Tenere 700 ECU Flashing, Remove and Install ECU Tips

[Tazmool]

Hello World, 

 

You just decided to have your Tenere 700 ECU Flashed at a tune shop of your choice,  
Ok,
Here is a list of steps that should help to get you through the task of removing and re-installing the ecu, plus a few things you may need to do aftewards. 

This tech tip is meant to help give you an idea what may need to be done and is for entertainment purposes only.

Read the entire post to have a good idea of whats to come. 
Some of the steps will be generic and not described in detail (ie removing tail section plastics) this post focuses more on the actual ECU details.

 

 

Step 1
Goal:  Remove tail section plastic to uncover ECU that is located in the tail, left hand side (clutch lever side) of bike. 
Remove both seats
Remove tail plastic (there are 3 sections of plastic fairing that need to come off) 
The ECU is on the left side, and has a cable bundle going to it

 

 

 

Step 2
Goal:  Render bike electrically safe, prevent damage to ecu and other electrical components.
Make sure ignition key is off & out,
Remove negative terminal cable from battery
Secure cable away from the battery

 

 

 

Step 3
Goal:  Remove ECU from the bike, taking care not to damage ecu or its connector

The ECU is secured in place with a rubber boot (that attaches to the rear sub-frame via two tabs) 
The ECU is also connected to the wiring harness cable bundle via a plastic connector
The connector has a rocker arm latching mechanism as seen in this photo:

 

This rocker arm needs to be gently rotated away from the ECU body (to the left in this photo)
Here is the Rocker-Arm rotated away, which disconnects the ECU from the cable bundle:

 

You can now remove the ECU from the bike, and you can remove the rubber boot from the ECU itself.

Here is the tail section with the ECU removed and rubber boot back on:

 

Do not touch the metal pins on the ECU itself, this is the main computer/brain of your bike and is an electronic and sensitive device (not to mention expensive to replace) 

 

Step 4
Goal:  Ship ECU to your flash tuner of choice
Package up the ECU, preferrably using a static shielded bag (like the type used for sensitive electronic computer components) and appropriate packaging, and ship to your tuner.  Follow the tuners advice for shipping and labelling.

 

Step 5
Goal:  Install ECU back into bike

You just got your ECU back in the mail!

Follow the above steps 1,2,3 in reverse order to install ECU back into your bike

 

Step 6
Goal:  Check to see if the bike is running ok, and if there are any check-engine faults stored in ECU

Once the ECU is safely back in the bike, start the engine and look at the dash

If you have any faults in the ECU the check-engine light (yellow light directly below ABS light) will be illuminated like in this photo:

 

If you do have a check engine light on, you can:
Ignore it  (not recommended)
Take the bike to your dealer to have the trouble codes cleared (nah!)
Or go to the next step, and take care of it yourself!

If there are no check engine lights on, you are done! 

Go for a ride and enjoy your ride!

 

Step 7
Goal:  Check, Clear, Verify trouble codes stored in bike

You will need a Yamaha-to-OBD-2 adapter cable like this one: 

(you can get yours on Amazon, they're cheap or borrow one from someone?)

You will also need an OBD2 code reader, any generic OBD2 code reader that you or your friends have will do the job.

 

The T7 has its Yamaha OBD2 plug located under the rider seat, close to the battery.

(yellow arrow points to plug)

Remove plug (its held onto the bike tail section via rubber boot) and plug in the Yamaha-to-OBD2 adapter cable

 

Plug in your OBD2 code reader to the yamaha obd2 adapter
The code reader will power on as soon as its plugged in
Turn on your ignition key to the ON position, but DO NOT START the ENGINE
Engine MUST REMAIN OFF for entire code reading/clearing/verifying procedure

 

Follow your OBD2 code reader prompts and "read the codes"

In this example we can see that the status shows:
MIL status ON  (meaning, check engine light is illuminated on dash)
Codes found:  6  (meaning, code reader found 6 fault codes)

The rest of the monitor status is not important.

 

The codes present after the ecu flash, are incidental codes, they are not actual codes indicating an engine or ecu fault and should now just be cleared.

