Remaping the ECU on my BMW 1200 GS

Haga 41 · 11-21-2012, 12:11 PM

So I decided to get my foot operated on and while Im down I figured the bike might as well be down as well.
Now for 2013 BMW is releasing a water cooled 1200 gs that is lighter with more power so rather than buying the new one I thought I would throw a few dollars at mine and see what comes of it.
I contacted Hilltop Motorcycles in the UK and arranged to have my factory ECU remapped for better fuel mileage and more horsepower. The remap and return postage is $ 477.09. It cost me $ 111.00 to ship the ECU via UPS. They are claiming 100+ hp at the rear tire and 50+ mpg on the hwy. Stock is 105 hp at the crank and 42 mpg. In talking with Hilltop they recommended gutting the cat so I did that. I will post up on how it turns out.

http://youtu.be/pSH8H9Wx80M?hd=1

Poaker · 11-23-2012, 10:04 AM

You say you want more HP and economy but the remap lowers the HP by 5?

Pvster · 11-23-2012, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by Poaker

You say you want more HP and economy but the remap lowers the HP by 5?

Re-read what he wrote. He said stock is 105 hp at the crank. This means its likely 85-90 at the wheel. The remap is claimed to do 100+ hp at the wheel (not the crank), which is a net increase of at least 10 hp and better mpg.

Poaker · 11-23-2012, 10:19 AM

mod pays for itself in fuel economy alone in 7500 miles. Not to mention all the other benefits along the way. Less fuel stops, less worry about fuel stops, etc...

Wishing you luck on your surgery. Let me know if there's anything I can help ya with. Seriously.

Haga 41 · 11-23-2012, 10:33 AM

I pulled a few dyno charts from a forum in the UK showing the gains. It looks like it went from 80 rwhp to 105 rwhp. So if you do the normal hp math $100.00 = 1hp IE a $700.00 exhaust will net you 7hp it looks like Im getting a deal for $600.00 Rich Ive been meaning to give you a call and see how things are going but keep getting side tracked.

Pvster · 11-23-2012, 05:46 PM

Wow Haga, those are some nice gains!!! Good luck with your surgery!

Haga 41 · 11-26-2012, 11:01 AM

Just a little update on how the job is going. My ECU is sitting in customs in the not so Great Brittan. The local UPS failed to put for repair on the invoice and since the declared value is $1200.00 they want the tax. 208 pounds or roughly $350 US. If I choose to not pay the tax or VAT as they call it they will mark it abandoned and dispose of it. That would not be good so I send Hilltop 208 pounds and try to get someone in custom's later to amend the VAT and issue a refund. Fingers crossed I hit send !

Poaker · 11-26-2012, 04:51 PM

Seriously? Tax for what?

Haga 41 · 11-26-2012, 05:28 PM

They need me to support the queen. It amazes me how in the uk the check bikes for being stock every year and they get all the cool speed gear. Here in the USA you pay for your tags and they don't care what you do but you don't get the cool gear

Poaker · 11-27-2012, 10:09 AM

is this something that was UPS's oversight or what?

Haga 41 · 11-27-2012, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Poaker

is this something that was UPS's oversight or what?

It was UPS expedited which is their lowest rate. The box weighed 1.5 lbs and was sent to a small town in great Brittan. It was $111.80 with insurance. The insurance was $10.50. The Value Added Tax or VAT was 208 pounds or roughly $350.00. Ups assumed that I sold the computer to the shop in the uk and wanted the VAT tax.

Essvar · 11-27-2012, 09:57 PM

That is because you insured the item for its retail value.... if it wasn't insured it would have gone straight through without issue. But then again you could have been without ECU if things went wrong.

