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HD 2007/2008 Engines

High Heat on 2007/08 HD engines

HD 2007/08 Performance Recommendations

Cool your exhaust temperature with the Wide Band O2 upgrade for 2007/08 HD

Harley Camshaft Specification Tables

HD Twin Cam Engine Builds
TC 128 HP 95 CID
TC 100HP Street Engine

The basics of Fuel Injection explained

DEWEY'S CUSTOM
Rammer Performance Air Cleaners
TC Performance Heads 100+HP

Pro Tuning on a Shade Tree Budget

   

Testing the Innovate Motorsports LM-1 portable wide band O2 sensor gauge

Even the least experienced home mechanic understand the importance of proper tuning to improve performance. But the days of throwing a set of plugs in the engine, cleaning the air filter element, and tuning or balancing the carb(s) to get good performance are long gone. It normally takes some pretty expensive and sophisticated equipment like a dynamometer, exhaust sniffer and other engine monitoring devices to properly tune a performance engine to maximize power output.

Devices that measure air fuel ratios have been around for years. Likewise the availability of real-time engine monitors and sophisticated data loggers have also been around for quite a while. What is relatively new to the market are small, portable and inexpensive devices that can do all of this. It is the small size and portability that make these devices so useful to the serious engine tuner.

For those of you who are not familiar with oxygen (O2) sensors, there are two basic types; the narrow band O2 sensor (NBO2) and the wide band O2 sensor (WBO2).

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Narrow band O2 sensor are inexpensive, but were designed to keep an engine running at an EPA friendly 14.7:1 air fuel ratio. These NBO2 sensor are only accurate in a very narrow range of air fuel ratios (AFR) from 15.0:1 to 14.2:1. These AFR's are unsuitable for performance work, so are not really useful tuning modified engines.

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Wide Band O2 sensors are accurate for AFR's of 20.0:1 to 10.0:1. The desired fuel ratios for performance work are in the 13.5:1 to 12.0:1 range, making WBO2 sensors ideal when tuning to maximize horsepower. 

The Innovate Motorsports LM-1

Innovate Motorsports' LM-1 portable wide band oxygen sensor gauge has been on the market for a couple of years now. Its small size, accuracy, simplicity and low price have made it a popular tool with the automobile performance crowd. Innovate has also expanded the usefulness of the LM-1 with an extensive array of add-ons to measure, display and record most vehicle functions. Surprisingly, this very useful performance tuning tool has not caught on with the two-wheeled crowd to the same extent as it has with the four-wheelers.


LM-1 in the tank bag


Exhaust probe
Click for more details about the exhaust probe 


Modified LM-1 Power Cord

The LM-1 on a motorcycle

The LM-1's small 4"wx7"hx1.75"d dimensions make it easy to carry on any motorcycle. While it can be hand carried, it is more convenient  to mount the LM-1 in a motorcycle tank bag. Inexpensive magnetic tank bags with map pockets can be purchased for under $30, making this a good option as a portable mount for the LM-1. The LM-1 can be placed in the map pocket, allowing viewing of the AFR display and access to the control buttons on the instrument while riding the motorcycle.

Because few motorcycle exhaust systems have O2 sensor mounts in the header, a temporary probe was required. Innovate Motorsports does make a tail pipe mount, but the design is not effective for use on V-twin motorcycle exhaust systems. A more suitable motorcycle design was fabricated.  The resulting probe was very effective in capturing accurate fuel ratios. More information on the DIY exhaust probe can be found on Nightrider.com.

The LM-1's +12V round automotive connector was removed and replaced with a large set of Radio Shack alligator clips. A 5 amp inline fuse holder was also installed to protect against electrical shorts. An alternative to the alligator clips would be large ring connectors that would fit on the standard motorcycle battery bolts.

The standard LM-1 package comes with the portable data logger, Wide Band Oxygen Sensor, Logworks software, O2 mounting bung and all cabling required to connect the device to your vehicle and computer. While the LM-1 allows data logging for the WBO2 air fuel ratio and up to 5 additional data channels, it requires an optional cable (LMA-2) or Auxiliary input box (LMA-3) to acquire this data. Because of this the first test will be of the LM-1 and air fuel ratios only.

You should read the supplied user manual completely before installing or operating the LM-1. There are some first time use procedures that must be performed on the LM-1 in order to properly calibrate the wide band O2 sensor. These procedures are well documented and laid out in a step-by-step manner in the LM-1 Manual and are required to maximize the accuracy of the instrument. Least you wonder how sensitive the O2 sensor is, after calibrating the LM-1 it was able to sense a drop in oxygen when breathing on the sensor in open air. That is very sensitive.