 

Clear the codes using the OBD2 code reader (this is a normal function of any OBD2 code reader) 
Steps to do this will be dependent on the code reader you are using, but generally after you "read the codes" you will then have the option to "clear the codes"  follow your obd2 code readers manual (if needed) to clear the T7 ecu stored codes. 
The procedure is the same as if it were performed on a car.

 

Once the codes have been "cleared"
Again "read the codes" using your obd2 code reader to see if there are any stored codes, (this is just to verify cleared status)
Here you can see that the status reports:
MIL status OFF  (meaning, check engine light on dash is off) 
Codes Found 0  (no stored trouble codes)

 

Disconnect the OBD2 Code Reader, and the Yamaha-to-OBD2 adapter cable, place T7 obd2 plug back in its rubber boot and make sure its secured to the bike.

Turn off your ignition, wait a few seconds, turn ignition back on, and start your engine

 

Check your dash

Yay!  check engine light is OFF

 

Install your seat

 

Step 8

Goal:  Enjoyment

Go for a ride and enjoy your bike!

 

 

 

Tazmool

[Tenerequebec]

The most complete tech tip I ever read!!!!!

thanks 

[Idarex]

Yep, I wasn’t prepared for the check engine light.  Still need to get it cleared.

[Goldentaco]

Great Taz.

 

How was the re-tune and the Huzar performance?

 

-Putting this here for any SF Bay Area members, I'll be receiving the adapter and have a scan tool.  Free to use if any one needs it.  I'm not sure if I'll be flashing my ECU just yet but offer is there.

 

J

[pgeldz]

If the check engine light wasn't on before the Flash, why is it on after the flash?  What were the actual codes for, just curious?

[Cruizin]

7 hours ago, Tazmool said:

Hello World, 

 

You just decided to have your Tenere 700 ECU Flashed at a tune shop of your choice,  
Ok,
Here is a list of steps that should help to get you through the task of removing and re-installing the ecu, plus a few things you may need to do aftewards. 

This tech tip is meant to help give you an idea what may need to be done and is for entertainment purposes only.

Read the entire post to have a good idea of whats to come. 
Some of the steps will be generic and not described in detail (ie removing tail section plastics) this post focuses more on the actual ECU details.

 

 

Step 1
Goal:  Remove tail section plastic to uncover ECU that is located in the tail, left hand side (clutch lever side) of bike. 
Remove both seats
Remove tail plastic (there are 3 sections of plastic fairing that need to come off) 
The ECU is on the left side, and has a cable bundle going to it

 

 

 

Step 2
Goal:  Render bike electrically safe, prevent damage to ecu and other electrical components.
Make sure ignition key is off & out,
Remove negative terminal cable from battery
Secure cable away from the battery

 

 

 

Step 3
Goal:  Remove ECU from the bike, taking care not to damage ecu or its connector

The ECU is secured in place with a rubber boot (that attaches to the rear sub-frame via two tabs) 
The ECU is also connected to the wiring harness cable bundle via a plastic connector
The connector has a rocker arm latching mechanism as seen in this photo:

 

This rocker arm needs to be gently rotated away from the ECU body (to the left in this photo)
Here is the Rocker-Arm rotated away, which disconnects the ECU from the cable bundle:

 

You can now remove the ECU from the bike, and you can remove the rubber boot from the ECU itself.

Here is the tail section with the ECU removed and rubber boot back on:

 

Do not touch the metal pins on the ECU itself, this is the main computer/brain of your bike and is an electronic and sensitive device (not to mention expensive to replace) 

 

Step 4
Goal:  Ship ECU to your flash tuner of choice
Package up the ECU, preferrably using a static shielded bag (like the type used for sensitive electronic computer components) and appropriate packaging, and ship to your tuner.  Follow the tuners advice for shipping and labelling.

 

Step 5
Goal:  Install ECU back into bike

You just got your ECU back in the mail!