Haga 41 · 11-30-2012, 03:58 PM

I thought I would post an update on the remap. I sent the $350 and got the ECU out of UPS jail and Geoff remapped it and sent it back. If the tracking info is correct I will see it on Monday. Geoff called me this morning and explained how to calibrate the ECU back to the the bike. From the sound of it he remaps all the bikes for British Superbike and a bunch for the TT. He just got done remapping a new stock R6 and was getting 140hp to the rear wheel. He also did a new BMW S1000RR and it was well over 200 at the wheel. he said I should see at least a 20hp gain on my GS and that he has done hundreds of them for the guys in the UK. He said he was working with UPS and the crown to get my $350 back and how to keep that from happening again. He is looking forward to doing more mapping for the USA.

Haga 41 · 12-04-2012, 05:19 AM

I got the ECU back and got it in the bike before it started raining and took it for a short ride. Here is what I can tell you so far. It takes less throttle and clutch to take off. The surge the bike had from new at 55-60 mph is gone. I can ride the bike down the road at 2k in 6th gear where before if you were below 3k in 6th it would buck back and fourth. In second gear you can take the bike to 6k chop the throttle then full throttle and if you don't get back out of it it will come over backwards at 35mph. It pulls smooth from idle to red line. My guess is that the better fuel mileage is coming from being able to ride it at lower rpm. It also pulls hard to the rev limiter where before it would taper off a little before the cut out. now I find myself bouncing off the limiter due to gaining rpms faster. I will ride it for a few days and re sync the engine with a gs 911 and then give you some more feedback.

Poaker · 12-05-2012, 04:15 PM

A total rideability upgrade! Nice!

Haga 41 · 12-07-2012, 07:45 AM

Well I got a chance to ride the GS for a couple hundred miles on Thursday after work. I took off at 1:30pm and headed for 227 or the Tiller highway if you like headed for Canyonville. The big GS running fantastic. The weather and road conditions in full cooperation. I started the ride by filling the tank with 8.8 gallons of union 76 best. 92 octane with 10% methanol. The bike requires so little throttle compared to when the ECU was stock. It motors along at 2.5k now and will gain rpm when the throttle is applied without having to down shift. I started getting a bit chilled as I road into Tiller so I stopped at the ranger station and put my heated jacket liner and gloves on. Much better. OK maybe to much its starting to burn...lol. By the time I got into Canyonville it was just right. Its now 3:00pm. Plenty of time left in the day. Lets do the Cow Creek loop as well. So off I go. The river Is a mess of rapids, mud and up rooted trees right now. Entertainment right. Theirs lots of wet leaves and pine needles on the roads up their right now but I'm not in a road race so I take my time playing with the GPS and all the other toys on the bike not really paying to much attention to whats going on around me as Ive done this loop a hundred times. Over the bridge and up the mountain I go. A half hour later it was " Hey this isn't the road I wanted" Oh well the GPS says it goes thru to same destination. Its now 4:30 and starting to snow as the fog rolls in. The funny part of this is I was just telling Les Stround he needs to do a survivorman show teaching people how to use their GPS...lol. Now its dark,freezing and the snow is starting to lift as my GPS tells me to dive off the side of the road on a dirt track! Its not going to happen. I stay on the pavement and head south east. No I know what mountain range I'm in and where I need to be but this stupid GPS is telling me to head the other way. I come to a intersection and theirs a shot up road sign. The names are their but the distance is gone. So its pushing 6:00pm and my choices are drum roll please; Oregon Coast, Powers or Graves Creek. OK I'm on the Oregon Scenic Byway near Bear Camp. How did I get here? At least I know where I need to go. So as I head towards Graves Creek I come to another intersection and road sign. The only thing left on this one is a small portion that faintly says main road and what looks like an arrow. At this point that sounds great to me and away I go. At little after 7:00pm the road I'm on dead ends into a road with a painted line in the middle of it. The GPS tells me to go left so I turn right. Five miles down the road I find a road sign I can read and I'm back on the Cow Creek Loop Two miles from the wrong turn I made earlier in the day. Off to Glendale I head and on to the freeway headed south. Pushing 9:00pm I roll in the garage. The bike ran great with lots of power everywhere. I averaged 42.7 mpg. Just another boring day after work : )

Poaker · 12-07-2012, 08:50 PM

Sounds like you need to get that GPS remapped! LOL. That is the biggest end around I've ever heard of in these parts! Glad to hear you like your mod.


