Moto-Abruzzo

Time 2020-11-15 11:04:14

Web Name: Moto-Abruzzo

WebSite: http://etv1000.net

ID:116778

Keywords:

Moto,Abruzzo,

Description:

Further to the last post about accessing the Caponord ECU, I have added a couple of new pages under the Aprilia Caponord Rally-Raid / ECU drop-down in the menu. A further page will be written shortly I hope. Apologies if they seem to ramble somewhat, but a terrible week, a stint in hospital and some rather strong pain meds have left me a little tired and woolly-headed. But I needed to get this stuff down before I forgot it all again!I guess I also need to say that although I m 100% for innovation, curiosity and experimentation .. if you do decide to experiment with your own ECU and ultimately turn it into a rather decorative door-stop, please do not come running in this direction! The info I provide is not verified and could quite easily have typos make sure you are 100% confident about what you are doing and that you thoroughly understand the consequences if you get in too deep. If you are unsure about something then feel free to drop me a line . I ll happily try to assist. It has been a long time coming and I mean a looooong time. Think a decade! Back before we had TuneECU a few Capo owners pooled thoughts on how to get access to the ECU and read its contents, but we all gave up when TuneECU came along because it did it all for us for (almost) free. Now however there is a real need for that access if the new dashboard display is to do what it is supposed to, and that has been the hurdle of hurdles to get across. If I am totally honest this problem alone was guaranteed to bring the project to a grinding halt if nothing was. So for the past few weeks, I put the display to one side and concentrated on cracking the ECU.Well I m not only chuffed, I am totally blown over backwards because as of this afternoon, I can finally access and interrogate the ECU independently of anyone elses equipment or software ECU serial number, map number and all the sensor parameters plus self test functions and TPS reset! I ve still got work to do interpreting some of the data, but that is not such a big issue and should be finished tomorrow.Tonight though, I think a cold beer or two are in order! I posted about this thing in 2012 and planned for it s replacement in 2013.Like it or not though, it is now a rather pants 2020 . and I have finally replaced the ageing and somewhat cantankerous Scottoiler VSystem and HCR (High Capacity Reservoir). With a total of 19 years, four bikes and somewhere in the region of 360,000 miles under its belt it was definitely time to replace it. To be fair, the last 5,000 or so of those miles it has only been along for the ride as I had finally turned it off sometime late last year due to it functioning in all or nothing mode and all really was quite a bit of oil to go sloshing around the back wheel! The RMV (Reservoir Metering Valve) had been refurbished back around 2013-14 and back then, the diaphragm was already getting a little stiff. I guess like my old joints, one day it just stopped flexing at all.In the big scheme of things, this package has only cost a couple of pennies a day and given sterling trouble-free service for 99% of its days, so there is only one clear viable replacement in my books another VSystem and HCR. I did look at the very 2020 s techie ESystem but frankly, I couldn t justify the 2.5x price and having to fiddle with yet more wires and mount yet another control box on the handlebars somewhere. No, the VSystem works well and will simply be a plug-in replacement and that suits me just fine. Total cost for both parts in the UK came to £127.96 and that is not a huge hike in price over almost 20 years.Put it another way. A DID 525ZVMX chain costs £100-£110 ish to replace and by my rough calculation the Scottoiler has saved me the cost of at least three chains, probably more during its time on my bikes. So not only has it long since paid for itself, it has also saved me a tidy sum in sprockets and the time and effort to replace them. I can comfortably live with that.I ll end with a brief explanation of how I mounted the HCR to the Caponord. Firstly though a disclaimer Scottoiler do not list the HCR as compatible with the ETV1000. If you do decide to install one, it is entirely at your own risk. Personally, I am more than happy that the installation I have is safe, secure and allows the system to function as it was designed to. This is how I did it.Using the template (download here) I have made a mounting bracket from 4mm thick aluminium plate. In the pictures below you will see the plate in perspex this was the sanity check test piece to confirm the drawing was correct before committing to cutting metal. This piece is mounted by two M6x20 countersunk screws, washers and nyloc nuts through the existing number plate mounting holes in the mudguard. The HCR is mounted to this bracket by two M6x30 cap head screws, washers and nyloc nuts and a third M6x30 through the pannier frame/mudguard.On the Rally-Raid or any Capo with the Givi pannier rack the rear brace attaches to the mudguard and provides the 4mm standoff for the HCR bottom mount to bolt through (M6x? cap head, washer and nyloc nut) if you don t have this bar, then you need to provide a spacer between the mudguard and HCR a couple of M6 penny washers will work fine. You will need to fit the RMV to the HCR before fitting the whole assembly to the mudguard as there is not enough room once the HCR is fitted on its own. After that, just follow the instructions provided by Scottoiler regarding filling, mounting the feeder pipe and attaching the RMV to the vacuum system. The only additional thing I did, was drill the mudguard so I could feed the oil/vacuum pipes through to the subframe rails and hide them out of the way. Just a quick update on the LCD dashboard yes it s still a work in progress! Lockdown here in the UK has freed up time for all sorts of fun and games and the LCD dashboard has hogged more than its fair share over the past few weeks. The board finally went from a desktop/fake-input dummy display to a fully enclosed dashboard with real-world inputs yesterday evening.Apologies for the rough and ready video, but a long day was coming to an end, so I just grabbed the nearest dashboard case, blew off the dust and slapped the whole thing together to get the video. I appreciate the tacho needle is missing and the clear-lens has some scratches, but hey . this is a prototype!Next step finalise the power on/off circuitry and maybe a nice splash screen for a few seconds at key-off, let s see. But by far the biggest job is still to get the ECU data to the display in a way I m happy with. One thing I ve come across which is proving really useful is a software package called Megunolinks which allows real time graphs of data buzzing around the system the demo version already helped massively while tweaking the various inputs and how to filter the data .. next stop, the pro version! That should really help speed things up.One thing I was always sceptical about, was the displays ability to function properly in bright daylight. I honestly expected this whole thing to be nothing more than a what-if project that would stay on a workbench. But I m pleased to say that it doesn t appear to be the case at all . yesterday, the display was perfectly readable throughout the day with very bright sunlight streaming in through the garage door square on or at an angle I had no problem reading it. And that alone has boosted the enthusiasm to see this move from workbench to bike let s see how the next few weeks pan out. I don t know if I should be flattered or annoyed or a little of both, let me explain. I had just had a chat with my wife about a press release from ACEM regarding the dire downturn of European motorcycle sales. As the conversation started, she got confused with ACIM the Aprilia Caponord International Meeting . and that sowed a seed at the back of my mind to have a look on the internet to see what ACIM was up to. All well and good.Later that evening I found them on Facebook and lo and behold, the group banner picture is of my old Caponord on a back road in Abruzzo! In fact it s a picture of mine lifted from a post I wrote a few years ago (the post). So now I am a tad curious to see if someone from ACIM reads this over here then says something over there ..

TAGS:Moto Abruzzo 

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