Follow the above steps 1,2,3 in reverse order to install ECU back into your bike

 

Step 6
Goal:  Check to see if the bike is running ok, and if there are any check-engine faults stored in ECU

Once the ECU is safely back in the bike, start the engine and look at the dash

If you have any faults in the ECU the check-engine light (yellow light directly below ABS light) will be illuminated like in this photo:

 

If you do have a check engine light on, you can:
Ignore it  (not recommended)
Take the bike to your dealer to have the trouble codes cleared (nah!)
Or go to the next step, and take care of it yourself!

If there are no check engine lights on, you are done! 

Go for a ride and enjoy your ride!

 

Step 7
Goal:  Check, Clear, Verify trouble codes stored in bike

You will need a Yamaha-to-OBD-2 adapter cable like this one: 

(you can get yours on Amazon, they're cheap or borrow one from someone?)

You will also need an OBD2 code reader, any generic OBD2 code reader that you or your friends have will do the job.

 

The T7 has its Yamaha OBD2 plug located under the rider seat, close to the battery.

(yellow arrow points to plug)

Remove plug (its held onto the bike tail section via rubber boot) and plug in the Yamaha-to-OBD2 adapter cable

 

Plug in your OBD2 code reader to the yamaha obd2 adapter
The code reader will power on as soon as its plugged in
Turn on your ignition key to the ON position, but DO NOT START the ENGINE
Engine MUST REMAIN OFF for entire code reading/clearing/verifying procedure

 

Follow your OBD2 code reader prompts and "read the codes"

In this example we can see that the status shows:
MIL status ON  (meaning, check engine light is illuminated on dash)
Codes found:  6  (meaning, code reader found 6 fault codes)

The rest of the monitor status is not important.

 

The codes present after the ecu flash, are incidental codes, they are not actual codes indicating an engine or ecu fault and should now just be cleared.

 

Clear the codes using the OBD2 code reader (this is a normal function of any OBD2 code reader) 
Steps to do this will be dependent on the code reader you are using, but generally after you "read the codes" you will then have the option to "clear the codes"  follow your obd2 code readers manual (if needed) to clear the T7 ecu stored codes. 
The procedure is the same as if it were performed on a car.

 

Once the codes have been "cleared"
Again "read the codes" using your obd2 code reader to see if there are any stored codes, (this is just to verify cleared status)
Here you can see that the status reports:
MIL status OFF  (meaning, check engine light on dash is off) 
Codes Found 0  (no stored trouble codes)

 

Disconnect the OBD2 Code Reader, and the Yamaha-to-OBD2 adapter cable, place T7 obd2 plug back in its rubber boot and make sure its secured to the bike.

Turn off your ignition, wait a few seconds, turn ignition back on, and start your engine

 

Check your dash

Yay!  check engine light is OFF

 

Install your seat

 

Step 8

Goal:  Enjoyment

Go for a ride and enjoy your bike!

 

 

 

Tazmool

Outstanding job, thank you!  

[DWEL700]

33 minutes ago, Goldentaco said:

Great Taz.

 

How was the re-tune and the Huzar performance?

 

-Putting this here for any SF Bay Area members, I'll be receiving the adapter and have a scan tool.  Free to use if any one needs it.  I'm not sure if I'll be flashing my ECU just yet but offer is there.

 

J

Yes this^^^

Stop dillydallying and tell us how the performance is

[Idarex]

42 minutes ago, pgeldz said:

If the check engine light wasn't on before the Flash, why is it on after the flash?  What were the actual codes for, just curious?

Eric,

 

The check engine light is an annoying temporary side effect of flashing the ECU. When the ECU is powered outside of the bike, it throws all of the sensor faults because it doesn't see itself hooked up to the bike's harness. Normally, the FTECU software clears all of these codes as the final step in the ECU flashing process, but they've run into an issue with this final portion of the flashing process actually clearing the codes successfully. The light will have to be cleared by any local shop or dealer that has a scan tool. The process itself takes less than 30 seconds through the diagnostic connector underneath the seat!

 

The check engine light has absolutely no bearing on the runnability of the engine, so feel free to ride and enjoy it in the meantime!

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

 

-2WDW

[roy826]

All I had to read was FTECU was involved. No thanks already dealt with those nitwits on a Suzuki GSX-S1000 they never could get the flash right, still can’t and their encoding locks you and anyone else out of ‘your’ ecu forever. So no one else can flash it or fix their mess. Their operation cost me the price of two ecu’s.
 

