperature needs to be visible to the rider at all times, because if the running temperature starts to move away from the optimum temp, then there’s likely a problem and disaster can be avoided from having this data right in front of you. Some sensors will be in the engine block and some will be in the actual radiator or pressurised hoses. I have seen ambient air temp being monitored (on most road bikes) and air temperature at the intake, but I honestly don’t know if this is done at BSB or if there’s a benefit once the dyno development work is done.

But that isn’t all. Check out what else you need in next month’s magazine, and how much it actually gains!