11-21-2012, 12:11 PM	#1
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	Remaping the ECU on my BMW 1200 GS So I decided to get my foot operated on and while Im down I figured the bike might as well be down as well. Now for 2013 BMW is releasing a water cooled 1200 gs that is lighter with more power so rather than buying the new one I thought I would throw a few dollars at mine and see what comes of it. I contacted Hilltop Motorcycles in the UK and arranged to have my factory ECU remapped for better fuel mileage and more horsepower. The remap and return postage is $ 477.09. It cost me $ 111.00 to ship the ECU via UPS. They are claiming 100+ hp at the rear tire and 50+ mpg on the hwy. Stock is 105 hp at the crank and 42 mpg. In talking with Hilltop they recommended gutting the cat so I did that. I will post up on how it turns out. http://youtu.be/pSH8H9Wx80M?hd=1 __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-23-2012, 10:04 AM	#2
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	You say you want more HP and economy but the remap lowers the HP by 5? __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-23-2012, 10:19 AM	#4
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	mod pays for itself in fuel economy alone in 7500 miles. Not to mention all the other benefits along the way. Less fuel stops, less worry about fuel stops, etc... Wishing you luck on your surgery. Let me know if there's anything I can help ya with. Seriously. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-23-2012, 10:33 AM	#5
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	I pulled a few dyno charts from a forum in the UK showing the gains. It looks like it went from 80 rwhp to 105 rwhp. So if you do the normal hp math $100.00 = 1hp IE a $700.00 exhaust will net you 7hp it looks like Im getting a deal for $600.00 Rich Ive been meaning to give you a call and see how things are going but keep getting side tracked. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-23-2012, 05:46 PM	#6
Pvster Chicken Strips Joined: Jan 2011 From: Portland, Oregon I Ride: 2002 honda 919/cb900f/hornet: the REAL naked bike....	Wow Haga, those are some nice gains!!! Good luck with your surgery! __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-26-2012, 11:01 AM	#7
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	Just a little update on how the job is going. My ECU is sitting in customs in the not so Great Brittan. The local UPS failed to put for repair on the invoice and since the declared value is $1200.00 they want the tax. 208 pounds or roughly $350 US. If I choose to not pay the tax or VAT as they call it they will mark it abandoned and dispose of it. That would not be good so I send Hilltop 208 pounds and try to get someone in custom's later to amend the VAT and issue a refund. Fingers crossed I hit send ! __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-26-2012, 04:51 PM	#8
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	Seriously? Tax for what? __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-26-2012, 05:28 PM	#9
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	They need me to support the queen. It amazes me how in the uk the check bikes for being stock every year and they get all the cool speed gear. Here in the USA you pay for your tags and they don't care what you do but you don't get the cool gear __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-27-2012, 10:09 AM	#10
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	is this something that was UPS's oversight or what? __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-27-2012, 09:57 PM	#12
Essvar ghetto-fabulous Joined: Jun 2006 From: Ashland, OR I Ride: I've gone dirty...... 08 KTM450 XC, 07 KTM 250XCFW	That is because you insured the item for its retail value.... if it wasn't insured it would have gone straight through without issue. But then again you could have been without ECU if things went wrong. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


11-30-2012, 03:58 PM	#13
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	I thought I would post an update on the remap. I sent the $350 and got the ECU out of UPS jail and Geoff remapped it and sent it back. If the tracking info is correct I will see it on Monday. Geoff called me this morning and explained how to calibrate the ECU back to the the bike. From the sound of it he remaps all the bikes for British Superbike and a bunch for the TT. He just got done remapping a new stock R6 and was getting 140hp to the rear wheel. He also did a new BMW S1000RR and it was well over 200 at the wheel. he said I should see at least a 20hp gain on my GS and that he has done hundreds of them for the guys in the UK. He said he was working with UPS and the crown to get my $350 back and how to keep that from happening again. He is looking forward to doing more mapping for the USA. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