Putting the LM-1 on the road

The test motorcycle was a 1997 Harley-Davidson FXD with an aftermarket Mikuni carburetor and SuperTrapp 2-1 exhaust system. The mildly modified engine has aftermarket heads and performance cam installed. This engine combination has been tuned on a chassis dyno, so horsepower has been optimized at wide open throttle, but no partial throttle tuning had been performed. The LM-1 was placed in the tank bag, power cable clipped to the bikes battery terminals, exhaust probe mounted to the exhaust. The engine was started and the LM-1 turned on. After the LM-1 initialization and warm up, the record button was pushed to log data during the ride. Since the data logger will store up to 45 minutes of data, there was plenty of time to ride while the engine warmed up. This also allowed the evaluation of the AFR as the engine temperature increased.

The first road test was over in less than 10 minutes. But just glancing down at the LM-1 AFR display provided a lot of useful information. On the test bike, it was obvious that the fuel mixture was quite rich during normal riding. It was easy to see the overly rich fuel mixture actually lean out during heavy acceleration. Since the engine had been dyno tuned, it was expected that the wide open throttle AFR would be within acceptable limits for performance engines. But the overly rich cruise mixture quickly explained why the gas mileage on this particular bike was not quite as good as some other similar configured engines. For those of you familiar with tuning flat slide and CV carburetors, you know that you tune the AFR at wide open throttle with the main jet size. But you tune for partial throttle fuel mixture by raising or lowering the needle height.

Downloading the stored data from the LM-1 to a PC is simple. The LM-1 was removed from the motorcycle and carried to the computer. It has an internal 9V battery to power the device when connected to your computer. Logworks quickly down loaded the data and displayed a strip chart of the AFR's along the elapsed time index. Viewing the changes in fuel ratios during idle, acceleration, cruising and deceleration is quite obvious even without any RPM data.

The first test ride using nothing more than the AFR capabilities of the LM-1 had already proven to provide a lot of useful information, showing that an already very good running motorcycle could even have better tuning by simply lowering a jet needle. While a carburetor bike is much easier to tune than an EFI bike, information learned would be just as useful.


Innovate Motorsports LMA-3 AuxBox


Using an inductive RPM sensor on the plug wire


Clamping thermocouple wire for exhaust gas temperature

Expanding the LM-1 capabilities

The LM-1 has two primary accessory boxes to expand data input capabilities to 6 channels. The LMA-2 RPM Converter with 4 additional 0-5V data channel inputs is the simplest and least expensive upgrade. The LMA-2 should be considered the minimum required upgrade to enhance the LM-1's capabilities. The LMA-3 AuxBox is a very sophisticated signal conversion box, allowing a variety of signals to be captured including RPM, Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT), Cylinder Heat Temperature (CHT), 2-axis G-forces, Duty Cycle, MPH, Vacuum/Boost and any 0-5V signal.

It is the ability of the LMA-2 or LMA-3 to monitor and record any 0-5V signal where the true power of data logging and tuning. Being able to reference the air fuel ratio to a specific RPM range and load on the engine is how accurate fuel maps are built. The ability to correlate engine conditions is very useful for tuning and in troubleshooting. The ability of the LM-1 to log six channels of data is more then enough information for all but the most sophisticated race shops or R&D facilities. The included Logworks software does all the hard work for you, allowing you to display anything from simple strip charts to x-y scatter diagrams.

Using the LMA-3 to log RPM's, EGT, engine vacuum and accel/decel G-forces, in addition to the AFR was a very simple. Setting up the LMA-3 through its front panel was easy. The LMA-3 was connected to the LM-1, all the appropriate wires were connected to the LMA-3 and everything put into the tank bag and out for another test ride on the same 1997 HD FXD used for the prior testing.


Logworks Real Time Display


Logworks AFR/RPM/TPS chart

How well does it all work?

Using the included Logworks software to download and review the operational information of an engine can highlight performance and tuning issues. Even the simple act of observing the AFR of an engine while under load, on the road is able to help many engine tuners. Learning the subtleties of data acquisition is more complex than simply changing a jet in a carburetor, but any technician that understands how fuel injection works will rapidly adapt to using the LM-1. While not quite the controlled environment of tuning on a dynamometer, this is the next best thing. For small shop owners, shops with older dyno's wanting to upgrade, serious racers and experienced home tuners, using small, portable data acquisition equipment like the LM-1 is the next best thing to a dynamometer.