Lesson learned the hard way $$ and I should have listened to my old Racebike tuner Brian Livengood when told me to steer clear of a ecu flash for the tune. Yes he is a FTECU dealer but used their product simply to turn off things in the ecu that would throw codes when they were unplugged. His method of a dyno tune with a PCV or similar external device is still the best way to go as far as tuning epa crap out of a modern day motorcycle or tuning for straight out performance. 
 

I will never flash a ecu again for performance or to clean up epa mandated garbage. 
 

Nice write on the how to part. 

Edited July 24, 2020 by roy826

[pgeldz]

41 minutes ago, Idarex said:

Eric,

 

The check engine light is an annoying temporary side effect of flashing the ECU. When the ECU is powered outside of the bike, it throws all of the sensor faults because it doesn't see itself hooked up to the bike's harness. Normally, the FTECU software clears all of these codes as the final step in the ECU flashing process, but they've run into an issue with this final portion of the flashing process actually clearing the codes successfully. The light will have to be cleared by any local shop or dealer that has a scan tool. The process itself takes less than 30 seconds through the diagnostic connector underneath the seat!

 

The check engine light has absolutely no bearing on the runnability of the engine, so feel free to ride and enjoy it in the meantime!

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

 

-2WDW

 

I hear ya.  Only trouble I have with the light staying on is that you won't know if the ECU throws a real fault since the CEL is already on

 

So it's either that, or spend more money to buy the Yamaha-to-OBD2 adapter cable and a DIY scan tool.

 

Hopefully the dealer would do it for free but I know many of them will charge you more than the cable and DIY scan tool to begin with unfortunately.

 

Glad you got yours sorted though.  How does she run?

[Idarex]

I’m headed to my Yammy dealer after lunch to see if they’ll clear it for me.  They’ve done me right so far so I don’t anticipate any problems.

[Tazmool]

Howdy, 

 

I won't get into the flash tune vs dyno-jet side of things, other than to say that the ecu flash world has gone awry with the locking ecu to their product thing, that does kind of suck.  The 1st ecu flash I ever did was on my Suzuki B-King and it was via the WoolichRacing hardware, that you do everything on your own, its fully open, was fantastic and really fun to do.  Tuning done by yourself with a piggy back wide band o2 sensor package/logger and WR software which was even better than tuning on a dyno.   But I digress. 

 

The T7 full exhaust (guglatech air filter) and 2wdw tune. 
Because of the covid thing and canada post being incredibly slow, my bike was down from June 15th to July 23rd.  This long wait sucked horribly.

 

Also, because of this wait, its hard to do a back-to-back comparison, however:

* The bike definitely feels a LOT smoother through out the entire rev range, 
* The engine seems to run cooler (riding on a side road I noticed my engine is at 80C which is 176F, have not checked in heavy traffic yet)
* Engine compression braking is lowered from before (before with throttle off, engine would brake pretty hard, almost felt like applying the rear brake) now it feels "normal"  very similar to other bikes I've owned.  I strongly prefer this as it gives you better control in technical areas where strong engine braking could skid/lock the rear, (I have locked the rear during a downshift before) you're in better control now.

* Throttle on-off-on is FAAAR better/smoother than it was before, (fuel cut-off is disabled now, and reduced engine braking I'm sure helps here too) this is a major improvement, and the bike is much easier to ride/shift now.  Changing gears mid corner is easy while before it could upset the front end.
* Engine overall power, this one is a bit hard to pin down, but it does not feel that much different from before, its still very torquey and tractor like down low, revs very freely, and has a nice upper-end puch.  It definitely wheelies easy.  Because I could not ride back to back within a few day span, and the incredible smoothness of the engine now, it may be masking any gains from the tune, but its a very lively, wonderful engine.  