12-04-2012, 05:19 AM	#14
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	I got the ECU back and got it in the bike before it started raining and took it for a short ride. Here is what I can tell you so far. It takes less throttle and clutch to take off. The surge the bike had from new at 55-60 mph is gone. I can ride the bike down the road at 2k in 6th gear where before if you were below 3k in 6th it would buck back and fourth. In second gear you can take the bike to 6k chop the throttle then full throttle and if you don't get back out of it it will come over backwards at 35mph. It pulls smooth from idle to red line. My guess is that the better fuel mileage is coming from being able to ride it at lower rpm. It also pulls hard to the rev limiter where before it would taper off a little before the cut out. now I find myself bouncing off the limiter due to gaining rpms faster. I will ride it for a few days and re sync the engine with a gs 911 and then give you some more feedback. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


12-05-2012, 04:15 PM	#15
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	A total rideability upgrade! Nice! __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


12-07-2012, 07:45 AM	#16
Haga 41 Pit Crew Joined: Apr 2006 From: Medford OR I Ride: 09 BMW R1200GSA, 08 DR650, 03 Aprilia Haga, 00 Indian Chief	Well I got a chance to ride the GS for a couple hundred miles on Thursday after work. I took off at 1:30pm and headed for 227 or the Tiller highway if you like headed for Canyonville. The big GS running fantastic. The weather and road conditions in full cooperation. I started the ride by filling the tank with 8.8 gallons of union 76 best. 92 octane with 10% methanol. The bike requires so little throttle compared to when the ECU was stock. It motors along at 2.5k now and will gain rpm when the throttle is applied without having to down shift. I started getting a bit chilled as I road into Tiller so I stopped at the ranger station and put my heated jacket liner and gloves on. Much better. OK maybe to much its starting to burn...lol. By the time I got into Canyonville it was just right. Its now 3:00pm. Plenty of time left in the day. Lets do the Cow Creek loop as well. So off I go. The river Is a mess of rapids, mud and up rooted trees right now. Entertainment right. Theirs lots of wet leaves and pine needles on the roads up their right now but I'm not in a road race so I take my time playing with the GPS and all the other toys on the bike not really paying to much attention to whats going on around me as Ive done this loop a hundred times. Over the bridge and up the mountain I go. A half hour later it was " Hey this isn't the road I wanted" Oh well the GPS says it goes thru to same destination. Its now 4:30 and starting to snow as the fog rolls in. The funny part of this is I was just telling Les Stround he needs to do a survivorman show teaching people how to use their GPS...lol. Now its dark,freezing and the snow is starting to lift as my GPS tells me to dive off the side of the road on a dirt track! Its not going to happen. I stay on the pavement and head south east. No I know what mountain range I'm in and where I need to be but this stupid GPS is telling me to head the other way. I come to a intersection and theirs a shot up road sign. The names are their but the distance is gone. So its pushing 6:00pm and my choices are drum roll please; Oregon Coast, Powers or Graves Creek. OK I'm on the Oregon Scenic Byway near Bear Camp. How did I get here? At least I know where I need to go. So as I head towards Graves Creek I come to another intersection and road sign. The only thing left on this one is a small portion that faintly says main road and what looks like an arrow. At this point that sounds great to me and away I go. At little after 7:00pm the road I'm on dead ends into a road with a painted line in the middle of it. The GPS tells me to go left so I turn right. Five miles down the road I find a road sign I can read and I'm back on the Cow Creek Loop Two miles from the wrong turn I made earlier in the day. Off to Glendale I head and on to the freeway headed south. Pushing 9:00pm I roll in the garage. The bike ran great with lots of power everywhere. I averaged 42.7 mpg. Just another boring day after work : ) __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter


12-07-2012, 08:50 PM	#17
Poaker Permit Joined: Jul 2011 From: Grants Pass, OR	Sounds like you need to get that GPS remapped! LOL. That is the biggest end around I've ever heard of in these parts! Glad to hear you like your mod. __________________ Follow PNW Riders on Facebook and Twitter

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