The LM-1 and LMA-3 AuxBox make an excellent addition to any arsenal of tools that serious home tuners, small shops and racers might have available to them. For those wanting to save some money, the LM-1 and the LMA-2 RPM cable will perform almost as well. Long gone are the days that seat-of-the-pants tuning will provide the level of performance modern motorcycles aspire to. The level of detailed information provided that can go into fine tuning engine performance with the LM-1 is only going to be exceeded by a chassis dynamometer with a load cell and additional data acquisition equipment. The LM-1 is a viable alternative to tuning on a dyno, providing all the information and analysis required to any engine from simple carburetor vehicles to the most sophisticated EFI system.

Hits

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Inexpensive, accurate and portable.

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Six internal data logging channels available. 45 minutes recording time.

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Next best thing to having your own dyno.

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Included Logworks software does real-time monitoring, data logging and data analysis.

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Modular design allows expansion to 32 data channels.

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Excellent User Manuals.

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Fast user support via Innovate's Support Forum.

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PDA monitoring software is available from a 3rd party.

Misses

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Include RPM measurement input  with the base LM-1 package.

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There is no way to direct measure +0-12V signals.
Come on guys, there are still 12 volt sensors out there.
No, I don't want to have to put my own voltage divider circuit on the signal input line.

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Some minor issues:

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Bring PDA support in-house and provide it with the Programmer, Logworks software.
PDA's are much easier to use on motorcycles.

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Some of the cables are a little long for motorcycles.

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Can we make the modules a little smaller? 
Ok, we are nit-picking, but it never hurts to ask.

Nightrider.com can highly recommend the Innovate Motorsports LM-1 and its accessories. You can get professional tuning results on a shade tree mechanic budget.

Installing the LM-1 and AuxBox was quick and simple. Using the Logworks software was much easier than expected. The overall experience of testing and using this equipment was quite favorable.

Summary
The real time monitoring capabilities, data logging ability and extensive list of add-ons make the LM-1 a very adaptable tool for performance tuning on the street or track. The included Logworks software has the ability to create AFR charts that can be used to create EFI fuel maps, provide a level of detail for tuning carburetors that was unheard of a couple of years ago and a wide variety of other detailed engine/vehicle analysis. Even without using the LM-1's data logging capabilities and auxiliary input devices, this tool will allow you to perform very accurate tuning on your motorcycles or vehicles you have. Using all the capabilities of the LM-1, its accessories and the Logworks analysis software will add new levels of sophistication to your performance work.

 

For more information on the LM-1 and accessories, visit the Innovate Motorsports web site.

 

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Modification, Installation, Maintenance and Tuning Index  will help you find most of the information you want on one page.

How to get Professional Tuning Results at home
Testing the Innovate Motorsport LM-1 portable air fuel meter

Profession Tuning on a Shade Tree Budget

Veypor VR2 Data Logger and Instrument Panel
Video Installation and Demo
Purchase VR2


Engine Performance
How to Build a
TC96 2007 Engines
TC88 70HP Stage1  
TC95 128HP Stage 3
TC95 100HP Street
 
TC96 2007 Stage 1/2
EVO 64 HP Stage 1
EVO 74 HP Stage 2
EVO 82 HP Stage 3
EVO 95 HP Stage 3
883 to 1200 Upgrade
Shovelhead Modifications

New EFI for EVO and TC

Performance Gallery
Horsepower Gallery
Evolution 80
Shovelhead
Sportster
Twin Cam 88/95
Evolution Unlimited
Sportster Unlimited
Drag Strip Gallery
Land Speed Racing Gallery
CV Carburetor
Modifying the CV carb
Tuning a CV carb
Camshafts
Selecting a cam
Install a TC 88/95 cam
Install a Big Twin cam
Install Sportster cams

Camshaft Specifications
Twin Cam
EVO
Shovel
XL


Exhaust Systems
EVO Exhaust Testing
TC Exhaust Testing
Khrome Werks AR100 test
Making Drag Pipes Work

SHOP TALK
Shop Manual
Carburetor
Carburetor Troubleshooting
Exhaust
Ignition
Finding Manifold Leaks
Camshafts
Cylinder Heads
Pistons and Cylinders
Clutch
Belt Drive
Shop Manual Appendix
$20 Bike Lift
Plug Wires
Spark Plugs
Engine Tuning
Nitrous Oxide
Motor Oil
Stutter Box
General Information
WEB Links
Buy Books and Manuals
Miscellaneous
Performance Calculations
Estimate Horsepower
Estimate 1/4 Mile Time
Estimate Top Speed

Engine Displacement
Exhaust Length
Gear Ratios
MPH at RPM
Air Density

The Nightrider Diaries
The ramblings of a genius a, a madman and something in between.

Where is Sifton Cams?

Autocom Active-7 tested

Harley-Davidson EFI
-EFI basics explained
-EFI modifications explained

183 HP, 2 carbs, 2680cc

Copyright 1997-2006  Stephen Mullen, Oldsmar, FL -+-