 

Only negative I've noticed:
* while engine braking, with the throttle just barely cracked open, the exhaust can backfire more than before, its more of a crackle but it does it fairly frequently now.  I'm guessing this is a result of not having the fuel-cut-off enabled (to reduce the heavy engine braking) and its loading up the exhaust a bit with unburnt hydrocarbons, which can ignite and backfire.  I also have a full exhaust on which increases the tendency to do this.  
I do wish I could find out if/how to disable the pulse air injection system (if the bike has one) which would solve this problem.  Every bike I've owned in the past, has had the pair system, and was incredibly easy to remove.  On the FZ/MT/T7 its not as obvious as to how this would be done. 

 

Regarding the ECU fault-code clearing, 
As mentioned by another poster above, this is due to the ecu being powered up outside the bike, and its not a big deal, the codes are not actually indicating any problem, they are more of a glitch of the flashing process.  Unfortunately, it does ad an extra step in the end, but this may be eliminated in the future.

There were 6 codes present in the ECU:
P0108,  Manifold Absolute Pressure/Barometric Pressure Circuit High
P0113,  Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit High
P0118, Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit High
P0122, Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Switch A Circuit Low
P1602, Yamaha specific code, obd2 code reader said to refer to service manual
P1605, Yamaha specific code, obd2 code reader said to refer to service manual

Clearing the codes was easy, and they did not come back.
Riding around with the check engine light is not advised, in the unlikely event of an actual code popping up, you will not know that something came up, as the MIL is already on.

 

Tazmool

 

[Stevey3737]

Hi I just joined and am getting my bearings, I am not sure if this is a good place to post this I think I may have double posted but I would like to know if I can hook up battery and turn on key on my bike with the ECU out? its off to get flashed and I am hooking up lights and GPS power and just want to ensure all connections are good but I don't want any adverse effects from no ECU?

 

and op, this is a brilliant step by step thank you

[JimmyTheHuman]

I amazed that anyone would pay to have some one lock their CPU to a specific tuner on their own motorbike. I don't care if they give me 5x the power for $50 i don't see any reason for it to be locked.

[Yammybound88]

I was going to take a look at the BoosterPlug for the T7 however only the 2019 & 2020 years are listed.  After an email I found that they are not going to over the product to the 2021 models, reason stated new emission regulations prevent fuel injection modifications without the ability to clear a permanent warning in the dashboard.

[Dakota]

For those looking for a “non-destructive” tune that can always be undone and doesn’t require removing their ECU - this may be for you. 
 

If any of you have used it, let me know - I’d love to hear your results. 

[FredBasset]

1 hour ago, Dakota said:

For those looking for a “non-destructive” tune that can always be undone and doesn’t require removing their ECU - this may be for you. 
 

If any of you have used it, let me know - I’d love to hear your results. 

Yes thats interesting, I’d like to get rid of the closed/open throttle jerk, so if this did that, would be worth looking at. Also, I have two T7’s in the family, wonder if you could use one unit to do 2 bikes?

[Dakota]

2 minutes ago, FredBasset said:

Yes thats interesting, I’d like to get rid of the closed/open throttle jerk, so if this did that, would be worth looking at. Also, I have two T7’s in the family, wonder if you could use one unit to do 2 bikes?

Funny you would ask that right now - I'm reading the manual right now and JUST came across this, almost as your post bing'd.

 

Quote

Note: Once paired to the vehicle ECU, the Power Vision will not work on another vehicle without purchasing a tune license.

I'm not sure how much another license would cost, but looks like you can use it on both. [:

Edited January 2, 2021 by Dakota

[Yammybound88]

2 hours ago, Dakota said:

For those looking for a “non-destructive” tune that can always be undone and doesn’t require removing their ECU - this may be for you. 
 

If any of you have used it, let me know - I’d love to hear your results. 

Note the years 2019 & 2020 - our bikes are 2021.

[JMRS]

9 minutes ago, Dakota said:

Funny you would ask that right now - I'm reading the manual right now and JUST came across this, almost as your post bing'd.

 

I'm not sure how much another license would cost, but looks like you can use it on both. [:

Hello

Instead of intervening the ECU,  I installed a Rapid Bike Evo unit, which is connected to 4 points of the injection system and adjusts the injection to the parameters it reads. Installation is easy, plug and play, can be by-passed it you want and doesn´t change anything of the original bike.

I have used it on my 3 former Africa Twin bikes, with very good results: swifter and smooth acceleration and doesn´t go down when reaching the high end of RPM range. No increase on fuel consumption.

Based on that experience, I got one unit for the T7 right away. I installed it at 500 km on the ODO, together with the High flow air fiter ( more air in ) and a full exhaust to take the cat out ( more air out ).

I can not compare how the T7 performs without the unit.  Nevertheless, I can sya that I no not have any jerking when opening the throttle, acceleration is swift and, in theory, you get more power and torque throughout the whole curve, specially on low and mid range.

Rapid Bike modules are made by Dimsport, Italy, and have different module options ( basic, evo, racing )

They have distributors in various countries.

Prices may vary a lot among the distributors, so I suggest you shop and compare final prices, taking in consideration  sales tax, freight, exchange rate, duties and "hassle" .

I bought mine at Rugged Roads  ( UK web site ).  Prices published in Europe are normally with sales tax, which is discounted when shipping out of the EU. 

Mine ended costing around US$ 400 all-in in Chile ( product, freight, import duties, sales taxes, customs broker´s fee and handling ).

I am sure the are other T7 owners than can comment on "before" and "after".

As mentioned before, my personal experience on the T7 is "after" only.

Hope is useful

 

 

 

 

[Dakota]

2 minutes ago, Yammybound88 said:

Note the years 2019 & 2020 - our bikes are 2021.

According to Revzilla “This product FITS your 2021 Yamaha Tenere 700” but I’ll report back if it works or not. 

[Dakota]

2 minutes ago, JMRS said:

Hello

Instead of intervening the ECU,  I installed a Rapid Bike Evo unit, which is connected to 4 points of the injection system and adjusts the injection to the parameters it reads. Installation is easy, plug and play, can be by-passed it you want and doesn´t change anything of the original bike.

I have used it on my 3 former Africa Twin bikes, with very good results: swifter and smooth acceleration and doesn´t go down when reaching the high end of RPM range. No increase on fuel consumption.

Based on that experience, I got one unit for the T7 right away. I installed it at 500 km on the ODO, together with the High flow air fiter ( more air in ) and a full exhaust to take the cat out ( more air out ).

I can not compare how the T7 performs without the unit.  Nevertheless, I can sya that I no not have any jerking when opening the throttle, acceleration is swift and, in theory, you get more power and torque throughout the whole curve, specially on low and mid range.

Rapid Bike modules are made by Dimsport, Italy, and have different module options ( basic, evo, racing )

They have distributors in various countries.

Prices may vary a lot among the distributors, so I suggest you shop and compare final prices, taking in consideration  sales tax, freight, exchange rate, duties and "hassle" .

I bought mine at Rugged Roads  ( UK web site ).  Prices published in Europe are normally with sales tax, which is discounted when shipping out of the EU. 

Mine ended costing around US$ 400 all-in in Chile ( product, freight, import duties, sales taxes, customs broker´s fee and handling ).

I am sure the are other T7 owners than can comment on "before" and "after".

As mentioned before, my personal experience on the T7 is "after" only.

Hope is useful

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

I’ve never heard of this - I’ll look into it more as well. 

[Rlynn10304]

15 hours ago, Dakota said:

According to Revzilla “This product FITS your 2021 Yamaha Tenere 700” but I’ll report back if it works or not. 

Following. Dont want to send my ecu off. 

[Yammybound88]

19 hours ago, Dakota said:

According to Revzilla “This product FITS your 2021 Yamaha Tenere 700” but I’ll report back if it works or not. 

Interesting their advertisement says 2019 - 2020 and then a line at the bottom says fits 2021.  It fits but does it throw flashing codes that can't be cleared?  

[Dakota]

5 hours ago, Yammybound88 said:

Interesting their advertisement says 2019 - 2020 and then a line at the bottom says fits 2021.  It fits but does it throw flashing codes that can't be cleared?  

I went directly to the site and confirmed it works for 2021

 

And yes, it looks like it can clear codes. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Dakota